Bidding on an upgrade

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

Any updates recently? Bid success? Upgrade prices on your journey?

[Csardas]

Were offered to bid for Britannia Club, Princess Grill or Queen's Grill from a Balcony. The price had come down a little since we booked so, for a laugh, put in the minimum bid for Q's Grill and got it!! Super excited now.

[Pushpit]

14 minutes ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

Any updates recently? Bid success? Upgrade prices on your journey?

I have had 2 bids in the last few weeks on separate sailings, one successful at $10 over the minimum (Outside to Balcony) and one unsuccessful, Balcony to Club, again $10 over the minimum. I suspected this would be the outcome, looking at the retail prices.

[Selbourne]

27 minutes ago, Csardas said:

Were offered to bid for Britannia Club, Princess Grill or Queen's Grill from a Balcony. The price had come down a little since we booked so, for a laugh, put in the minimum bid for Q's Grill and got it!! Super excited now.

Was the minimum bid that cheap though as, from my experience, the minimum bids are rarely any cheaper than having booked the higher grade accommodation in the first place (assuming that you book at a good time and not when prices are ‘ambitious’)? That’s certainly been the case with the cruises we have booked. 

Edited May 22 by Selbourne

[Csardas]

No, I phoned Cunard and asked about the increase to PG, based on our booking date. So extortionate that I didn't even ask about QG, so while it wasn't tuppence ha'penny of a bid, it still meant that we're getting an experience we couldn't/wouldn't have paid at time of booking. Looking on this as a special celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary in September.

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

How soon after you bid did you hear that it had been accepted? (To everyone)

[Csardas]

Only 2 or 3 days.

[MattAlexisStAndrews]

We heard the next day after submitting.   

Edited May 22 by MattAlexisStAndrews

[Winifred 22]

46 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Was the minimum bid that cheap though as, from my experience, the minimum bids are rarely any cheaper than having booked the higher grade accommodation in the first place (assuming that you book at a good time and not when prices are ‘ambitious’)? That’s certainly been the case with the cruises we have booked. 

I got an upgrade from forward inside to midship sheltered balcony  for much less than the original  booking price which was over a year earlier . I rang and checked before I bid and my bid was only just  over the minimum. Have not tried for next few cruises since  I am happy with what I have booked.

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

How soon after you bid did you hear that it had been accepted? (To everyone)

The successes you tend to hear back within a few days to 10 days. It's processed in Canada so you need to take their public holidays into account. Unsuccessful bids you hear about around 5 days to departure. The one thing I have not tried is if after 10 days you hear nothing whether adding a bit more on will re-spin the wheel again in one's favour.

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Was the minimum bid that cheap though as, from my experience, the minimum bids are rarely any cheaper than having booked the higher grade accommodation in the first place (assuming that you book at a good time and not when prices are ‘ambitious’)? That’s certainly been the case with the cruises we have booked. 

Clearly one needs to be careful and keep a careful check on this. But as a solo passenger (who watches fares fairly closely) I have used Plusgrade to get a Crossing in a sheltered balcony for an all-in cost below £1,000, when it was £1,400 at the time of booking. I've also got into PG for about 25% off the lowest price that I tracked.  PG is interesting since Plusgrade is quoted per person, so doubled up for a solo passenger, but the underlying Balcony cabin (in that scenario) was discounted by the usual 12% or so for a solo passenger. PG of course doesn't attract that solo discount.

[david,Mississauga]

We have twice received an invitation to bid on an upgrade for our Alaska cruise on the QE. We have booked a Q3 and the offer is for a Grand Suite Q1 with the bidding range of (Canadian) $8,180 to 11,100.  These suites are still selling at two almost identical fares - Memorial Day and Sailing Soon - and the fare difference is about $10,000.  

 

Three of the four Q1s have been available for a long time and still are.  We won't be bidding on this offer.

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

1 hour ago, Pushpit said:

The successes you tend to hear back within a few days to 10 days. It's processed in Canada so you need to take their public holidays into account. Unsuccessful bids you hear about around 5 days to departure. The one thing I have not tried is if after 10 days you hear nothing whether adding a bit more on will re-spin the wheel again in one's favour.

So…if I bid 21 days ago and say there’s still 50 days to go before I sail. This isn’t good news then? 
 

There’s been no change in the number of balcony cabins (which I bid for) and inside and outside are still sold out?

[Pushpit]

45 minutes ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

So…if I bid 21 days ago and say there’s still 50 days to go before I sail. This isn’t good news then? 
 

There’s been no change in the number of balcony cabins (which I bid for) and inside and outside are still sold out?

It doesn't look good, from my experience, so one option may be to raise your bid, though I have no insight as to whether second bids are effective. Having said that, as with all auctions it's best to know one's limits, after all it may be more cost effective to put the bid towards another sailing, or using it on things like alternative dining instead.

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

Ok so I’ve been doing a lot of digging and this is a really useful document run by someone over on the Azamara board. The upgrade system is still run by plus grade and it seems that a lot of time it’s usually the week to two weeks before…

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1pEoojQ5-EPmD4cI3gw1dVcYfYTXfZePdDXxU09l0H3M/htmlview

[Megabear2]

59 minutes ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

Ok so I’ve been doing a lot of digging and this is a really useful document run by someone over on the Azamara board. The upgrade system is still run by plus grade and it seems that a lot of time it’s usually the week to two weeks before…

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1pEoojQ5-EPmD4cI3gw1dVcYfYTXfZePdDXxU09l0H3M/htmlview

Goodness me, such dedication!

