RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[Trollskogen]

I did get an upgrade to balcony on Allure 2/27. 700 SEK, around 70$ (Times two). 
 

Oroginally I booked a room. The cheapest one available. Not specified. 

[OSUZorba]

I'm on a spring break cruise in a JS. I really wanted a OS but would be very happy with a GS. When I booked there were no full suites available, now there are 5 GS and 2 OS. Right now I have pretty robust offer for both. But wondering if should make the GS offer a little less good. I'm afraid my GS + a different OS would add up to more than my OS + a different GS, thus me winning the GS even though my OS offer was better by itself.

 

Thoughts?

[Starry Eyes]

32 minutes ago, OSUZorba said:

I'm on a spring break cruise in a JS. I really wanted a OS but would be very happy with a GS. When I booked there were no full suites available, now there are 5 GS and 2 OS. Right now I have pretty robust offer for both. But wondering if should make the GS offer a little less good. I'm afraid my GS + a different OS would add up to more than my OS + a different GS, thus me winning the GS even though my OS offer was better by itself.

 

Thoughts?

You cannot know how much somebody in the GS is bidding for an OS nor how much somebody else (in a JS or balcony) is bidding for a GS.  Just too many unknowns to approach it that way; don’t drive yourself nuts before spring break.

 

So let’s go back to what you do know.  You’d like an upgrade.  You be very happy with GS and thrilled with OS.  Here’s how I’d approach it.  First, let’s just pretend we know there will only GS’s the day(s) RoyalUp does it’s upgrades (so just forget OS for a moment).  decide how  much the GS upgrade would be worth to you.  Is that your current bid or should you adjust it?  Now that you have decided on a GS bid, decide how much more an OS is worth to you compared to a GS.  Add that increment to your GS  bid and use that as your OS bid (assuming it is within budget)

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Starry Eyes

[binro01]

41 minutes ago, OSUZorba said:

I'm on a spring break cruise in a JS. I really wanted a OS but would be very happy with a GS. When I booked there were no full suites available, now there are 5 GS and 2 OS. Right now I have pretty robust offer for both. But wondering if should make the GS offer a little less good. I'm afraid my GS + a different OS would add up to more than my OS + a different GS, thus me winning the GS even though my OS offer was better by itself.

 

Thoughts?

There is no reason to try to math this out. You do not know the algorithm that the software uses. None of us do. Bid what you are willing to pay for the upgrade. Be happy if any one of them come out. That way you are happy no matter the outcome.

There are way to many other outside factors that can throw a wrench into your attempt to suss out the softwares algorithm. What if someone decides to purchase the 2 Owners Suites at retail, you now might have hurt your chances at the Grand Suite if you decided to low ball on that upgrade opportunity, and then get no upgrade at all.

The moral of the story. Bid what you feel is the appropriate value to you for that room. Be happy with what you get if anything, and if you did not get anything. Hey you are on a cruise in a Junior suite. That's better that most of the people on the ship.

[CapeLibertyGirl]

Got an upgrade today for Anthem on 2/27 cruise from a GS to Sky Loft Suite with a bid of $1700. This cruise was booked with FCC from March 2020 not a big price jump since original cruise was low, Actually,  paying less than current booking price.

[SherriZ366]

9 hours ago, notmyrealnameoremail said:

 

 

@Longhorn Cruiser, you will get the double points from the double points promotion, but as noted by @moonltnite, if you are upgraded by Royal Up to suite from a nonsuite, you will not get extra points for that.

 

Good luck.

I won the upgrade from a JS to a CL so I got the suite points that also qualified for the double points.  

Edited February 10, 2022 by SherriZ366

[CruiseBride926]

On 1/28/2022 at 7:13 PM, binro01 said:

From the great info in this thread, I see that many are usually notified 2-3 days prior to cruise departure if their bid was accepted. (In general)

What I was wondering, was when have people normally seen their bid that won was locked and not able to be modified. Just trying to get an idea on that time frame.
 

I also have a question for people who were in a Balcony stateroom on an Oasis class ship who had a successful upgrade.

