Bid to upgrade timescales

[WelshmanAtSea]

Its 6 Weeks until our Arvia Med cruise and today I received the email to bid for upgrade. As discussed on previous threads the bids are not great value and as I've a GC grade Balcony booked I am not taking the risk of bidding on a Delux Balcony or Conservatory Mini Suite as I could end up on deck 8. That just leaves a Suite with a minimum bid of £910 Per Person. I am thinking of putting in a bid just above the minimum although if you try book a Suite today there are none available so do wonder if there is much point?

 

Could anyone that has a bid accepted let me know how far in advance of the cruise they accepted your offer? Having upgraded via bids with Princess & MSC in the past it was approximately 3 weeks before departure they accepted my bid. 

[scouse mouse]

We had our bid accepted 3 weeks before our cruise.  This was for an upgrade from an inside to a balcony.  We bid about £20 over the min bid - so £160 each.  Considering we only paid £499 each for our inside we’ve done very well indeed.  This is on Iona, 7 night Norwegian Fjords cruise.

[Megabear2]

19 hours ago, WelshmanAtSea said:

Its 6 Weeks until our Arvia Med cruise and today I received the email to bid for upgrade. As discussed on previous threads the bids are not great value and as I've a GC grade Balcony booked I am not taking the risk of bidding on a Delux Balcony or Conservatory Mini Suite as I could end up on deck 8. That just leaves a Suite with a minimum bid of £910 Per Person. I am thinking of putting in a bid just above the minimum although if you try book a Suite today there are none available so do wonder if there is much point?

 

Could anyone that has a bid accepted let me know how far in advance of the cruise they accepted your offer? Having upgraded via bids with Princess & MSC in the past it was approximately 3 weeks before departure they accepted my bid. 

Be careful with the suite.  Don't forget the family suites on deck 8 are included.  There was a case mentioned elsewhere of someone being upgraded to one of these as a couple and being unhappy as there's no balcony.  Certainly on quite a few Arvia cruises these as the remaining suites.

[WelshmanAtSea]

Thanks Megabear, that seems to have been recognised by P&O and addressed. The upgrade options I have been given are : 

 

Suite, with Balcony £910 PP Minimum 

Family Suite (Sea View) £850 PP Minimum 

Conservatory Mini Suite £540 PP Minimum 

Conservatory Mini Suite, Promenade Deck £540 Minimum 

Balcony Deluxe £300 PP Minimum 

 

As you can see they are now clearly stating Suite with a Balcony or Family Suite with a Sea View. As mentioned in my 1st post I would be happy with a Conservatory Mini Suite on Deck 9 and from the list you can assume they are now offering that as they are clearly listing Mini Suites on the Promenade deck. However I am old, cynical and one for detail, what they are also not doing is clearly listing Conservatory Mini Suite - Deck 9 so therefore I will not be bidding. Detail is in the wording. 

 

I really think I don't have much hope of getting a suite as there are none available to book. There are quite a few Conservatory Mini Suites on both Deck 8 and 9 still available so its a shame the description is not a little clearer as I would not mind trying one. 

 

 

[WelshmanAtSea]

3 hours ago, scouse mouse said:

We had our bid accepted 3 weeks before our cruise.  This was for an upgrade from an inside to a balcony.  We bid about £20 over the min bid - so £160 each.  Considering we only paid £499 each for our inside we’ve done very well indeed.  This is on Iona, 7 night Norwegian Fjords cruise.

 

Having had a balcony on Iona to the Fjords myself you've had a great deal. Just being able to watch the world go by with a Coffee in the morning is so relaxing. Have a great time. 

[scouse mouse]

Thank you Welshmanatsea.  We are currently in your beautiful country in our caravan.  Mind I am biased, both my parents were Welsh.

[tring]

On 6/29/2023 at 10:02 PM, WelshmanAtSea said:

Its 6 Weeks until our Arvia Med cruise and today I received the email to bid for upgrade.

 

We are booked on B2B cruises starting 27th August and 3rd September, (so within 6 weeks of both), but have not received an email about an upgrade bid possibility for either, nor have I seen anything about it on our login for these cruises.  It is unlikely we would want to make a bid, but would have liked to see what was suggested as possibilities, never say never.  Are the emails something that is sent to some people and not others?  We never get the questionnaires either, but are opted in to emails.  

