RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[grapau27]

16 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I bid on Rhapsody for cruise early this month and Oasis (boarding today).  Got an email the day before.... each telling me my bid was unsuccessful.  

Sorry that you didn't get an upgrade but I'm sure you had a fantastic Cruise anyway.

 

[jmom2004]

On 1/7/2019 at 10:00 AM, BEENSAILING said:

Are staterooms being held for the bid up program? People have reported getting their paid for upgrade even though their cruise was showing sold out in certain category rooms.

Not sure if this is true, but I was told that the bidding for cabins on the cruise lines is related to the desirability of the particular cabin - balcony for example.  Selling upgrades from these cabins results in an inventory of the popular cabins to essentially re-sell.  We were successful with an NCL bid a couple years ago from an balcony to mini-suite even though the inventory on the site showed sold out. We have bid for a few suites on our upcoming RCCL cruise and have fingers crossed for success although no word yet but still 35 days out.   

[tennislvr8]

On 1/13/2019 at 10:46 AM, mikemartin774 said:

I bid and was upgraded from an obstructed balcony on the Anthem of the Seas holiday 8 day

to a Sky Loft for much less than a junior suite. Free wifi, access to the concierge lounge (free drinks

from 4:30 to 8pm) bottle of champagne for new years. Plus all the other perks for me that was a great

deal

May I ask how much per person was your accepted bid? 

[mikemartin774]

2 hours ago, tennislvr8 said:

May I ask how much per person was your accepted bid? 

1005 per person on one the two most expensive 8 day cruises + 2200 original payment for the

obstructed balcony

[Sailing_Canuck]

12 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

I am on a cruise that was showing "sold out" for quite a while before sailing.

 

Several people "won" their bids in RoyalUp and are sailing in those upgraded cabins right now. 🙂

That's good news.  We typically get Junior suites for 5 of us (three young ones), but this time around it was a $3200 CDN delta from Spacious Ocean View to Junior Suite. We bid on some of the rooms and crossing our fingers and toes.  

 

I haven't seen anyone from Serenade on Feb 22 comment if they got a Royal Up email or if their have been any successful bids.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Sailing_Canuck

[Bronx12]

Anyone on the Adventure of The Seas sailings March 2-10, and March 10-16/19 receive the Royal Up offer? I posted on the appropriate sailings individually, but I thought I would post here also.

 

Thanks

[Arubamoose]

1 hour ago, Sailing_Canuck said:

I haven't seen anyone from Serenade on Feb 22 comment if they got a Royal Up email or if their have been any successful bids.

 

We got a bid for our Serenade cruise on Feb 11th on the 12th of January - 4 weeks out.

"Upgrade to an oceanview is only $50, balcony is only $150 pp and a junior suite for $400 pp."

What was really interesting is that they also had the two bedroom suites up front on decks 7 and 8 with no balcony for $300.  If you got three or four in a room that would be a score!!

 

We have not gotten one for the Serenade Feb 22nd cruise as of yet.  I am showing balcony cabins are sold out on both of them.

 

We have not gotten one for the Serenade Mar 4th one either.  That cruise has about 25 balcony cabins left the last time I checked which means they probably have more available.

[Sailing_Canuck]

25 minutes ago, Arubamoose said:

 

We got a bid for our Serenade cruise on Feb 11th on the 12th of January - 4 weeks out.

"Upgrade to an oceanview is only $50, balcony is only $150 pp and a junior suite for $400 pp."

What was really interesting is that they also had the two bedroom suites up front on decks 7 and 8 with no balcony for $300.  If you got three or four in a room that would be a score!!

 

We have not gotten one for the Serenade Feb 22nd cruise as of yet.  I am showing balcony cabins are sold out on both of them.

 

We have not gotten one for the Serenade Mar 4th one either.  That cruise has about 25 balcony cabins left the last time I checked which means they probably have more available.

Here is the details of our Royal Up - prices in Canadian.  

 

Ocean view suite - from $135 CAD pp
Junior Suite - from $270 CAD pp
Grand Suite - from $540 CAD pp
Owner's Suite - from $940 CAD pp
Royal Suite - from $1,610 CAD pp (max capacity is 4 though)

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by Sailing_Canuck

[MadamG2U]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:50 AM, norway olin said:

Don't forget that as a single your bid will be doubled.

Wow I did not know that.

MadamG2U

[norway olin]

1 hour ago, MadamG2U said:

Wow I did not know that.

MadamG2U

 

Yes, it is here in the Royal Up FAQ

Royal UP FAQ

[Fancypants!]

So here's a question...

 

"Your bid is priced per person and based on two guests per stateroom for the entire length of your cruise. Only the first and second guest will be charged."

 

So if you have 3 people in the room, I'm assuming the third person also moves along with you to the upgraded room if your bid is accepted, even though you don't provide a bid for them? I know that sounds like a stupid question, but their wording isn't completely clear.

 

If you receive an upgrade from a Sky Class to a Star Class but already paid for gratuities and drink packages, would those be refunded? I think the drink packages could be refunded, but I'd be concerned a little about the gratuities.

 

Also, I'm exactly 60 days out from my cruise and just got the offer today for anyone keeping track of that.

[Clarea]

 

 ... If you receive an upgrade from a Sky Class to a Star Class but already paid for gratuities and drink packages, would those be refunded? I think the drink packages could be refunded, but I'd be concerned a little about the gratuities. ...

 

You have until at least 72 hours (and possibly 24 hours) before the cruise to cancel drink packages and gratuities.