How successful have people been upgrading to a Sky class suite such as a Grand Suite or an Owners Suite. I see a lot of successful upgrades to the Junior suites, but have not seen much in the way of jumping up to a Grand Suite recently. I will not scoff at a cheap upgrade to a Junior suite, but I will not be bidding aggressively on one. The extra space is nice, but it's just space. I'm aggressively bidding on a GS and semi aggressively on an Owners suite. I just don't know how successful I will be since people in the JS will open up a spot in a lower cost cabin to afford Royal even more capital from an upgrade chain domino effect.

Any info will be much appreciated.

We were booked in an ultra spacious balcony for our cruise on Oasis this past September. I’m not sure if it’s because of the reduced capacity but for whatever reason RoyalUp showed a lot more options than normal. We ended up in an Ultimate Panoramic Suite which is Star Class. I don’t remember what we originally paid or what we bid but I do remember that all in we were at just under $5500 for our family of 4 in a Star Class suite. We already warned the kids to not get used to it 😂

[OSUZorba]

5 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

You cannot know how much somebody in the GS is bidding for an OS nor how much somebody else (in a JS or balcony) is bidding for a GS.  Just too many unknowns to approach it that way; don’t drive yourself nuts before spring break.

 

So let’s go back to what you do know.  You’d like an upgrade.  You be very happy with GS and thrilled with OS.  Here’s how I’d approach it.  First, let’s just pretend we know there will only GS’s the day(s) RoyalUp does it’s upgrades (so just forget OS for a moment).  decide how  much the GS upgrade would be worth to you.  Is that your current bid or should you adjust it?  Now that you have decided on a GS bid, decide how much more an OS is worth to you compared to a GS.  Add that increment to your GS  bid and use that as your OS bid (assuming it is within budget)

 

Thanks. This is how I originally bid, when there were no cabins showing available. But then all of a sudden a bunch of cabins opened up so I started thinking I should be more strategic about it. I think I will leave well enough alone. Thanks for the advice.

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, CruiseBride926 said:

I’m not sure if it’s because of the reduced capacity but for whatever reason RoyalUp showed a lot more options than normal.

The cabin options you see have no relation to capacity - the options you saw were the normal ones from that category. Once you have something above a C category cabin on O and Q class, everything up to Star class should be available to bid.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Biker19

[berbician]

I will be on the brand new Wonder of the Seas in March and just received an offer for RoyalUp. this will be my first time trying to do this and wanted some advise .  I am currently in a Balcony and would want to upgrade to a  one bedroom grand suite . 

The min bid is $700 pp. That sounds  like a reasonable amount .  How long would it take to know if your bid is accepted and is there anything else I need to know ?  If I am correct, I think you won't know where the new cabin will be right away ?  I appreciate any intel. Thanks      

[Cruising to Retirement]

20 hours ago, Jezo said:

Has anyone just bid ridiculously low for the heck of it and received a nice upgrade?

Mariner of the Seas 2/12,  Small inside (170 sq. ft) on Deck 8 to a Spacious Ocean view (300 sq. ft.) with floor to ceiling windows on Deck 12 in the Suite area, $100. total... it was the minimum bid

Edited February 10, 2022 by Cruising to Retirement

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, berbician said:

How long would it take to know if your bid is accepted and is there anything else I need to know ? 

 

If I am correct, I think you won't know where the new cabin will be right away ? 

Anything up till the day of sailing.

 

Cabin updates after winning seem to happen within a day.

[atricks]

1 hour ago, berbician said:

I will be on the brand new Wonder of the Seas in March and just received an offer for RoyalUp. this will be my first time trying to do this and wanted some advise .  I am currently in a Balcony and would want to upgrade to a  one bedroom grand suite . 

The min bid is $700 pp. That sounds  like a reasonable amount .  How long would it take to know if your bid is accepted and is there anything else I need to know ?  If I am correct, I think you won't know where the new cabin will be right away ?  I appreciate any intel. Thanks      

 

Last time we won we found out the day before the sailing, it could be day of too if last minute cancellations open up cabins, especially the ones there are very few of on the ship.

 

[dleahy4444]

My 2/20 sailing of the Odyssey had a number of inside and balcony rooms available up to four days ago. Suddenly the sailing disappeared from the RCCL website. I called and they told me that the sailing had reached capacity. What does this mean for my pending bids? I’m in an ocean view balcony and bid on a spacious balcony, a JS, a GS and a 2bedroom GS. I know its just a guess, since no one knows how it really works, but maybe someone on this thread had a similar experience? 

