RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[barbeyg]

11 hours ago, Ready2SailAway said:

 

btw  What time did that acceptance email arrive?  (I'm assuming they send these out in the middle of the night...)

 

My acceptance email for the GS was at 7:03 pm. There are 5 other RoyalUps that were accepted on our cruise so far, and those were received mid to late afternoon.

Edited September 6, 2019 by barbeyg

[Cruise a holic]

On 9/1/2019 at 3:57 PM, cured said:

Costco lost this customer.

 

I am currently sitting here at my laptop booking a cruise for next summer.  I was seriously contemplating booking through Costco until I read they don't participate in RoyalUp. After having success last month with our Royal Up bid, I would prefer to have the option of bidding again.  The $925 gift card is not worth losing that kind of control over my booking.  

 

Agree   that is why we always book directly with both celebrity and royal

[robIsCruising]

1 hour ago, barbeyg said:

 

My acceptance email for the GS was at 7:03 pm. There are 5 other RoyalUps that were accepted on our cruise so far, and those were received mid to late afternoon.

 

Is there a way to check how many bids have been accepted on a cruise? We just got the e-mail about making bids a few days ago so I'm guessing none have been accepted yet.

[Biker19]

23 minutes ago, robIsCruising said:

 

Is there a way to check how many bids have been accepted on a cruise?

No. 

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, robIsCruising said:

 

Is there a way to check how many bids have been accepted on a cruise? We just got the e-mail about making bids a few days ago so I'm guessing none have been accepted yet.

 

The only way I know about those wins are because we have a pretty large group on another social media site, and I've checked our Roll Call here too.

 

There are probably others who have bid (and possibly won) on our cruise.  About 5% of the people in our group bid.  If that's representative at all (and who knows if it is), then that would be about 100 bids for the Anthem sailing this coming week, with 2090 cabins on the ship.  We still have about 5 cabins waiting to see if they get their RoyalUp.  So, just over 50% of us who bid in our group have gotten their RoyalUp.  I think that's a pretty good success rate on our cruise.  ☺️

[Ready2SailAway]

4 hours ago, barbeyg said:

 

My acceptance email for the GS was at 7:03 pm. There are 5 other RoyalUps that were accepted on our cruise so far, and those were received mid to late afternoon.

 

OK thanks, so looking forward to receiving our email this afternoon -especially if it's an acceptance email..!

[robIsCruising]

1 hour ago, barbeyg said:

 

The only way I know about those wins are because we have a pretty large group on another social media site, and I've checked our Roll Call here too.

 

There are probably others who have bid (and possibly won) on our cruise.  About 5% of the people in our group bid.  If that's representative at all (and who knows if it is), then that would be about 100 bids for the Anthem sailing this coming week, with 2090 cabins on the ship.  We still have about 5 cabins waiting to see if they get their RoyalUp.  So, just over 50% of us who bid in our group have gotten their RoyalUp.  I think that's a pretty good success rate on our cruise.  ☺️

 

Congrats on the win!

 

We bid on a few suites, but our sailing on Freedom shows no availability for suites, balconies, or ocean view so I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about it. Figure the chances of a winning bid are pretty slim.

[barbeyg]

Just now, robIsCruising said:

 

Congrats on the win!

 

We bid on a few suites, but our sailing on Freedom shows no availability for suites, balconies, or ocean view so I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about it. Figure the chances of a winning bid are pretty slim.

 

Thank you!  There was no availability for suites when I bid, so you never know.  I hope your bid is accepted.  It was thrilling to see the email pop up.  

[Ready2SailAway]

Just checked RoyalUp online for our upcoming cruise and my status still shows pending for the GS-1bdrm & OS that I bid on, but when I click to check on the other upgrade options (JS & GS-2bdrm) it says "Not eligible for upgrade".

 

So it seems the RoyalUP options are percolating now and I'll get that email soon -let's have some good news!

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Ready2SailAway

[parrotfeathers]

Never in a million years did I think Royalup would have accepted my bid for an owners suite on my 4 nighter on Navigator in October !  But they did!  The minimum was $100! Per person and that was my bid.  I’m thinking they had to be needing some more GS which is what I was in.   