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by tring

[Britboys]

26 minutes ago, tring said:

 

We are booked on B2B cruises starting 27th August and 3rd September, (so within 6 weeks of both), but have not received an email about an upgrade bid possibility for either, nor have I seen anything about it on our login for these cruises.  It is unlikely we would want to make a bid, but would have liked to see what was suggested as possibilities, never say never.  Are the emails something that is sent to some people and not others?  We never get the questionnaires either, but are opted in to emails.  

 

My next cruise is on Aurora in an outside cabin. I haven't received an invitation to bid so am guessing the ship is pretty full...

[tring]

16 minutes ago, Britboys said:

My next cruise is on Aurora in an outside cabin. I haven't received an invitation to bid so am guessing the ship is pretty full...

 

Thanks for the reply.  Ours is not as there have been some big solo reductions apparently and someone on our roll call has heard about it earlier this month.  Just read a bit more though, and on the thread which first mentioned it in March, molecrochip said it was being rolled for people who booked direct with P&O first.  We booked via an agent, so perhaps that is an explanation.

[Cathygh]

Yes only direct bookings with P&O are getting the bid to upgrade email atm. They seem to go out fairly soon after the final balance has been paid. Some people who didn't bid get a second email.

[Cloudyrain]

We were offered an upgrade within a month of final payment, and then a month later the offer was accepted (minimum bid), and we were allocated a top grade for the category room (which was a shock, I was expecting the lowest grade) the month before the sailing. We are very happy with the process.

 

We booked this one direct though, usually we go via a TA, and I understand it’s currently only direct booking. We cruised with MSC in the past who do the upgrade system and we were offered it even though we had booked via TA so I would expect P&O will possibly do the same - unless it proves popular and they want to keep it as a USP.

[Britboys]

32 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Yes only direct bookings with P&O are getting the bid to upgrade email atm. They seem to go out fairly soon after the final balance has been paid. Some people who didn't bid get a second email.

Thanks for that. I booked through an agent. Not really bothered though as travelling solo you have to pay double anyway...

[Selbourne]

I’ve yet to see any convincing examples of where these upgrades represent genuine bargains. 
 

To take a recent example of an inside booked for £499pp which was upgraded to a balcony for £160pp. That comes to £649pp which is £93pppn. I have recently booked 3 P&O cruises in balcony cabins on a Select basis, where I have been able to select our cabin (rather than have what’s left allocated by P&O), for that price or less. These bookings were on Britannia and Ventura, but Iona and Arvia can be even cheaper and, being Select booking, they came with free parking and other benefits. 
 

What am I missing? Are there genuine bargains to be had or is it all kidology, making people think that they are getting a bargain when they aren’t? 
 

 

[Megabear2]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve yet to see any convincing examples of where these upgrades represent genuine bargains. 
 

To take a recent example of an inside booked for £499pp which was upgraded to a balcony for £160pp. That comes to £649pp which is £93pppn. I have recently booked 3 P&O cruises in balcony cabins on a Select basis, where I have been able to select our cabin (rather than have what’s left allocated by P&O), for that price or less. These bookings were on Britannia and Ventura, but Iona and Arvia can be even cheaper and, being Select booking, they came with free parking and other benefits. 
 

What am I missing? Are there genuine bargains to be had or is it all kidology, making people think that they are getting a bargain when they aren’t? 
 

 

It depends very much on the cruise you are buying.  Looking at a standard balcony for 2 people on the following 14 night cruises at current prices you won't get a select fare for £93pp a night:

 

Britannia - B324N - 22/9/2023 £4798 (£342.71 per cabin a night)

                   B414N - 07/6/2024 £4698 (£ 335.57 per cabin a night)

 

Ventura  -  N332 - 28/10/2023 £4698 (£335.57 per cabin a night)

                   N410 - 11/5/2024  £4158 (£297.00 per cabin a night)

 

Arvia      -   K318 - 03/9/2023 £4298 (£307 per cabin a night)

               -   K410 - 12/05/2024 £3598 (£354.14 per cabin a night)

 

Iona       -   G333 - 23/09/2023 £4198 (£299.85 per cabin a night)

               -   G406 - 16/03/2024 £3398 (£242.71  per cabin a night)

 

I picked these cruises at random to get them around the same dates, apart from Iona where I chose the latest 14 night cruise before she goes to Norway..  Obviously they all have an OBC offer on them as well but currently the 2024 Arvia cruise has enhanced OBC at £480 and Iona £360, the remainder having around £240 - £280.

 

These select fares are also the lead fares (guaranteed no cabin choice). To pick a specific location/cabin prices can go up by £60 to £110pp on top depending where they are. The Arvia and Iona ones are the smaller rear cabins so as I know from experience may have the noise issues.

