RoyalUp Keeps Getting Cancelled

[brianmisty]

We are sailing on Navigator on Dec 19 with 2 rooms (me and daughter (14) in 1, wife and daughter(18) in other).  We booked a last minute cruise and only interior GTY were left, so ship is obviously full.  We have room assignments and were sent the RoyalUp offer.  Three days ago. we placed offers in the "fair" range for both cabins.  The next day, we get an email stating...

 

"This email is to let you know that we’ve cancelled your requested RoyalUp upgrade due to a change in your reservation.".  "You now have the option to bid on more staterooms. To submit new bids"

 

We tried again every night, and every morning we get this same message, even though nothing has changed that we can determine.  3 days, 3 emails.  I have tried raising the bids.  Strangely, this is only for my wife's cabin, not mine.  We bid lower on my cabin, and it is still pending.

 

Any insights into why this cabin Royal keeps getting cancelled for changes to the reservation?  I don't even really expect to win it given how full the ship most likely is, but why cancel one and not the other, and for some a strange reason?

 

 

[smokeybandit]

Maybe they keep changing your GTY room assignment internally and that triggers the RoyalUp cancellation?

[Starry Eyes]

I feel your pain.  I’m sailing Dec 31 in an OV gty and submitted RoyalUp bid weeks ago. Last week my cabin was assigned, an OV as expected. The next day I received an email like your indicating my bids had been canceled.  That had not happened with my previous gty bookings.  Though inconvenient as I was cruise on Wonder OTS, I resubmitted.   The next day I got another email noting my new bids had also been canceled.  My assignment had not changed.  I resubmitted my bids.  So far the third set have stuck.  I hope RoyalUp fixes that bug.

 

[brianmisty]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Maybe they keep changing your GTY room assignment internally and that triggers the RoyalUp cancellation?

 

I am wondering that myself.  It will be interesting to see.  Ultimately, I don't care where we end up on the ship.  Just thought I would take a shot on an ocean view. This is just last-minute quick getaway, so we are grateful to be on the ship given it was almost sold out.  

[brianmisty]

3 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

I feel your pain.  I’m sailing Dec 31 in an OV gty and submitted RoyalUp bid weeks ago. Last week my cabin was assigned, an OV as expected. The next day I received an email like your indicating my bids had been canceled.  That had not happened with my previous gty bookings.  Though inconvenient as I was cruise on Wonder OTS, I resubmitted.   The next day I got another email noting my new bids had also been canceled.  My assignment had not changed.  I resubmitted my bids.  So far the third set have stuck.  I hope RoyalUp fixes that bug.

 

 

When we got the cancellation email yesterday, I tried to resubmit right away and the system wouldn't let me.  I don't remember the error, but there was a statement about not available or something.  I waited a few hours and then it went through (only to get cancelled the next morning).  So it does appear that something may be going on behind the scenes...probably to do with the GTY. We are also sailing partially on cruise credit....not sure that would affect anything, but just tossing it out there. I will try to resubmit again today. 

 

Off topic, but we sailed over Christmas last year on Harmony and had a blast.  New Years should be a lot of fun!

[Starry Eyes]

3 minutes ago, brianmisty said:

 

When we got the cancellation email yesterday, I tried to resubmit right away and the system wouldn't let me.  I don't remember the error, but there was a statement about not available or something.  I waited a few hours and then it went through (only to get cancelled the next morning).  So it does appear that something may be going on behind the scenes...probably to do with the GTY. We are also sailing partially on cruise credit....not sure that would affect anything, but just tossing it out there. I will try to resubmit again today. 

 

Off topic, but we sailed over Christmas last year on Harmony and had a blast.  New Years should be a lot of fun!

There’s no cruise credit on our booking.  The appearance of the problem seemed to correlate with the assignment of the gty cabin (though it had not happened to us previously on gty bookings).  I have heard of it happening to others, though not repeatedly.  Our bids are still in place, though few cabins are left, so odds if upgrade are low. I hope your bids stick, too.  
 

We are looking forward to NYE cruise, upgrade or no.

