For you upgrade pros.....Help me out.

[resetjet]

I have a casino inside room on symphony mar 05.  There are tons of loft suites avail.  Royal up is only allowing me to go up to a balcony, which I will likely get as the ship is less then half full.   We just got off oasis and half the balconies were empty.  Its a great time to cruise by the way.  Anyway, the objective is to get a crown loft suite.  Calling to upgrade is like $9000.  Upgrading to a balcony is $800 with no guarantee of a loft and no guarantee that my royal up options will change.  

Is there another way, such as going to the desk onboard and paying for an upgrade at a discounted rate????

 

TIA
 

[Bronx12]

We have never been lucky enough pre-covid, we were able to  RoyalUp pre-covid, a few times, but we have only done a B2B in September, and opted not to RoyalUp because we preferred our original room. Pre-covid there was usually a sign at Guest Services indicating no upgrades available, full ship, but, ships are not full these days and you might luck out 😉

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, resetjet said:

I have a casino inside room on symphony mar 05.  There are tons of loft suites avail.  Royal up is only allowing me to go up to a balcony, which I will likely get as the ship is less then half full.   We just got off oasis and half the balconies were empty.  Its a great time to cruise by the way.  Anyway, the objective is to get a crown loft suite.  Calling to upgrade is like $9000.  Upgrading to a balcony is $800 with no guarantee of a loft and no guarantee that my royal up options will change.  

Is there another way, such as going to the desk onboard and paying for an upgrade at a discounted rate????

 

TIA
 

If you have a inside rarely if ever will you be offered a royal up past a balcony. ...and I've checked. I have a non connecting promenade one leg my next b2b and offered a spacious balcony. .. looks like a JS in size but isnt. That's the best I've been offered and they want $200.

 

Unless you upgrade now to a higher category you cant be sure of getting offering a suite. 

 

2 cruises ago they were allowing $150 balcony upgrades on liberty but the following week they said they were at capacity.. I'm thinking 50%. .. and you couldnt upgrade once onboard.

 

Be prepared to take what you got unless you pay to upgrade ..to whatever. We would all love a cheap suite btw. Me too. Ha. I dont think inside cabins seem to be offered suites.

[Ourusualbeach]

20 minutes ago, resetjet said:

I have a casino inside room on symphony mar 05.  There are tons of loft suites avail.  Royal up is only allowing me to go up to a balcony, which I will likely get as the ship is less then half full.   We just got off oasis and half the balconies were empty.  Its a great time to cruise by the way.  Anyway, the objective is to get a crown loft suite.  Calling to upgrade is like $9000.  Upgrading to a balcony is $800 with no guarantee of a loft and no guarantee that my royal up options will change.  

Is there another way, such as going to the desk onboard and paying for an upgrade at a discounted rate????

 

TIA
 

Chances are by the time you board all those suites will be long gone through other Royal up bids

[Biker19]

22 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Is there another way, such as going to the desk onboard and paying for an upgrade at a discounted rate????

On board, you are likely to be limited to upgrade chances, like Royal Up. The upgrades seem to be coming earlier nowadays - Royal Up to a balcony, hope to win that early enough to be able to bid on a suite.

[RosieRoo]

I am in a JS in March and to upgrade to a loft through RoyalUp is a minimum bid of $1000 pp. so even if you were able to RoyalUp the price may not be very attractive. 

Edited February 18, 2022 by RosieRoo

[resetjet]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

On board, you are likely to be limited to upgrade chances, like Royal Up. The upgrades seem to be coming earlier nowadays - Royal Up to a balcony, hope to win that early enough to be able to bid on a suite.

so you are saying if you royal up to a balcony, your options will change and then you can bid on a suite??????  I thought you only get one shot at it.  Can anyone confirm this.  It would be my best choice

 

[resetjet]

1 minute ago, RosieRoo said:

I am in a GS in March and to upgrade to a loft through RoyalUp is a minimum bid of $1000 pp. so even if you were able to RoyalUp the price may not be very attractive. 

Thanks for the info.  I would easily pay $1000($2000) from a free inside.  Are the miniumum bids different depending on what class of cabin you are currently in?

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, resetjet said:

so you are saying if you royal up to a balcony, your options will change and then you can bid on a suite?

Yes, within a couple of days of the new cabin assignment, new Royal Up offers should be available - from a balcony, you should have options up to and including Sky level suites.

[RosieRoo]

4 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Thanks for the info.  I would easily pay $1000($2000) from a free inside.  Are the miniumum bids different depending on what class of cabin you are currently in?

Sorry I meant JS. I believe the pricing is different depending on the cabin you actually start from, but who really knows for sure? 
I can see you would pay the $2,000 coming from a free cabin, but I paid quite a bit for that JS so I’m not willing to pay another $2000.

Also, I have stayed in a loft suite. It’s the size of some of the apartments in Boston. You’d be very happy with it. Good luck. 

Edited February 18, 2022 by RosieRoo

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Are the minimum bids different depending on what class of cabin you are currently in?

Yes.

[Starry Eyes]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Yes, within a couple of days of the new cabin assignment, new Royal Up offers should be available - from a balcony, you should have options up to and including Sky level suites.

I think the “within a couple days” estimate is overly optimistic right now.  I received an upgrade over 3 days ago.  I do not have new offers.  If I get new offers, perhaps I will bid, but the better cabins are essentially gone to other RoyalUp bidders, so the only shot left would be a late cancellation that RoyalUp still had time to process…not a likely outcome.  
From others I heard six days to get new offers recently.

