RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[John&LaLa]

Bid on Harmony leaving Sunday

T-3 until rejection email 😉

[CruiszBug]

On 1/27/2020 at 11:06 PM, RFerrington said:

We have sailed Star Class 7 times, including B2B SC cruises...  I agree that allowing your family to be included in your plans is fine.  Reserved seats at the shows is hurting no one but free meals to which they are not entitled is not.  Sorry.

 

I think it is possible that taking extra reserved seats can be considered hurting someone. There are one or two handicapped cutouts near the front of the theater stage plus a seat for a companion marked with a handicapped logo. We had a Star Class family take over those seats. They were not handicapped and there were so many of them that I wondered if they were all truly Star Class or just part of the family. They were not entirely happy that we wanted to put our daughter in the handicapped cutout right next to them, nor would they give up the companion seat. Our only other option was to put her in the aisle next to us, or sit in the way back where she could not see. 

Edited January 30, 2020 by CruiszBug

[Truluv]

7 hours ago, hwmyones said:

bid on a star loft suite on OA 2/23/20 for my honeymoon. Currently in a crown loft suite. Got a call from royal today asking if I was okay with a grand panoramic suite because they were out of star lofts at the same price I bid. Umm, yes please. Never had a royal up clear this early, and this was an unexpected wonderful surprise. 

 

Congratulations both on the honeymoon & the upgrade!!!  I'm cruising on 2/23 on a different ship, and haven't heard anything yet.  It's great that you got contacted so early!

[Esilef]

4 hours ago, CruiszBug said:

 

I think it is possible that taking extra reserved seats can be considered hurting someone. There are one or two handicapped cutouts near the front of the theater stage plus a seat for a companion marked with a handicapped logo. We had a Star Class family take over those seats. They were not handicapped and there were so many of them that I wondered if they were all truly Star Class or just part of the family. They were not entirely happy that we wanted to put our daughter in the handicapped cutout right next to them, nor would they give up the companion seat. Our only other option was to put her in the aisle next to us, or sit in the way back where she could not see. 

 

I hope your daughter got to see the show in a spot that she could see. She has every right to the designated additional needs space. Decent star class people would have offered and apologised for being in those spaces.

 

a friendly word to a staff member never hurts.

 

keep enjoying cruising with your daughter.

[SweetsugarNL]

Does this only work when you sail from / into USA ports or also  Europe?

[Canmilitarywife]

10 hours ago, hwmyones said:

I bid on a star loft suite on OA 2/23/20 for my honeymoon. Currently in a crown loft suite. Got a call from royal today asking if I was okay with a grand panoramic suite because they were out of star lofts at the same price I bid. Umm, yes please. Never had a royal up clear this early, and this was an unexpected wonderful surprise. 

That’s awesome Congrats! Enjoy your honeymoon

[Cruise a holic]

The suite looks awesome- great views!   Happy honeymoon!

[cgolf1]

8 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Bid on Harmony leaving Sunday

T-3 until rejection email 😉

So there is an email either way? We just assumed they would only email if bid was accepted.  

[Biker19]

Just now, cgolf1 said:

So there is an email either way?

The denial e-mail comes around 6PM on the night before sailing.

[cgolf1]

Just now, Biker19 said:

The denial e-mail comes around 6PM on the night before sailing.

Sounds good and will be expecting that email since we bid the minimum and be super surprised if it worked. We would only be going inside to promenade inside. Some have said those are nice rooms so we figured this would be a cheap way to find out. 

[Biker19]

Just now, cgolf1 said:

Sounds good and will be expecting that email since we bid the minimum and be super surprised if it worked. We would only be going inside to promenade inside.

We have several reports of those kinds of bids winning - it all depends on inventory and perhaps what others have bid.

[beardedladies]

Still no email for our upcoming cruise, which is typical that the past couple of cruises I've been spammed for several weeks when I didn't want to make a bid, but now I do it's all gone quiet!

