Starry Eyes

I think a substantial number of spouses have different numbers of points. If the couple is striving together toward a new level, they should book strategically if possible with the partner with the higher point total continuing to accumulate as rapidly as possible. For example, if the wife has the higher total from a past solo cruises when the couple plus a child plan to book adjoining cabins to maximize points the wife should be booked solo in one cabin and hubby and child in the other. If one spouse becomes the “point leader” let them continue in that role when easily workable and mutually agreeable

From what I have seen none of the November sailings seem to be able to pre-book. Since I’m sailing this month I figure I’m in the same position I was before this thread (well, maybe a little envious😉). Hopefully you will be able to book when you board as has been customary recently.

I tend to agree with you, especially as marriage is not really required. A couple that lives together can be linked and receive a status match. So with or without multiple marriages and divorces, a person with a series of live-in partners could pass the D+ status they inherited from their parents to several partners and offspring. After breakups, those partners could ask for status matches for new partners. I understand family togetherness, but those D+ parents are not cruising with their son’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend’s kid.

As you have received one RoyalUp upgrade, I think you are done as it is unlikely you will be offered a second opportunity to bid. It does not hurt to check the RoyalUp site occasionally; if they give you a chance to bid again, go for it. in terms of bidding strategy for the future, if I am excited by certain categories I concentrate my bids there. I often choose not to bid on categories about which I am less enthusiastic. I figure bids on those categories might backfire…I might win a category that does not excite me and that winning bid knocks me out of contention for the categories I really wanted. In my case I might be starting in a balcony, and I really hope to upgrade to a full suite. So, I bid strongly on the full suites but I might decide not bid at all on the JS. Others love the JS so they’d bid on it, too. You have to use your personal priorities, not somebody else’s priorities.

Nor for me on Wonder the week after Thanksgiving.

Same here.

I generally first try to determine my assigned cabin category, then look up the available cabins in my exact category, noting the cabin numbers of my top 2-3 choices (just in case somebody else snags my favorite while on holding for an agent…it has happened). Then I place the call.

DH commented on those pies and Indian dishes when previewing menus for our Wonder cruise. I warned him the menus might change when the ship moved.

That’s new and wonderful to know. We only went to resolutions. So maybe if one is motivated you might get it moved. In any case, it won’t be the easy swap it usually is. Funny how thing work out, though. I had wanted to swap that time because my assigned cabin was next to a blank space on the deck map. That space turned out to be a ventilation area, so it was very quiet. Our room had excellent AC (maybe being near the vent shaft helped🤷‍♀️). In the end, I’m glad they did not let us switch, LOL. We have booked a cabin on a sister ship adjacent to the same blank space.

Also, if your sailing is a month out and you want to swap, keep watching. Availability might change and a 3D cabin you like better could show up.

Not relevant for 1bravesfan this time, but it might be another time. The category must be available for booking by a party of your size. For example, recently, my gty for a party of two was assigned to a cabin in a category with 3 guest capacity. There were lots of vacant cabins in that category, but the cruiselines had not released them for booking by parties of two. We were unable to switch. Being denied is not a big deal, but a dud waste time trying. Thus, I am sharing here so others know.

Sorry if it did not come across as intended, but I was giving two different hypothetical examples in the above post. LOL, I knew you were not desperate from your earlier post. So, for you I hypothetically suggested that you decided to cancel the bid the night before. (Obviously decide for yourself) The second hypothetical example is quite different from you. I did not mean to upset you by using the term friend; sorry. my post was meant to to helpful

Just take charge of the situation. Decide how late you are willing to wait for an upgrade. Let’s say you decide you want to know the night before, so you can easily re-do your luggage tags. If you have not received the upgrade by then cancel your bid. Your desperate friend might decide they want the shot at upgrade not matter how late it inconvenient…even if it comes after they are on board. Your friend won’t cancel his bids and might even check his stateroom phone for a message from guest services (he will almost certainly be disappointed, but that’s his problem) RoyalUp did not know which one of you would be willing to move even after boarding the ship. By canceling your bids, you told them you made it clear to them. If there was a last minute upgrade due to a cancellation, they would not bother you.