[firefly333]

16 minutes ago, resetjet said:

so you are saying if you royal up to a balcony, your options will change and then you can bid on a suite??????  I thought you only get one shot at it.  Can anyone confirm this.  It would be my best choice

 

There is no guarantee you will know ahead of time to rebid. I've read plenty of people who didnt get  notified until the last minute. My bid is for march 27. .. and probably little chance of success lol. I bid minimum.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, Starry Eyes said:

I think the “within a couple days” estimate is overly optimistic right now.  I received an upgrade over 3 days ago.  I do not have new offers.  If I get new offers, perhaps I will bid, but the better cabins are essentially gone to other RoyalUp bidders, so the only shot left would be a late cancellation that RoyalUp still had time to process…not a likely outcome.  
From others I heard six days to get new offers recently.

They may not send you anything new via email, but you should be able to go to the RoyalUP website and see what new choices are available.

[orville99]

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I bid minimum.

We never bid more than the minimum either, and we have scored a few upgrades anyway. Have two bids in on our 2/27 cruise, and actually bid at the 50%off minimum bid for Owners and Loft suites. It really doesn't matter if we score one or not, it's just fun playing the game.

Edited February 18, 2022 by orville99

[gerig]

26 minutes ago, resetjet said:

so you are saying if you royal up to a balcony, your options will change and then you can bid on a suite??????  I thought you only get one shot at it.  Can anyone confirm this.  It would be my best choice

 

If they pay an upgrade now the choices for royal up change because they are in a balcony cabin

[Starry Eyes]

21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

They may not send you anything new via email, but you should be able to go to the RoyalUP website and see what new choices are available.

I rechecked the website right before I posted.  No new offers yet…it has been a bit over 3 days now.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Starry Eyes

[Starry Eyes]

43 minutes ago, resetjet said:

so you are saying if you royal up to a balcony, your options will change and then you can bid on a suite??????  I thought you only get one shot at it.  Can anyone confirm this.  It would be my best choice

 

There is a chance this will work; there is however a good chance you will stall at balcony.  Will you be happy in a balcony? If you will be happ enough in a balcony, then go ahead with that strategy if you wish.  You hope they will promptly accept your balcony bid the promptly issue new offers the accept your CL offer.  Here’s what might happen instead…you submit a bid for a balcony cabin.  RoyalUp either takes no action or locks the bid (so you cannot cancel it or modify it.  Eventually hopefully (often less than a week before the cruise) you get your balcony upgrade confirmation.  The same day or in the next couple days, other people (already in balconies, JS or suites) get upgrades to all or nearly all available suites.  Even if you do get new upgrade offers, most of those opportunities have gone to others (though perhaps somebody will canceled so there is the odd chance).  Been there.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

5 hours ago, orville99 said:

They may not send you anything new via email, but you should be able to go to the RoyalUP website and see what new choices are available.

 

Our RoyalUp bid was accepted on 2/11.  The cruise is on 2/26.  I checked back each day since it was accepted.   I just logged in again to see if another offer is available.  It still lists our previous bids with the one that was accepted showing UPGRADED.  Nothing about bidding again on suites.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Old Fart Cruisers

[resetjet]

16 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

Our RoyalUp bid was accepted on 2/11.  The cruise is on 2/26.  I checked back each day since it was accepted.   I just logged in again to see if another offer is available.  It still lists our previous bids with the one that was accepted showing UPGRADED.  Nothing about bidding again on suites.

My guess is it probably won't happen from what I have gathered.  If it does, please let me know.  Its such a shame, there are 20 loft suites available on my cruse plus every other suite category with 2 weeks to go.  So close for me, but so far away.  I am just gonna let it go and enjoy the free cruise with a min bid balcony upgrade hopefully.  I will still be smiling.

[Starry Eyes]

14 minutes ago, resetjet said:

My guess is it probably won't happen from what I have gathered.  If it does, please let me know.  Its such a shame, there are 20 loft suites available on my cruse plus every other suite category with 2 weeks to go.  So close for me, but so far away.  I am just gonna let it go and enjoy the free cruise with a min bid balcony upgrade hopefully.  I will still be smiling.

That sounds like a good attitude.  
I’m for days post upgrade now; no new offers available.  We expect a great cruise in our balcony cabin.  Had we gotten an opportunity to bid on suites, I would have put in a strong bid; their loss, too.

[resetjet]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

That sounds like a good attitude.  
I’m for days post upgrade now; no new offers available.  We expect a great cruise in our balcony cabin.  Had we gotten an opportunity to bid on suites, I would have put in a strong bid; their loss, too.

I understand why.  Right now there are no inside rooms available hardly on my cruise.  There are tons of suites and everything else.  If everyone could book an inside and put in bids it would be a mess of musical chairs........

[orville99]

19 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

Our RoyalUp bid was accepted on 2/11.  The cruise is on 2/26.  I checked back each day since it was accepted.   I just logged in again to see if another offer is available.  It still lists our previous bids with the one that was accepted showing UPGRADED.  Nothing about bidding again on suites.

Unfortunately, it appears from the RoyalUP t&c that the bid process is one and done. Once you win a bid, you can’t bid on anything else.

We had bids in on three suite categories for our last Harmony cruise, and once we scored a cls, both of the other bids were cancelled and we couldn’t re-bid on anything.

Edited February 19, 2022 by orville99

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Once you win a bid, you can’t bid on anything else.

We have reports of multiple wins. 

[orville99]

37 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

We have reports of multiple wins. 

From the RoyalUP T&C:

 

“As a reminder, each bid is considered its own offer and reviewed independently of one another. Only 1 of your bids can be accepted and acceptance is based on availability.”