[ExArkie]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Goodness me, such dedication!

We have our first Azamara booking (transatlantic) for this Fall, so I have been on that board quite a bit recently. There are some seriously dedicated people on it, who put a lot of effort into getting good information out. Check the “information for cruisers new to Azamara” spreadsheet.

[Clewgarnet]

I'm a bit confused that I've been invited to put in a bid for an upgrade when all cabin classes above mine are sold out. Is the upgrade system so fully automated that it can't take account of that, or are they just getting their bases covered in case someone cancels?

 

Either way, I don't think I'll hold out hope for that Gorilla upgrade!

[buchanan101]

21 minutes ago, Clewgarnet said:

I'm a bit confused that I've been invited to put in a bid for an upgrade when all cabin classes above mine are sold out. Is the upgrade system so fully automated that it can't take account of that, or are they just getting their bases covered in case someone cancels?

 

Either way, I don't think I'll hold out hope for that Gorilla upgrade!

For if someone cancels. You can even bid on the top staterooms on QA of which there are only two...

 

Tempted by £1280+ for PG1 to Q5/Q6, but nice as they are, those are almost all fore and aft and although we are going to Norway in June, OH won't be happy if it is rough as she feels the motion more than I do.

 

[BEAV]

35 minutes ago, Clewgarnet said:

I'm a bit confused that I've been invited to put in a bid for an upgrade when all cabin classes above mine are sold out. Is the upgrade system so fully automated that it can't take account of that, or are they just getting their bases covered in case someone cancels?

@Clewgarnet

The bid upgrade system has nothing to do with current inventory levels. This is a common source of confusion across all the cruise line boards. Instead, it’s a brilliant and efficient way to capture and maximize revenue with regard to ever-changing inventory fluctuations. 
 

Example: Friends of mine recently sailed the new Sun Princess (debuted in February). A few weeks before departure Princess began soliciting people to take move over offers as the sailing was oversold. Simultaneously, my friends were invited to place up grade bids (administrated by the same 3rd party company Cunard contracts with). They thought it was pointless to place bids on an oversold sailing, but I encouraged them to roll the dice. A few days before departure their bid was accepted and they moved from a balcony to a suite. To their complete amazement, obviously! 😉
 

[Pushpit]

2 hours ago, Clewgarnet said:

I'm a bit confused that I've been invited to put in a bid for an upgrade when all cabin classes above mine are sold out. Is the upgrade system so fully automated that it can't take account of that, or are they just getting their bases covered in case someone cancels?

 

Either way, I don't think I'll hold out hope for that Gorilla upgrade!

Plusgrade was originally done for airlines and then moved to cruise lines (and railways, and apparently concerts and other events soon). It's big business, and Plusgrade - a Canadian company - only makes money when it confirms a deal. I don't know for certain but I suspect it's on a profit share with Carnival. On Lufthansa that's certainly the case.

 

I've seen exactly how it works in the airline industry and the deal is that the airline parks off x inventory to Plusgrade, and Plusgrade has this pseudo auction process where the inventory falls down the bids, Plusgrade want to fulfil as many bids as possible and Carnival wants them to be as high as possible. So long as Plusgrade has at least as many bids as inventory, everyone is seemingly happy, gorillas and godzillas included.

[Kynance]

Surprised and delighted when I checked emails this evening to see that my upgrade offer for a Britannia Club balcony cabin on QM2, sailing on 2 June has been accepted. The total cost for 7 days is roughly what I paid for 8 days back in 2017 doing a similar itinerary in early July in a deck 8 forward cabin (8004, I think). I have no idea what the A2s were retailing at when I originally booked - they may even have been sold out - but generally, I have always thought I could only justify the uplift in price over a Britannia balcony for a short voyage. I think I’ve probably done quite well out of this arrangement - I only offered what I thought it was worth to me and on this occasion, I seem to have been very fortunate.  Mr K and I both liked our A2 on deck 13 when we sailed last September and enjoyed the Club restaurant very much. Looking forward to the 2nd even more now!

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

Is the current train of thought they close the booking system down while they deal with upgrades?

 

I’ve been keeping a daily check on all available balcony cabins and it has fluctuated between 70-50 since upgrades opened. Today in the last 2 hours there is only 4 left down from 54 last night with multiple areas “sold out”.

[Pushpit]

9 minutes ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

Is the current train of thought they close the booking system down while they deal with upgrades?

 

I’ve been keeping a daily check on all available balcony cabins and it has fluctuated between 70-50 since upgrades opened. Today in the last 2 hours there is only 4 left down from 54 last night with multiple areas “sold out”.

Logically they would keep some direct sales available while Plusgrade is at work. If Cunard's available inventory goes down then their price goes up, at least in theory. That's conjecture on my part, but it looks like you've identified the number of balcony staterooms that Plusgrade needs to shift.

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

Is the current train of thought they close the booking system down while they deal with upgrades?

 

I’ve been keeping a daily check on all available balcony cabins and it has fluctuated between 70-50 since upgrades opened. Today in the last 2 hours there is only 4 left down from 54 last night with multiple areas “sold out”.

How far out from sailing Is it ?  When they allocate all the guarantee cabins out you see a huge shift in availability. I have been caught out before tracking cabins the see them all disappear