sford75

5 hours ago, april_4_us said:

 I am on March 18th Wonder of the Seas. I got the Royal up, were currently in a Central Park View Balcony. I did get the following:

JS- $400.00 p/p

Ultra spacious OV w/ large balcony $250.00 p/p

Spacious Ocean view balcony $200.00 p/p

Ocean view Balcony $80.00 p/p

 

I went in to see what was available and  currently only 3 JS available; 4 ultra spacious OV w/large balcony.  

 

Can anyone advise on how the Central Park Balconies are. We generally do a regular balcony but in the middle and higher up.  I appreciate everyone's advice and opinions on this. 

 

April 

Do you have kids? The Ultra Spacious balconies are awesome because they have 2 bunk beds. I would want that over the JS, so my son could have a real bed.

Updated - Just read it's just your daughter and you. Central Park Balcony would be mid-ship if that's important. Ocean View Balcony could be nice, but you may end up very forward or in the back.

9 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

One of my clients just had their bid of $275pp accepted to go from an Owners suite to the Grand Loft Suite on Odyssey.  That is a great deal to make the jump to Star Class.

For which sailing? This weekend?

9 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Yes, that’s when people get denials.  I do not think we have yet heard a report from a person whose bid(s) said “pending” when they were ready to go to the pier for checkin (or for that matter when they got up the morning of checkin) and still got an accepted bid later that day.  I just wonder if those really late cancellations (we know they have occur more frequently during covid era) are really going to be filled via RoyalUp.  Or after social media reports on on board upgrades for reasonable prices, perhaps requests for upgrade overwhelming guest services on day one and they decided to quash it.

I think they will be few and far between and I would guess they will be for bigger type staterooms like suites. 

15 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Hmm, so if RoyalUp really manages to give upgrades after checkin begins, somebody’s notification of a cabin change might occur when your key card doesn’t open the cabin door any longer, LOL.  If the unknowing steward opens the door for the confused guest, they’l l potentially meet the people who won the RoyalUp upgrade to their old cabin.  Hope they are not celebrating at that moment😊

All joking aside, giving the upgrades to the highest bidder is better in my opinion as a bidder and a shareholder.

I don’t think they would move someone to a stateroom that someone checked in for, even if that person was upgraded: I think this is for those staterooms that go empty due to an issue at the Port like a positive Covid test etc. 

15 hours ago, binro01 said:

This is quite amazing to see. I like this process better than the line up at guest services. I do have a quick question though. Are they making access to the RoyalUp site free for everyone, even without a VOOM package? What about notification if you have won your bid? Usually you need access to email for that.

I don’t know anyone who won yet, just denials. My guess would be that if you won, there would be multiple ways to notify you. Via email and also a call from guest services. I was moved at 9pm on night 1 during a sailing last year due to an issue. I had a message from Guest services when I got back to my stateroom and someone helped me moved. 

11 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Are you saying on Odyssey that you might not know if your bid won until 2 or 3 in the afternoon of embarkation day? 

More like 8pm

1 hour ago, binro01 said:

You can try for last minute cancellations because of COVID positive tests or flight/travel issues at the guest services desk. Some people like to go right away and get on a list, some like to go after sail away once a final passenger manifest is complete. YMMV depending on the ship and their policies. If they have any, they will let you know of the upgrade charge. Please note, if upgrading from a non-suite class, to a suite class via a ship upgrade, you will not be eligible for the extra suite points for C&A

Not anymore. They are changing RoyalUp to go until Embarkation Day and you can bid up to 3 hours before the ship leaves port. Final notices aren't being sent out until AFTER the ship leaves port. If you go to Guest Services, they will give you a card telling you to place a bid for RoyalUp. It was rolled out on the Odyssey this sailing and is rolling out fleetwide now.

I just wanted to update this thread in case anyone ever has a similar issue. 

