OK-Won Skyauction Cruise-Tell Me What's Going To Happen From Now To The Cruise

[bigmike7]

Yo-

 

Have won a Mexican Riviera cruise on the "Spirit"-

 

What can we expect to happen between now and the actual embarkation?

 

They say that it is a Skyauction Group booking and that we cannot communicate with Carnival (pre-regisration, etc). Is that true?

 

Anyway any former Skyauction vets imput would certainly be appreciated.

 

Happy Cruisin'

 

Mike

[kwokpot]

Depending on what cruise you won, you will need to fill out the details regarding passenger names, etc. on Skyauction's website. If the auction was for a specific cruise date, then that part is settled. If there are several dates to choose from, you need to indicate which cruise date you prefer, and if there is a backup date. You don't have to have a backup date. In cases where there are multiple cruise dates, it generally takes about 5-10 days to receive a confirmation email back from Skyauction whether they can confirm a cabin on the cruise date of your choice. If you don't hear from them, make sure you email them and inquire, but usually it takes at minimum 1 wk to receive confirmation.

 

Most of their cruises are gaurentee cabins, not assigned, so you won't know your cabin assignment until you receive your docs, which will be about 2 wks before cruisedate, none earlier.

 

I have taken 2 cruises and a package vacation with them without problems.

 

I even recieved a free inside to window cabin upgrade when i won a Celebrity Millennium cruise from them!

 

My only con with them is they can be slow on their reply emails - so don't expect a 24 hr response from them, but at the same token, keep on top of them if they take too long.

 

I have never had a problem backing out of a bid when Skyauction could not accomodate my cruise request date on auctions where there is multiple dates you can choose from - if you can only cruise on a specific date listed, and they can't secure a rm (which can happen even when they list that date on the bid details) they will let you cancel out from the winning bid with no penalties or problems.

 

Even though Skyauction is owned by by a Travel agency in NYC, trips booked via Skyauction are straight-forward - meaning that there's not alot of hand-holding or constant emails and communication. You will receive confirmation of the booking in 5-10 days after you send them the trip details, and then you won't hear from them until you receive in the mail you docs 2 wks before your cruise date. That's it.

[bigmike7]

Yo kwokpot-

 

Thanks for the good info-

 

We are confirmed for 12/11 - but no stateroom assignment-

 

When you get your docs - can you go onto Carnivals site and do the preregistering thing? Hope so - 'cause it takes forever at the dock-

 

Happy cruisin'

 

Mike

[serene56]

You should get a booking number. As soon as you get that booking number you can register at the fun pass. This should be done before you get your documents so they information you type in will be on them

 

Sky auction is now your agent. Carnival wont speak to anyone who has an agent. Its for everyones protection coz they really dont know who you are.

 

Congrat on winning the auction.

[portercottrell]

Mike,

 

My husband and I also won a bid for the Spirit on 12/11. We had another couple who wanted to go with us, so I bid on a second trip. I won that one as well. I have asked for rooms to be near each other, but won't know until we get our documents. I don't think you will get a booking number until the docs arrive. You will have 2-3 weeks to get everything in before we sail.

 

Jane

[BCMom]

Jane, your booking number is your confirmation that you received from Skyauction. Look at your confirmation...it should have two letters and four numbers somewhere in it's sequence....this combo is your Carnival Booking number. You should be able to register for your Fun Pass early by using this booking number on the Carnival website! Bon voyage!

[HOSKI]

Skyauction only gives you a group booking number this far out and you can not register for fun pass with it. I emailed back and forth with them on this. They said we may not have our individual booking number until we get our docs but if they receive it sooner they will email me. We are cruising in Sept. for the cruise we won.

[morriscats]

We won a cruise, on Celebrity, for October 13th. I emailed SkyAuction and they said they only had the group booking number and that our individual booking number would be emailed 3 months prior to sailing and we could complete our online documentation then. Because we are on Celebrity, our docs will be emailed 2 to 3 weeks prior. Congratulations on winning your bid. We are excited.

[candigirl41]

How does SkyAuction work? I went to there website briefly and saw a lot of cruises listed with minimum bids of $1.00. How do you find out what the highest bid is so you can outbid someone? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Candi

[morriscats]

I never saw a way to get the latest high bid. I started out bidding a dollar over the last bid but that did not work, I was constantly being outbid - so I set the maximum bid I wanted to make, based on other bids won on the same cruise (go to winners) and let it run its course. They will notify you if you win. Good luck.

[MusicMan]

I'm sure no one here would do this, but I find it frustrating to see some people pay more through Skyauction than if they had just booked the cruise through cruisequick.com, cruise411.com or some of the other online agents. I guess they either don't do the research, or don't read the fine print in the auction.

[bigmike7]

Yo everyone-

 

Hey - thanks for all the GOOD info-

 

The thing that I have learned from this experience is that you have got to know what the pricing is before you place your bid on Skyauction-

 

I bid $210 BELOW what the lowest cruise fare I could find BEFORE port charges and taxes and used that as my maximum bid and won-

 

In watching others - I have seen them go over what you could have gotten from smartcruises.com or bestpricecruises.com-

 

So be careful out there........

 

Happy Cruisin'

 

Mike

[HOSKI]

You do need to know cruises and pricing. I think some people get carried away with bidding. It is like gambling. I set my max and see what happens.

[bigmike7]

Yo-

 

Thanks again for all the info-

 

BTW - the group booking number does not get you into the Carnival preboarding info area-

 

Happy Cruisin'

 

Mike