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Post by TexasChick on Jul 10, 2023 19:45:29 GMT -5
We have our first Alaskan cruise coming up soon on NCL. I put in 3 bids for room upgrades: Owner's suite 2-bedroom, 2-bedroom with large balcony, and 2-bedroom with regular balcony. Considering I only bid the minimum plus $10 on all the different types, I HIGHLY doubt that we'll get it. I don't even think the room types were available to book anymore because they were "Sold Out" the last time I looked at the cruise. I think that NCL does this in case anyone cancels. We are happy with our room type and location, so it's no harm, no foul if the upgrade doesn't come through. Honestly, it would be highly unexpected if it did. I was just sharing that Norwegian has this upgrade option for those of you who aren't cruise experts like we aren't. They don't guarantee it, and they even rank your bid from poor to excellent. Mine are all ranked "Poor" since we bid the minimum. 
We are pretty excited to go up to Alaska and really really hope to see whales and bears. The bears we'd like to see from a distance! Since we aren't frequent cruisers, this is only our 3rd cruise ever, it'll kind of be like a new experience for us! I'll come back and let everyone know how it goes once we go on the cruise!
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Post by disney54us on Jul 10, 2023 20:03:33 GMT -5
Ouch on them ranking your bid poor.😲
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Post by DrMinnie on Jul 10, 2023 20:49:04 GMT -5
I’m looking forward to it! Alaska is on my bucket list, and I feel like NCL might be the right choice. Be brutally honest! We’ve only been on 1 cruise, DH and I. It was NCL, ~15 years ago! We declared ourselves not cruise people at the time  What room type are you in? Is it a suite? |
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Post by TexasChick on Jul 10, 2023 20:59:36 GMT -5
Ouch on them ranking your bid poor.😲 I know, right?!? They set minimums which are actually quite high for The Haven (a few thousand). I honestly oscillate between leaving it and cancelling the bids altogether because with all the renovations we’re doing on our new house since we moved, saving is more appealing than spending right now. I think it’ll be a moot point anyway. I’m not setting low expectations either. From what I’ve read, it’s an EXTREMELY long shot that we’ll get upgraded which is ok with us. If we can’t get upgraded for the minimum which is still quite a lot of money, then it isn’t worth it to us as we didn’t book those rooms originally at a much higher price than what we’d pay if we got upgraded because they were more than we wanted to spend. |
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Post by TexasChick on Jul 10, 2023 21:02:15 GMT -5
I’m looking forward to it! Alaska is on my bucket list, and I feel like NCL might be the right choice. Be brutally honest! We’ve only been on 1 cruise, DH and I. It was NCL, ~15 years ago! We declared ourselves not cruise people at the time  What room type are you in? Is it a suite? We are not in a suite. We booked 3 ocean view balcony cabins with 2 per room. It’ll be DH and me in one, kids in another, and my mom and MIL are sharing a cabin because my dad and FIL didn’t want to go, and they get along really well. DH and I have been together since we were teenagers, so they know each other better than most in-laws. Our cabin and the kids’ cabin are connecting. Moms get a non-connected cabin 2 doors down from us. |
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Post by Brian5581 on Jul 11, 2023 1:50:44 GMT -5
Enjoy!
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Post by annamaria on Jul 11, 2023 5:28:01 GMT -5
Have a great time!!! Looking forward to your thoughts on both NCL and the cruise itinerary!!
We were all set for ours on June 2020 on the Princess but we all know how that went. Not sure if we will reschedule Alaska again.
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Post by amdev on Jul 11, 2023 6:31:06 GMT -5
We're about 3 weeks away from our NCL AK cruise and very much looking forward to it!
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Post by TexasChick on Jul 11, 2023 10:17:08 GMT -5
We're about 3 weeks away from our NCL AK cruise and very much looking forward to it! It sounds like a handful of us are all taking the same cruise but different weeks! |
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Post by BWV Dreamin on Jul 11, 2023 19:10:37 GMT -5
We did not know if we got our bid until the day of check in! Even though you don’t see the rooms, I think there are last minute assignments. Fingers crossed for you!
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Post by Capt Kia on Jul 11, 2023 19:34:40 GMT -5
We are going next July on Royal. We went in '06 and absolutely loved it. DW and I were young and just starting out. Yes we enjoyed ourselves, did minimal excursions. Now we are established we're going with our 11&14 yo and we are going to splurge this time. Got a Jr Suite, but we will try their "Royal Up" bid thing closer to departure. We saw bears, 1 whale from the ship, tons of eagles puffins and seals. I hope you have a great time.
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Post by brp on Jul 11, 2023 20:20:56 GMT -5
Alaska is a fabulous place to visit. Never done a cruise, but I've been there 4 or 5 times and it is worth visiting in any manner. Enjoy!
Cheers.
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Post by DrMinnie on Jul 11, 2023 20:40:20 GMT -5
I’m looking forward to it! Alaska is on my bucket list, and I feel like NCL might be the right choice. Be brutally honest! We’ve only been on 1 cruise, DH and I. It was NCL, ~15 years ago! We declared ourselves not cruise people at the time What room type are you in? Is it a suite? We are not in a suite. We booked 3 ocean view balcony cabins with 2 per room. It’ll be DH and me in one, kids in another, and my mom and MIL are sharing a cabin because my dad and FIL didn’t want to go, and they get along really well. DH and I have been together since we were teenagers, so they know each other better than most in-laws. Our cabin and the kids’ cabin are connecting. Moms get a non-connected cabin 2 doors down from us. See, I think that’s what we’d do too…. I looked at the price difference between that and the haven and I’m just too cheep. I feel like you get a lot more space this way too! That’s so nice that your mom and MIL get along that well. Our parents do pretty well, but we’ve never tried vacationing all together. |
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Post by TexasChick on Jul 11, 2023 22:18:49 GMT -5
We are not in a suite. We booked 3 ocean view balcony cabins with 2 per room. It’ll be DH and me in one, kids in another, and my mom and MIL are sharing a cabin because my dad and FIL didn’t want to go, and they get along really well. DH and I have been together since we were teenagers, so they know each other better than most in-laws. Our cabin and the kids’ cabin are connecting. Moms get a non-connected cabin 2 doors down from us. See, I think that’s what we’d do too…. I looked at the price difference between that and the haven and I’m just too cheep. I feel like you get a lot more space this way too! That’s so nice that your mom and MIL get along that well. Our parents do pretty well, but we’ve never tried vacationing all together. We booked about 7 months in advance which is pretty late for a cruise apparently as there weren’t a ton of rooms left. The cheapest 2-bedroom in The Haven was more than 3x the price of an ocean view balcony cabin. It didn’t make sense to spend the same price on a 2-bedroom where our moms would sleep in a tiny secondary bedroom on bunk beds and the kids would be on the couch. With 3 ocean view balcony rooms, we get 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms for less money. It just made more financial sense for us.  If we do get upgraded, it’ll be for a fraction of the price we would’ve paid if we originally booked a 2-bedroom which is why it’s very unlikely. |
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Post by applegrcoug on Jul 12, 2023 19:12:15 GMT -5
From where do you depart?
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If we do get upgraded, it’ll be for a fraction of the price we would’ve paid if we originally booked a 2-bedroom which is why it’s very unlikely. 