RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[John&LaLa]

13 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

 They are banking on the fact that people don't pay attention and are only comparing the price to the current price at the time of the Royal up offer. 

 

Why does it matter what the price was a year ago. You can't go back in time and book at release prices. 

[BunnyHutt]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Why does it matter what the price was a year ago. You can't go back in time and book at release prices. 

 

Exactly. When I booked my upcoming cruise, it was not in my friend’s budget to get a suite. Things have since changed so, while we’ll be happy with our chosen cabin, we figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if we can get a bigger one. 🤷‍♀️ 

[Iamcruzin]

8 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Why does it matter what the price was a year ago. You can't go back in time and book at release prices. 

Because if you re read my post  you would  see that  it would have been more beneficial to book the higher category at the time of the booking, lower price and more OBC. Either you want the higher category or you don't. People who Royal up are just looking for a deal and from what I experienced  there was no deal.  Why would I pay more to upgrade weeks before the cruise when I could have had the pick of the litter at the time of booking.  Now if you just booked a few weeks out then there is a better chance of an upgrade deal. The location is more important to me than the room size so I'm not even sure I would up grade for free.

[John&LaLa]

10 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Because if you re read my post  you would  see that  it would have been more beneficial to book the higher category at the time of the booking, lower price and more OBC. Either you want the higher category or you don't. People who Royal up are just looking for a deal and from what I experienced  there was no deal.  Why would I pay more to upgrade weeks before the cruise when I could have had the pick of the litter at the time of booking.  Now if you just booked a few weeks out then there is a better chance of an upgrade deal. The location is more important to me than the room size so I'm not even sure I would up grade for free.

 

A) you may have missed the early booking prices. They tend to go up substantially even in the first day or two.

B) the category you wanted may be sold out, so you have to downgrade. Happens with JS's a lot

C) see post #2578

D) female prerogative. Mama changed her mind. 😉

[AnnaNicole]

Booked balcony guarantee.  Assigned a D2   (ANTHEM of the Seas) 

 

Receive the upgrade bid email - 77 days until sailing.

 

Spacious OV Balcony:  from $50pp

 

Junior Suite: from $200 pp

 

Grand Suite: from $450pp

 

All suites are currently showing as sold out.

 

My balcony cabin still shows GTY on RCI account,  has assigned muster station on sailpass, but TA confirmed room assignment.

Edited June 17, 2019 by AnnaNicole

[dleahy4444]

Wow that is pretty far in advance of the sailing. Good luck if you decide to bid. It seems that the emails can go out at any time after final payment. I’m still waiting to hear if anyone has gotten an offer to bid on the Symphony. 

[BunnyHutt]

I received my email 5/19 for a 7/3 sailing. Status is still pending 2-weeks out but it is a (formerly) Cuba cruise so I imagine RCI is waiting to see how things shake out with cancellations. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

On 6/16/2019 at 9:56 AM, Iamcruzin said:

They seem to  be pretty determine to only upgrade via the royal up program. I received 3 offers for my cruise with the last offer only a few days before sailing. I doubt they are discounting anymore.

What’s wrong with Royal only using the RoyalUP program to upgrade cabins?  

[Iamcruzin]

3 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

What’s wrong with Royal only using the RoyalUP program to upgrade cabins?  

Nothing at all. It's just not always the best deal or even discounting if you booked early. From a business point of view it's a great idea. They are making money on something that the upgrade fairy gave away for free. Someone asked if they discounted anymore and my opinion was probably no. Now this has nothing to do with discounting a cruise that isn't selling. That's another topic

[stompy]

10 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

What’s wrong with Royal only using the RoyalUP program to upgrade cabins?  

 

Well one of the benefits of C&A was the upgrade  fairy, RoyalUP eliminates any chance of a free upgrade

[Milwaukee Eight]

10 minutes ago, stompy said:

 

Well one of the benefits of C&A was the upgrade  fairy, RoyalUP eliminates any chance of a free upgrade

Isn’t it a sound business decision?

[dleahy4444]

17 minutes ago, stompy said:

 

Well one of the benefits of C&A was the upgrade  fairy, RoyalUP eliminates any chance of a free upgrade

 I think, as with most things, there are advantages and disadvantages. Yes, there is no more upgrade fairy. But that system was so random! There was nothing you could do to increase your chances. At least with Royal Up you can increase your bid in order to increase your chances. Of course it seems a bit random as to who actually is offered an opportunity to bid, and when the offers are extended. I also wonder what the process does to the price fluctuation and cabin availablity. Are people who would normally book a suite now holding back hoping to win a bid?  Well, it is what it is. This is the program we have now. Never having received a call from the upgrade fairy, I’m hoping to get lucky 

[Biker19]

28 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

 They are making money on something that the upgrade fairy gave away for free.