[berbician]

30 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Anything up till the day of sailing.

 

Cabin updates after winning seem to happen within a day.

Thanks .

[Biker19]

39 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

What does this mean for my pending bids?

Likely nothing -if there are vacancies on the ship which RCI is willing to sell you for what you bid, that can still happen.

[cruiselvr04]

Also waiting for Odyssey later in the month.  However I’m not getting my hopes up as there are very few suites on her unlike the Oasis class.  There may be one left and there may be someone who was to sail in a suite that will not pass the covid test.  On our sailing there are several balcony’s open so if you’re looking for that upgrade I’d be more hopeful.  Good luck!  
 

 

[death_star]

Had my bid for a JS from a spacious balcony on Freedom 2/25 accepted today after being stuck in locked pending for a few weeks. As others have said saw credit card charged then status update on site then email. 

[pabb56]

Has anyone had experience with winning a bid early enough to add additional occupants  to the room. Example would be to win a 2 bedroom grand suite for two and then calling to add additions guests at the prevailing rate? I do understand that rooms are often assigned at the last minute that would preclude additions. 

[Starry Eyes]

12 minutes ago, pabb56 said:

Has anyone had experience with winning a bid early enough to add additional occupants  to the room. Example would be to win a 2 bedroom grand suite for two and then calling to add additions guests at the prevailing rate? I do understand that rooms are often assigned at the last minute that would preclude additions. 

I have been told that adding people to such a reservation would trigger a repricing (causing your RoyalUp bargain to vanish as you’d suddenly be paying list price for the suite).  I have not actually experienced this myself, but I believe it is likely true.  If circumstances allow, you could call and ask the price for additional guests (backing out if it is too high) and tell us the result.

 

If the actual suite perks were not vital for the additional guests, those guests could perhaps be booked into the cheapest available cabin.  Once on board, they could visit your suite as much as mutually desired or even sleep in your second bedroom.  You could get them extra keys to open the suite door from guest services, but they would not be eligible for suite perks such as the suite lounge or suite Sun deck or coastal kitchen etc.

 

 

[berbician]

5 hours ago, atricks said:

 

Last time we won we found out the day before the sailing, it could be day of too if last minute cancellations open up cabins, especially the ones there are very few of on the ship.

 

Thank you. Hopefully my bid is accepted  

[Toddcan]

I'm watching this thread and learning about the Royal Up program. It might be explained in the 200++ pages on this topic, but correct me if I am wrong here...

 

Pre-Covid, ships would almost always sail (almost)full - no extra cabins.  But, I BELIEVE that they are limiting the occupancy to a % of full (guessing 50-60%??), so there are empty cabins on every sailing.   So now, the cruiseline is trying to fill all the high end cabins to pick up the extra revenue. Of course, they would rather sell them at the book value, so they hold off on all the Royal Up bids until very late (within days of the sailing?), then they go through and grab the Royal Up bids for the extra cash.  

 

We have a spacious balcony on the FOS on March 14, and 10 days ago I got the Royal Up Email, so I bid about twice the minimum bid for a JS, OS, GS, and Royal Suite (went a little higher than double here).  

 

Something like that?? 

[gidget19]

Does one's cruise have to be fully paid in order to receive one of these offers?

[cruiselvr04]

29 minutes ago, Toddcan said:

 

 

We have a spacious balcony on the FOS on March 14, and 10 days ago I got the Royal Up Email, so I bid about twice the minimum bid for a JS, OS, GS, and Royal Suite (went a little higher than double here).  

 

Something like that?? 

No one really knows how it works, there is just lots of speculation.  
 

Some people have reported posting minimum bids for even suites. Bid what you’re willing to pay, what it’s worth to you.  (Your bids sound reasonable. ) Be happy with what you have now.  Know what the inventory is now and what it’s going for now.  
 

All that said we got our bid rejection on our last cruise after we boarded.  

[brillohead]

15 minutes ago, gidget19 said:

Does one's cruise have to be fully paid in order to receive one of these offers?

 

Nope!