LOL. Somebody tried to take hubby’s card last year. An onlooker might have thought they were trying to take his first born🤣. The card is in DH’s card collection.

Oh, sorry to hear you are not enthusiastic about a possible upgrade. I’m not unhappy when I lose (most people do) and stay in my original cabin, but I do hope to win. Only you can know whether you should try to cancel the bid or not.

Do people on holiday sailings need to be careful with the UDP? If I recall correctly the fine print on the UDP excludes special occasion meals. Might Royal crank up the price of Chops on Christmas Eve and Day, while excluding UDP use?

I cannot make any promises (I do not work for RoyalUp!), but I do not believe RoyalUp intends to delay decision on your pending bid that long. Many pending bids (that cannot be modified or canceled) are processed within a day, though there have been reports of some staying in that status for a week or more. You said you are 18 days out; I will be very surprised if they do not make a decision on your bid within 15-16 days (and probably sooner). If you want the upgrade, being moved to that pending status is a positive sign. At least you seem to be in the running for the upgrade; that is more than most bidders can say right now. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Here’s my take: RoyalUp is considering your pending bid, and they’d rather you did not alter it while they do so. Disabling the online cancel/modify function, discourages you from doing so. (If your credit card has not been charged and you really want to cancel that bid, call immediately to try to cancel the bid). If you do win, your first indication will be credit card activity. Then the email from RoyalUp. As you can see 11 cabins, if you do win, there is a good chance it will be one of those 11, but it may be a different cabin entirely. You may be placed in a cabin just vacated by somebody who won a RoyalUp bid on a higher category (who is now in a cabin just vacated by somebody who won a RoyalUp bid on yet a higher category, etc). Thus you cannot know where RoyalUp will place you. Before bidding be sure you will be happy enough in any of the cabins in that category.

Somebody might cancel, freeing up a suite. Also, RoyalUp may cause multiple openings as people ladder up. For example, an available upper level may be won by a person in a mid level suite. That mid level category (previously sold out) now has a vacancy, which RoyalUp fills with a bid from a party in lower level suite. That creates a new vacancy for bidding…and so on down through lesser cabins.

I agree withTulsacoker that you ought not get your hopes up: at this point many are bidding, few CL are available, so few are winning. If you do win, you must be willing to take whatever CL you are assigned. Theoretically, if another CL you like better happens to still be available if and when you win, you might be able to swap, but, as the other CL’s are apt to be already be filled, you should not factor that into your bidding. If you would not be happy in the “worst” CL, you probably should not bid. I, for one, could be happy in any CL; others might only want a side facing CL.

Nobody looked at anything outside lately. Inside signage and personnel verbally separated passé into two security lines (regular vs suites+PC). As D+, we went through the regular security line (nothing new there; the special D/D+ security line was discontinued before the shut down). After security, personnel have recently been directing us to the suite/PC check in area, which was a shorter wait with perhaps a tad more space. Not a big deal; we go wherever they direct us.

That’s the way I see it, too. Of course, one of the nice things about the UDP is that you can go to more than one restaurant per night. So, you could, for example, have heavy appetizers at one restaurant (sushi at Izumi perhaps) then later go to Wonderland. If you are not very hungry, make selections with the waitstaff.

Yeah, I get it. I come from a long line of bargain hunters and took up the habit at an early age. My earlier post was not meant to be critical. Had the posters on the other site solicited advice sooner, no doubt you’d have suggested checking upgrade prices vs RoyalUp.

Well, I guess if those cruisers are posting their winning bids, they are happy. Frugal frequent cruisers may look differently at the situation than those non-frugal, non-frequent cruisers posting winning bids. Perhaps maximize their infrequent days on a ship is more important to them than getting a great deal. If they are happy, I’ll be happy for them (and as a shareholder, I should hope they spend freely on board, too)

Recently at Port Canaveral as D+ we have been directed by personnel to check in lines with the Pinnacles and Suites. The personnel do seem to be attentive to length of the various lines as they direct us, so YMMV not only by port but perhaps by happenstance. This happened at both T1 and T5.