Not really, the upgrade fairy was kinda out of work even before Royal Up and the upsell fairy was put out of work by Royal Up.

[er345]

16 hours ago, AnnaNicole said:

Booked balcony guarantee.  Assigned a D2   (ANTHEM of the Seas) 

 

Receive the upgrade bid email - 77 days until sailing.

 

Spacious OV Balcony:  from $50pp

 

Junior Suite: from $200 pp

 

Grand Suite: from $450pp

 

All suites are currently showing as sold out.

 

My balcony cabin still shows GTY on RCI account,  has assigned muster station on sailpass, but TA confirmed room assignment.

These are the kind of Royal Up prices I was hoping for. For Ovation we received our offer at around 80 days out, but it was $500 pp minimum just to jump ONE category from a J1 junior suite to a Grand Suite. And $700 pp minimum to go to an Owner’s suite. 

If I had the chance to jump 3 levels for less than $1,000 total I would go for it.

[Iamcruzin]

22 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not really, the upgrade fairy was kinda out of work even before Royal Up and the upsell fairy was put out of work by Royal Up.

And they claim that unemployment is down. 😊

[Iamcruzin]

26 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

 Of course it seems a bit random as to who actually is offered an opportunity to bid, and when the offers are extended. 

I have no idea how they decide  who to target for these bids. Several people in my Facebook group and myself were offered to bid several times. You would have thought that after the second solicitation and not bidding they would have moved on to someone else. My son had booked the same category room right next door to us and he never received a bid. I received a bid 2 days before the cruise and someone in my facebook group had not even heard if they won the bid yet. 2 people won their bid and went from an obstructed balcony to an unobstructed balcony on a higher deck.

[stompy]

2 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Isn’t it a sound business decision?

 

Sure it makes more money for RCI but the original post asked “what’s wrong with just using RoyalUP?” and my response referred to the fact that another benefit was being taken away

 

I won our bid on the last cruise to a Crown Loft Suite which listed for over $10K which I would never have been able to afford otherwise so the UP program has good points, just not as good as a free upgrade after 20 years of loyal cruising

[Croozin Soozin]

30 minutes ago, stompy said:

 just not as good as a free upgrade after 20 years of loyal cruising

How many free upgrades did you get?

[dleahy4444]

I wonder about the effect of your Crown and Anchor tier on whether or not an offer to bid is extended. Any gold members out there who have gotten offers to bid? I’m sure there are other factors involved as well such as the popularity of the sailing and the available inventory. But all things being equal I’m assuming that a diamond plus cruiser will receive an offer to bid before a gold member. Am I wrong?

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, dleahy4444 said:

 Am I wrong?

Pretty sure, I don't think anyone has figured a pattern to the offers and inside 30 days anyone can place a bid regardless of C&A level.

[Iamcruzin]

1 minute ago, dleahy4444 said:

I wonder about the effect of your Crown and Anchor tier on whether or not an offer to bid is extended. Any gold members out there who have gotten offers to bid? I’m sure there are other factors involved as well such as the popularity of the sailing and the available inventory. But all things being equal I’m assuming that a diamond plus cruiser will receive an offer to bid before a gold member. Am I wrong?

I received 3 offers for the same cruise and it was only my second cruise with Royal Caribbean in nearly 20yrs. It was my son's third cruise with his last sailing only 2 years ago and he received nothing.  There is no rhyme or reason. If they want my business so bad they might want to start sending me the promotional offers.

[dleahy4444]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Pretty sure, I don't think anyone has figured a pattern to the offers and inside 30 days anyone can place a bid regardless of C&A level.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the process. My impression is that at any time after final payment you may receive an email offering an opportunity to bid. If you haven’t received the email you can, within 30 days of sailing, check on the site my entering your sur name and booking number in the Royal Up section to see if you have an opportunity to bid. 

 

Are you saying that everyone will get an opportunity to bid within the 30 day time frame?  Or are you saying that if you are randomly selected to bid it will show up when you check during the 30 day time frame, and you you can bid at that time regardless of your tier?

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

Are you saying that everyone will get an opportunity to bid within the 30 day time frame?

Yes, that's what has been reported.

[travelplus]

I have an idea

How about C&A Emerald members get $50 per member towards the upgrade

 

Diamond $65 and Diamond Plus $85.Pinnacle members get the next category up for free or $75 towards an upgrade 

 

Anything over is billed to the card on file. You can decide between balcony discount or RoyalUP benefit. 

 

Thoughts?  If I were given money towards the upgrade I'd pitch in another $100 per person. 

 

If the upgrade does not go through the money given by C&A becomes OBC. Or you can decide to take it as OBC. 

Edited June 18, 2019 by travelplus

[John&LaLa]

Several of us got a GS on the Aug 18 Harmony for $2,600 total. No need for RoyalUP.