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Royal Up - Strategy

Empehi

By Empehi,
in Royal Caribbean International

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karena1

karena1

Posted
Posted
On 12/22/2021 at 12:12 PM, Cigar King said:

Here's my strategy, and it works 100% of the time.  I purchase the cruise with the cabin I want and never pay any attention to Royal Up offers.

I agree.  We book a balcony. I am not paying for a Royal Up and not getting the extra points associated with a suite.  

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SwissMiss USA

SwissMiss USA

Posted
Posted

I am currently on Harmony. We only booked about 4 weeks out, and while we normally travel in sky or star class, the cost was crazy. It was 6800 per person for a crown loft (2 of us are traveling). So we booked a balcony and said we will just spend more time at the pool. I did look at the Royal up page and a one bedroom suite was about 1500 per person (one week out). We did not go for it. I booked refreshment package (that I later upgraded) and 1 device internet. 
 

When we got on-board I wondered if the new protocols and variant would have an impact, so I ask guest service if we can be on an upgrade list. Long story short, at 8pm we checked again and we got a loft suite for 1500 (total! Not per person); they then deducted her refreshment package (I opted to keep my package) and Internet. So basically an upgrade for 1200. 
 

It is not a gamble we would normally take. However this goes to show that sometimes a request to upgrade goes a long way and rooms are not completely filled by Royal Up. Total cost for CLS was 3700 over Christmas so I think we came out just fine! 
 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!! 

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wolfcathorse

wolfcathorse

Posted
Posted

I gave up bidding. I read the fine print and it says they can notify you of a successful bid as late as 3 hours before departure. Sorry, I'm on the ship by then and my bags would be sent to the wrong room. That would mean going to my original assignment to retrieve my bags,  not the way I'd like to start a vacation.

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topnole

topnole

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, SwissMiss USA said:

I am currently on Harmony. We only booked about 4 weeks out, and while we normally travel in sky or star class, the cost was crazy. It was 6800 per person for a crown loft (2 of us are traveling). So we booked a balcony and said we will just spend more time at the pool. I did look at the Royal up page and a one bedroom suite was about 1500 per person (one week out). We did not go for it. I booked refreshment package (that I later upgraded) and 1 device internet. 
 

When we got on-board I wondered if the new protocols and variant would have an impact, so I ask guest service if we can be on an upgrade list. Long story short, at 8pm we checked again and we got a loft suite for 1500 (total! Not per person); they then deducted her refreshment package (I opted to keep my package) and Internet. So basically an upgrade for 1200. 
 

It is not a gamble we would normally take. However this goes to show that sometimes a request to upgrade goes a long way and rooms are not completely filled by Royal Up. Total cost for CLS was 3700 over Christmas so I think we came out just fine! 
 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!! 

That is awesome. 

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Lou33

Lou33

Posted
Posted

My simple strategy:  On the day that I book my cruise, I make a note of the price difference between my category and each higher category that I could have booked and might bid on later.  Then I also make a mental note that if the higher categories were a certain lower price, that I would have booked that category in the first place, because it would have been a no brainer. 

 

So then the price difference between that certain lower price and what I paid is what I bid.  I can't lose that way.  I can't bid too high because I know that I would have paid that upfront.  I also can't bid too low and then second guess myself that I should have bid more after it's too late.   

 

It doesn't mean that I will win the bid, but it ensures that I will be happy with whatever the outcome.  Some people work themselves into a frenzy that they have to win their bid, and that's not a good strategy.  

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SRF

SRF

Posted
Posted
On 12/21/2021 at 1:37 PM, RobInMN said:

So for a very overly simplistic example, if there are 2 bids for a RS, and a GS bid $600 and a JS bid $500. But there was a balcony that bid $200 on a JS (but not a GS), then the JS would get the RS because RC would net $100 more. You also have to take into account bids on other rooms. so if 1 person only bid on RS and another on RS & GS, how does that factor in if there was a RS & GS available.

 

That logic only works if the JS did not bid on the RS.  And that no OS bid on the RS, and the GS did not bid on an OS.  😄

 

Not sure if RCI IT department could handle the programming for your exact scenario.  Or are smart enough to even have thought of it. 😄

 

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TheMiz

TheMiz

Posted
Posted
On 12/25/2021 at 6:44 AM, Cruise a holic said:

We sale next saturday- We have one bid that is marked pending and cannot be modified.  Wonder if a good sign.  Hopefully, we will be able to fly in next week and sail.  Who knows?

 

 

I was wondering the same for my bid on a Dec 31st sailing 

 

PENDING ?  Thought by now it would say something different

 

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cruiselvr04 Great Review Rare

cruiselvr04

Posted
Posted

Bid what you’re comfortable paying.  I’ve been watching the Jr suite price for our next sailing hoping to upgrade.  Per website it would be 4K more.  I therefore bid the max at $220 pp.  If we get one I’ll consider myself very lucky and definitely think it’s worth it. I bid on the GS and OS too but only “fair bids”. Certainly over the minimums but still what I thought it was worth to me.  On our ship there are very few of those cabins so I’m not holding my breath on those and I may even cancel those bids.  

My original cabin would be great too!

 

Last cruise we got the email after boarding that our bid didn’t go through.  

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thewebbys

thewebbys

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 12/21/2021 at 11:40 AM, molly361 said:

I have never heard of a bid getting accepted weeks out.

I received my winning bid 12 days out (yesterday). Just FYI YMMV

 

The other cabin they added 4 more upgrades so I went and bedded on them as well.

Edited by thewebbys
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  • 4 months later...
bwohlgemuth

bwohlgemuth

Posted
Posted

Dumb question, we have a balcony up on 12 and there are suites that we bid on that are on the lifeboat deck.  I'm a bit worried that we would get more space but lose our view from the higher balcony.  Would we get moved to an obstructed view if we bid up?

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Biker19

Biker19

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, bwohlgemuth said:

Would we get moved to an obstructed view if we bid up?

This depends on the ship, but there are very few, if any, suites that RCI considers "obstructed".

Edited by Biker19
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  • 5 months later...
wreckem2013

wreckem2013

Posted
Posted

So I had my RoyalUp bid accepted 30 days before sailing last week. I booked a balcony guarantee for less than an interior guarantee on this cruise. I was assigned a dreaded obstructed view balcony on Odyssey. I am now in an ocean view with large balcony. Still saved $1000 over what I would have spent at my original booking.

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cate58

cate58

Posted
Posted

1st time cruiser, reserved a junior suite on Freedom. Will I get a Royal Up email or should I assume they don't want to confuse us.

 

Hubby finally quit smoking this year so he is willing to try cruising. Junior Suite was where I landed, but came close to getting a full suite for perks. Just felt full price was over budget for me for a short cruise.  Upshot is, if I got that offer I would bid.

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Starry Eyes

Starry Eyes

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Crablegs77 said:

Interested in the bidding but wonder if I am wasting my time.  Royal does not show most suites are even available for our sailing.

 

Somebody might cancel, freeing up a suite.  
Also, RoyalUp may cause multiple openings as people ladder up.  For example, an available upper level may be won by a person in a mid level suite.  That mid level category (previously sold out) now has a vacancy, which RoyalUp fills with a bid from a party in lower level suite.  That creates a new vacancy for bidding…and so on down through lesser cabins.

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