RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[RFerrington]

11 minutes ago, Jkaczanowski said:

i scoured the deck plans for odyssey 2 weeks ago and looked again just now and I have never seen a GS with large balcony

It looks like they did away with the GS Large balcony on OY.  That's a good thing, IMO.  We had one on AN in Feb 2020 and it was a waste of money.  The extended balcony was basically useless.

 

8234 and 8634 were the GS with large balcony in this [above] picture.  That little L-shaped balcony that bent around the side of the suite was a waste.  It looks like they have reconfigured those rooms on OY.

 

 

It looks like 8234 and 8634 are now, 2 BR GS and they have put in a couple of 2C balcony rooms with what might be extended balconies, in place of those 1 BR GS with extended [useless] balconies.

[RFerrington]

5 minutes ago, island lady said:

It's all a gamble.  But at least you don't lose your money if you are not awarded your bid.  😉 

Pretty good consolation prize, I guess !  LOL

[Cruise a holic]

55 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

I  cannot imagine paying to be removed from a carefully handpicked cabin to be placed in that nebulous category anyplace on the ship.

However the locations of suites is typically the best 

[cruiselvr04]

I have several bids in for next month.  
 

I usually buy trip insurance at final payment which is going to be today.  I will insure the cost of the cruise.  I’m not insuring the cost of my bids.  What happens if you bid and get it,  and then have an emergency at the last minute?  Will your bid that you did get not be covered by the insurance?  Will insurance not cover anything because you did not cover the entire cost?  At times you don’t get your upgrade until the last minute which doesn’t leave time on a weekend to amend your trip costs.  Am I over thinking this?

[ticketsunlimited]

43 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

It looks like they did away with the GS Large balcony on OY.  That's a good thing, IMO.  We had one on AN in Feb 2020 and it was a waste of money.  The extended balcony was basically useless.

 

8234 and 8634 were the GS with large balcony in this [above] picture.  That little L-shaped balcony that bent around the side of the suite was a waste.  It looks like they have reconfigured those rooms on OY.

 

 

It looks like 8234 and 8634 are now, 2 BR GS and they have put in a couple of 2C balcony rooms with what might be extended balconies, in place of those 1 BR GS with extended [useless] balconies.

Great info RF and much appreciated.  I guess my question is why am I bidding on a category that does not exist?  And the high end of that category (bidding wise) is significantly higher than the "regular 1 BR  Grand Suite" on Odyssey

[Starry Eyes]

14 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

However the locations of suites is typically the best 

I like this thread but topics on long, rambling threads get so intertwined.  The response you quoted, cruise a holic, was a response to a person considering an upgrade from a carefully picked balcony to a “spacious oceanview balcony.”  I consider the latter category to be rather nebulous, as it can mean a larger cabin or a larger balcony.  With RoyalUp, one does not know which cabin will be assigned, but in the case of spacious balcony, one struggles to even guess what category one might be assigned.  That’s not a bid I would make from a great balcony cabin.  I would likely make a bid if I were in an inside, OV, or suboptimal balcony cabin if the minimum bid was fair.

 

Back to your statement about suites: Are they typically in the best locations?  Well, location preferences are personal choice, and perhaps for you the suites are always in good locations.  Many people hate, really hate being right below the pool deck, and yet there are suites on that deck…on some ships most suites are on that deck.  Less noise sensitive people book such suites, we hope.  Some people dislike or cannot manage long walks to elevator or increase motion, so an aft suite, for example, is a poor location for them (others adore it).  It is a personal preference.  DH and I are not especially noise or motion sensitive and do not mind long walks to cabin, so we pretty comfortable bidding.  Others want to hand pick their suite and RoyalUp will not suit them as well.

[RFerrington]

11 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

Great info RF and much appreciated.  I guess my question is why am I bidding on a category that does not exist?  And the high end of that category (bidding wise) is significantly higher than the "regular 1 BR  Grand Suite" on Odyssey

Excellent question !  I think it is a mistake...who's surprised ?

