What are the pros and cons of upgrade offer?

[gunnywife]

This has probably been covered many times, but now I'm paying attention.  I just received the e-mail about the upgrade offer. To make it easier for me please list the pros and cons.  I'm traveling with others and our cabins are near each other.  So to me accepting an  upgrade could be on the con side.  Not knowing anything about this upgrade thing I need your help.

[katisdale]

Are you asking about bidding to upgrade?

[JimmyVWine]

Pros: Higher level of cabin assuming that the upgrade moves you from one class to another.  For example, Inside to Balcony; or Balcony to MiniSuite.  

 

Cons:  You might not think that the location change is in fact an upgrade.  Is a mid-ship Balcony to a Forward Mini-Suite a good thing?  For some, yes and for others no.  So if you take the upgrade you risk losing a coveted location.

 

Also, on Grand Class ships, an upgrade to a MiniSuite likely means a move to an uncovered balcony from a covered Balcony.  For many that is no bueno. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[Cruise Raider]

45 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Pros: Higher level of cabin assuming that the upgrade moves you from one class to another.  For example, Inside to Balcony; or Balcony to MiniSuite.  

 

Cons:  You might not think that the location change is in fact an upgrade.  Is a mid-ship Balcony to a Forward Mini-Suite a good thing?  For some, yes and for others no.  So if you take the upgrade you risk losing a coveted location.

 

Also, on Grand Class ships, an upgrade to a MiniSuite likely means a move to an uncovered balcony from a covered Balcony.  For many that is no bueno. 

 I agree here … 

you won’t know the location and that’s a no deal for me.  Unless it’s for a premium balcony or a club class mini suite, will I do that because I’m happy with any of those locations.  
Plus, they will put you in a cabin that hasn’t sold .. and that may be because it’s just in a bad location, ie: under the pool deck, way up front, under the theater.  If you are happy booking a guarantee, then you’ll probably be happy with an upsell offer.  Otherwise, choose you cabin wisely.   If it is important for you and your friends to have cabins next to one another, I would t even bother.  

[Lady Arwen]

Also, check the upgrade price against the price difference you would have to pay doing it yourself.  Often times, the upgrade price is no bargain.  

[JimmyVWine]

25 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Unless it’s for a premium balcony or a club class mini suite

The only upsell/upgrade I have ever taken was from an MA to an M1 (Club Class) because I knew that I would stay Mid-Ship.  And the price was insanely low, like $10 pp/pd.  We ended up with a slightly extended balcony on Regal.  Not the exact cabin I would have chose were I picking, but the move to CC for the price we paid was well worth it.

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

The only upsell/upgrade I have ever taken was from an MA to an M1 (Club Class) because I knew that I would stay Mid-Ship.  And the price was insanely low, like $10 pp/pd.  We ended up with a slightly extended balcony on Regal.  Not the exact cabin I would have chose were I picking, but the move to CC for the price we paid was well worth it.

 Well worth it in my opinion!  
The only time I bid on an upgrade for was for a premium balcony.  Two days after I made my bid, the premium balconies went down to lower than the price I’d be paying overall.  I rescinded my bid and upgraded to the exact cabin I wanted.  Wahoo!  
 

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, gunnywife said:

This has probably been covered many times, but now I'm paying attention.  I just received the e-mail about the upgrade offer. To make it easier for me please list the pros and cons.  I'm traveling with others and our cabins are near each other.  So to me accepting an  upgrade could be on the con side.  Not knowing anything about this upgrade thing I need your help.

Do you want to stay with your group?  If yes, don't bid.  If you don't care to be near them, bid.

[Torfamm]

On 3/20/2023 at 4:30 PM, gunnywife said:

This has probably been covered many times, but now I'm paying attention.  I just received the e-mail about the upgrade offer. To make it easier for me please list the pros and cons.  I'm traveling with others and our cabins are near each other.  So to me accepting an  upgrade could be on the con side.  Not knowing anything about this upgrade thing I need your help.

If an accepted bid would make it worthwhile to move to a different class of cabin even if it may not be in your preferred location or near the others in your party, it could be a pro.
 

