When You SHOULDN’T Bid For An Upgrade | Royal Caribbean RoyalUp, P&O Upgrade Me, Princess Upgrade
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2023
- Royal Caribbean has RoyalUp, P&O Australia has Upgrade Me and Princess has Princess Upgrade - bidding for an upgrade has become part of the fun of booking a cruise and trying your luck at getting a better room type for less money! But, there is a time when you should NOT bid for an upgrade and in this video, I'll tell you what that is and why you shouldn't.
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I had a great upgrade experience with NCL during the COVID reopening. I had booked the cheapest available room on a 11-day cruise in the Mediterranean. I had quoted the balcony initially, but it was over twice as expensive as the interior cabin I ended up getting. I offered $200 per person for a balcony and got it! I had never been so happy to see a $400 charge on my credit card two days before boarding. The balcony was terrific and completely worth it for that route, and there were a lot of empty balconies on that cruise. I have an upcoming Caribbean cruise with RC in April, I'll try the same $200 per person upgrade to see what happens.
That’s amazing! Good luck with the next one and happy cruising
I booked a minisuite on P&O Adventure last year for a cruise in April/May this year. It was the entry level grade but was in exactly the place I wanted to be. I actually rang P&O's call centre to advise them that I didn't want to be upgraded for the very reason you were talking about, Adrian. I was told by P&O that the cabin allocation was done by their software program and there was nothing I (or they) could do to override it. I couldn't help feeling that I was being given a line of BS. I have found on several occasions that P&O's call centre was not very helpful (or couldn't be bothered) .
That’s definitely a perk of booking with an agent (simply to avoid call centres 😂) but the booking system P&O use is the same as Princess and Princess’ allows a booking to be marked as “do not upgrade”. So that’s a bit strange. I would need to double check if P&O no longer offer that…
we have placed bids from our insider room on resilient lady to an ocean viewm limited view balcony, ocean vew balcony and an xl sea terracem havent had any acceptance yet but we did bid the very lowest we could, so not really expecting any of our bids to go through. which im ok if it doesnt as our insider cabin is an accessible cabin and im not sure if the cabins i bidded on will also be accessible or a standard cabin. if standard our insider cabin may actually be bigger ad better. we were not able to bid on any higher than the xl sea terrace as there was no optio for any of the suites
Thanks Adrian, this really is a case of buyer beware. "look before you leap" folks.
Definitely! 🕵️♂️
Great timing Adrian. We have just bid for an upgrade from an inside to an oceanview today on P&O for the September 80s cruise (Brisbane). Bid the minimum just to see what happens. We were in a forward inside so if we get it we'll be better off whatever. Worth the $20 pp I reckon. Will let you know how we go.
That sounds like a great bid to me! Good luck and keep us posted.
@@TheCruiseandTravelGuy Will do and so looking forward to seeing your Kimberley Adventure. I (Rob) will be in Sydney for work for a couple of days in September. If there's time in our schedules maybe catch up for a coffee or a beer?
I've bid several times on Celebrity and Princess, once successfully. We upgraded to a full suite on Enchanted Princess that had a forward facing window in the large bedroom and a large balcony off the sitting room. Beautiful room. But be aware that the fine print may state that some of the stateroom category benefits may not be included when you are upgraded as part of a bid. Things like Spa benefits or fitness classes. Just read the fine print.
Thanks for sharing your experience and it's always wise to read the fine print - great advice.
Agree that you have to know all 'fine' prints. I booked an interior on Ruby Prince back in April and won an upgrade to an ocean view with 'adjoining' room. Luckily, I was able to turn it down because Princess's email said that nothing would happen if I don't officially accept it. I don't like noise level and less privacy with 'adjoining' room
Thanks for watching. It's a lovely room.
Only bid once and was not accepted.
Got bid emails for Alaska and got one cabin with a larger balcony. Definitely not bidding to upgrade and the price is not worth it. Got a complimentary upgrade with Carnival from outside to balcony which one is obstructed but there is a gap between the lifeboats. The price difference of $2k each makes up for it.
Another tip. Don't overbid. You could be bidding more than what the cabin was selling for.
I love a complimentary upgrade! It seems like cruise lines are really pushing towards the bidding system to secure additional revenue in lieu of providing freebies these days, but they can still happen.
Great point re overbidding!
Timely advice Adrian. I recently booked an oceanview cabin on Grand Princess that's on deck 5, very close to the International Café and the MDR. As usual I'm enormously tempted to bid for an upgrade, but won't, as this cabin is positioned really nicely. Hoping the risk-appeal doesn't win. 😂
Yes it can very tempting! Let us know how you go if you decide to give into temptation! 😆
@@TheCruiseandTravelGuy Well, earlier today I lodged a (low-value) bid on a Window Suite on my Grand Princess cruise in October. The cabin location is so similar to my booked Ocean View cabin that the success or otherwise doesn't matter.
@@kendavis7248 good luck! Let me know how you go.