 

Ventura is doing less 14 night cruises than the other ships so the Canary Islands destination is reflected in her pricing.  Last time I spoke to P&O they told me that demand for the Canaries is very high.

 

Basically if you have taken the saver fare on any of these cruises the bid may well be worth it, eg on G406 a saver balcony is £700 less than the select offering and the saver inside comes in at £1798 (£64.21pp a night).   The saving from inside to balcony on the saver would be £900, still a hefty difference.

 

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

It depends very much on the cruise you are buying.  Looking at a standard balcony for 2 people on the following 14 night cruises at current prices you won't get a select fare for £93pp a night:

 

Britannia - B324N - 22/9/2023 £4798 (£342.71 per cabin a night)

                   B414N - 07/6/2024 £4698 (£ 335.57 per cabin a night)

 

Ventura  -  N332 - 28/10/2023 £4698 (£335.57 per cabin a night)

                   N410 - 11/5/2024  £4158 (£297.00 per cabin a night)

 

Arvia      -   K318 - 03/9/2023 £4298 (£307 per cabin a night)

               -   K410 - 12/05/2024 £3598 (£354.14 per cabin a night)

 

Iona       -   G333 - 23/09/2023 £4198 (£299.85 per cabin a night)

               -   G406 - 16/03/2024 £3398 (£242.71  per cabin a night)

 

I picked these cruises at random to get them around the same dates, apart from Iona where I chose the latest 14 night cruise before she goes to Norway..  Obviously they all have an OBC offer on them as well but currently the 2024 Arvia cruise has enhanced OBC at £480 and Iona £360, the remainder having around £240 - £280.

 

These select fares are also the lead fares (guaranteed no cabin choice). To pick a specific location/cabin prices can go up by £60 to £110pp on top depending where they are. The Arvia and Iona ones are the smaller rear cabins so as I know from experience may have the noise issues.

 

Ventura is doing less 14 night cruises than the other ships so the Canary Islands destination is reflected in her pricing.  Last time I spoke to P&O they told me that demand for the Canaries is very high.

 

Basically if you have taken the saver fare on any of these cruises the bid may well be worth it, eg on G406 a saver balcony is £700 less than the select offering and the saver inside comes in at £1798 (£64.21pp a night).   The saving from inside to balcony on the saver would be £900, still a hefty difference.

 

That Iona G406 cruise in January is costing me £2254 at £161 per night for a select cabin deck 10 forward cabin allocated so that's £555 for single occupancy. I have no idea how I am going to spend the £350 OBC plus £150 shareholder benefit

[Selbourne]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

It depends very much on the cruise you are buying.  Looking at a standard balcony for 2 people on the following 14 night cruises at current prices you won't get a select fare for £93pp a night:

 

Britannia - B324N - 22/9/2023 £4798 (£342.71 per cabin a night)

                   B414N - 07/6/2024 £4698 (£ 335.57 per cabin a night)

 

Ventura  -  N332 - 28/10/2023 £4698 (£335.57 per cabin a night)

                   N410 - 11/5/2024  £4158 (£297.00 per cabin a night)

 

Arvia      -   K318 - 03/9/2023 £4298 (£307 per cabin a night)

               -   K410 - 12/05/2024 £3598 (£354.14 per cabin a night)

 

Iona       -   G333 - 23/09/2023 £4198 (£299.85 per cabin a night)

               -   G406 - 16/03/2024 £3398 (£242.71  per cabin a night)

 

I picked these cruises at random to get them around the same dates, apart from Iona where I chose the latest 14 night cruise before she goes to Norway..  Obviously they all have an OBC offer on them as well but currently the 2024 Arvia cruise has enhanced OBC at £480 and Iona £360, the remainder having around £240 - £280.

 

These select fares are also the lead fares (guaranteed no cabin choice). To pick a specific location/cabin prices can go up by £60 to £110pp on top depending where they are. The Arvia and Iona ones are the smaller rear cabins so as I know from experience may have the noise issues.

 

Ventura is doing less 14 night cruises than the other ships so the Canary Islands destination is reflected in her pricing.  Last time I spoke to P&O they told me that demand for the Canaries is very high.

 

Basically if you have taken the saver fare on any of these cruises the bid may well be worth it, eg on G406 a saver balcony is £700 less than the select offering and the saver inside comes in at £1798 (£64.21pp a night).   The saving from inside to balcony on the saver would be £900, still a hefty difference.

