NCL Bids for Upgrades?

Yes, this is a game the CL plays. No "free" upgrades. We get to bid against each other, all the while the CL is trying to sell those available cabins to anyone willing to pay One Dollar more than our bids. We get NO special considerations.

So any game is afoot. Hope it dies an little death. Shady.

Oh wow - very informative. Thanks so much for sharing!

Just booked my first NCL cruise. How were you able to upgrade to Haven on yours?!

that was pretty informative, thanks.

The topic in this thread has to do with the Bid for Upgrades System. I don't believe there are many if any surprise free up grades at this point. If someone knows differently, please chime in. The down and dirty on the Bid for Upgrades is this: If eligible, you will receive an email right after the final payments are made. The email will tell you what you are eligible to upgrade to and give you a range of price to bid in. For example, if you want to move from an inside to a balcony cabin, the range might be $100 to $350. You pick an amount in that range to bid. You will get offers for multiple cabins and you may bid for more than one at a time. You are able to change or withdraw your bid if it hasn't been accepted. The key is you have NO choice in what cabin you actually get. All you are guaranteed is that it will be in the category your bid was accepted for. Your card is charged as soon as your bid is accepted and there is no refund if you don't like your cabin. Read the fine print closely. You may think I wasn't successful in my bid but I was. I moved from an aft balcony to The Haven with a slightly higher than the minimum bid. I've read extensively about the system and do know there is no rhyme or reason as to who gets these offers. Good Luck if you decide to try it out!!

When we sailed on the Escape last Oct and before we set said I saw this bidding system. I didn't use it since we had the cabin we wanted and didn't see a point to spend more money (potentially) on something else. My wife and I are planning another cruise in a couple years, so I might take a look at the bidding system since we have decided to go for an inside cabin to save money to put towards spa passes for the sailing.

Not to take away from the main topic, but how does the free upgrade system work? I have only taken 2 cruises (Disney and NCL) so I am in the dark. I was only told it was a possibility after our honeymoon cruise with NCL.

I've heard of this. A video I watched recently states that this normally happens on full ships. If you are in a popular cabin type they will reach out to you. For instance if you get an oceanview they will upsell/upgrade you to "up to" two categories higher. They feel they can sell your oceanview faster than they can sell a balcony or mini-suite. The downside is which ever promotions you have you will keep. If you went from a balcony to a Haven suite you would not get all 5 free promotions because you didn't buy the Haven for what it is truly worth.

I have never been offered the upgrade. I'm not sure I would take it. I normally get a balcony. Plus, I don't spend a lot of time in the room. Therefore it wouldn't be worth the extra cost. Also,I heard you are more likely to get offered a bid if you are in a guarantee cabin. I like to pick where my cabin is on a ship. Therefore, I probably will never be offered a bid.

Blind bidding on upgrades is what NCL prefers now.. Has anyone ever gone to a 'silent auction' before ? It's the same process as far as I can tell. If you are happy with your current stateroom or suite assignment, then fine, don't bid. But, I have heard of several people being accepted from an inside to balcony for very small bids.

Now, let's put it into perspective - Bidding from a balcony to 'HAVEN'. We're talking 'BIG" bucks here even to book it to begin with. I assume it will be up to the bidder what they are willing to "PART" with at the time of bidding. If some can 'afford it', so be it, especially if you get a SPA suite or a 1 bedroom in the 'HAVEN' for several dollars less from the initial booking price. It's a matter of perspective and I do not see anything wrong with the process unless you take into consideration the wait time of successful bids....

Just my 2 cents worth....

Bill

Not too many of them. We have only upgraded once on our first cruise 11 years ago. We had booked an outside cabin through an online agency and a month before the cruise got a call asking if we wanted to upgrade to a balcony for cannot remember the amount but we said no this was not within our budget. They said hang on and I will see what we can do and came back to us and offered the balcony for $45 each, We took that and we got to pick at that time and selected a mid ship balcony. Never upgraded after that as we always booked what we wanted and the offers and methods after that just were not all that.