[orville99]

13 minutes ago, brianmisty said:

We are also sailing partially on cruise credit....not sure that would affect anything,

We have won upgrade bids on cruises that were paid for primarily from FCCs. It sounds more likely that when they assigned your cabin number it changed your res from gty to a different category in their system. Keep trying. Eventually you should be able to get a bid to stick.

[orville99]

7 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Our bids are still in place, though few cabins are left,

We have won upgrade bids to categories that were sold out when we made the bids, so anything is possible.

[Starry Eyes]

3 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We have won upgrade bids to categories that were sold out when we made the bids, so anything is possible.

Oh, I know it is possible so I want the bids in place.  There is always a chance somebody will have to cancel.

[brianmisty]

I just went to resubmit, and their was now an option for the Spacious Balcony Cabin that was not there before.  Also, all suggested pricing was lower by $20-50.  I resubmitted and then went back to my cabin's RoyalUp to try for the Spacious Balcony, and it was not an option on that cabin.  Once you bid, perhaps they lock you into what was available at that time??

[Starry Eyes]

54 minutes ago, brianmisty said:

I just went to resubmit, and their was now an option for the Spacious Balcony Cabin that was not there before.  Also, all suggested pricing was lower by $20-50.  I resubmitted and then went back to my cabin's RoyalUp to try for the Spacious Balcony, and it was not an option on that cabin.  Once you bid, perhaps they lock you into what was available at that time??

Personally I tend to ignore the suggested bids, but I do pay attention to the minimum bids.  

If you want to gamble, you could cancel the all the bids on your cabin then see what offers are available.  Maybe they will also be better.  Of course, there’s a small chance your offers will get worse; you never know what RoyalUp might do.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Starry Eyes

[Mamajean267]

I got a message today saying our bid is under consideration depending on embarkation. We sail on the 10th. Anyone ever get one of these or know what it means?

[wallyj]

2 hours ago, Mamajean267 said:

I got a message today saying our bid is under consideration depending on embarkation. We sail on the 10th. Anyone ever get one of these or know what it means?

I believe it means unless you cancel, Royal will still consider your RoyalUp bid till the evening of embarkation, as there is the possibility of cancellations and no shows. I have reads posts where passengers were informed the evening of embarkation their RoyalUp was accepted and now they needed to change cabins. If you are willing to accept this situation, do nothing, else cancel your RoyalUp.

[Engineroom Snipe]

4 hours ago, wallyj said:

I have reads posts where passengers were informed the evening of embarkation their RoyalUp was accepted and now they needed to change cabins. If you are willing to accept this situation, do nothing, else cancel your RoyalUp.

 

I had previously posted the evening of embarkation. I had to correct the comment because the official policy is actual embarkation.  This can mean you moved into your original cabin at say 1:30pm and your phone has a message on it that you have received an upgrade at 3pm before a 4pm embarkation.

 

As a side note, the sailing capacities are quickly approaching pre-pandemic if not more due to testing and vaccination policies being severely reduced on a majority of cruises. 

 

Inside GTY are low cabins on the totem pole and easily manipulated by the loading staff to create more profit. Push-come-to-shove, by contract, you eventually take the cabin assigned, pay more for a change (there are exceptions which are discussed in almost every thread concerning GTY rooms), or possibly lose your money if you refuse to occupy the cabin assigned at the last minute.

 

For instance, I might have purchased an inside GTY for two for $1000 twelve months before the cruise. The cruise line might have temporarily assigned me to a possible block of rooms on say deck 10 with the option of moving me if someone wants to get a paid assignment on deck ten for $1400 three weeks before the cruise. That keeps occurring constantly with all GTY type of rooms until that final embarkation. It is like a financial jigsaw puzzle making all the rooms occupied at the greatest price point.

[Mamajean267]

Thanks for the replies. We have a balcony and bid is for grand suite.

[Starry Eyes]

36 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

I had previously posted the evening of embarkation. I had to correct the comment because the official policy is actual embarkation.  This can mean you moved into your original cabin at say 1:30pm and your phone has a message on it that you have received an upgrade at 3pm before a 4pm embarkation.