Each person is different as is each offer. For example, a lot of people who have an inside cabin would be very happy to pay $50 to move to a balcony no matter where it is.
 

 

[akeasley]

I have an interior for my upcoming cruise and put in a bid on a balcony which was accepted a few days ago. I noticed the balcony wasn't in the best location so I called and asked to be switched back to the original room. I was able to do that but it did take 45 minutes on the phone. It's a pro if you're happy anywhere on the ship but a con if you are a little choosy like me. 

[Clampram]

My bid for a mid aft suite was accepted  and that is the area that I chose. I bid for all three categories of suites but placed a higher bid on those is the mid aft category since that's what we wanted for this trip. So, depending on the circumstances you may be able to choose your area. I could have only bid on the mid aft but I did bid for all categories

[StrawberryHill]

I just looked at the bids for our June cruise.  The minimum bid offer to upgrade from a premium balcony to a mini suite was the same as if I would call Princess on the phone and just do it myself.  That way you get the exact cabin you want.  Princess does not handle the bidding process, its an outside company. I will wait a month and see how many are still unsold, then decide.  If I pay to upgrade,I want to know exactly where the cabin would be before I lose the one I have.

[gunnywife]

I've decided to ignore the offer.  I'm happy where I am.    But thanks for the input.  I appreciate it.

[trbarton]

I’ve heard that people had their bid excepted & immediately looked at other staterooms in the same category & Princess allowed them to change. Has anyone had this experience?

 

Tom😀

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

6 hours ago, akeasley said:

I have an interior for my upcoming cruise and put in a bid on a balcony which was accepted a few days ago. I noticed the balcony wasn't in the best location so I called and asked to be switched back to the original room. I was able to do that but it did take 45 minutes on the phone. It's a pro if you're happy anywhere on the ship but a con if you are a little choosy like me. 

Interesting. I can’t think of any interior cabin that would be better than a balcony in any location. 

[startedwithamouse]

4 minutes ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

Interesting. I can’t think of any interior cabin that would be better than a balcony in any location. 

Mid-ship sideways much better than extreme forward.

[startedwithamouse]

6 hours ago, Clampram said:

My bid for a mid aft suite was accepted  and that is the area that I chose. I bid for all three categories of suites but placed a higher bid on those is the mid aft category since that's what we wanted for this trip. So, depending on the circumstances you may be able to choose your area. I could have only bid on the mid aft but I did bid for all categories

Did they immediately charge your credit card?

 

[trbarton]

I’m on a 7 day cruise & going solo & I would have to pay a minimum of $440 to bid for a Mini Suite. Of course I’m not interested. If it was a longer cruise perhaps I might consider it. 
 

I have no options as to where my stateroom would be but I could use a FCC towards the cost. 
 

Tom😀

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

24 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Mid-ship sideways much better than extreme forward.

We’ve had aft facing balcony cabins and forward facing balcony cabins and they were wonderful. Most people make too much of being all the way forward or aft. We’ve never noticed that much movement on the newer ships. We did a British Isles cruise on the Royal with one of the forward facing deluxe balcony cabins. We enjoyed it a lot and it was very quiet. The balcony was huge. 

[bbburks]

As cruising time gets closer do they ever revise the bidding offers they initially gave you — by either revising starting bid price or adding locations? Right now we are 42 days out from embarkation. 

[Clampram]

14 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did they immediately charge your credit card?

 

Because I made my bids prior to Feb 24, they had to notify me that my bid was accepted, tell me which bid was accepted ( I bid for premium suite, mid aft suite and aft suite ) and which suite they were assigning to me. I had to accept the offer and give payment within 24 hours. LOL I gave payment in 3 minutes!!!

If you bid now and your bid is accepted you are immediately charged and your cabin in changed to the new cabin, so now you really need to be OK with receiving your bid

 

[akeasley]

On 3/22/2023 at 5:03 PM, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

Interesting. I can’t think of any interior cabin that would be better than a balcony in any location. 

It was a balcony right beside the stairs and elevator so with two small kids we decided to pass just in case it was noisy.