I always get my cabin at the middle of the ship and stay put I never upgrade at all
Midship is definitely a great spot onboard all ships 👌🏼
We were hammered that many times to upgrade from Premium Balcony to mini suites and up on the Ovation of the Seas cruise we took in March. They wanted $1400 per person more to upgrade from our great rooms, and whilst I was tempted, the cruise was so DEAD BORING and a let down from cruising pre covid. I would have been irritated if we blew more money on that cruise. Seriously it was soo boring. 2 shows total for 12 nights.
$2800 extra is quite steep at $233 per day… don’t know if that would be worth it 😅 and 2 shows! That’s very disappointing.
Just noticed this vlog Adrian, sorry I'm a tad slow!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the Princess upgrade, there's a minimum bid which when compared to advertised pricing is equal to the cost of the upgrade your bidding for.
No trouble 😄
I don’t actually know if that’s the case - perhaps it is based on the difference between the cost of categories compared to launch fares, but ultimately the cost of the cruise does change over time so I wouldn’t know which difference would apply… (my sentence is a bit of a ramble but I hope that makes sense…)
Understood Adrian. I've logged on many times to Bid for an Upgrade, and there's always a minimum bid posted by Princess. Thevsystem won't permit a lower bid. The minimum bid is always close to the difference between the cost of your booked cabin and the advertised price of the proposed upgraded cabin.
@@calumshaw sounds like that’s what it is then! Thanks for letting us know.
Not a fan of upgrade bidding. As you're aware, from my previous comments, my partner has mobility issues. As such we choose accessible cabins, and of course the risk of upgrading is the new cabin may not be accessible, and thus be difficult for my partner, especially the bathing facilities. You may have guessed by the tone of my comments, but I'm the kind of person that would rather pay a little extra to select our perfect cabin and leave it at that, via a good TA of course. If we want a higher grade of cabin, then we'll save longer and book and pay for that higher grade in a location we'd prefer. To me upgrade bidding is gambling, and as you so well pointed out, you could end up with a bobby prize.
Definitely a gamble, and as you’ve pointed out there’s certain circumstances where it’s definitely not worth the risk.
Thanks Adrian, I have a RCCL booked early next year. Would the offer state EG, Junior Suite J1, J2, J3 or J4 & the same Oceanview Balcony 2D or 4D ? If it was just Junior Suite and not showing the J rate I would have NO interest.
It’s usually just the broad category that you bid for - so ‘Junior Suite’ could end up being a J4, or higher, but you’d have to be prepared to get into the lowest rung room.
@@TheCruiseandTravelGuy Thanks, may give Royal Up a miss
@@TheCruiseandTravelGuy Got my offer 5 days ago, RCCL must be joking. Min bid for a JS with large balcony $1,450 PP, Grand Suite with Balcony (possible obstruction) Min bid $1,550. This puts the cost for each Cat. now 25% more then I would have paid when I booked 12 months ago.
I have a question about accessible cabins Adrian if you don't mind. We always book accessible cabins due to the use of a mobility scooter and a walker, so I don't go for the upgrade game just in case. Are you able to tell me if you are already in an accessible cabin and you are successful in your bid, do they have to only place you in another accessible higher category cabin or do they just put you in a normal sized cabin? Would love your advice and TA knowledge for this.
Hi Sylvia. As far as I know, the upgrade would be for any room type and not strictly accessible cabins. In some cases, cruise lines don't have accessible cabins within all of their cabin grades so that's something to keep in mind and as accessible cabins are so few and far between and book out early, I would recommend sticking with your confirmed reservation for one.
Thanks, that makes good sense. Can't afford to lose the floor space we need for our scooter and new chair that we just purchased..
@@TheCruiseandTravelGuy
Offered to bid to upgrade to a grand suite - only one on the ship. It’s about two times bigger than the next biggest room. I’ve offered the max allowable bid - about 800 (1600).
Does this seem excessive? Considering my room a suite, for all passengers was about $4000, it doesn’t seem excessive to offer $1600 more for twice the room?
I’m happy to pay the extra. I feel like if they actually offered this room initially - it would have been more than what I’m offering?
I think it’s ultimately what you’re comfortable with paying, but that seems fairly reasonable. It would help to know the duration of the cruise, and the room type you’re currently in. I assume you’re in a Junior Suite if you’ve bid to upgrade to a GS?
@Adrian - when you place a bid, for example $600, if accepted is that the total amount you pay for both people OR is that $600 per person? (Im thinking of P&O)
It's based on two people occupancy, so double up the bid amount. If your in a 4 birth cabin then your still only paying extra for 2.
Exactly what Chris said - the bid amount is usually per person and then you have to pay that amount for 2 travellers (whether you’re travelling solo or with 4 passengers)
Thanks Adrian for clarifying! I got offered an upgrade last year, but there was no notification I'd be charged for 2 passengers until the charge came through! As a single booking often can cost more than 2 passengers in a twin share - & solo numbers are limited on lines like P&O - I felt it was disingenuous & it put me off the whole process for good
Hmmm that’s definitely misrepresentation. I think that if cruise lines want to offer solo travellers an upgrade, then they should do so at the cost of just a single traveller, but revenue is king!
@@TheCruiseandTravelGuyYes, since they have your booking details anyway - it definitely feels like misrepresentation to omit that your bid will be automatically doubled.