Guaranteed cabin and rci have downgraded us

[Joebucks]

I forego the vast majority of upsells and stuff on cruise ships. It's an interior for me without all of the extras. With that said, I will gladly pay a small amount to choose my room. Being assigned a room means you are getting what everyone else did not want. I wouldn't want to get stuck on a lower level in the front. That's quite the walk to get back and forth. I like my mid-aft higher levels.

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, chaswelf said:

 

I get that but the stress of having to deal with this at the last minute and disappointment that they even had to offer has taken all the fun and excitement out of this trip.  And even if we get our room its going to be in the back of our minds that we had to fight to keep what we purchased which will shed a different light on the whole trip.

 

Just out of curiosity, if you and Royal do not reach an agreement, what happens next? Presumably,  as biker said, someone else will take the offer and you'll get your JS.

 

I understand your frustration and would feel the same way. Hopefully that feeling will fade away within 5 minutes of boarding the ship. The crew of the ship will definitely treat you better than the corporate office.

[kruzerci]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

I forego the vast majority of upsells and stuff on cruise ships. It's an interior for me without all of the extras. With that said, I will gladly pay a small amount to choose my room. Being assigned a room means you are getting what everyone else did not want.

That isn’t necessarily true anymore. They are not just assigning the last picked rooms now. The past two GTY rooms I have picked I have actually gotten better rooms than if I had picked my own.
 

For example, our upcoming Mariner cruise, there were only 3 rooms remaining which were deck 2 forward, so I picked guarantee. We ended up with a deck 7 fantastic location. 

[Another_Critic]

3 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

For example, our upcoming Mariner cruise, there were only 3 rooms remaining which were deck 2 forward, so I picked guarantee. We ended up with a deck 7 fantastic location. 

 

Since I often book late in the game, there often isn't much desirable to pick from, so there's really not much, IMO, to lose (and $ to gain 🙂 ) with a GTY.

[Cruising4theFirstTime]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I forego the vast majority of upsells and stuff on cruise ships. It's an interior for me without all of the extras. With that said, I will gladly pay a small amount to choose my room. Being assigned a room means you are getting what everyone else did not want. I wouldn't want to get stuck on a lower level in the front. That's quite the walk to get back and forth. I like my mid-aft higher levels.

I booked OV GTY for my upcoming cruise because GTY was the only thing available.  I'm pretty happy with the cabin we've been assigned.

[cruisinfanatic]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I forego the vast majority of upsells and stuff on cruise ships. It's an interior for me without all of the extras. With that said, I will gladly pay a small amount to choose my room. Being assigned a room means you are getting what everyone else did not want. I wouldn't want to get stuck on a lower level in the front. That's quite the walk to get back and forth. I like my mid-aft higher levels.

Actually you are more likely going to get a cabin that someone recently cancelled or upgraded from. Often a very good location

[SRF]

5 hours ago, chaswelf said:

 

As a customer I don't care how they are assigned,  they oversold it and want to downgrade me when they have inventory they can put me in is not right.  I'm going to be a Diamond after this cruise and this is the way I'm being treated after years of strictly cruising Royal?   Going to have to think twice on what line I go on next...

 

 

No, the point was, the Royal Up emails are automated and go out even if there are no rooms to upgrade to.

 

Try to book a Grand Suite and see if any are available?

[SRF]

23 hours ago, Biker19 said:

If you don't take it, someone else will.

 

Like the airlines in an overbook.

 

They keep upping the offer until enough people take it.  And then they are good to go.

[chaswelf]

17 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

No, the point was, the Royal Up emails are automated and go out even if there are no rooms to upgrade to.

 

Try to book a Grand Suite and see if any are available?

I’ve read all about how this works and get it but don’t agree with it.  My thought is why would you put your customers through the process to put in a bid when you have no intention of honoring even a max bid.  They are giving the perception they have inventory when they don’t and we all know perception is reality.

[Biker19]

35 minutes ago, chaswelf said:

My thought is why would you put your customers through the process to put in a bid when you have no intention of honoring even a max bid.

Free pricing/marketing info for RCI.

[Gerginator]

1 hour ago, chaswelf said:

My thought is why would you put your customers through the process to put in a bid when you have no intention of honoring even a max bid. They are giving the perception they have inventory when they don’t and we all know perception is reality.

 

I don't necessarily disagree with your overall point, but I disagree with this part. Below is the text from the third sentence (so not tiny fine print) in the Royal Up email I got from RC:

 

This exclusive offer does not guarantee an upgrade. Upgrades are limited and subject to availability up to the day of sailing.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Gerginator
making my sentence more clear

[SRF]

13 hours ago, chaswelf said:

I’ve read all about how this works and get it but don’t agree with it.  My thought is why would you put your customers through the process to put in a bid when you have no intention of honoring even a max bid.  They are giving the perception they have inventory when they don’t and we all know perception is reality.

 

Remember, the bottom line is, RCI IT Department.

 

Do I need to say more??????????

 

And, as I understand it, Royal Up is not administered by RCI.

[Balsam12]

15 hours ago, chaswelf said:

I’ve read all about how this works and get it but don’t agree with it.  My thought is why would you put your customers through the process to put in a bid when you have no intention of honoring even a max bid.  They are giving the perception they have inventory when they don’t and we all know perception is reality.

Just on the off chance someone cancels a booking at the last minute.

Let's say I had a GS, and there were no other GS available. A week out from the cruise, I cancel my booking.

Royal might give it a day or two to see if someone else grabs the vacant GS. If nobody does, they are going to sail with a very expensive empty cabin. Instead of this, they look to see who has offered the most via Royal up and offer the cabin to them. 

This may now mean they sail with an empty JS or Balcony, but at least they've got a few dollars more out of someone. Obviously they would need to look at the cost of the extra inclusions for the suite passengers to ensure that the amount paid via Royal Up covers at least that cost.

I would suggest they have a logarithm that would calculate how to get the maximum money out of Royal Up in this scenario... It may be that they upgrade someone from JS to the vacant GS, then someone else from Balcony to the JS, someone from OV to Balcony, and finally someone from Inside to OV. this way, they get extra money out four bookings. On the other hand, if someone in a Balcony has offered a huge amount to upgrade to GS, they may skip over the person in the JS and leave them where they are... after all, they'll never know they have been skipped over.

 

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, SRF said:

And, as I understand it, Royal Up is not administered by RCI.

Plusgrade takes care of it, as it does for lots of other companies.

[ReneeFLL]

On 1/22/2020 at 4:48 AM, Balsam12 said:

..........If nobody does, they are going to sail with a very expensive empty cabin.......
 

 

No, because you have already paid for it. They aren't losing money.

[Balsam12]

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

No, because you have already paid for it. They aren't losing money.

They may not be losing money, but when they sail with an empty cabin, they are missing out on more income. Not only from the fare, but also on extra money the passengers may spend onboard.