Princess Upgrade Bid question

[Don-AnneLaguna]

On two previous Princess cruises  booked through Princess, we had a bid invitation to upgrade and it was accepted at a minimal cost.

 

If I book through a TA, do I I get the same opportunity and chances for acceptance???? The cruise is 120 days out.

[suekel]

yes

[bjkTX]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:36 PM, Don-AnneLaguna said:

On two previous Princess cruises  booked through Princess, we had a bid invitation to upgrade and it was accepted at a minimal cost.

 

If I book through a TA, do I I get the same opportunity and chances for acceptance???? The cruise is 120 days out.

Hope you don't mind a related question as the bidding thing is new to me, and our next cruise is 11 months away 🙂  When you received your "invitation" was it for a particular cabin or category or just the invite to join in the bidding?

[DallasGuy75219]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:40 PM, suekel said:

yes

Not necessarily.  It depends on whether the TA has opted in for their bookings to be eligible for the upgrade program.

[cr8tiv1]

10 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Not necessarily.  It depends on whether the TA has opted in for their bookings to be eligible for the upgrade program.

 

My TA always marks my booking "no upgrade" per my instructions.  I was able to place a bid from an interior to a balcony recently (my choice).  My understanding is that the bid can be entered AFTER final payment.  The bigger question is when will I find out?  Hasn't been decline yet.  

[SCX22]

7 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

My TA always marks my booking "no upgrade" per my instructions.  I was able to place a bid from an interior to a balcony recently (my choice).  My understanding is that the bid can be entered AFTER final payment.  The bigger question is when will I find out?  Hasn't been decline yet.  

Princess will begin considering and accepting bids after final payment all the way up to 24 hours prior to departure.

 

You may be notified, or be surprised.

 

If you placed a bid before 02/24/23, Princess will notify you of the acceptance of your bid and then you have 48 hours to pay for the bid via the Cruise Personalizer or TA.  If you don't pay, you will be put back in your original stateroom assignment.

 

If you placed a bid on or after 02/24/23, the charge you used to secure the bid will be charged automatically, if Princess accepts your bid.  There are was an instance last week where my friends last week never got an acceptance e-mail and were surprised with a new upgraded cabin number by looking at their Cruise Personalizer.  Princess usually, informs you of the upgrade by e-mail.

 

In both instances, Princess may or may not send you a declined offer e-mail.  I think this is done on purpose so Princess has flexibility to accept offers up until sailing.  Consider yourself still in the running if you don't get a declined e-mail.  Once Princess declines, it's the end of the game for both you and Princess.  Princess (or the algorithm) won't re-consider an offer that was already declined, per my CVP.

[Don-AnneLaguna]

 

2 hours ago, bjkTX said:

Hope you don't mind a related question as the bidding thing is new to me, and our next cruise is 11 months away 🙂  When you received your "invitation" was it for a particular cabin or category or just the invite to join in the bidding?

bjkTX ,  The invitation to bid is for an upgrade to one of four classes of cabins, upgrade to { obstructed balcony(starts at 100/99, obstructed delux balcony(starts at $150/pp), standard balcony(starts at $200/pp), and deluxe balcony(starts at $250/pp)}. I had an inside cabin far aft. I was upgraded to a deluxe obstructed balcony for $100/pp, occupancy 2, far forward.

 

You have to agree to accept the new cabin immediately, no problem, I just booked the cruise, I didn't have a great location before, now have an OK location at the other end of the ship. I'm happy.

[bjkTX]

7 hours ago, Don-AnneLaguna said:

 

bjkTX ,  The invitation to bid is for an upgrade to one of four classes of cabins, upgrade to { obstructed balcony(starts at 100/99, obstructed delux balcony(starts at $150/pp), standard balcony(starts at $200/pp), and deluxe balcony(starts at $250/pp)}. I had an inside cabin far aft. I was upgraded to a deluxe obstructed balcony for $100/pp, occupancy 2, far forward.

 

You have to agree to accept the new cabin immediately, no problem, I just booked the cruise, I didn't have a great location before, now have an OK location at the other end of the ship. I'm happy.

Thanks!  Sounds like you got a great deal!

[JudiinMt]

Got the upgrade offer several weeks ago - was notified last week that we upgraded to a balcony from an inside for the minimum bid.  We sail April 1

[Sprocket]

32 minutes ago, JudiinMt said:

Got the upgrade offer several weeks ago - was notified last week that we upgraded to a balcony from an inside for the minimum bid.  We sail April 1

We are on the Discovery April 1st cruise and my bid still shows pending.  Congratulations on the upgrade!