We upgraded our booked reservation on a Friday with our TA. The new correct category for RoyalUp was not reflective on the bidding page until the following Thursday. I did cancel out all previous bids while I waited for the system to be updated.

23 hours ago, feisty77 said:

I was told this week from RC that they were still doing reservations....so who knows.

 

We also have an upcoming spring break cruise with kids and concerned enough that we were considering cancelling.  Maybe I'll ask again in a few weeks and see what answer I get.  I was guessing recent cruise were just first come due to number of kids onboard....

We were told it was a change fleet-wide, but things could change sailing to sailing especially if there are a lot of kids on board. We also have a Spring Break Cruise, so it's a concern as well. But we won't cancel, but we also are driving distance to port.

On 1/24/2022 at 3:39 PM, ugagal07 said:

We sailed over Thanksgiving, so things could have shifted since then.  Here was our experience:
1. There is no Compass.  There are not scheduled activities, it's all set up in 3 hour blocks of time. No sharing of materials. They played soccer, but couldn't touch the ball or it had to go out to be sanitized. They colored, but only with their crayons. They did a water relay with pipettes, but only touched their pipette.

2. You need to go to Adventure Ocean when you board to register them. You can sign up for a limited number of 3 hour blocks for the first few days.  After that, they will open up to add more slots.  Slots are limited.  We could register for 2 and then add another on day 3.  We were never able to get that extra slot.

3. The times were 9-12, 2-5, 7-10.  No late drop offs.  People without reservations would be allowed to take unclaimed reservations 15 minutes after the slot opened. 

4. Be there early to drop off. They didn't start drop offs until the time frame opened.  We had to be there 20-25 minutes early so we could get through the drop off line before that 15 minutes hit and they took people without reservations.  All in all, it took a good 40-45 minutes to drop off.

5. They don't serve or allow any food, meaning no dinner service anymore.  My kids loved it too.

6. In the past, they had the family events like movies, science experiments, etc.  Those aren't happening right now. 

We couldn't get an evening block of time and dinner reservations, so our kids went to Wonderland with us. Overall, it was not Adventure Ocean of the past - not even close.  They 2 times they were there, they seemed to have fun, but weren't sad they didn't get to go back.  It wasn't like the pre-covid days. 

As of MLK Weekend, they are no longer doing reservations. I was told this is fleetwide. Every session is first come first served.

35 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

It took about 36 hours for me several weeks ago. 

Thank you! That's super helpful. 

9 hours ago, hardinggrad said:

We had the same issue because we went from an ocean view balcony to a guarantee. My bids kept getting cancelled.  I called RCCL and they said to try clearing cookies etc and also gave me an email for the Royal up Dept. royalup@rccl.com.

I tried imputing my info in a private tab using the Royal up link on their website and I was finally able to get the corrected available bid categories. So I didn’t need to use the email. 

Thanks! I’ve tried this too with no luck. I did finally get a rep who was fantastic. She was knowledgeable and she was the one who gave me the RoyalUp email address. Still waiting to hear back from them though. 

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

I’m sorry to hear that canceling the old bid and waiting did not help.

 

Are you referring to calls to the Royal Caribbean customer service agents?  If so, I am not surprised they cannot help, as RoyalUp is run by a third party, so the Royal Caribbean agents probably know little about it.  Same with your travel agent.

 

I have not seen a phone number for plusgrade, that third party company.  If you found one that works (even sub-optimally), do share.

 

Have you cleared your cache?  Have you tried with a different browser and/or with a different device?  If none of those help, I might ask TA to have cruise documents reissued by Royal Caribbean (I doubt that will help, but I’d probably try it as I have no other ideas at the moment.

 

 

Honestly, it’s the lack of knowledge on their part. And then to give out wrong information is just bad. 
I tried today from my work computer and it’s the same. Hopefully tomorrow may be different. 🤷🏼‍♀️

6 minutes ago, Robo1098 said:

From my understanding of it your travel agent does not get invlved in Royal-Up. 

