RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[publicpersona]

24 minutes ago, Sosai X said:

 

So now I'm confused; the rep is telling me that cabin is taken, but it's being made available for bid on Royal Up.   So, is it taken, or is it not?  

 

 

The rep was doing that thing where it is easier to just make stuff up rather than find out how it really works. In all likelihood, the third party that runs the RoyalUp program wants to have bids in the queue for all of the higher end staterooms. It doesn't cost them anything, and that it leads you on unnecessarily is the furthest things from their minds. If the person that has that one stateroom also bids, and wins the bid, then they need those bids in the queue. If not, it didn't hurt to collect them.

 

And, yes, that stateroom is the old CL. Nice window and near lots of elevators, but I'd prefer a balcony myself so didn't bid on it.

[John&LaLa]

44 minutes ago, Sosai X said:

 

So now I'm confused; the rep is telling me that cabin is taken, but it's being made available for bid on Royal Up.   So, is it taken, or is it not?  

 

 

Almost all cabins are in RoyalUp, doesn’t mean anthing. Its a contingency plan, and a data gathering experiment

[molly361]

54 minutes ago, Sosai X said:

 

So now I'm confused; the rep is telling me that cabin is taken, but it's being made available for bid on Royal Up.   So, is it taken, or is it not?  

 

They are allowing you to bid in the event that the person in that cabin cancels or bids on a higher category (if there is one ) and gets it therefore opening up their cabin to someone else

[Ashland]

30 minutes ago, molly361 said:

They are allowing you to bid in the event that the person in that cabin cancels or bids on a higher category (if there is one ) and gets it therefore opening up their cabin to someone else

Above this particular cabin on this ship is a GS, OS & Royal Suite. 

[Sosai X]

21 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Above this particular cabin on this ship is a GS, OS & Royal Suite. 

 

What made me really question the agent was when I inquired if the other suites carried the free wifi - which, you'd mentioned only applies to Oasis and Quantum-class - and she assured me, yes, it does.  

 

So again, maybe this was someone new or who just didn't bother to look at their reference material...

[MikeTheNFT]

3 hours ago, Sosai X said:

 

Following your suggestion, I called Royal Caribbean to inquire about the delta between what we've paid and what the cost would be to just book that cabin right now.  I was told the cabin is NOT available - someone is booked in it - and that the Royal Up program allows THAT person to make their cabin available for bid to see if someone else is willing to make them an offer to give it up and take something else.

 

That's not how I understood this to work; I thought this was Royal Caribbean's way of moving unsold inventory, making it available to those willing to bid on an upgrade to what would otherwise be spoiled inventory, since that cabin loses its ability to generate revenue once the ship sails if it goes out empty.

 

Anyone else run into this?  I haven't changed my bid, but it's odd to me that I'm evidently not waiting on Royal Caribbean to decide if they want to accept my offer, but whichever guest is currently booked in that cabin.   

 

I was just thinking about this earlier today.

 

Think of all the already 'upgraded' cabins that will also be bidding on RoyalUp chances. It makes sense that RC would open a few of these up for bidding as well, in case they win their bids and then become open.

 

For example, I bet a lot of these balconies everyone bids on are actually full/sold out. But as the balconies win their bids into suites and the like, they need to have a list of people with OV/Interiors that are willing to bid into balconies.

 

So essentially just think of it like a ladder system, and everyone is kind of bidding on things higher above them, often hoping that the one one above them moves up a rung so it frees up the rung you want.

[Karita]

With 3 days to go, I just got my email that my bid was accepted from a guarantee balcony to a Grand Suite on Indy

[PompeySailor]

Cruise Date 1/3/22

Received offer to upgrade 12/14

Bid on 5 different categories 

12/24 X4 Expired X1 Pending

12/27 Credit card charged 

12/27 Received email confirmation 🥳

(Exactly 1 week from sail date)

Looks like the Pending one, is the one 😉

 

Happy Days!