 

The cruises that you have quoted all seem to be at very high prices, presumably because they are all within 12 months of sail date, and I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for any of them. I strongly suspect that they have all been on sale for considerably less at some stage. One example has already been given where someone is paying significantly less for one of those cruises and I can give another.

 

We are booked on Ventura N332 which your figures show is currently on sale for £4,698 (£335.57 per night) for a standard balcony cabin on a guarantee basis (no cabin choice). We have booked a Superior Deluxe balcony cabin (which obviously costs more than a standard balcony cabin) on a Select basis, where we picked and secured our first choice cabin, and paid £2,714 (£193.86 per night). We haven’t got OBC with that (other than my shareholder benefit) but we do get free parking on top of that. 
 

My point is not that you can’t pay considerably more for cruises, because you obviously can, but that if you book at the right time you could get a far better price than relying on the upgrade system, with the risks of a poor cabin location that comes with it. Someone booking our Ventura cruise today at £4,698 and ‘successfully’ bidding £100 each to secure a Superior Deluxe cabin may feel that they have secured a bargain if the price differential between the two cabin grades is usually more than that, but their £4,898 will compare against our £2,714 🤔

Edited July 29, 2023 by Selbourne

[Cathygh]

At the moment there isn't enough information to say whether the bidding system gets a bargain or not as not enough people have posted information about their bids. 

Besides some people might not bid for the reason of getting a bargain, but maybe they just like the idea?

[Cloudyrain]

13 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve yet to see any convincing examples of where these upgrades represent genuine bargains. 
 

To take a recent example of an inside booked for £499pp which was upgraded to a balcony for £160pp. That comes to £649pp which is £93pppn. I have recently booked 3 P&O cruises in balcony cabins on a Select basis, where I have been able to select our cabin (rather than have what’s left allocated by P&O), for that price or less. These bookings were on Britannia and Ventura, but Iona and Arvia can be even cheaper and, being Select booking, they came with free parking and other benefits. 
 

What am I missing? Are there genuine bargains to be had or is it all kidology, making people think that they are getting a bargain when they aren’t? 
 

 

Our winning bid was £100 total to upgrade from a low category select balcony cabin to a top category superior deluxe balcony. When we originally booked it would have been a £400 price difference for the lowest category SD. I think we got a bargain - and most importantly it was a price I was happy to pay.
 

there will be genuine bargains: there will also be offers that are around the same as original booking price.

 

it’s early days for P&O operating this system, and if it ends up like MSC there will be a mix of amazing bargains and downright extortionate pricing I expect 😂

[Megabear2]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

The cruises that you have quoted all seem to be at very high prices, presumably because they are all within 12 months of sail date, and I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for any of them. I strongly suspect that they have all been on sale for considerably less at some stage. One example has already been given where someone is paying significantly less for one of those cruises and I can give another.

 

We are booked on Ventura N332 which your figures show is currently on sale for £4,698 (£335.57 per night) for a standard balcony cabin on a guarantee basis (no cabin choice). We have booked a Superior Deluxe balcony cabin (which obviously costs more than a standard balcony cabin) on a Select basis, where we picked and secured our first choice cabin, and paid £2,714 (£193.86 per night). We haven’t got OBC with that (other than my shareholder benefit) but we do get free parking on top of that. 
 

My point is not that you can’t pay considerably more for cruises, because you obviously can, but that if you book at the right time you could get a far better price than relying on the upgrade system, with the risks of a poor cabin location that comes with it. Someone booking our Ventura cruise today at £4,698 and ‘successfully’ bidding £100 each to secure a Superior Deluxe cabin may feel that they have secured a bargain if the price differential between the two cabin grades is usually more than that, but their £4,898 will compare against our £2,714 🤔

As you know I monitor the difference between select and saver fares on P&O cruises as a hobby!

 

B514 which is the Britannia 10 year anniversary cruise starts at £3698 for a balcony, so yes slightly cheaper if you book a long way out but how many eager bidders are committed to two year ahead booking? Again the long time out bookers normally do it to secure their cabin choice/location.

 

Only on a few occasions is the select fare reduced to anywhere near your figures.  My point is that the people likely to go for the bid will be those booked on the saver fare which means they have no idea of where their cabin will be in the first place and are happy to bid on a "leftover" cabin with the same risk. They are likely to think a balcony of whatever type is a step up.  

 

It's been discussed here previously that those who booked select and chose a specific cabin aren't going to be inclined to bid.

 

 

[WelshmanAtSea]

Just a little update on my bidding experience. 