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, parrotfeathers said:

Never in a million years did I think Royalup would have accepted my bid for an owners suite on my 4 nighter on Navigator in October !  But they did!  The minimum was $100! Per person and that was my bid.  I’m thinking they had to be needing some more GS which is what I was in.   

Very nice !!!

[cured]

On 9/5/2019 at 12:13 PM, molly361 said:

No way I would give up a $925 gift card for the SLIM chance of winning a RoyalUp bid

I have other reasons besides just RoyalUP.  I admit it, I have control issues, serious control issues. If I see a price drop, I want to be the one to be able to call RCI not wait around for someone else to do it.   Anyway, I have a few weeks to change my mind and move it over when I realize how dumb I am being.

 

But, it won't happen.  I will end up keeping the booking with RCI 🤣

Edited September 7, 2019 by cured

[travelplus]

1 hour ago, cured said:

I have other reasons besides just RoyalUP.  I admit it, I have control issues, serious control issues. If I see a price drop, I want to be the one to be able to call RCI not wait around for someone else to do it.   Anyway, I have a few weeks to change my mind and move it over when I realize how dumb I am being.

 

But, it won't happen.  I will end up keeping the booking with RCI 🤣

I am the exact opposite. I love gambling and playing this awesome game called RoyalUP. We started with an Interior Guarantee then bid for  an Oceanview and OV Balcony on our first cruise as part of a B2B Med/Trans Atlantic Cruise. I mean how bad can it really get? 

For the second portion as anyways we have to move  I put in a bid for the Standard OV Balcony and Superior OV Balcony again how bad can it get?  So what if its an obstructed view that I am prepared for.  Plus were saving money. I went ahead and bid on the first cruise around the minimum bid as we are in a Guarantee Cabin so the chances of Royal moving us up would be higher.

 

On the second cruise I placed in the Bid in the strong range.  I mean if they place us up with the Captain near his Bridge with the same view he gets that would be awesome!   I'll take fresh air over Obstructed view any day!

 

Pulling into Villefrane in  a Balcony Cabin would be a dream for me as well as pulling into Palermo, Livorno, Lisbon, In and out of Barcelona etc.  Now I may never go back to a standard insider room again! I may go for the higher categories. 

 

 

[travelplus]

3 hours ago, Ashland said:

Very nice !!!

Score!!!

[Opal91086]

9 hours ago, Ready2SailAway said:

Just checked RoyalUp online for our upcoming cruise and my status still shows pending for the GS-1bdrm & OS that I bid on, but when I click to check on the other upgrade options (JS & GS-2bdrm) it says "Not eligible for upgrade".

 

So it seems the RoyalUP options are percolating now and I'll get that email soon -let's have some good news!

 

Mine too... for a month.

[cured]

9 hours ago, travelplus said:

I am the exact opposite. I love gambling and playing this awesome game called RoyalUP. We started with an Interior Guarantee then bid for  an Oceanview and OV Balcony on our first cruise as part of a B2B Med/Trans Atlantic Cruise. I mean how bad can it really get? 

For the second portion as anyways we have to move  I put in a bid for the Standard OV Balcony and Superior OV Balcony again how bad can it get?  So what if its an obstructed view that I am prepared for.  Plus were saving money. I went ahead and bid on the first cruise around the minimum bid as we are in a Guarantee Cabin so the chances of Royal moving us up would be higher.

 

On the second cruise I placed in the Bid in the strong range.  I mean if they place us up with the Captain near his Bridge with the same view he gets that would be awesome!   I'll take fresh air over Obstructed view any day!

 

Pulling into Villefrane in  a Balcony Cabin would be a dream for me as well as pulling into Palermo, Livorno, Lisbon, In and out of Barcelona etc.  Now I may never go back to a standard insider room again! I may go for the higher categories. 

 

 

Actually, you and I are on the same page.  I had said that Costco's gift card was not worth transferring my reservation to because they opt out of RoyalUP. 