[Starry Eyes]

18 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

Great info RF and much appreciated.  I guess my question is why am I bidding on a category that does not exist?  And the high end of that category (bidding wise) is significantly higher than the "regular 1 BR  Grand Suite" on Odyssey

Perhaps the third party has a list of categories for each class of ships.  Even if none exist on Odyssey, their software still lists it.  As none exist, obviously if none exist then none will come available, so no bids will be accepted for that category on that ship.

[Cruise a holic]

22 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

I like this thread but topics on long, rambling threads get so intertwined.  The response you quoted, cruise a holic, was a response to a person considering an upgrade from a carefully picked balcony to a “spacious oceanview balcony.”  I consider the latter category to be rather nebulous, as it can mean a larger cabin or a larger balcony.  With RoyalUp, one does not know which cabin will be assigned, but in the case of spacious balcony, one struggles to even guess what category one might be assigned.  That’s not a bid I would make from a great balcony cabin.  I would likely make a bid if I were in an inside, OV, or suboptimal balcony cabin if the minimum bid was fair.

 

Back to your statement about suites: Are they typically in the best locations?  Well, location preferences are personal choice, and perhaps for you the suites are always in good locations.  Many people hate, really hate being right below the pool deck, and yet there are suites on that deck…on some ships most suites are on that deck.  Less noise sensitive people book such suites, we hope.  Some people dislike or cannot manage long walks to elevator or increase motion, so an aft suite, for example, is a poor location for them (others adore it).  It is a personal preference.  DH and I are not especially noise or motion sensitive and do not mind long walks to cabin, so we pretty comfortable bidding.  Others want to hand pick their suite and RoyalUp will not suit them as well.

Having sailed over the past 10 years in grand suites and above, the only exception to my preferred suite location was on the adventure of the seas.   However all other suites, especially the oasis class have been excellent 

[RFerrington]

9 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Having sailed over the past 10 years in grand suites and above, the only exception to my preferred suite location was on the adventure of the seas.   However all other suites, especially the oasis class have been excellent 

I am not particularly fond of the location of the full suites (most of them, anyway) on the Vision class ships.  The big suites are all jammed way forward right under the Windjammer (very noisy, in my experience).  I will never ever again pay for a big suite on a V class ship unless it is one of the few that are midship or aft....and of course, since this thread is about RU, you are not able to choose your location so I would never try and RU to a full suite on one of the V class ships for fear of being way forward.

[Painter4me]

1 hour ago, ticketsunlimited said:

 

[Painter4me]

Wow on the Harmony of the Seas, our min bid for the GS1B was $350 from a OV with large balcony for a 1/e0 sailing. Big price difference in mins.

[Starry Eyes]

8 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Having sailed over the past 10 years in grand suites and above, the only exception to my preferred suite location was on the adventure of the seas.   However all other suites, especially the oasis class have been excellent 

Have you hand picked those happy suites or were they assigned by RoyalUp without your input?  Again, some people are happy in a suite that would make others unhappy.  I could be happy in any suite on Oasis class, but I would not say all are in optimal locations.  There are multiple suites on deck 14 on Oasis class; some people would be very unhappy in those, as the pool deck is above.  Also, the Aquatheater suites on deck 14 have narrow balconies (especially Oasis and Allure) that would greatly disappoint some people.  Switching to another class, as I recall, nearly all suites on Radiance class are directly below the pool deck.  I can deal with that, but I understand that a noise sensitive person would be unhappy.  Let’s not push our preferences on others; they can decide what us or us not a good location for them.

 

 

[Cruise a holic]

6 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Have you hand picked those happy suites or were they assigned by RoyalUp without your input?  Again, some people are happy in a suite that would make others unhappy.  I could be happy in any suite on Oasis class, but I would not say all are in optimal locations.  There are multiple suites on deck 14 on Oasis class; some people would be very unhappy in those, as the pool deck is above.  Also, the Aquatheater suites on deck 14 have narrow balconies (especially Oasis and Allure) that would greatly disappoint some people.  Switching to another class, as I recall, nearly all suites on Radiance class are directly below the pool deck.  I can deal with that, but I understand that a noise sensitive person would be unhappy.  Let’s not push our preferences on others; they can decide what us or us not a good location for them.

