How does Royal set Royal Up Minimum Bids?

[Newbieflorida]

I usually book OV Balcony. I've seen the Minimum Bid to a JS at $100 per person and $500 per person. Does anyone know why/how Royal sets their minimum bids? Is it because of demand on that particular sailing? Is it based on how much I paid for the cruise, so if I got a great price, my minimum bid would be higher? Are everyone's minimum bids the same?

 

TIA.

[adolfo2]

IMHO: Opening bids are based on the "Trade In" value of your current stateroom. The opening bid on a JS will be GREATER for someone in an inside vs. a balcony. Kinda makes sense that it depends on what you're bringing to the table... no?

 

[not-enough-cruising]

Royal has virtually nothing to do with the "Royal UP" process; it is facilitated by a third party vendor.  The algorithm is very mysterious indeed.

[livingonthebeach]

32 minutes ago, Newbieflorida said:

I usually book OV Balcony. I've seen the Minimum Bid to a JS at $100 per person and $500 per person. Does anyone know why/how Royal sets their minimum bids? Is it because of demand on that particular sailing? Is it based on how much I paid for the cruise, so if I got a great price, my minimum bid would be higher? Are everyone's minimum bids the same?

 

TIA.

 

I've seen minimum bids all over the place. The only time I was successful scoring an upgrade with a minimum bid was at the very beginning of the restart. I have to think that minimum bids are calculated based on the percentage of bookings for the particular cruise as well as cabin types for existing bookings.  RCI outsources the Royal Up program to an outside company, but it makes sense that RCI would communicate to them the level of demand for each particular cruise and existing bookings so they may set the prices accordingly. Good luck with your bid if you made one. 

[Ourusualbeach]

[PompeySailor]

The magic amount is $15 over minimum (Now we will never win a bid again)

 

Call in and upgrade if you want a different room than you booked, sometimes cheaper than a RUP and straight away you know you have won 🏆 

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, PompeySailor said:

The magic amount is $15 over minimum (Now we will never win a bid again)

 

Call in and upgrade if you want a different room than you booked, sometimes cheaper than a RUP and straight away you know you have won 🏆 

 

Yes, good advice. I've noticed that at times a regular upgrade goes for less than the minimum Royal Up, especially when the price goes down on an existing booking or there's a sale going on. I've been able to upgrade the old fashioned way on several occasions for much less than the minimum RU.

[Starry Eyes]

10 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

The magic amount is $15 over minimum (Now we will never win a bid again)

 

Call in and upgrade if you want a different room than you booked, sometimes cheaper than a RUP and straight away you know you have won 🏆 

Now that you posted that a couple times, the magic amount will likely soon rise to $20 over the minimum😀….well, assuming there are any available cabins to win.

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[PompeySailor]

3 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Now that you posted that a couple times, the magic amount will likely soon rise to $20 over the minimum😀….well, assuming there are any available cabins to win.

 

I just adjusted my most recent bid to the NEW magic number 🤣

Will be revealed if successful 

[slyster]

I often wondered how this worked.  I am in a junior suite for my August cruise.  There are still plenty of grand suites available.  I wondered what should show up in my royal up bid email.  I will be sure to try the magic number LOL

[BirdTravels]

We used the magic number of $10 to get upgraded into a 2-story loft suite to Alaska last year. 

[slyster]

I'm wondering if someone in a junior suite has a better chance of being upgraded to a grand suite over a person in a lower category.  Or it may just be whoever bids higher.  I figure if i win a grand suite, someone who bids on a junior suite, will upgrade to the one we vacate.  At least I hope so LOL

[Starry Eyes]

12 minutes ago, slyster said:

I'm wondering if someone in a junior suite has a better chance of being upgraded to a grand suite over a person in a lower category.  Or it may just be whoever bids higher.  I figure if i win a grand suite, someone who bids on a junior suite, will upgrade to the one we vacate.  At least I hope so LOL

I assume the algorithm would generally compares the following options and selects the higher*:

A) The sum of highest GS bid from a JS occupant plus the highest JS bid from a balcony occupant  or

B) The highest GS bid from a balcony occupant 

 

So, I think the person in a balcony probably has to bid substantially more to score the GS over a person starting in a JS.  You have no way of know how much somebody may have bid for your JS and you have no way of knowing how badly others (in JS or balcony) might want a GS.

 

*Note: The above is an oversimplification, of course, when there are multiple categories of balconies in the bidding chain.  A computer algorithm could quickly sort out the highest revenue option from hundreds or thousands of bids.  There also may be over-riding business considerations in some bid acceptances.  For example, if a cabin were inadvertently double booked or taken out of inventory, it would be smoother to accept a RoyalUp bid (if submitted) than suffer the bad PR for the issue, even if the RoyalUp bid would otherwise have been too low to win.