NCL Upgrade Bid Game

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Isn’t that what they say? So, when we received an email from NCL today to bid for an upgrade for our TransAtlantic cruise, we decided to play the game ... especially since we won't be charged for the bid unless it is accepted.

I was surprised that all of the eligible categories — except one — were in The Haven ... NCL's "ship-within-a-ship" class of staterooms. The one exception was the Club Balcony. The differences between this category and the veranda we have booked isn't worth a bid IMHO. So, we crossed that one off the list and focused on the others.

Some of The Haven cabins were simply out of our price range — like the deluxe owner’s suite. Others were way too big for our needs — like the two-bedroom family villas. Yet others were not suitably located — like the courtyard or forward-facing penthouses. That left the aft-facing penthouses with large balconies — perfect!

This TransAtlantic cruise is simply transportation for us. And at our current fare, it is inexpensive transportation at that. Keeping that in mind, we decided to submit the minimum bid amount.

We might well miss out on an upgrade at the rates we submitted. NCL’s upgrade tool even rated our bids as such by showing them as being "poor." No matter. We really don’t want to spend too much more for this cruise. As nice as it would be to have the extra indoor space for what promises to be a cold-weather crossing, we’ll be satisfied with what we have booked if the upgrade bid is not accepted.

When will we find out if one of our bids is successful? Anytime between now and just before sailaway on 3 December.Read more