 

I cancelled my bids. I booked a GC Guarantee but on allocation last week I got a GA Grade, Mid Ship Deck 14, given the excellent location I did not want to take the risk of getting my bid accepted only to end up in worse location.

 

I'm delighted with the Cabin we have been given so just sitting back and looking forward to the cruise. Restaurant reservations open tonight so I'll be online making sure I get everything booked, hopefully avoiding any onboard frustrations. Epicurean, Sindhu and Beach House on a 3 day rotation for the whole cruise is the plan. 

 

I would agree with what previous posts have stated, there's very limited real life feedback with actual numbers being shared to get a true picture of how the bid to upgrade process is actually working. 

[Selbourne]

45 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

Our winning bid was £100 total to upgrade from a low category select balcony cabin to a top category superior deluxe balcony. When we originally booked it would have been a £400 price difference for the lowest category SD. I think we got a bargain - and most importantly it was a price I was happy to pay.
 

there will be genuine bargains: there will also be offers that are around the same as original booking price.

 

it’s early days for P&O operating this system, and if it ends up like MSC there will be a mix of amazing bargains and downright extortionate pricing I expect 😂

I’m pleased to hear that you are happy with your outcome. I guess the point I was trying to make is that whilst the price difference for the upgrade might be less than the price difference at the time that someone booked, the actual total price that people may end up paying, even after a successful upgrade, may still be more than the cruise had previously been on sale for. Hope that makes sense 😂 

[terrierjohn]

58 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

Our winning bid was £100 total to upgrade from a low category select balcony cabin to a top category superior deluxe balcony. When we originally booked it would have been a £400 price difference for the lowest category SD. I think we got a bargain - and most importantly it was a price I was happy to pay.
 

there will be genuine bargains: there will also be offers that are around the same as original booking price.

 

it’s early days for P&O operating this system, and if it ends up like MSC there will be a mix of amazing bargains and downright extortionate pricing I expect 😂

Do you know your cabin number yet, and is it perfectly acceptable?

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

As you know I monitor the difference between select and saver fares on P&O cruises as a hobby!

 

B514 which is the Britannia 10 year anniversary cruise starts at £3698 for a balcony, so yes slightly cheaper if you book a long way out but how many eager bidders are committed to two year ahead booking? Again the long time out bookers normally do it to secure their cabin choice/location.

 

Only on a few occasions is the select fare reduced to anywhere near your figures.  My point is that the people likely to go for the bid will be those booked on the saver fare which means they have no idea of where their cabin will be in the first place and are happy to bid on a "leftover" cabin with the same risk. They are likely to think a balcony of whatever type is a step up.  

 

It's been discussed here previously that those who booked select and chose a specific cabin aren't going to be inclined to bid.

 

 

As P&O have a general policy of low prices with little or no OBC, or higher prices with sometimes large OBC, I tend to work on the Select fare less OBC to get to a ‘net’ price that I’m happy to pay. The Ventura cruise that I gave the figures for was booked at launch, so the price was the actual cruise price at the time for a Superior Deluxe, with no OBC deducted. 
 

The Britannia cruise that we’ve just returned from was booked just after balance due date and our March 24 Ventura cruise was booked in April this year, so neither of them at launch. Using my ‘net’ price calculation, both cruises are below my £100pppn target for a balcony cabin on a Select basis, with free parking. 
 

I guess that all I’m trying to understand is whether or not this upgrade system is resulting in bargain prices and, so far, I don’t think I’ve seen anything that has convinced me that it is. Quoting price differentials between cabin grades at the time of booking versus time of upgrade, whilst interesting, doesn’t in itself indicate that a bargain price for the total cruise has been achieved. For example, someone who successfully bids £50 for an upgrade on one of the cruises we have booked, thinking that’s a bargain because the difference when they booked was much more than that, may still be paying considerably more than we are paying having booked that grade in the first place, even though we booked on a Select basis and have our first pick of cabins. I may not be explaining myself clearly, but I know what I mean 😂 
 

 

[Cloudyrain]

6 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Do you know your cabin number yet, and is it perfectly acceptable?

Yes, literally perfect 

[Cloudyrain]

7 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’m pleased to hear that you are happy with your outcome. I guess the point I was trying to make is that whilst the price difference for the upgrade might be less than the price difference at the time that someone booked, the actual total price that people may end up paying, even after a successful upgrade, may still be more than the cruise had previously been on sale for. Hope that makes sense 😂 

Totally makes sense 😂

 

I have been watching prices (I have a few cruises under my belt) and with the upgraded bid it’s a lot less than we could have booked.