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Bidding on an upgrade

babs135

By babs135,
in Cunard Line

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techteach

techteach

Posted
Posted

Did the bidding thing with Celebrity last summer. I bid over $1,000. per person and did not get the bid. I really didn’t like the anticipation. In most cases you don’t find out about the upgrade until 2 days prior to sailing.

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Lynnewob

Lynnewob

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Posted

It's a shame it's only open to those who have booked directly.   

 

We have done upgrade bids on Azamara and Celebrity (booked via a TA) and they have worked very well.  We received acceptance of the offer 2 days before sail date.

 

Princess have now started doing upgrade bids. If booked in the UK, we are not eligible to bid though - if you are a UK customer booked through a US agency, you can bid, just not if booked in the UK, which is a shame.

 

You do not know what cabin you will get and have to take that risk, but certain grades of cabin can usually be identified beforehand - eg moving up from Celebrity Suite on Silhouette to Penthouse Suite was an easy way to tell as there's only 2 on the ship.   However, if moving from an aft balcony to a midships balcony, then it could be any cabin within the midships range.

 

@Host Hattie other forums (Celebrity and Azamara) have a sticky on upgrade bids.  If this becomes a thing with Cunard, it may be something you might wish to start on this board.

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Pear Carr

Pear Carr

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We have also received the email having booked our Queen Victoria cruise on 6/6 direct. Will likely have a punt for Princess grills for the benefit of the dining and grills lounge/terrace.  We have no interest in Club balcony given location of cabins (our chosen cabin is in a much better position) and separate dining options being the only benefit.

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Host Hattie

Host Hattie

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7 hours ago, techteach said:

Are you doing it @Host Hattie? If so, is there a way for you to see where you are in the process? Example: you make an offer, can you then see that it is pending? rejected? Which levels of cabins were available? Were there grill suites?

Probably, I'll let you know how the process goes. We can bid on Britannia Club and/or Princess Grill.

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Victoria2 Great Review Rare

Victoria2

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

Probably, I'll let you know how the process goes. We can bid on Britannia Club and/or Princess Grill.

That's interesting. Are Cunard restricting the grades you can apply for, or is QG full on your cruise and so no upgrades available?

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Altrincham Charter

Altrincham Charter

Posted
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11 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

The email has just arrived so there's the answer ! The only thing is there aren't many club cabins so I'm not that optimistic. 

Details are here -

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/stateroom-upgrade#faqs

 

My email has arrived too (just opened it this morning). I am tempted to submit an offer for Britannia Club, as I would quite like a high cabin (deck 12/13). 
 

At the same time, I am also happy with the location of the sheltered cabin that I’ve booked.

 

I’ve never done this before and it feels quite exciting to bid for a cabin 😀

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Windsurfboy Great Review Rare

Windsurfboy

Posted
Posted (edited)

My email arrived for my June cruise , note seems too late for earlier  April 7th cruise to be included in bidding. 

 

I was thinking of putting in a cheeky bid for upgrade from Q5 to Q1, but the minimum bid is £6650 per person.  So no thank you. OK this is a bit less than the £9200 a person full difference. But looks like Cunard dont want any sort of cheeky bids. Anyone prepared to bid £6650 pp to upgrade would most likely have been willing to pay full price.

 

Seems an odd strategy.  

Edited by Windsurfboy
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LadyL1 "Live from...." Rare

LadyL1

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Pear Carr said:

We have also received the email having booked our Queen Victoria cruise on 6/6 direct. Will likely have a punt for Princess grills for the benefit of the dining and grills lounge/terrace.  We have no interest in Club balcony given location of cabins (our chosen cabin is in a much better position) and separate dining options being the only benefit.

Sadly, you might find that you are allocated a deck 8 PG, below buffet, of which there have been some not so favourable comments.

I read the Cunard T&Cs, and there is no leeway to change upgraded room if not to one’s liking.

Edited by LadyL1
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Host Hattie

Host Hattie

Posted
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1 hour ago, babs135 said:

Does this new policy mean an end to free upgrades?  We've been upgraded twice now and always dream of being moved to a cabin we couldn't normally afford.

Possibly, I guess it depends how successful it is.

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abo

abo

Posted
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2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

My email arrived for my June cruise , note seems too late for earlier  April 7th cruise to be included in bidding. 

 

I was thinking of putting in a cheeky bid for upgrade from Q5 to Q1, but the minimum bid is £6650 per person.  So no thank you. OK this is a bit less than the £9200 a person full difference. But looks like Cunard dont want any sort of cheeky bids. Anyone prepared to bid £6650 pp to upgrade would most likely have been willing to pay full price.

 

Seems an odd strategy.  

We were so lucky a few years ago when we got the magic upgrade fairy move us from Q5 to Q1 for a Mediterranean cruise on Queen Elizabeth.  Having a suite that covered half the width of the ship with the wrap around balcony was incredible, we really did feel like royalty on that cruise.  Of course, we'd never expect that sort of upgrade again anyway, but there is a slight regret that with the bidding system, the upgrade fairy is well and truly retired.

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alc13

alc13

Posted
Posted

This looks like a smart move on the company's part.  People might bid more than what they would accept for a fixed price upgrade offer; or they might bid on an upgrade when previously they'd have been happy with their original purchase.  So either way, more revenues for the company.

 

Customers will like it because they'll have more chances at upgrades. Popular upgrades may end up going for close to the rebooking fares, though.

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Windsurfboy Great Review Rare

Windsurfboy

Posted
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4 hours ago, Chart Room Princess said:

For my June 6 QV departure I am seeing from $490 pp for BC and from $1080 pp for PG. No offers for QG.

 

How do these compare to the normal fare difference,  my minimums were 2/3rds of normal fare difference, so not a bargain. 

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