[RFerrington]

 

If you receive an upgrade from a Sky Class to a Star Class but already paid for gratuities and drink packages, would those be refunded? I think the drink packages could be refunded, but I'd be concerned a little about the gratuities.

If you get upgraded to a Star Class cabin, you will get a full refund on the grats and the drinks packages (and any other packages you may have purchased ahead of time).  What I am not certain about is whether the money would be refunded to your CC or if you would get it in onboard credit.  The Genie would take care of all of that for you.

 

We recently had a refund of an Ultimate Dining Package on Grandeur (long story) by the Chops Manager and that refund was given to use as OBC.  So I'm not sure how they would handle those refunds but those pre-paid expenses would be fully refunded to you, one way or another.

[ShillyShally]

Just got Royal Up for both cabins on our 3/4/19 Indy sailing - only irked because it's relatively cheap for a GS and I tried to look at those when booking but they were sold out or at least not showing they were available but they did show pricing similar to what they are asking for now BUT without getting the 2 points per night and keeping our cabins close together I'm not interested but would have been when first booking 🙂

[marci22]

35 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Just got Royal Up for both cabins on our 3/4/19 Indy sailing - only irked because it's relatively cheap for a GS and I tried to look at those when booking but they were sold out or at least not showing they were available but they did show pricing similar to what they are asking for now BUT without getting the 2 points per night and keeping our cabins close together I'm not interested but would have been when first booking 🙂

That pricing may be based on current GS cruisers paying more to upgrade to higher categories. When you looked and they were sold out maybe they were. They could not offer you that pricing at the time because there were none actually available. 

 

So they are letting people bid but those people may not get their bid accepted if no one currently in a GS moves up. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by marci22

[Fancypants!]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

We recently had a refund of an Ultimate Dining Package on Grandeur (long story) by the Chops Manager and that refund was given to use as OBC.  So I'm not sure how they would handle those refunds but those pre-paid expenses would be fully refunded to you, one way or another.

It would stink to have gratuities and drink packages refunded as OBC. That would be a lot of OBC. Maybe ok if you have some really expensive excursions or would like an excessive number of t-shirts, but otherwise, not so much. Doesn't make it as much of an upgrade in that case.

 

Thanks for the reply!

[Fancypants!]

Anyone have experience with moving more than 2 people with the upgrade? I currently have a room booked for 3, and I can't tell if they are saying that you shouldn't bid on it if it is more than 2 people, or if they mean they will just charge you for two of the guests, but move all 3 of you.

 

"Your bid is priced per person and based on two guests per stateroom for the entire length of your cruise. Only the first and second guest will be charged."

 

I know I could call, but literally my last two phone calls with them in the last couple weeks have yielded totally wrong answers.

[3bzmom]

6 minutes ago, Fancypants! said:

Anyone have experience with moving more than 2 people with the upgrade? I currently have a room booked for 3, and I can't tell if they are saying that you shouldn't bid on it if it is more than 2 people, or if they mean they will just charge you for two of the guests, but move all 3 of you.

 

"Your bid is priced per person and based on two guests per stateroom for the entire length of your cruise. Only the first and second guest will be charged."

 

I know I could call, but literally my last two phone calls with them in the last couple weeks have yielded totally wrong answers.

You pay for 2 people to upgrade. All of you in the same room move.

[Mallow]

When do they send out the sorry you didn't get the upgrade emails?  I am waiting to hear on a bid for our 2/3 Oasis cruise and we haven't heard anything though it appears the category we bid on is sold out.

 

Thanks,

Mallow

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, Mallow said:

When do they send out the sorry you didn't get the upgrade emails?  I am waiting to hear on a bid for our 2/3 Oasis cruise and we haven't heard anything though it appears the category we bid on is sold out.

 

Thanks,

Mallow

 

Staterooms showing sold out on end-user websites are not always accurate. 

 

Some have reported hearing their bids accepted about a week before the cruise.

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, Mallow said:

When do they send out the sorry you didn't get the upgrade emails? 

Around 1PM on the day before sailing.

[Dixie1337]

22 hours ago, 3bzmom said:

You pay for 2 people to upgrade. All of you in the same room move.

 

Such a stupid way to word it.  Why not just double the price and say it's per stateroom.  Does anyone actually feel better about bidding seeing the price in half but still knowing it needs to be doubled?

[3bzmom]

5 minutes ago, Dixie1337 said:

 

Such a stupid way to word it.  Why not just double the price and say it's per stateroom.  Does anyone actually feel better about bidding seeing the price in half but still knowing it needs to be doubled?

Almost everything you pay for is per person, not per stateroom. Even your beverage package, if purchased, has to be for all adults in the room. I would guess that's one reason. Also, I would guess that in the big world of RCC, they likely track things like spending per capita.

[Dixie1337]

2 minutes ago, 3bzmom said:

Almost everything you pay for is per person, not per stateroom. Even your beverage package, if purchased, has to be for all adults in the room. I would guess that's one reason. Also, I would guess that in the big world of RCC, they likely track things like spending per capita.

 

For tracking reasons they would actually be better off taking the final number and dividing by the number of people in the stateroom, since apparently you pay the same price whether there is 1 or 4 people.

[3bzmom]

13 minutes ago, Dixie1337 said:

 

For tracking reasons they would actually be better off taking the final number and dividing by the number of people in the stateroom, since apparently you pay the same price whether there is 1 or 4 people.

I generally don't tell companies how they should or should not do their accounting. I am an accountant for a living and understand there are many different ways to account for things- I'm sure RCC has it all figured out, and we don't have to worry about how they run their business.