1st Time Offered an upgrade bid Coral Princess

[BuzzBuzzen]

I had heard and read about these bidding things and finally got one ! We are currently booked in an M1 Mini Suite. To upgrade to a Premium Suite : From $10699 pp. To upgrade to a Vista Suite :From $1685 pp. These are for the 35 night cruise in March 2024. Wallet stays zipped for us. Cheers, Buzz.

[Jean C]

We were very happy in our recent mini suite - extra room on balcony with a footstall, and extra room and a couch in the "lounge". Also a very rich moisturising body lotion in the bathroom, fantastic for legs. Didn't particularly like the bath over the shower - I'd seen a video on line where the tile grout looked particularly discolored and yuk, but ours was much better and wasn't scary! Only real downside for us was that we shared with two granddaughters who preferred cave-like living and always had the drapes closed. Other than my rule of nothing on the floor, every other surface they were allowed to use was an untidy mess 🥴 They also thought nothing of using every towel in the bathroom, even though our steward left us extra! But other than that, the mini suite was a treat 😊

[Ozwoody]

11 minutes ago, Jean C said:

We were very happy in our recent mini suite - extra room on balcony with a footstall, and extra room and a couch in the "lounge". Also a very rich moisturising body lotion in the bathroom, fantastic for legs. Didn't particularly like the bath over the shower - I'd seen a video on line where the tile grout looked particularly discolored and yuk, but ours was much better and wasn't scary! Only real downside for us was that we shared with two granddaughters who preferred cave-like living and always had the drapes closed. Other than my rule of nothing on the floor, every other surface they were allowed to use was an untidy mess 🥴 They also thought nothing of using every towel in the bathroom, even though our steward left us extra! But other than that, the mini suite was a treat 😊

Hi Jean, I'm with you I would not like a bath over the shower either, be difficult getting up there at my age. 😂

[OzKiwiJJ]

I actually find the shower over the bath much easier than those tiny balcony cabin shower cubicles on Coral, despite my wonky knee. I just have to be careful getting in and out but it's not difficult. The added bonus is much more space to wash in and being able to prop my foot on the end of the bath when washing my leg.

[Jean C]

5 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Hi Jean, I'm with you I would not like a bath over the shower either, be difficult getting up there at my age. 😂

I too prefer to just step in. Temperature/water pressure knobs took some getting used to, I must be a slow learner as it took me a couple of days to figure out which knob was which! Every time our steward serviced the room the shower was switched to bath mode, grrr. Feet would also get a bath from the slow draining plug.  Keith, being a gentleman or just simply savvy, always lets me shower first, that way the temperature is already set for him 😄.  Showers over the bath always seem a bit grubbier to me, being darker and dingier.  Being a grub-a-phobe I'd never use a well worn, grubby'ish bath, I wonder if people actually use the bath 🛀? I much prefer a regular shower 🚿 

 

PS, balcony has a footstool (not stall) 😧

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

I had heard and read about these bidding things and finally got one ! We are currently booked in an M1 Mini Suite. To upgrade to a Premium Suite : From $10699 pp. To upgrade to a Vista Suite :From $1685 pp. These are for the 35 night cruise in March 2024. Wallet stays zipped for us. Cheers, Buzz.

I would be tempted to put in a lowish bid for the Vista Suite. The suites are lovely but there is no different between Vista and Premium other than location, and personally I think the Vista Suites are a nicer location.

[arxcards]

48 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

I had heard and read about these bidding things and finally got one ! We are currently booked in an M1 Mini Suite. To upgrade to a Premium Suite : From $10699 pp. To upgrade to a Vista Suite :From $1685 pp. These are for the 35 night cruise in March 2024. Wallet stays zipped for us. Cheers, Buzz.

Is this via the upgrade auction or a direct offer from your agent/Princess? The auction is somewhat automatic, and you get them for every cruise. If you don't get the email, you can still access it from the personaliser.

 

There is a rub though. In most cases you are bidding for cabins that aren't available. All of the suites on this cruise are currently sold-out. We have also received the same offer for our February cruise, and the suites have been waitlisted for months.

[patch nine]

2 hours ago, Jean C said:

I too prefer to just step in. Temperature/water pressure knobs took some getting used to, I must be a slow learner as it took me a couple of days to figure out which knob was which! Every time our steward serviced the room the shower was switched to bath mode, grrr. Feet would also get a bath from the slow draining plug.  Keith, being a gentleman or just simply savvy, always lets me shower first, that way the temperature is already set for him 😄.  Showers over the bath always seem a bit grubbier to me, being darker and dingier.  Being a grub-a-phobe I'd never use a well worn, grubby'ish bath, I wonder if people actually use the bath 🛀? I much prefer a regular shower 🚿 

 

PS, balcony has a footstool (not stall) 😧

Ha Ha.  Glad it wasn't just me who had trouble with this!  First day I just couldn't work it out then for a couple of days kept muddling up the hot/cold and the pressure dials so either got scalded or frozen.  Finally had it working perfectly by the end of the cruise.  

[Bubbeh]

In what must be a first, I don't bother with bidding for an upgrade, This little princess is perfectly happy with her mid-ships balcony cabin located on a deck with upper and lower being cabins also.  Once accepted an 'upgrade' and found ourselves under the ping pong table on the pool deck!  No peace or sleep for the wicked on that particular 35 day cruise. Grrr....

[Jean C]

4 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

In what must be a first, I don't bother with bidding for an upgrade, This little princess is perfectly happy with her mid-ships balcony cabin located on a deck with upper and lower being cabins also.  Once accepted an 'upgrade' and found ourselves under the ping pong table on the pool deck!  No peace or sleep for the wicked on that particular 35 day cruise. Grrr....