 

 

We love crown lofts.   The suite deck suite lounge and restaurant imo make cruise so special.  Sky suite and above

Edited January 18, 2022 by Cruise a holic

[orville99]

Just got an email from RoyalUP for our 2/27 Harmony cruise, and they are apparently having a sale on bids. The bid range for several categories have been dropped by 25%. i.e. we could do a minimum bid on a CLS upgrade from our GS for $200 less pp than what was offered just last week.

 

It looks like they may be having difficulty getting anyone to bid on upgrades?

[Biker19]

15 minutes ago, Painter4me said:

Big price difference in mins.

Mins are determined by what cabin you have.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

It looks like they may be having difficulty getting anyone to bid on upgrades?

Yes, pretty sure that "sale" feature started recently - previously they just lowered the min. without fanfare - the marketing folks have plenty of work.

[Painter4me]

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Mins are determined by what cabin you have.

Thank you. That’s what I thought. 

[auntie.emily94]

Just put in our bid for 3/4/2022 cruise... booked balcony guarantee, ended up with spacious, and bid for JS. 

Only bid the minimum for kicks and giggles, $50 total. Its a short trip and honestly our current room assignment is just a couple doors from our friends we're with. I HIGHLY doubt we'll get it but it seemed fun to try. We've never done a JS and it would be nice to see if we feel like its worth it for future trips.  

[auntie.emily94]

This is the minimum bids on our up coming 3 nights on Independence. I think promotional ones are VERY fairly priced. 

[island lady]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

Having sailed over the past 10 years in grand suites and above, the only exception to my preferred suite location was on the adventure of the seas.   However all other suites, especially the oasis class have been excellent 

 

I am not a fan of the aft facing CLS cabins on Oasis class.  Too much noise, no privacy.   Not comfortable to bid on a CLS if I end up with one of those.  CLS on the side...pure heaven.  Big difference IMHO.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by island lady

[ScubaAmanda]

I went in to cancel one of my bids this morning and found that 2 of my bids expired and the one I wanted to cancel is pending and I can’t make changes anymore. My sailing isn’t until Feb 6…I haven’t heard of them closing it this early. Is that normal? I figured I would have had more time. Sounds like I might be stuck with the upgrade if I get it. I won’t be mad, I was just planning on cancelling it and boosting the other two. Oh well! Live and learn. But really, has anyone heard of them closing them out this early?

[binro01]

2 minutes ago, ScubaAmanda said:

I went in to cancel one of my bids this morning and found that 2 of my bids expired and the one I wanted to cancel is pending and I can’t make changes anymore. My sailing isn’t until Feb 6…I haven’t heard of them closing it this early. Is that normal? I figured I would have had more time. Sounds like I might be stuck with the upgrade if I get it. I won’t be mad, I was just planning on cancelling it and boosting the other two. Oh well! Live and learn. But really, has anyone heard of them closing them out this early?

You are smack dab in the timeframe where you can be put in pending with no way to cancel. Usually this means currently you are in a good position to be upgraded to that cabin. I still wish you had the option to cancel at any time...

[tbo]

34 minutes ago, ScubaAmanda said:

I went in to cancel one of my bids this morning and found that 2 of my bids expired and the one I wanted to cancel is pending and I can’t make changes anymore. My sailing isn’t until Feb 6…I haven’t heard of them closing it this early. Is that normal? I figured I would have had more time. Sounds like I might be stuck with the upgrade if I get it. I won’t be mad, I was just planning on cancelling it and boosting the other two. Oh well! Live and learn. But really, has anyone heard of them closing them out this early?

I am on Symphony 1/29 and others on my date are receiving upgrades, mine is still open and I can modify. I only have the 1 bid-does it help to have more than 1 bid in?

 

I checked and they have more than 20 JS available, which is what I'm bidding for.

 

Thinking I'm out of luck this go around.

[jcandjf]

I am on 1/29 Symphony currently in large Balcony. We bid on GS, OS and CLS and have two that are listed as expired and one pending since yesterday. Hoping to see a confirmed upgrade soon!!