RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[A&L_Ont]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Royal takes your payment direct on a NextCruise deposit. 🍺

 

Not for along time, and my TA back then wasn’t so nice to me. 😉

 

Edit it to add: liking all the Mustang Avatar pics. 

Edited November 29, 2018 by A&L_Ont

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

This is one of my offers for January on Allure. I didn’t bother bidding as we have a nice enough cabin already and who needs the RLS for two. Let’s not fool ourselves either, that minimum price isn’t get gonna get the job done, espically when you know where got in and what the cabins usually average for pricing. 

 

I think RC is treating this more as a Hedge Fund, or a Hedge Cabin. Someone backs out before or after final payment they have a potential list of people looking to anti up.  They don’t even have to spend time calling future guests. 

 

 

 

 

Panoramic Suite = no stairs

 

Plus it's 400 CAD, that's like $100, eh.

[The_Big_M]

8 hours ago, Big_G said:

 

Email is from Royal but the link brings you to upgrade.plusgrade.com website.

 

Yes, they operate the software that handles this for RCL, and other cruise companies and airlines.

[John&LaLa]

6 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

Not for along time, and my TA back then wasn’t so nice to me. 😉

 

Edit it to add: liking all the Mustang Avatar pics. 

 

I bet Bob can't tell which one of is posting. 

 

Bella will be back before the GA game on Saturday.  

Go Dawgs 🐾

Edited November 29, 2018 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Just now, The_Big_M said:

 

Yes, they operate the software that handles this for RCL, and other cruise companies and airlines.

 

Their website only lists airline clients

[A&L_Ont]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I bet Bob can't tell which one of is posting. 

 

I should change mine to fool with him. LOL

[LB_NJ]

This is not a terrible thing.

 

It has the following results:

 

It effectively lets you bid on a guarantee room in a level above what you already have (e.g., from inside to ocean view or balcony, ocean view to balcony, etc.).  

 

You only bid what you are willing to pay.  This is an opportunity to buy a level above what was originally purchased either because the  price of the higher level  was originally too high or because it was already booked solid.

 

I assume they will use this as a way to get more money on last minute cancellations, cancellations up to a couple days before the sailing.  

 

No more free upgrades, no more upgrades for guaranteed cabin categories.

 

The computers do all the work so they don't have to make phone calls.  I assume they are using booking algorithms like the airlines to maximize their profit.  Most people will probably not get an upgrade that they bid on. 

 

Since most cruises book full these days the likelihood of being able to witch cabins once on board is almost zero no matter how you booked the original cabin.

[dswallow]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Their website only lists airline clients

 

It lists NCL, Royal and Celebrity.

 

[John&LaLa]

Just now, dswallow said:

 

It lists NCL, Royal and Celebrity.

 

 

Wow, it didn't look that way this afternoon, or I'm breathing to much drywall dust.

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

I should change mine to fool with him. LOL

 

It has been very confusing. 

 

Whenever I click to go to the last unread post, the browser jumps to the right post, except it only shows to the top of the avatar, it does not show the name.  John has forced me to have to scroll down.  I'll remember this John.

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Wow, it didn't look that way this afternoon, or I'm breathing to much drywall dust.

It was missing RCI a few hours ago. 

[Big_G]

30 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Stopped by the Subscription Center and found this.  No idea what any of it is, but I think i'll check everything.  Could be the basis for a new thread. 

 

 

How did you get there John?

[John&LaLa]

9 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

It has been very confusing. 

 

Whenever I click to go to the last unread post, the browser jumps to the right post, except it only shows to the top of the avatar, it does not show the name.  John has forced me to have to scroll down.  I'll remember this John.

 

Just two more days

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, RFerrington said:

I think this seems more like a fishing expedition than any real offers of upgrades.

Free market research for Plusgrade. 

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, Big_G said:

 

How did you get there John?

 

Look at an email from Royal Marketing.  click link at bottom

 

 

When it loads, look for subscription center to see this list.  You can also check your email from the first screen

[The_Big_M]

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

I assume Plusgrade has some extensive access to the RCI database to make this work and to further cut costs a lot of this is automated - they and RCI probably worked out a deal on levels, ties and other issues. 

For anyone bidding, is fractional amounts allowed, like bids ending in .01?

 

There needs to be integration, but that'snot a big deal - even cruisecritic had integration as you could book meet and mingles through it (i.e. your reservation number and personal details). Similar data has to be passed here.

 

I'd expect that it's hosted on plusgrade and rcl staff access the bids at the end, possibly with some alerts being sent if high value bids are logged. Once selected, RCL staff would amend the booking as with any other booking. So no "extensive access" needed.

[dswallow]

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It was missing RCI a few hours ago. 

 

I had checked earlier today; it was there at least about 8-9 hours ago. But on the main page as you scroll down there's also a partial list that you can scroll through; you need to click on the "See All Partners" button to go to the full page. The main page listing doesn't include Royal Caribbean (but does have Celebrity and NCL).

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

I had checked earlier today; it was there at least about 8-9 hours ago. But on the main page as you scroll down there's also a partial list that you can scroll through; you need to click on the "See All Partners" button to go to the full page. The main page listing doesn't include Royal Caribbean (but does have Celebrity and NCL).

 

Looks like it's on main page now, but it's not on the regional section for the America's

[The_Big_M]

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

That will likely lead to some ties.

Possibly. Then they could always take first bid, or just some other characteristic, just like other draws where someone is then selected based on other criteria in the case of a tie.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, sdear said:

I got the email today for our cruise this Sunday.   I called Casino Royale to see if there were upgrades available and they said the ship is "full" according to what she sees.   So curious why I got an upgrade email if the ship is full .   

 

The ship isn't full.  Empty cabins are now allocated to Royal UP.  Forget ways of the past.  Want one?  Prepare to bid.  

[The_Big_M]

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The majority may not even bid the min.

 

Biker, who wonders how much Plusgrade gets out of each deal.

 

Since plusgrade likely don't have to do any extra work for each deal, I'd expect it's a standard software licencing/usage cost rather than per deal. Just like the software they use to do bookings, they don't get commission based on the booking. It's just a tool.

[Biker19]

Looks like bids can be revised after submission. 

[The_Big_M]

45 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Their website only lists airline clients

 

See dswallow's screenshot

Edited November 29, 2018 by The_Big_M

[cruise wizard]

1 hour ago, Andy C said:

 

Maybe they excluded us because we exposed the fact that pinnacles have access to the "exclusive" suite experiences that we now know are not exclusive.  

 

You may all recall that if you are traveling in a suite, pinnacles will have priority in Coastal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge over suite paying guests even when the pinnacle is not staying in a suite.  

 

Not true on our current Oasis cruise - Suites have priority in CK period.

[The_Big_M]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Looks like bids can be revised after submission. 

 

Yes, or cancelled. Either can be done til accepted, or the cut-off time. Once accepted, no cancellations or change of mind possible.