[DallasGuy75219]

13 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

My TA always marks my booking "no upgrade" per my instructions.  I was able to place a bid from an interior to a balcony recently (my choice).  My understanding is that the bid can be entered AFTER final payment.  The bigger question is when will I find out?  Hasn't been decline yet.  

These are two different things.  The TA marking the booking "no upgrade" (theoretically) stops Princess from unilaterally moving you to another cabin that they consider an upgrade at no charge.

 

Whether the TA allows their bookings to participate in the upgrade bid program is a separate decision. 

[Mike45LC]

2 hours ago, Sprocket said:

We are on the Discovery April 1st cruise and my bid still shows pending.  Congratulations on the upgrade!

Where on the App or website does it show that your bid is pending?  I received the email acknowledging the bid, but it has been crickets since. 

[happy42cruise]

If you go into the email & click on modify/cancel it will take you back to the bid page & it will show pending on the top or expired if they rejected it.

[Ken the cruiser]

If I might ask, will we get 2 loyalty cruise points if we are successful in an upgrade bid from a mini-suite to a full suite, or will we still only get 1 point?

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, happy42cruise said:

If you go into the email & click on modify/cancel it will take you back to the bid page & it will show pending on the top or expired if they rejected it.

 

I am so proud of myself...I figured this out on my own earlier today.  I did a Princess search about bidding.  Opened the page.  Typed in my name and booking number and it pulled up my "pending" bid.  Now waiting to see how long it will be pending.

[racj846]

23 hours ago, Don-AnneLaguna said:

 

bjkTX ,  The invitation to bid is for an upgrade to one of four classes of cabins, upgrade to { obstructed balcony(starts at 100/99, obstructed delux balcony(starts at $150/pp), standard balcony(starts at $200/pp), and deluxe balcony(starts at $250/pp)}. I had an inside cabin far aft. I was upgraded to a deluxe obstructed balcony for $100/pp, occupancy 2, far forward.

 

You have to agree to accept the new cabin immediately, no problem, I just booked the cruise, I didn't have a great location before, now have an OK location at the other end of the ship. I'm happy.

Those minimum upgrade costs may have been applicable to your specific cruise, but there is no standard minimum bid as you would appear to suggest.

 

I recently successfully bid to move to a mini-suite (Cat MB) from a deluxe obstructed balcony (Cat DW) for $180pp, which was $5 over the minimum bid, for a 14 day cruise.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, will we get 2 loyalty cruise points if we are successful in an upgrade bid from a mini-suite to a full suite, or will we still only get 1 point?

 

Only get 1 point.

 

Rules state that benefits such as that do not apply to successful bids. Also do not get greater OBC if there was an OBC benefit when you had originally booked.

 

Does the upgrade include any additional promotions?
No. The upgrade doesn’t include any additional perks. However, you get to keep any promotions you already have.

[Mike45LC]

6 hours ago, happy42cruise said:

If you go into the email & click on modify/cancel it will take you back to the bid page & it will show pending on the top or expired if they rejected it.

Thanks.  I checked and my two bids are still pending.  Better than declined, I guess!

[IndyKid]

So I guess Princess does an auction for their unfilled rooms? It appears I can do this once the fare is fully paid. For those who haven't seen my earlier questions we're booked on the Caribbean Princess for Dec. 10th for a week to the Eastern Caribbean. We currently have a balcony room, but wouldn't mind moving up to a mini-suite if the price was right. I would guess that the ship may not be very full at that time but who knows? I would like to hear from experienced Princess cruisers that have won bids for upgraded rooms, specifically what they bid for an upgrade from a balcony to a mini-suite and, if possible, from someone who did it on this particular ship/itinerary. 

[Essiesmom]

There are two threads about this on the second page, and another on the third page.  EM

[LACruiser88]

Here is a link to a thread regarding the bidding process.

 

 

 

[gsmith2424]

Sort of a similar question but maybe to build on it, how soon after booking can you actually put a bid in? I just booked (through Princess) a Nov 2023 transatlantic today and it's not allowing me to do an upgrade bid yet. Not sure if it's a time issue or not.

[flying boat]

5 days after the final payment is due, which depends on the length of the cruise.