Oh I know. Just goes to show you how clueless their customer service reps are. And as for the first, it does make a difference because I'm being offered to bid on categories that would be a downgrade. and my minimums are much higher than others in my same booked category.

5 hours ago, Mearley09 said:

Hello all!

 

Heading out on our first cruise in almost two years this March. Kids (11,10, & 7) are super excited but I want to manage theirs and our expectations for them.  I have not been able to find much on what the program is like now except for a few articles when they first reopened.  I am just curious how different it is compared to before covid.  We used to send them for an hour or so while we got ready for Dinner and then an hour or so in the evenings.  We also usually have them eat one dinner with the club so we can have one dinner just us. 

 

Do you have to make reservations? Is there limited time they can spend there?  Do they take them for dinner still and if so, what are the safety protocols?

 

Even though they love the 1 dinner they get to eat there, I might just take them to grab something from promenade or buffet before we drop them off.

 

I would love to see a daily comapass for the club if anyone has them?

 

Thanks in advance guys!

I just got off Freedom last weekend. I have this covered in my vlog on YouTube (Shannon Ford) and have a recap going up Wednesday. 

It has changed since the start of the New Year. No more reservations. First come first served. This was never an issue on our sailing, but could on others.

We are booked on Odyssey during Spring Break in March and concerned about the first come first served since we expect a lot of kids.

So unfortunately it still hasn't updated. I sent an email to the RoyalUp email address last week and haven't received a response and I've called twice and been told 2 different things. 1. that it doesn't matter and 2. that it's something my TA needs to correct.

Thank goodness the service received from their call center is not reflective of the service you receive on board. Because customer service on the phone is non-existent

On 11/29/2021 at 5:55 PM, molly361 said:

How long does it take the Royal Up system before you can see the new pricing offers after you upgrade yourself?

Curious as to how long it took for the new offers to be reflected. I upgraded myself on Friday and I’m anxiously awaiting to place our new bids 

1 hour ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Can you not cancel your bid, wait a few days to see if your category updates and then try to bid again?

I just did this. Thanks!

16 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Have you canceled your old bids?  If not do so.  Not the same situation as your, but here is a recent experience when I needed to cancel a bid to move on.  I originally only bid on one category.  Later I heard there was a “sale” the lower minimums on various other categories.  With my bid in place, I could not even see those categories.  Once I canceled the old bid, I could see the whole list of offerings with new lower minimums.

If canceling the old bids and signing back in to RoyalUp does not repopulate with appropriate options, check back each day.  Sometimes it takes a few days for offers to come through.

I did have one placed. I just went ahead and cancelled it. Thank you. Let's hope this works.

Spoke to 3 people at Royal and not one made this suggestion.

So we recently upgraded our stateroom from an OV to a Balcony GTY when the rates dropped. Saved us $500.

however, the RoyalUp bidding page does not reflect our current category, it still says Oceanview. I called Royal and the person was clueless and then told me that it doesn’t matter because my category is correct on their end. I also confirmed with others on my sailing who are booked in the same category, what their minimum bids are (literally half of mine) and they also have more options for higher categories. 
Has this happened to anyone else? Does it eventually get updated? I sent an email to the RoyalUp email address yesterday but not sure how long it takes them to respond.

So I was also on the July 2nd sailing. I have 2 videos on YouTube already for Days 1 and 2 and Day 3 will go up tomorrow. I also traveled with my 5 year old.

Cruise was amazing. I hate masks, but like the person before me said, they didn't take away from the cruise. It was so minimal. My son had to wear his more than I did because he had to wear it in the kids clubs at all times and he was fine. 

Does anyone have pictures of the 6 Spacious Oceanview Staterooms on the Freedom of the Seas, Deck 12 AFT. The cabin numbers are 1892 - 1902. I can find pictures of pretty much every other category, but none of these.