[island lady]

4 hours ago, PompeySailor said:

Cruise Date 1/3/22

Received offer to upgrade 12/14

Bid on 5 different categories 

12/24 X4 Expired X1 Pending

12/27 Credit card charged 

12/27 Received email confirmation 🥳

(Exactly 1 week from sail date)

Looks like the Pending one, is the one 😉

 

Happy Days!

 

Congrats!!  My 1/2 still shows pending.  No charges, no email...but still some hope. 

[Moltar]

On my RoyalUp, this is the first time I've ever received one. The bids are just showing for 2, double occupancy. What about my third, my son?

[molly361]

28 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Congrats!!  My 1/2 still shows pending.  No charges, no email...but still some hope. 

Good luck

[molly361]

14 minutes ago, Moltar said:

On my RoyalUp, this is the first time I've ever received one. The bids are just showing for 2, double occupancy. What about my third, my son?

You only pay the bid amount for the first 2 passengers.  Even if solo you pay for 2.  If 3 or 4 passengers you still only pay for 2

Edited December 27, 2021 by molly361

[island lady]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

Good luck

 

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

Good luck

 

You too!  🙂 

[SherriZ366]

3 hours ago, molly361 said:

You only pay the bid amount for the first 2 passengers.  Even if solo you pay for 2.  If 3 or 4 passengers you still only pay for 2

I may be cruising solo so it would be my single bid doubled.  

[shipmate13]

In all my cruises, I have only tried once to do the RoyalUP bid and when I did it was accepted.  I just received email on my upcoming cruise in February already to do a RoyalUP bid which I thought was kind of early however I am going to try my luck again. The only staterooms I have to choose from is Royal Suite, Owner's Suite and 1 and 2 bedroom suites so I bid on all of them.  Now its a wait and see game.  

[island lady]

10 hours ago, shipmate13 said:

In all my cruises, I  have only tried once to do the RoyalUP bid and when I did it was accepted.  I just received email on my upcoming cruise in February already to do a RoyalUP bid which I thought was kind of early however I am going to try my luck again. The only staterooms I have to choose from is Royal Suite, Owner's Suite and 1 and 2 bedroom suites so I bid on all of them.  Now its a wait and see game.  

 

That is the case for my 1/29 and 2/6 Odyssey cruises.  Got the invitation to bid weeks ago, as you...seemed early to me.  

 

The kicker is that all full suites have been showing as sold out for months...and still is.  Though almost all full suites were available to bid on.  IMHO it's a combination of marketing (see how many bite) and possible cancellations.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by island lady

[WeIsCruisin]

I sail on Symphony Jan 8 and my bid was accepted today, going from a casino comped balcony to a 1 br grand suite for 800/pp. A few days after the initial bid, the jr suite I also bid on turned to expired, and the grand suite bid showed pending without the ability to modify. I had read on here that it likely was going to be accepted so I was hopeful, and it seems to have been true for me. 11 days prior to sailing and I wasn't expecting to hear back this early, but since they halted all new bookings I guess there's no reason for them not to. 

[island lady]

53 minutes ago, WeIsCruisin said:

I sail on Symphony Jan 8 and my bid was accepted today, going from a casino comped balcony to a 1 br grand suite for 800/pp. A few days after the initial bid, the jr suite I also bid on turned to expired, and the grand suite bid showed pending without the ability to modify. I had read on here that it likely was going to be accepted so I was hopeful, and it seems to have been true for me. 11 days prior to sailing and I wasn't expecting to hear back this early, but since they halted all new bookings I guess there's no reason for them not to. 

 

Nice!!  Congrats!!  🤗

 

I am only 4 days now until sail date on Harmony...and still no word.  And still the teasing "pending"...sigh...at least it is not showing "expired".  But still a tease.  😉 

[coasterwiggs]

On 12/21/2021 at 6:45 PM, rennyn said:

 

I was just thinking about this earlier today.

 

Think of all the already 'upgraded' cabins that will also be bidding on RoyalUp chances. It makes sense that RC would open a few of these up for bidding as well, in case they win their bids and then become open.

 

For example, I bet a lot of these balconies everyone bids on are actually full/sold out. But as the balconies win their bids into suites and the like, they need to have a list of people with OV/Interiors that are willing to bid into balconies.