Us too - rule of thumb for us is cabins above and below. We're happy with a basic balcony cabin and wouldn't take the risk of being upgraded, even to a mini suite or suite, when you could end up under the pool deck or a walking/jogging track, or above/below the theatre or a noisy bar. I need my beauty sleep 😴 

[OzKiwiJJ]

9 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Us too - rule of thumb for us is cabins above and below. We're happy with a basic balcony cabin and wouldn't take the risk of being upgraded, even to a mini suite or suite, when you could end up under the pool deck or a walking/jogging track, or above/below the theatre or a noisy bar. I need my beauty sleep 😴 

On Coral the mini-suites and suites are mostly on decks 9 & 10. There are a few on decks 11 & 12 but they are on the midships bump. The only risk is the ones forward with no balconies. 

[MicCanberra]

I love me a bath on a cruise, book in hand, very relaxing.

[mr walker]

15 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I love me a bath on a cruise, book in hand, very relaxing.

Isn't that what the hot tubs are for?? 🙂 

[Jean C]

26 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Isn't that what the hot tubs are for?? 🙂 

They're invariably full of kids  🧒👩👩‍🦰🧑‍🦰 👱‍♀️👴

 

Bizarrely, I'd rather go in a hot tub and soak in water after countless unknown other people have been in there, than have a bath in clean water when the bath looks less than shiny sparkly white 🤣

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

Isn't that what the hot tubs are for?? 🙂 

Depends on the cruiseline and ship, we need the hot tubs be clean and working, to have shade over them, to be not having too many people in them, and definitely adults only.

[BuzzBuzzen]

22 hours ago, arxcards said:

Is this via the upgrade auction or a direct offer from your agent/Princess? The auction is somewhat automatic, and you get them for every cruise. If you don't get the email, you can still access it from the personaliser.

 

There is a rub though. In most cases you are bidding for cabins that aren't available. All of the suites on this cruise are currently sold-out. We have also received the same offer for our February cruise, and the suites have been waitlisted for months.

It just says Princess.com , no obvious sign of an outside mob sending the email. Princess Cruise Line  LTD , 24305 Town Center Drive, Santa Clarita , CA 91355. 

Booked direct with Princess. When I booked , which was 527 days out, Suites were already marked as  sold out. 

I wonder if, some one , not me, offered a gazillion dollars for the upgrade , would Princess then offer the encumbents a move over offer ?  Cheers, Buzz.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

It just says Princess.com , no obvious sign of an outside mob sending the email. Princess Cruise Line  LTD , 24305 Town Center Drive, Santa Clarita , CA 91355. 

Booked direct with Princess. When I booked , which was 527 days out, Suites were already marked as  sold out. 

I wonder if, some one , not me, offered a gazillion dollars for the upgrade , would Princess then offer the encumbents a move over offer ?  Cheers, Buzz.

 

The email comes from Princess but the bidding actually goes through a separate company. You can see that if you click on the Upgrade link in the Personalizer as it opens separate windows for info etc on the bidding.

[BuzzBuzzen]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The email comes from Princess but the bidding actually goes through a separate company. You can see that if you click on the Upgrade link in the Personalizer as it opens separate windows for info etc on the bidding.

Thank you for the info. I have not gone any further into it . Cheers, Buzz.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, BuzzBuzzen said:

Thank you for the info. I have not gone any further into it . Cheers, Buzz.

I've been looking at it as I'm curious to see what upgrades they offer for the world cruise, if any. I can't see them yet though. 

[BuzzBuzzen]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I've been looking at it as I'm curious to see what upgrades they offer for the world cruise, if any. I can't see them yet though. 

I received this offer at 80 days out. Cheers, Buzz.

[OzKiwiJJ]

17 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

I received this offer at 80 days out. Cheers, Buzz.

It depends on the length of the cruise. For the world cruise it's 115 days (US time) which is today. I haven't been able to see the minimums yet though.

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

It just says Princess.com , no obvious sign of an outside mob sending the email. Princess Cruise Line  LTD , 24305 Town Center Drive, Santa Clarita , CA 91355. 

Booked direct with Princess. When I booked , which was 527 days out, Suites were already marked as  sold out. 

I wonder if, some one , not me, offered a gazillion dollars for the upgrade , would Princess then offer the encumbents a move over offer ?  Cheers, Buzz.

 

I was just checking whether it was the upgrade auction, as for most cruises if you are in a mini or higher, you are bidding on cabins that are already occupied. I know that the are covering all bases in case of a very late cancellation, but I find it fundamentally wrong that they are taking bids for cabins that have already been sold.

 

There is a minimum and a maximum bid amount in the upgrade system, so there is no gazillion offers possible. They are saving plenty at the lower cabin levels by getting passengers to pay for upgrades they would otherwise be giving-up as complimentary, and wouldn't be keen to complicate things with further with move over offers.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The bid offer has just come out for the world cruise. From $6525pp for an upgrade from a regular balcony to a mini-suite for the 110 days. On the Sydney embarkation there are over 20 mini-suites showing as unsold.

[BuzzBuzzen]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The bid offer has just come out for the world cruise. From $6525pp for an upgrade from a regular balcony to a mini-suite for the 110 days. On the Sydney embarkation there are over 20 mini-suites showing as unsold.

That price for 110 days, to a minisuite, would have my name on it. Cheers, Buzz.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

That price for 110 days, to a minisuite, would have my name on it. Cheers, Buzz.

Shhhhh! I'm just crunching the numbers to see what we can afford.

 

I'm hoping most other people will think it's too expensive.🤞

Edited January 8 by OzKiwiJJ