RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[jrapps]

7 minutes ago, Dan83 said:

Sailing on 3/20. For the past 2 days all my bids except 1 have said expired. With the one bid pending and unable to modify. I had read that this was a good sign. But it’s been like that for 2 days with no upgrade. I don’t like that they won’t let me cancel or change bids with 10 days to go. What if I want to just forget the whole thing and cancel all the bids. Booked in a grand suite and I put in minimum/low bids for most options. 

What ship are you? I sail on 3/20 as well on the Oasis. All my bids still say Pending and are modifiable.

[Dan83]

1 minute ago, jrapps said:

What ship are you? I sail on 3/20 as well on the Oasis. All my bids still say Pending and are modifiable.

Harmony 

[maranelloboy05]

Just got off Harmony on Sunday and RoyalUpd from an oceanview balcony to CLS. Spent $920 total on the upgrade, $830 was the min. Got the email 2 days before embarkation. The one odd thing I did is that I had JS and GS bids in about 30 days prior to sailing, I only tossed in the CLS bid a day or two before it got assigned when I realized the CLS was only minimally more than the GS.

 

Really glad we got to experience the CLS but I'm mostly happy to confirm (for me at least) its not close to worth the regular prices I've seen. I was worried if we got an upgrade we wouldnt want to go back to a balcony but honestly I have no concern of that now. I certainly saw value in suites, the lounge was great, views were amazing, great big balcony but at the end of the day its not worth 4-5-6x the price of a balcony.

 

Booked on an Alaska balcony in July and my parents are in a JS, might try and move them back to a balcony, JS is double the balcony cost with no real suite benefits. On the other hand we also booked our first Celebrity cruise for next summer and their suites are less than 50% more than the balcony so thats a bit more in line with where I see the value.

 

 

[sford75]

50 minutes ago, Dan83 said:

Sailing on 3/20. For the past 2 days all my bids except 1 have said expired. With the one bid pending and unable to modify. I had read that this was a good sign. But it’s been like that for 2 days with no upgrade. I don’t like that they won’t let me cancel or change bids with 10 days to go. What if I want to just forget the whole thing and cancel all the bids. Booked in a grand suite and I put in minimum/low bids for most options. 

When this happened to me, it took 4 days before the upgrade did come through. This likely means it's happening. 

What ship? which one is pending and which ones are expired?

[Dan83]

35 minutes ago, sford75 said:

When this happened to me, it took 4 days before the upgrade did come through. This likely means it's happening. 

What ship? which one is pending and which ones are expired?

Harmony, Crown loft suite pending, everything else expired. I’d be happy with any of them honestly. I wouldn’t want the aft facing ones but I’d still take it over the grand suite. 

[ticketsunlimited]

29 minutes ago, Dan83 said:

Harmony, Crown loft suite pending, everything else expired. I’d be happy with any of them honestly. I wouldn’t want the aft facing ones but I’d still take it over the grand suite. 

We had the Aft CLS overlooking the miniature golf and absolutely loved it.  Could see Aqua theatre, people watch, and ocean view to right, left, and center.  We would do it again in a minute.  

[Illsticktocrusing]

Just received notice that my bid was accepted for GS from JS sailing on 03/20 Anthem.  I happen to bid the max ($800pp) since it was still a lot lower than upgrading outright.  I was surprised since this morning, only two were available after making a mock booking and still 10 days out  

[Starry Eyes]

38 minutes ago, Dan83 said:

Harmony, Crown loft suite pending, everything else expired. I’d be happy with any of them honestly. I wouldn’t want the aft facing ones but I’d still take it over the grand suite. 

