RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[marci22]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Other than check in to a cruise, planner purchases and a very occasional price check, I avoid the RCI site.

RC is deceiving as it doesn't mention that 2C cabin in particular is an Obstructed view cabin. I dont' see how the average person could anticipate this when making their bid. It does seem wrong.

 

This is from a TA website:

 

Ocean View with Large Balcony

Deck: Deck 6,Deck 7,Deck 8,Deck 9,Deck 10,Deck 11,Deck 12,Deck 13

Category: 2C
Size: 177 sq. ft.; Balcony: 65 sq. ft.
Occupancy: 2 guests standard
Amenities: Two twin beds that convert to Royal King, a private balcony, sitting area with sofa, private bathroom with shower, vanity area, an interactive flat-screen TV, mini-safe, radio, telephone, and hairdryer.
Please Note: Category 2C staterooms 6254, 6258, 6654, 6658, 7170m 7254-7290, and 7690 have obstructed views.
Smoking Policy: Smoking is not permitted in staterooms or on balconies.

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by marci22

[marci22]

45 minutes ago, gigiluvstocruise said:

I think my biggest issue is that the 2C cabins on deck 6 that are obstructed should be listed in a separate category altogether.  The sad part is they are charging the same price or even more for these obstructed cabins as they do for some of the large balcony non-obstructed rooms.  Just putting it out there to make others aware before they make the same mistake 🙂

 

Nothing to lose, email your complaint to mbayley@rccl.com

 

Explain there is nothing to warn you that you may be 'upgrading' to an obstructed view balcony cabin that is 21 sq ft smaller than the one you had. 

[liberiben]

Got our offer email today. Has anyone had any luck snagging the Royal Loft with a minimum bid? We are currently in a CL ocean view. I added $10pp above minimum 😂

[dodgestang]

The program certainly is an interesting diversion for the weeks coming up to the cruise when you are the most excited and think about cruising all the time.

 

I received an up offer for my April 13th sailing to move from the owner loft to royal loft on Anthem.

I have 'known' from when I booked the Royal Loft was booked and paid for in full already because the rep told me that when I was trying to book it 😉 .  I booked 3 days before the 90 day out full payment due so feel pretty sure I won't get an upgrade.

 

When I got the upgrade it had a min bid of $1500/person.

When I pulled up the interface it showed $1500 min and $4000 max as upgrade bid options.

 

I bid what was considered 1 step above weak and I have checked it weekly since placing with it showing as 1 step above weak.

 

I went back and checked the interface today, clicked on modify and what I had bid is now the MAX bid that can be input and strongest possible. LOL

 

I still have no expectation of getting upgraded but thought it was funny.

[dodgestang]

17 hours ago, Barbary27 said:

to those who have bid on the Royal Suite  on the Grandeur for Mar. 28, 2019. I reserved this suite 15 months ago, and am so excited to get on board.   I don't know why RCCL doesn't tell you that this room has been booked.

 

The program IMO keeps a pipeline full so that if on the off chance something happened to you and you were unable to attend your planned vacation, when you call and cancel, they can quickly and easily move someone up and into the room you won't be using.

[The Scurvy Pirate]

How long after you receive the e-mail can you make a bid?  Can you sit on it for a week before submitting the bid?  Can you start the process to see what the min/max bid is and then stop the process to be able to re-check at a later time to see if they have gone up/down?

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

How long after you receive the e-mail can you make a bid?  Can you sit on it for a week before submitting the bid?  Can you start the process to see what the min/max bid is and then stop the process to be able to re-check at a later time to see if they have gone up/down?

Any time up to 48 hours out. Yes. There's no process, you bid or you don't - you can play with the price slider all you want.

[marci22]

2 hours ago, dodgestang said:

I went back and checked the interface today, clicked on modify and what I had bid is now the MAX bid that can be input and strongest possible. 

Can you modify a bid once it has been placed?

[molly361]

5 minutes ago, marci22 said:

Can you modify a bid once it has been placed?

Yes there's an option to modify or delete it on the confirmation email

[marci22]

On 3/6/2019 at 12:46 PM, amyhphoto said:

 

I'd be careful with this one, someone posted a couple of weeks ago, they bid on the "spacious: balcony and won basically the EXACT same cabin. They were really mad, and couldn't do anything about it. 

 

On 3/6/2019 at 12:49 PM, CC Help Jenn said:

 

I was thinking the same thing - because it does not say OV with Large Balcony which would be an upgrade, it just says spacious.  

I haven't seen any of these offers but it seems very unfair that they are listing these vague category terms in the upgrade offers instead of the exact category (number and letter) that one can upgrade to.

[CC Help Jenn]

Just now, marci22 said:

 

I haven't seen any of these offers but it seems very unfair that they are listing these vague category terms in the upgrade offers instead of the exact category (number and letter) that one can upgrade to.