 

We have only been on one RCI cruise, 2 cruises in total, so are complete newbies.  But we were spoiled on our first RCI cruise. We put in an extremely ($100 over minimum) weak RoyalUP bid on a Crown Loft suite only 11 days from sailing on what had been showing as a completely full ship for weeks. We were in a Ultra Spacious Ocean View with large balcony.  I almost didn't bid because I didn't want to lose our ocean balcony and get one of the suites in the back which is why we bid at the very last minute. But what the heck, I bid because I really, really didn't think we would get it.  Surprise, a few days after we bid, we got the acceptance letter.  But darn, it was one of the ones on the back.  

 

We loved it.  The view of Naples spread out behind us when we docked was breathtaking. Having coffee on the large balcony overlooking over Barcelona with a perfect view of La Familia Sagrada was wonderful.  And yes, we were totally spoiled.  I don't think we can ever go back.  I booked same ship, same cabin for next summer as we want to explore this beautiful ship more since we didn't get to much with such a port intensive cruise.   

 

Loved the game, loved the results. 

[cured]

15 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

Never in a million years did I think Royalup would have accepted my bid for an owners suite on my 4 nighter on Navigator in October !  But they did!  The minimum was $100! Per person and that was my bid.  I’m thinking they had to be needing some more GS which is what I was in.   

Congrats!

[SRV FAN]

1 hour ago, cured said:

Actually, you and I are on the same page.  I had said that Costco's gift card was not worth transferring my reservation to because they opt out of RoyalUP. 

 

We have only been on one RCI cruise, 2 cruises in total, so are complete newbies.  But we were spoiled on our first RCI cruise. We put in an extremely ($100 over minimum) weak RoyalUP bid on a Crown Loft suite only 11 days from sailing on what had been showing as a completely full ship for weeks. We were in a Ultra Spacious Ocean View with large balcony.  I almost didn't bid because I didn't want to lose our ocean balcony and get one of the suites in the back which is why we bid at the very last minute. But what the heck, I bid because I really, really didn't think we would get it.  Surprise, a few days after we bid, we got the acceptance letter.  But darn, it was one of the ones on the back.  

 

We loved it.  The view of Naples spread out behind us when we docked was breathtaking. Having coffee on the large balcony overlooking over Barcelona with a perfect view of La Familia Sagrada was wonderful.  And yes, we were totally spoiled.  I don't think we can ever go back.  I booked same ship, same cabin for next summer as we want to explore this beautiful ship more since we didn't get to much with such a port intensive cruise.   

 

Loved the game, loved the results. 

 

The Royal Up process did what it was designed to do with y'all...…… 🙂

 

You are fairly new cruisers...so not totally "Loyal to Royal" yet...they dangled a carrot & you took it (at a GREAT price). You got a sweet upgrade & discovered aft cabins are really the BEST...now you are hooked.... 🙂 Crown Loft already booked again! Happy for you! 

 

We are seasoned "Loyal to Royal" cruisers & I "feel" like they won't accept our upcoming bid because of that. I think they look at the cruise history of the bidders & offer the upgrades, no matter how big or small to the newest cruisers, to "wow" them & get them hooked. We're hooked without the upgrade...but it sure would be nice to win one once! 

 

Congrats!!! 

[cured]

37 minutes ago, SRV FAN said:

 

The Royal Up process did what it was designed to do with y'all...…… 🙂

 

You are fairly new cruisers...so not totally "Loyal to Royal" yet...they dangled a carrot & you took it (at a GREAT price). You got a sweet upgrade & discovered aft cabins are really the BEST...now you are hooked.... 🙂 Crown Loft already booked again! Happy for you! 

 

We are seasoned "Loyal to Royal" cruisers & I "feel" like they won't accept our upcoming bid because of that. I think they look at the cruise history of the bidders & offer the upgrades, no matter how big or small to the newest cruisers, to "wow" them & get them hooked. We're hooked without the upgrade...but it sure would be nice to win one once! 

 

Congrats!!! 

I am going to have to agree with you 🙂 While we are new to cruising, we are certainly not new to travel. It all works the same.

 

We figured we won the RoyalUP bid with the perfect storm of opportunities. We had one of two larger family cabins  in the back with only 4 people in it, it was an Autism of the Seas sailing, and we were newbies. While not sailing with AOTS, we were traveling with our daughter with Ds and one of the reasons we picked that cabin was for the room.  So we figured there was probably a whole slew of strong bids for our cabin by all different families.  That is why we went ahead and just booked the CL outright on the next cruise as we did think our chances would not be as great to win a bid.