I understand that you would prefer a side facing CLS vs an aft facing CLS, but RoyalUp bidding do not allow one make that distinction (though one may be lucky enough to be assigned or swap into one’s preference, others are not so lucky).  Those who would be really unhappy with an aft facing CLS should not bid on that category via RoyalUp.  Those who could accept either side or aft facing CLS should base their bid, IMHO, on the suite they perceive as the lower value (aft facing for most).  That way if their bid is fulfilled with an aft facing CLS, they should be happy, as they perceived aft facing as worthy of their bid.   OTOH, double bonus if they win and are assigned their preferred side facing CLS.

[cheyhaley]

2 hours ago, Dan83 said:

Sailing on 3/20. For the past 2 days all my bids except 1 have said expired. With the one bid pending and unable to modify. I had read that this was a good sign. But it’s been like that for 2 days with no upgrade. I don’t like that they won’t let me cancel or change bids with 10 days to go. What if I want to just forget the whole thing and cancel all the bids. Booked in a grand suite and I put in minimum/low bids for most options. 

 

I'm in a similar spot. Put in minimum bid for 2 categories, one expired and one still pending for about 48 hours now. Pending is for an Oceanview balcony which still has at least 50 or more available spots that I can see. On 3/20 Oasis and can't make any updates to bids.

 

Traveling with my parents in a different room and both of theirs are still listed as pending and they can make changes. They only bid on the two different GS options.

[Cruise a holic]

31 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

I understand that you would prefer a side facing CLS vs an aft facing CLS, but RoyalUp bidding do not allow one make that distinction (though one may be lucky enough to be assigned or swap into one’s preference, others are not so lucky).  Those who would be really unhappy with an aft facing CLS should not bid on that category via RoyalUp.  Those who could accept either side or aft facing CLS should base their bid, IMHO, on the suite they perceive as the lower value (aft facing for most).  That way if their bid is fulfilled with an aft facing CLS, they should be happy, as they perceived aft facing as worthy of their bid.   OTOH, double bonus if they win and are assigned their preferred side facing CLS.

So worth it!  No matter the view!  

[Starry Eyes]

11 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

So worth it!  No matter the view!  

We would bid on CLS, too, not knowing if we would get aft or side.  Still, there are some here who say they only want the side facing, and I respect their feelings.

[molly361]

6 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

We would bid on CLS, too, not knowing if we would get aft or side.  Still, there are some here who say they only want the side facing, and I respect their feelings.

That was me.  That said I already sailed in a L and S OS and am sailing again in one in May so I went ahead and bid just to try something different.  Also bidding on a 2 bedroom Aqua Theatre suite which I totally don't need since sailing solo.  Will probably never have any opportunity to bid on one again.

 

Disclaimer.  I have yet to win a RU 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Illsticktocrusing said:

I was surprised since this morning, only two were available after making a mock booking and still 10 days out  

All suites are gone - there were 3 OSs yesterday, didn't see any GS.

[Ozark_Kid]

3 hours ago, jrapps said:

Has anyone ever boarded a ship, and then gotten upgraded and moved after already boarding? just curious.

In January I read where someone the week before our Harmony cruise was not informed of their RU so they went to Guest Services after boading and was able to pay a total of $1,000 to move from an OVB to a GS.  They moved to the GS that evening.  Knowing what happened we went straight to Guest Service after boarding and they said they would let us know of availability.  We did not unpack.  Around 7pm they let us know we were able to move to our GS.  
I have to say that a that a couple weeks before the cruise RC had stopped selling rooms and due to bad weather some did not make it and several others were canceling.  I just don’t think I will ever see the same situation again, at least not in the near future.

[Starry Eyes]

3 hours ago, jrapps said:

 

Oh well....

 

Has anyone ever boarded a ship, and then gotten upgraded and moved after already boarding? just curious.

Via RoyalUp, I have not experienced that nor have I seen a report of somebody winning a RoyalUp bid after boarding.  I would be interested if anybody has had such an ultra late RoyalUp win.

