Starry Eyes

The OP’s (supposed winning) bid was not an ordinary OV cabin; it was for the (rather rare) ultra spacious OV…and the passengers in those cabins might not be willing to move to a much smaller balcony cabin. In fact, their party might be five or six people, so they not be able to fit in that regular balcony cabin. In many cases (like this one), RoyalUp is offering very specific categories for bid. They need to fulfill those specific bids with those specific cabins. To do otherwise is a bait and switch. The OP declined to bid on a balcony cabin.

Gty and bidding are not the same. While I have often been told that with gty I must accept any cabin in the selected category or higher, I do not recall anywhere on the RoyalUp bid site that says they can assign a bidder to a higher category. Is that info in the fine print somewhere? If not, this bidder should only get (or not get) the ultra spacious OV cabin specifically wanted & bid.

You mentioned on a recent thread that you can see your muster station for your cruise in two months (I assume this is the same cruise), but still see gty. That suggests Royal has unofficially picked your cabin even though you cannot yet see it. It may appear soon or they may keep it secret. If they keep it secret, when on line check in opens for your cruise (typically 45 days out), do your check in, to get your set sail pass, then use the “bar code trick” to see your cabin assignment. (If Apple user, put set sail pass in apple wallet. If android user, use a bar code reader. Look at the numbers below the barcode. If there are numbers to the right of the - (dash), that is your unofficial cabin assignment. In all likelihood it will be a JS. Knowing that might cabin assignment might make your bidding decisions easier.

Decks 6 and 8 are my favorites. As mentioned, Central Park is lovely on deck 8. Deck 6 has Boardwalk, the fitness center and a bar plus it is only one flight of stairs to royal promenade. When I book an OV balcony, I also book near the elevators, though personally I slightly favor the aft elevators over forward ones. It just depends what venues you’d rather have close by, so there is no wrong answer. Oasis class are large ships so you cannot be close to everything. In your case, being close to your companions might be a major consideration. The child locks have helped many in your situation.

If you are both happy with the included dining options, there is probably little reason to switch to the unlimited dining package. Foodies might like the UDP. Or people who desire quieter dining venues or a sort up in service. DH and I cruise more frequently, so buying the UDP gives us a different experience.

If two extra adults eat lunch with you in Giovanni’s, they should, of course, expect to pay the cover charge for Giovanni’s lunch.

If you are sitting in the terminal waiting to board, you can try to make reservations. It has worked for me at times.

How long ago did you make those reservations? I know you sailed recently but did you make those reservations long ago?

I’m assuming these are b2b cruises, so perhaps you’ll have a stocked fridge (beer, water, soda) from vouchers by the start of cruise two.

I think you gave the safe answer. My cabin has not changed from the barcode stage nor do I know anyone who has experienced that. Still, whenever I book gty I always assume the cruiseline has the right to change my cabin (though I’ll be surprised if they ever do).

Thanks for the feedback. I had hoped lines for those with reservations might have resolved by 7:30; evidently not. If they first use the same tables for early traditional dining (the re-vamped system), they cannot open MTD at 6 pm as early traditional diners are still in those seats. I wish they’d go back to the original MTD system (MTD opening before traditional dining) but I see no sign of that.

Well, if ships are a bit less full when kids are back in school, that might help, but on the other hand I would guess dinners in Windjammer might appeal (on average) more to families with kids than fall travelers….so don’t hold your breath😁

It is good that you found out about the issue in plenty if time to make a new decision. You’ll need to call to change dining. You can use the main number or the C&A number.

We had the UDP on Harmony. We posed for photos at Chops the first night and the photographer tried to sell us the prints later during diner. We declined and the declined to be photographed in specialty restaurants the remaining nights. We only claim our free D pictures each cruise.

IIRC the most recent one was an electronic survey reached by QR scan

Oh, if I had MTD I personally would also like two lines (and transparency). My guess was about how the people at the podiums (who have input about the lines) might feel…not that they’d share their feelings with guests (they should not)….and of course my guess could be totally wrong.

I know aside from VIPs and transfers it is supposed to be based on departure survey, but, like the OP, I have not seen much correlation between survey answers and tag numbers. OTOH I recall a lot of similar tags on my vicinity (which would make luggage sorting much easier). Of course tags if one is really in a rush, self disembarkation is fastest.

Hmmm, two lines makes the situation transparent whereas one doesn’t know who has reservations if there is a single line. I can imagine resins the staff might not like transparency. I can imagine complaints from some people with reservations if they wait a significant amount of time for a table while watching people from the no-reservations-line taken to seats. Likewise people in the no reservations line may complain that either (a) they did not know reservations were available or (b) that the spirit of MTD implies reservations should not be needed.

I doubt higher C&A status would have helped if the also were MTD guests😁. I think the personnel at that email addy only plan the seating arrangements for traditional dining.

I’ve used that email for table size and location requests for traditional dining but never for MTD. Let us know if it works for MTD, too.

You are using a trick to get a secret preview of your cabin number. Eventually your cabin number will show in the app. Those who don’t know the trick have to wait until then, but the trick let you know sooner. Granted, you cannot do anything with the information, but the suspense is over for you.

Oh well, you’ll have to wait. They did not assign mine until 6 days before the cruise, but yours could come anytime. Personally, I’d just delete that set sail pass from Apple Wallet. Try it again every week or so (certainly try right away if you ever happen to a muster station location appear on your set sail pass or app)

Sounds good to me. I understand and identify with your point of view😊. Some ports enforce the rules, some don’t. Have a great cruise either way.

Unsupervised self testing basically becomes the honor system. The cruiseline will not know who took the test or when it was taken. Though I have not tried it, I strongly suspect if one just waves the the swab in the air /swabs nothing (rather than properly swabbing one’s nostrils), one will get what appears to be a negative test including the control line. I’m not encouraging such behavior, just pointing out that anybody who wants to cheat can cheat.

Variety is the spice of life!