Stockjock

I bid $40 per person. I think the minimum was $30 per person. So it's a pretty cheap upgrade for a very short cruise.

I did go to the RoyalUp page and it now shows as "Not eligible for upgrade". So apparently, once they accept your bid, that's it.

That's the risk. I'll probably do two smaller bottles to be safe.

I have done that before and may try it again. Wonder if I have shorts or pants with big cargo pockets, lol.

Let me start off with the most important point. I am not complaining. Often, when you see a post about an upgrade assignment, someone or other comes on to say that you knew what you were bidding on and shouldn't complain. All of that is true and this is not a complaint. Just kicking around the strategy involved in a RoyalUp bid. We're doing longer cruises later this year, but at the last minute, GF wanted to do a quickie weekend cruise for a few days. We found an oceanview GUAR at a reasonable price and in 2 days got an assignment on the 2nd deck of a pretty standard oceanview room. I would have been satisfied with that room, although it was nothing special. RoyalUp bids opened up a few days ago. I was mostly interested in a balcony cabin. Looking at their inventory, I could see... They had about 9 spacious veranda cabins. 1-2 connecting veranda cabins. 2 Spacious Panoramic View Oceanview cabins. At first, I put bids on the veranda cabins. Then, I put in a bid of $40 per person for the Spacious Panoramic Cabins, even though they weren't my first choice because: 1. Much more glass, ceiling to floor. 2. I think a better deck (deck 12 versus deck 2). 3. A bit bigger (I think 191 sq. ft. versus 160). 4. (Importantly) I think they're new and more updated, since they used to be a part of the gym on Deck 12. So they recently built these from scratch. 10 days out, they accepted my bid on the Spacious Panoramic Ocean View cabin (again, $40 per person). I noticed that all of the veranda cabins are still available, so maybe they wait until the last moment on those? OV cabins now fully sold out, so they assigned all RoyalUp OV that were available. I wonder if I would have been better off just bidding on a veranda? I'm just kicking things around. Not complaining at all, as I got what I bid on and it does seem like a nicer and more updated room with a lot more glass.

Since you asked... It's not my favorite wine ever, but it's a great deal for what I think is a very good wine. Let's start with the price. $10.99 per 1 liter bottle and if you buy 6 (different brands usually okay) bottles, it's $9.99. I think it was on sale for $1 off, so only $8.99 for a liter. The wine is D'amati Red Blend. I think it gets a Vivino score of just under 4 (5 scale) and on the website of where I bought it (Total Wine and More), I believe they gave it 4.2. I'd rate it 4 on a 5 scale. It's a lot of wine for the money. Plus, if they let it through, you're getting an extra 500 ml of wine onboard. 🙂 https://www.totalwine.com/wine/red-wine/red-blend/damati-red-blend/p/219502010?s=1006&igrules=true

I didn't see him dump it out, lol. I'll probably give the rum runners another try this time.

I've never had an interest in marriage, but remember, I'm the guy who splits up the money when things go south. As for the GF, she's been married before and said, "Been there, done that".

What are Oceania excursions like? Average priced? Expensive? Something really special or not? This cruise would be a 7-day out of Miami. We have been to most or all of the ports before, FWIW.

I will say this. Both of us are drinkers. Not alcoholics, but we can go through some drinks. So I was thinking that it would be nice to have that end covered.

I've cruised on most of the better-known lines, but not Oceania. In a couple of years, my GF turns 60. Also, we will have been dating for 10 years at that point, so I'm considering taking her on an Oceania cruise as a birthday present. When she turned 50, I took her on a 4 night Princess cruise out of L.A., so this would be a big step up from that. The ship is Sirena, for what it's worth. The promotion I'm looking at includes $400 spending cash (from Oceania), or House Select Drink Package, which I think includes wine and beer at dinner. As I understand it, I can switch to a full drink package for $20 per person per day, so correct me if I'm wrong. Additionally, I get $300 in credit when booking with my Amex Platinum and I think the TA may throw in a small amount too. So which is the best option: 1. Take the roughly $800 OBC and buy a drinks package. 2. Take the House Select drinks package and use the remaining $400 OBC to upgrade that to a full drink package. I'm looking at an oceanview room. I much prefer a balcony, but the pricing seems much better on OV. I'm also open to any other thoughts or suggestions since Oceania would be new to me. Thank you in advance.

Checked bag. I got a call to go to the security desk. I was surprised that they could see them.

Me too. They said they could see the outline in the x-ray machines. I think he said the plastic caps show up.

I took this pic on Carnival 5 years ago. I tried to sneak booze aboard using Rum Runners. They flagged my bag and then smiled as they poured it out. That hurt.

I'd potentially try to bring 2 bottles. Wouldn't do so unless the odds were in my favor.

I do understand that the usual limit is 2 750ml bottles of wine which can be brought aboard. I like a particular Italian wine that, to my knowledge, only comes in 1 liter bottles. It's not the double-sized 1.5 liter bottles, but rather, just a bit larger than the normal bottle. If I tried to bring this aboard would they likely: 1. Waive it through. 2. Confiscate it. 3. Allow it only if an additional fee is paid at the time of boarding.

I bought the 9 hour Tulum/Playa del Carmen tour for a Cozumel visit. I haven't done those before, so they seemed interesting and a bit different. I had $200 OBC, so this killed all but $50.

Due to CC policy, I cannot get specific. But there was a differential that made it beneficial to do it as a new booking. Sorry to be so vague, but I don't want to violate their terms.

I understood that, as mentioned. The main point of the prior post was to let you, or anyone interested, know that they can receive a written inventory of included amenities upon request. Having a written record of promised amenities can eliminate disappointment or disputes once onboard. When we're on vacation, disputes and hassles are often the last thing we want to have to deal with.

I understand that you didn't care in your particular case, but just to clarify in terms of expected amenities, they can send you a separate written record by e-mail of any included amenities that are attached to one's booking. I always request that and save it by flagging it in my e-mail. If I don't receive something that has been promised, I'm able to retrieve the e-mail and show it to them once onboard.

I don't doubt that it would have, and certainly I always double-check my amenities before boarding. That said, I did cancel this sailing and decided to book with a travel agent due to pricing and OBC. I believe I cannot mention any specifics, so I won't.

Not sure if it matters, but the cruise is pretty close in. But from now on, I will call in and ask what they can do.

No idea why or how, but it didn't take much coaxing.

I was thinking about whether or not to book and I asked if I called back and spoke to someone else, would that person also be able to offer the amenity. He said, "Some might be able to do that, others won't". Figured I wouldn't chance it and booked through him. I did specifically "ask for the order", as they say in my business. Some/many probably don't ask. It's worth a shot, and might even be worth a call later if the agent on the phone says "no". Might have gotten lucky on my first try. He also offered a bottle or red wine (Estancia Cabernet, I think) or white (Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc), but I went w/the "Champagne" and strawberries (Chateau Ste. Michelle Brut).

Booked a very short 3 night cruise today. Just something to do coming up soon. I was going to book online, but called RCL and asked if he could do any better than what I was seeing online. He said, "I can't do any better price-wise, but I can give you an amenity". I asked what sort of amenity and he said, "I can add a bottle of Champagne and an order of chocolate dipped strawberries". I accepted that. Just as an FYI, it might be worth calling them for those who do book direct. It's not worth a lot, but it's something.