 

Tomorrow we reach 30 days out.... am I right in thinking that at 30 days and under the Royal Up page on the website will show me applicable bid options even without the email invitation? Or is it a case of I may not be given the opportunity to bid even there if I'm not one of the chosen ones?

[Biker19]

15 minutes ago, beardedladies said:

am I right in thinking that at 30 days and under the Royal Up page on the website will show me applicable bid options even without the email invitation? Or is it a case of I may not be given the opportunity to bid even there if I'm not one of the chosen ones?

That 30 limit is just something RCI puts up as a generic error - we have reports of folks being able to bid more than 30 days out without an e-mail. True, you may not be able to bid at all, even inside 30 days.

[goldfish65]

Forgive me for asking if previously covered. Is the better strategy to bid immediately, or wait to see if Royal raises the maximum bid you can make?

[Tulsacoker]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The denial e-mail comes around 6PM on the night before sailing.

And they are quite depressing 😉 

[Tulsacoker]

33 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

Forgive me for asking if previously covered. Is the better strategy to bid immediately, or wait to see if Royal raises the maximum bid you can make?

i would bid early if you are planing on bidding... why wait. Someone else could bid and it be accepted.

[Biker19]

37 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

Is the better strategy to bid immediately, or wait to see if Royal raises the maximum bid you can make?

The max bid rarely changes and some times the max is above the level of self upgrade. Don't rely on Royal Up for an upgrade - book the upgraded cabin when available.

[DCL2RCI]

40 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The max bid rarely changes and some times the max is above the level of self upgrade. Don't rely on Royal Up for an upgrade - book the upgraded cabin when available.

Sorry to go off-topic, but how does one "book the upgraded cabin when available" with Royal Caribbean? On Disney you could poke around right on the website's deck map: move to a different room, change to different room types (inside to balcony to suite) and it would tell you exactly which rooms were available and how much it would cost (completely online). Does RC have something like that or are you basically required to find a different site with availability and then call in?

[Tulsacoker]

1 minute ago, DCL2RCI said:

Sorry to go off-topic, but how does one "book the upgraded cabin when available" with Royal Caribbean? On Disney you could poke around right on the website's deck map: move to a different room, change to different room types (inside to balcony to suite) and it would tell you exactly which rooms were available and how much it would cost (completely online). Does RC have something like that or are you basically required to find a different site with availability and then call in?

Call in or ask your travel agent if you used one

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, DCL2RCI said:

Does RC have something like that or are you basically required to find a different site with availability and then call in?

The RCI web site sucks for basic research - yes, go to another site, research there and then call RCI. Or, call RCI directly, but it's good to have the basic research since RCI CSRs are sometimes clueless or have wrong pricing.

[goldfish65]

38 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The max bid rarely changes and some times the max is above the level of self upgrade. Don't rely on Royal Up for an upgrade - book the upgraded cabin when available.

 

Thanks.. way back on this thread, someone stated their maximum bid was raised after they bid. Good to hear that is not the norm. We sail in April, the category I want has shown on the website as sold out the whole time until now, it is available but more than I am willing to pay. I'm happy with what we have now but will see if a Royal Up offer comes along.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, goldfish65 said:

I'm happy with what we have now but will see if a Royal Up offer comes along.

Once inside final payment, you don't need to wait for an e-mail  - you can go directly to the Royal Up site and see if bidding is available.

[Tulsacoker]

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Once inside final payment, you don't need to wait for an e-mail  - you can go directly to the Royal Up site and see if bidding is available.

I believe it requires your sail date to be within 30 days. That is what it telling me

[zanzibargirl]

Question - I just put in two "fair" bids for our Feb 22 Symphony sailing - one for boardwalk balcony and one for ocean view balcony. Is there a chance I could get a no sooner than 2 days before so I can bid a little higher? How often are "fair" bids accepted? I don't know what strategy to use! thanks!

[Tulsacoker]

Yes there is always a chance but in my limited experience the bid not accepted comes the evening before. Bids accepted can come at anytime so i would say decide what you are willing to pay and bod that amount.