Bidding for an upgrade.

[Scotsrich]

Slightly unusual circumstances here but I’ve got a fully paid up cruise booked for October on a cheapo inside cabin on the Resilient Lady.

 

But I still have £525 left on FVC which expires just before that cruise.

 

Im hoping that I can use this to bid for an upgrade (obviously I’ll need to contact sailor services )

 

I’ve never tried to bid before on any holiday so I’m starting from a low bar.

 

The difference between my cabin and a terrace is about £900.

 

Had anyone bid for upgrades and have you any idea if my FVC would be enough?

 

Like I said, a very vague question but hopefully someone has some experience of bidding.

[Lustate]

Hiya,

FVC cannot be used for upgrades, it’s a separate system. 

[cantgetin]

As above, FVC cannot be used for an upgrade.  If you get the bidding for upgrade email, it will list the minimum bid based on exactly what you booked and listing each cabin you can bid on.  How much the upgrade is "selling" for has lots of variables including how many cabins are available to upgrade into.  For instance, if they have 300 Sea Terraces available, they'll be upgrading for a lot less than if they only have 5 open!  They will also accept bids on cabins that are not available.  Specifically, they were listing bid prices for suites, when no suites had been available for at least 6 months (yes, I know about TA holds, but those do expire).  Probably because that cruise was only half sold, many people were successful in upgrading to various levels of Sea Terrace for reasonable rates.  The upgrade bid rates are per cabin, not per person.  

You already know the key figure--how much it would cost to go from your current cabin to the one you want now.  From here, it is just a matter of how much you want to bid if you get the upgrade email.  A reasonable guess based on the letters I've seen is about half of what it would have cost to book the better cabin originally, but there are so many variables that this becomes "just a guess."  You can also ask about upgrades at the port on embarkation day.  There will be a person with a clipboard who can tell you exactly what it will cost in dollars, based on your booking and what is available.  At that point it is a flat fee, not a negotiation