Does highest bidder win upgrade bids??

[DorothyB]

I'm curious if anyone has been able to verify whether the highest bid always wins?  Wondering if there is any preference given for anything else.

 

Has anyone won a bid and know of someone else who bid a higher amount for the same category?  Or lost a bid even though they know they bid higher than the person who won the bid for the same category?

[fredflint]

Not sure how you would know unless you knew the person  who had won and you would have to know other parameters too.

 

If you paid 5,000  for a room and bid 1,000  for an upgrade but someone else paid 5500 for their room and bid 900 they bid less but paid more overall.

Also if you get an upgrade they can then use your room for an upgrade if your room was more desirable for an upgrade that could make s difference too.   So the highest ability for the cruise line to make money could also get the upgrade.

With the way cruise lines cut their IT budgets  you never know how bad their upgrade software works.

[The Traveling Man]

39 minutes ago, DorothyB said:

I'm curious if anyone has been able to verify whether the highest bid always wins?  Wondering if there is any preference given for anything else.

 

Has anyone won a bid and know of someone else who bid a higher amount for the same category?  Or lost a bid even though they know they bid higher than the person who won the bid for the same category?

NCL has always been very tight lipped about what goes into the decision making process for bids.  The best guess that I have seen, however, is that it’s based on whatever brings in the most revenue to NCL.  If the two highest bids are the same, but one is made by someone booked in a Balcony and the other is from someone in an Inside, the Balcony bid wins.  NCL can then sell that Balcony to someone else for more than they could the Inside.  Even if the bid from the Balcony guest is a little less than that from the Inside, the net total is likely more for NCL if it frees up a Balcony for another paying passenger.  As I said, NCL isn’t talking about the tricks of the trade.

[julig22]

This has subject has been beaten to death on CC. Nobody knows but pretty sure highest bid isn't the only criteria. Most likely it's what makes NCL the most money. So a low bid from someone in a highly desirable cabin they can resell makes NCL more money than a high bid from someone in a cabin they can't sell.

[DorothyB]

That makes sense.  Thanks!

[bonvoyagie]

You need to remember that a third party handles all the upgrades - Not NCL.

[DorothyB]

19 minutes ago, bonvoyagie said:

You need to remember that a third party handles all the upgrades - Not NCL.

Really?  I hadn't ever heard this . . . 

[valleyvillage]

It's called plusgrade.

Edited August 6 by valleyvillage

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, DorothyB said:

I'm curious if anyone has been able to verify whether the highest bid always wins?  Wondering if there is any preference given for anything else.

 

Has anyone won a bid and know of someone else who bid a higher amount for the same category?  Or lost a bid even though they know they bid higher than the person who won the bid for the same category?

 

There is really no such thing as "highest bid". For example, if I am in a balcony and bidding on a Haven Owner's suite, my minimum/maximum bid may be 2500/4500 per person. If I am already in a Haven room, my minimum/maximum bid may be 250/1200. So,,, different people will have different bid ranges. 

 

I have won a bid for a "better" Haven room for $300 pp in the past. And I know that other's have had minimum bids of $1750 for the same room. 

 

On an upcoming cruise, I am in a Club Balcony. My bid range for an Owners Suite is $2400/$4300 per person. 

Edited August 7 by BirdTravels

[tomk3212]

A bit of history; when we first started cruising with NCL back in '03 NCL did the upgrades themselves & we (the cruising public) weren't even aware of them!  People here on CC would post about being 'tapped' (i.e. called by phone) by the Upgrade Fairy & offered an upgrade...at a price of course...lol.  It got to a point where it was a regular topic here; will you be tapped by the Upgrade Fairy or not.  People who'd been cruising for years with NCL would comment that they'd NEVER been tapped.  At some point, as a previous poster has said, NCL 'farmed out' the process to a third party ('PlusGrade') who introduced the present auction/bidding process.

 

So the questions, though, still remain.  Is it a fair process?  Compared to the old system you'd have to answer 'yes'; most people receive the upgrade notice & are able to bid. Is it transparent?  Heck, no!  As many have stated it's certainly NOT a case of highest bid wins, as in a conventional auction.  How the cabin is awarded is still a mystery contained in the auction 'black box'...lol

 

So as the old gambler would say, 'You pays you moneys and you takes you chances..."  Or, to bring this into the 21st century, as President Snow in The Hunger Games would say, "May the odds be ever in your favor"...

[graphicguy]

15 hours ago, valleyvillage said:

It's called plusgrade.

I think "plus grade" handles the upgrade bids for other cruise lines, too.

 

As others have said, no one really knows how their process works.  Believe me, we've all tried to figure it out but haven't (so far).  I would imagine once someone does figure it out, the cruise lines would change the algorithm.

[Laszlo]

Behind the scenes of NCL...... Your upgrade specialist

 

 

 

[david_sobe]

NCL would never release that information.  I imagine many winning bids are paying more than anyone else staying in a similar suite in the Haven.  I think its a misconception the bid process means NCL is accepting a lower cruise fare just to sell the suite.  I would bet its the opposite and they get far more than anyone else paid for a similar cabin. 

Car auctions are similar.  I once had worked with one and it always surprised the auctioneer company when people would get excited and pay more than the appraised value of the vehicle.  Happened all the time.

[snorklinbarb]

As for any other contributing factors, can verify that Latitudes status or such is not part of the equation.  It seems to boil down to $ alone.

 

I was recently told by Guest Services Mgr that after one receives that "your bid is pending" a couple of days or the day before the cruise, the cruise line then forwards the remaining to the ship itself.  Those cabins again are not doled out by status or anything else but sheer bid.  Was told, for example, that a $205 bid would edge out say a straight $200.  

 

The upgrade can come at any time.  On Joy I had already checked into my cabin and started unpacking when a knock at the door came at 2 pm informing me my bid was accepted.  The person had a stack of letters at that time.  

 

Last month on Joy my bid for first leg was rejected but on the 2nd leg of the B2B my balcony bid was accepted.  Same bid - depends on inventory, type of cabins left, etc.  They really do try even the last day to consider bids and see if there's a match.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose!

[julig22]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

NCL would never release that information.  I imagine many winning bids are paying more than anyone else staying in a similar suite in the Haven.  I think its a misconception the bid process means NCL is accepting a lower cruise fare just to sell the suite.  I would bet its the opposite and they get far more than anyone else paid for a similar cabin. 

Car auctions are similar.  I once had worked with one and it always surprised the auctioneer company when people would get excited and pay more than the appraised value of the vehicle.  Happened all the time.

I can verify that they will award a bid if they want your cabin to resell. Happened to me on a cruise from Tahiti (which unfortunately never happened due to covid). I had a family OV as a solo, bid minimum on a balcony. Family OVs sold out, I got my upgrade a full 3 months before the cruise, as did a few others according to the roll call.

[david_sobe]

50 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I can verify that they will award a bid if they want your cabin to resell. Happened to me on a cruise from Tahiti (which unfortunately never happened due to covid). I had a family OV as a solo, bid minimum on a balcony. Family OVs sold out, I got my upgrade a full 3 months before the cruise, as did a few others according to the roll call.

Yes.  I had Haven in my mind and was specifically talking about Haven cabins which sell at a premium.  Its too late to amend my post.  But I was referring to Haven upgrades.  There is far more availability of balcony and other kinds of cabins which may sell at any price.