 

So essentially just think of it like a ladder system, and everyone is kind of bidding on things higher above them, often hoping that the one one above them moves up a rung so it frees up the rung you want.

Your ladder system explanation really clarified the process for me; thanks!

[Moltar]

On 12/27/2021 at 4:07 PM, molly361 said:

You only pay the bid amount for the first 2 passengers.  Even if solo you pay for 2.  If 3 or 4 passengers you still only pay for 2

Much much thanks for this!

[binro01]

I got my invitation to bid for an upgrade today for our Allure OTS cruise on Feb 27th 2022, exactly 60 days out. We are currently in an Oceanview Balcony GTY stateroom.

I was offered these to bid on:

• Spacious OV Balcony: 90-450pp
• Ultra Spacious OV w/ Large Balcony 180-540
• JS 270-810
• GS 1BR: 450-1800
• GS 2BR: 540-2070
• OS 720-3060

Currently there are no open spacious OV balconies, or the very rare Ultra Spacious OV w/ large balconies available to book. All other cabins have opportunity to book as of today.

 

I think I will probably bid on the GS, since that seems like the best bang for the buck bid I can make. A JS for just does not seem to be a great value proposition, but who knows..I might throw a bid there as well. The difference between a GS and a OS does not seem very attractive as well. What I was curious about was that a CLS was not offered, even though there are still 4 available for the sailing. I would have bid on one of those.

 

What has been people's experience with bids on an Oasis class ship, into a JS or a GS and what was your winning or losing bid?

[Cruise a holic]

4 minutes ago, binro01 said:

I got my invitation to bid for an upgrade today for our Allure OTS cruise on Feb 27th 2022, exactly 60 days out. We are currently in an Oceanview Balcony GTY stateroom.

I was offered these to bid on:

• Spacious OV Balcony: 90-450pp
• Ultra Spacious OV w/ Large Balcony 180-540
• JS 270-810
• GS 1BR: 450-1800
• GS 2BR: 540-2070
• OS 720-3060

Currently there are no open spacious OV balconies, or the very rare Ultra Spacious OV w/ large balconies available to book. All other cabins have opportunity to book as of today.

 

I think I will probably bid on the GS, since that seems like the best bang for the buck bid I can make. A JS for just does not seem to be a great value proposition, but who knows..I might throw a bid there as well. The difference between a GS and a OS does not seem very attractive as well. What I was curious about was that a CLS was not offered, even though there are still 4 available for the sailing. I would have bid on one of those.

 

What has been people's experience with bids on an Oasis class ship, into a JS or a GS and what was your winning or losing bid?

Agree grand suite worth it.  You get all sky class perks. I would bid around $725 pp

[thewebbys]

I received my accepted bid on my DD and her BF upgrade to an OV Balcony from an Obstructed Balcony which was GTY. Still waiting on my bid on a JS and GS 1BR. Fingers cross.

[publicpersona]

I had put in a bid for an upgrade to junior suite on an upcoming cruise on Jewel. But I withdrew it now because all the junior suites on Radiance class ships are on Deck 10 just below the Pool/Windjammer/Gym. While we like the extra space, the bathtub, and the closet in a Junior Suite as compared to a balcony, the potential for noise seemed too high, and our balcony is a nice one. A couple of the JS even have obstructed views (window washing gear, I guess .. not lifeboats on deck 10).

 

As far as I know, there really aren't any additional perks with a junior suite on this class of ship except maybe trivial things like a bottle of conditioner. No restaurant perks. No special pool area perks, etc. Am I missing anything?

[OnTheJourney]

Thing I don't like is not knowing where you'll wind up. I considered bidding on a 2-bedroom GS (currently in a GS) and I'd love having any of the ones that are mid-ships since my room is a bit forward of mid-ship, but I checked the deck plans and see that there are two all the way aft. No interest in being there due to greater motion issues. No guarantee of which one I'd get (if I'd even get it). Same problems with the categories above GS - don't like the locations. I don't recall ever getting one of these offers before. 

Edited January 3, 2022 by OnTheJourney