( A few people reported upgrades after boarding by talking to guest services, but that’s separate from bidding program, of course)

[berbician]

I sail next Fri on WOS and bid a month ago for a GS & OS. I am currently in an OV balcony. I am still waiting with my fingers crossed I get the upgrade.  When I try to do mock bookings, it depends by the day and time, sometimes there are no Suites, sometimes they are none.  As of today, they show suites sold out and I can still change/cancel my bid.   Hoping for a miracle!      

[adidas5676]

32 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Via RoyalUp, I have not experienced that nor have I seen a report of somebody winning a RoyalUp bid after boarding.  I would be interested if anybody has had such an ultra late RoyalUp win.

( A few people reported upgrades after boarding by talking to guest services, but that’s separate from bidding program, of course)

Someone in a facebook group claims that their friends won a RoyalUp bid after already unpacking in their original assigned room and claims they did not talk to guest services-that it was a RoyalUp bid accept.  First time I'd ever heard of that

[jahannah]

Just learned today that we won our RU from a large OV Balcony to JS.  The RU site changed to all bids expired except the JS and, less than an hour later, to Upgraded.  The RC site showed the change as well.  We are 24 days from a 6-day Odyssey cruise, so we received very early notification of the win.  The available suites went down substantially today, so it appears they did a lot of upgrades today on the RU site (or tons of people reserved or upgraded the normal way today).  Our bid was considered on the edge of "Strong."  I will keep looking to see if I can further bid on higher level suites.  

[Starry Eyes]

41 minutes ago, adidas5676 said:

Someone in a facebook group claims that their friends won a RoyalUp bid after already unpacking in their original assigned room and claims they did not talk to guest services-that it was a RoyalUp bid accept.  First time I'd ever heard of that

That is interesting, and thanks for sharing.  Do you know if this reportedly happened recently? 

[flamingos]

I've made my first bid - $95 pp for a JS from a balcony on Mariner.  🙂  I'll let you know.  

[royaltocruising]

6 hours ago, CityChickCruising said:

In case anyone cancels or isn't allowed to board for whatever reason, I think they just keep them open so they can make some last minute $$. My last cruise ours were pending until after we boarded, so I think you're kind of just benchwarming in case one of their rostered players doesn't show up, if you will. Fingers crossed for ya! 

Thank you, I figured as much! I guess there is some sliver of hope if someone ends up cancelling then LOL

[royaltocruising]

6 hours ago, sford75 said:

If you look at your bids, it says you can modify up until 3 hours before departure. The new process is notifying people after they set sail that bids were unsuccessful. This is to account for any last minute availability. No more going to Guest Services to try for an upgrade. They will instruct you to RoyalUp. 
 

but yes, I’d say, you likely aren’t getting an upgrade. I’m in the same boat for 3/20. Not expecting it to happen. 

Yeah, I figured. Thought it was strange that most people in our group had bids that said expired or the ones that were still pending they couldn't modify so I just wasn't sure why all mine still said pending and I could modify. I guess I'm the backup in case there are no shows LOL

[adidas5676]

5 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

That is interesting, and thanks for sharing.  Do you know if this reportedly happened recently? 

One person said Odyssey end of Feb upgrade to JS after unpacking in original room.  Another person didn't mention date but it sounds fairly recently and guest services told them RoyalUp could accept bids up until 7pm on departure date.

[sandebeach]

Just received notice that we got our Royal Up for Allure leaving this Sunday. Went from a Grand Suite to a Crown Loft Suite. And yes, it is an aft-facing CLS, so I told my husband that we are just going to consider it a new adventure being in an aft CLS. It is 1730, right in the middle of the aft Lofts.

[adidas5676]

22 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

Just received notice that we got our Royal Up for Allure leaving this Sunday. Went from a Grand Suite to a Crown Loft Suite. And yes, it is an aft-facing CLS, so I told my husband that we are just going to consider it a new adventure being in an aft CLS. It is 1730, right in the middle of the aft Lofts.

Congrats!  We will be in Allure 1732 in April so your future neighbor!  Can you share what your bid was on it?