 

And unfortunately, or fortunately for RCI, we were suckered in big time.  I think we now officially belong to the Loyal to Royal club as I cancelled a Celebrity cruise and rebooked with Royal. I know, same company, but I looked at those measly 7 points in my account and thought what the heck, better to build on that rather than keep jumping cruiselines. The nice thing was the CL was still cheaper than the cabin on Celebrity.

Edited September 7, 2019 by cured

[SRV FAN]

6 minutes ago, cured said:

I am going to have to agree with you 🙂 While we are new to cruising, we are certainly not new to travel. It all works the same.

 

We figured we won the RoyalUP bid with the perfect storm of opportunities. We had one of two larger family suites in the back with only 4 people in it, it was an Autism of the Seas sailing, and we were newbies. While not sailing with AOTS, we were traveling with our daughter with Ds and one of the reasons we picked that cabin was for the room.  So we figured there was probably a whole slew of strong bids for our cabin by all different families.  That is why we went ahead and just booked the CL outright on the next cruise as we did think our chances would not be as great to win a bid.

 

And unfortunately, or fortunately for RCI, we were suckered in big time.  I think we now officially belong to the Loyal to Royal club as I cancelled a Celebrity cruise and rebooked with Royal. I know, same company, but I looked at those measly 7 points in my account and thought what the heck, better to build on that rather than keep jumping cruiselines. The nice thing was the CL was still cheaper than the cabin on Celebrity.

 

Again...so HAPPY for y'all! How exciting! I know Royal has changed some of it's perks, but hey...we still enjoy cruising with RCI! As for Celebrity.... we have never sailed with them...but priced a few & decided our monies are better spent with Royal… a little more bang for the buck.

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, SRV FAN said:

We are seasoned "Loyal to Royal" cruisers & I "feel" like they won't accept our upcoming bid because of that. I think they look at the cruise history of the bidders & offer the upgrades, no matter how big or small to the newest cruisers, to "wow" them & get them hooked. We're hooked without the upgrade...but it sure would be nice to win one once! 

 

Congrats!!! 

 

We are also seasoned, and loyal to Royal, but our bid was accepted for a GS on our cruise this coming week. 

 

Hope you get your RoyalUp.

[SRV FAN]

Just now, barbeyg said:

 

We are also seasoned, and loyal to Royal, but our bid was accepted for a GS on our cruise this coming week. 

 

Hope you get your RoyalUp.

 

THANKS!!!! But you just blew my theory! LOL!

 

CONGRATS!!!! Enjoy your upgrade! 

 

We are 22 days out & still nothing. No cabins are showing as available for over a month now... We are perfectly happy with the cabin we currently have...but we played the game & now the wait is killing me..... 

[Dennis#1]

17 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

 

We are also seasoned, and loyal to Royal, but our bid was accepted for a GS on our cruise this coming week. 

 

Hope you get your RoyalUp.

Congratulations on your GS upgrade.

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, SRV FAN said:

 

THANKS!!!! But you just blew my theory! LOL!

 

CONGRATS!!!! Enjoy your upgrade! 

 

We are 22 days out & still nothing. No cabins are showing as available for over a month now... We are perfectly happy with the cabin we currently have...but we played the game & now the wait is killing me..... 

 

Thank you! We were 13 days out when the email came. Just after 7 pm on a Friday. Others (in a private group) on our cruise have been awarded up to balcony cabin level, and a few were loyals as well. No Jr Suites yet, but we are hoping for several of them. 🙂

 

Here’s my theory, which is worth about 2 cents: if they think we might actually book the category we are RoyalUp’d to, they award it if the bid is good enough. With us, they are right. I am going to surprise my husband with this RoyalUp, then at the end of the cruise when he is prime for it, will tell him I already upgraded us to a GS on our 35th anniversary cruise next year. AND I will bid for the higher categories if offered and the price is right. 

 

Good luck again! 🙂

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, Dennis#1 said:

Congratulations on your GS upgrade.

 

Thank you, Dennis! I can’t wait to see my husband’s face when I bring him to Coastal Kitchen for boarding day lunch. 🙂 He knew with our JS that we could only go at night.