Upgrade Bids, do they fluctuate?

[Cruisegirl138]

I haven't cruised in years so this bidding for an upgrade is new to me.  I booked an interior guarantee on the Oasis which I am dreading, but only because my family all booked balconies and I was late to the party and missed the great price, so only this was affordable.  So now I get an email for balcony bids and they are $390 pp.  That's a lot for me.  There are other categories that are less but afraid that if I put a bid in one of the others and the balcony goes down, I may miss that. What are the chances, anyone know?   I may just put in bids for the ocean views since they are much cheaper just to get out of the interiors.   I'm curious to know everyone's experience with this.  Thanks. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Cruisegirl138

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, Cruisegirl138 said:

I haven't cruised in years so this bidding for an upgrade is new to me.  I booked an interior guarantee on the Oasis which I am dreading, but only because my family all booked balconies and I was late to the party and missed the great price, so only this was affordable.  So now I get an email for balcony bids and they are $390 pp.  That's a lot for me.  There are other categories that are less but afraid that if I put a bid in one of the others and the balcony goes down, I may miss that. What are the chances, anyone know?   I may just put in bids for the ocean views since they are much cheaper just to get out of the interiors.   I'm curious to know everyone's experience with this.  Thanks. 

With ships sailing full and some even being oversold the number of successful upgrade bids is extremely low, you almost certainly won't get it with a minimum bid.  

Edited June 7, 2023 by Ourusualbeach

[Cruisegirl138]

Thank you.  Being that the minimum is too much money for me now, I may not even bother lol.  

[goldfish65]

You may find you enjoy the interior cabin just fine, especially if you'll have the cabin to yourself. 

[Brehede]

We had a bid just over the minimum €250 per person for a balcony accepted for Enchantment of the Seas recently (sailed May 29th) - it is an older ship and seemed to have a lot of availability. I didn’t expect to be upgraded with a low bid. We were in an Oceanview originally

[JK805]

My experience has been that usually the minimum goes up as it gets closer to sail date. I usually like to wait until I get my cabin assignment if I booked a GTY before I consider a bid to see where I end up or if the ~1% chance or so I get a better category without paying for it. But there are a lot of factors that play into whether I decide to bid or not.

[Cruise a holic]

Just enjoy your cabin.  So nice to spend time with family and friends-

[Cruisegirl138]

12 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

Just enjoy your cabin.  So nice to spend time with family and friends-

yes I agree.  I just need a window at least. I can deal with no having a balcony as much as I love it, it's the guarantee interior that is scary.  who knows where they will stick me on the ship lol 

[Cruisegirl138]

12 hours ago, JK805 said:

My experience has been that usually the minimum goes up as it gets closer to sail date. I usually like to wait until I get my cabin assignment if I booked a GTY before I consider a bid to see where I end up or if the ~1% chance or so I get a better category without paying for it. But there are a lot of factors that play into whether I decide to bid or not.

oh yeah up more would be worse lol 

[new_cruiser]

23 hours ago, Cruisegirl138 said:

I haven't cruised in years so this bidding for an upgrade is new to me.  I booked an interior guarantee on the Oasis which I am dreading, but only because my family all booked balconies and I was late to the party and missed the great price, so only this was affordable.  So now I get an email for balcony bids and they are $390 pp.  That's a lot for me.  There are other categories that are less but afraid that if I put a bid in one of the others and the balcony goes down, I may miss that. What are the chances, anyone know?   I may just put in bids for the ocean views since they are much cheaper just to get out of the interiors.   I'm curious to know everyone's experience with this.  Thanks. 

You don't mention when the cruise is. If it's more than a few weeks away, you could continue to watch the prices and call to request an upgrade if there is a price drop/sale. I'm on my way to an Alaska cruise now. I'd initially booked an ocean view guarantee. The balcony guarantee price dropped to about $200 pp but that was gone a couple of days later when I'd decided to go for it. Price was way up but I kept checking it and one day the price was down even lower so I called and they changed me to a balcony guarantee for an extra $120 pp. 

 

This is on a fairly full sailing after final payment. There were times when one class or another showed as sold out.

Edited June 7, 2023 by new_cruiser

[Cruisegirl138]

13 hours ago, JK805 said:

My experience has been that usually the minimum goes up as it gets closer to sail date. I usually like to wait until I get my cabin assignment if I booked a GTY before I consider a bid to see where I end up or if the ~1% chance or so I get a better category without paying for it. But there are a lot of factors that play into whether I decide to bid or not.

 

10 hours ago, Tin can said:

We didn't find the app chat feature at all reliable or the wifi in general out of NJ.

 

Apparently you can get notifications with the app messenger but we couldn't get it to work and most messages were not received or received the following day.

 

5 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

You don't mention when the cruise is. If it's more than a few weeks away, you could continue to watch the prices and call to request an upgrade if there is a price drop/sale. I'm on my way to an Alaska cruise now. I'd initially booked an ocean view guarantee. The balcony guarantee price dropped to about $200 pp but that was gone a couple of days later when I'd decided to go for it. Price was way up but I kept checking it and one day the price was down even lower so I called and they changed me to a balcony guarantee for an extra $120 pp. 

 

This is on a fairly full sailing after final payment. There were times when one class or another showed as sold out.

 

5 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

You don't mention when the cruise is. If it's more than a few weeks away, you could continue to watch the prices and call to request an upgrade if there is a price drop/sale. I'm on my way to an Alaska cruise now. I'd initially booked an ocean view guarantee. The balcony guarantee price dropped to about $200 pp but that was gone a couple of days later when I'd decided to go for it. Price was way up but I kept checking it and one day the price was down even lower so I called and they changed me to a balcony guarantee for an extra $120 pp. 

 

This is on a fairly full sailing after final payment. There were times when one class or another showed as sold out.

Sorry the cruise is August 4th. I just booked so it’s all going fast. In the past I never had to do any of this. Reserve activities ahead, beverage package, bid for upgrade. It’s work. I want to relax on vacation lol 

[new_cruiser]

34 minutes ago, Cruisegirl138 said:

 

 

 

Sorry the cruise is August 4th. I just booked so it’s all going fast. In the past I never had to do any of this. Reserve activities ahead, beverage package, bid for upgrade. It’s work. I want to relax on vacation lol 

I understand completely. Most of my cruises are on a small ship line, Windstar, where everything seems much simpler. Nothing to reserve ahead unless there's a particularly special excursion. All non-alcoholic beverages included and we don't drink enough for the alcohol beverage plan to be worth it.

 

I'm going on this ship to be with family but I'm a bit nervous about it after reading the comments here about the food especially since I have some foods I have to avoid.

 

BTW, the price drop I got was about 16 days before my cruise.

[Cruisegirl138]

5 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

I understand completely. Most of my cruises are on a small ship line, Windstar, where everything seems much simpler. Nothing to reserve ahead unless there's a particularly special excursion. All non-alcoholic beverages included and we don't drink enough for the alcohol beverage plan to be worth it.

 

I'm going on this ship to be with family but I'm a bit nervous about it after reading the comments here about the food especially since I have some foods I have to avoid.

 

BTW, the price drop I got was about 16 days before my cruise.

Oh wow thanks.  I probably should’ve considered all this before I booked. My family had booked a few months back and I just booked last week. So I didn’t realize about all the reservations and stuff.