 

As a side note, the sailing capacities are quickly approaching pre-pandemic if not more due to testing and vaccination policies being severely reduced on a majority of cruises. 

 

Inside GTY are low cabins on the totem pole and easily manipulated by the loading staff to create more profit. Push-come-to-shove, by contract, you eventually take the cabin assigned, pay more for a change (there are exceptions which are discussed in almost every thread concerning GTY rooms), or possibly lose your money if you refuse to occupy the cabin assigned at the last minute.

 

For instance, I might have purchased an inside GTY for two for $1000 twelve months before the cruise. The cruise line might have temporarily assigned me to a possible block of rooms on say deck 10 with the option of moving me if someone wants to get a paid assignment on deck ten for $1400 three weeks before the cruise. That keeps occurring constantly with all GTY type of rooms until that final embarkation. It is like a financial jigsaw puzzle making all the rooms occupied at the greatest price point.

Once assigned, rarely does Royal change a gty assignment.  If they assign an inside cabin on deck 10 to a gty booking, as in your example, that cabin is no longer marketed to someone shopping for a cruise.

[Engineroom Snipe]

17 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Once assigned, rarely does Royal change a gty assignment.  If they assign an inside cabin on deck 10 to a gty booking, as in your example, that cabin is no longer marketed to someone shopping for a cruise.

According to my experience and most postings about GTY rooms, you are absolutely correct. 

 

I do think that once you get the lifeboat location, the room is finalized but according to the policy, they do have the option to change your room, even at the last minute under a GTY.

 

Buyer beware, always be prepared for the worst and you will never be disappointed.

[Starry Eyes]

28 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

According to my experience and most postings about GTY rooms, you are absolutely correct. 

 

I do think that once you get the lifeboat location, the room is finalized but according to the policy, they do have the option to change your room, even at the last minute under a GTY.

 

Buyer beware, always be prepared for the worst and you will never be disappointed.

When deciding whether or not to book gty, I encourage people to imagine being assigned the worst room for them (people’s idea of the worst room many vary) and decide if they’d still be satisfied.  A person with a bum knee and prone to seasickness might hate to be assigned a cabin high and forward while another person would be disappointed to get a cabin on a very low deck; both might be happier if those two people could swap.  
 

I agree that the cruiseline has the right to change the location of a gty cabin.  Still in practice, once assigned they simply are not moving them regularly, as you implied.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Mamajean267 said:

Thanks for the replies. We have a balcony and bid is for grand suite.

The denial email should come by about 8PM after sail away.

[brianmisty]

Just FYI...The last bid I placed did go through and did not get rejected. I received an email today, 3 days prior to the cruise, that the offer hasn't been accepted at this point, but will be reviewed by the onboard team. We are not expecting to get the upgrade but will be happy if we do.  

[Engineroom Snipe]

11 hours ago, brianmisty said:

Just FYI...The last bid I placed did go through and did not get rejected. I received an email today, 3 days prior to the cruise, that the offer hasn't been accepted at this point, but will be reviewed by the onboard team. We are not expecting to get the upgrade but will be happy if we do.  

 

I have noticed an interesting trend, while most cruises are sailing at 100+% booked capacity, the airlines are cutting back routes and flights due to pilot shortages and regulatory oversight.

 

Another issue for RCI and cruise lines is the triple endemic of influenza, respiratory viruses, and continuing Covid-19 infections. For a cruiser to cancel only one week before embarkation would normally mean that they cannot get there physically or they are medically restricted. The cruise line cannot release a fully paid room because of a missed flight. They must keep that room open for the possibility of the cruiser rejoining the cruise as the next port (happens all of the time and this is why cruise insurance is needed).

 

The only way a room becomes available at the last minute is the cruiser informs RCI that they will not officially be cruising. In most cases it invokes part of an insurance policy clause that is covered allowing them compensation for canceling the cruise. RCI is still honoring a future cruise credit (FCC) for infections but is requiring official medical documentation in order to obtain FCC. One cannot just say, "I have tested positive for XYZ," RCI wants a certified test and medical documentation. An easy thing to do if one is sick. This might create some last minute openings.

 

Best wishes for your upgrade if it happens.