 

I totally agree.  My options were: Grand Suite, Jr Suite, and the Spacious Oceanview Balcony.  There are multiple categories within any of those room types as far as I know

[marci22]

1 minute ago, CC Help Jenn said:

 

I totally agree.  My options were: Grand Suite, Jr Suite, and the Spacious Oceanview Balcony.  There are multiple categories within any of those room types as far as I know

And I might be ok with 'any' GS or JS but the balcony category is just too wild to be guessing at. Might be an upgrade if you are going from an inside but if you are already in a balcony category I would proceed with caution.

Edited March 7, 2019 by marci22

[steevo L]

I just received the emailto upgrade bid. right now we have a spacious ocean view balcony on deck 10 which is a nice room. Thw offers were to bid for a junior suite, grand suite and a grand suite 2br.

 

Is there any bad grand suites ( obstructed views or the like ) on adventure?

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, steevo L said:

I just received the emailto upgrade bid. right now we have a spacious ocean view balcony on deck 10 which is a nice room. Thw offers were to bid for a junior suite, grand suite and a grand suite 2br.

 

Is there any bad grand suites ( obstructed views or the like ) on adventure?

 

No obstructions for side facting suites.  If there are aft facing Grand Suites, then they would have the ship superstructure in the way.

[Biker19]

49 minutes ago, marci22 said:

 Might be an upgrade if you are going from an inside but if you are already in a balcony category I would proceed with caution.

Based on some reporting here, I'd modify that to say, DON'T bid on another balcony.

[reallyitsmema]

54 minutes ago, marci22 said:

And I might be ok with 'any' GS or JS but the balcony category is just too wild to be guessing at. Might be an upgrade if you are going from an inside but if you are already in a balcony category I would proceed with caution.

 

We received a Royal Up offer for our April Harmony cruise.  We are in a balcony already and there are two different balcony options for us to bid on, plus JS, GS, OS and a few others.  I agree that they need to include more information on the balcony options as I am not going to bid $200 pp for a balcony that might be in a worse location or just have a larger balcony.  We won't even bid on the other categories as the starting bids are just too high if we don't get double points.  I will keep watching JS prices and pay for the upgrade directly so I get the double points.

[dodgestang]

1 hour ago, marci22 said:

Can you modify a bid once it has been placed?

You can modify or cancel a bid as long as it has not been accepted

[ChristyS]

that seems very underhanded of Royal to accept bids on something that isnt available. I wonder if they just let people bid to try to keep excitement up. Funny thing for me is that I was never able to see that suite as available even when I checked months ago. I thought maybe they were holding it to try to up the price. Glad you have it - we are in 8001  

[ChristyS]

On 3/6/2019 at 8:12 PM, Barbary27 said:

 

 

that seems very underhanded of Royal to accept bids on something that isnt available. I wonder if they just let people bid to try to keep excitement up. Funny thing for me is that I was never able to see that suite as available even when I checked months ago. I thought maybe they were holding it to try to up the price. Glad you have it - we are in 8001  see you on board

 

[Clarea]

6 hours ago, ChristyS said:

that seems very underhanded of Royal to accept bids on something that isnt available. I wonder if they just let people bid to try to keep excitement up. ...

 

I think part of the reason is market research, gathering data on what people are willing to pay.

[bobmacliberty]

9 hours ago, ChristyS said:

that seems very underhanded of Royal to accept bids on something that isnt available. I wonder if they just let people bid to try to keep excitement up...

 

And the other reason is for last minute cancellations.  Even if everything is fully booked, cancellations happen and the Royal Up program can be used to squeeze out a few more bucks in revenue while also making a few customers happy.

[Barbary27]

10 hours ago, ChristyS said:

that seems very underhanded of Royal to accept bids on something that isnt available. I wonder if they just let people bid to try to keep excitement up. Funny thing for me is that I was never able to see that suite as available even when I checked months ago. I thought maybe they were holding it to try to up the price. Glad you have it - we are in 8001  

 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

And the other reason is for last minute cancellations.  Even if everything is fully booked, cancellations happen and the Royal Up program can be used to squeeze out a few more bucks in revenue while also making a few customers happy.

 

[Barbary27]

Just now, Barbary27 said:

I sent an Email to the top of the RCI Food chain, so far nothing, ChristyS, you are right accross the hall from 8500, maybe we can get together for a drinki, looking forward to meeting you.  Your suite 8001 looks like it is very nice.

 

 

[GetToLivin]

Well at exactly 30 days out I was assigned my suite GTY which did stay a JS. I also received yet another Royal Up email on the same day (this makes 3 since I booked 25 days ago) and prices have not changed at all:

 

Aqua Theatre - 1 Bedroom = $700/pp

Crown Loft Suite  = $600/pp

Owners Suite = $600/pp

Grand Suite = $300/pp

 

I'll admit, this close to sailing it's tempting to bid the min on a GS if only for the Sky Suite perks but not sure it's really worth an additional $600 in reality. 

[Piperandleroy]

I didn't put in bid either..because can't get the double pts..we already had balcony so that's where we stayed..having a great time on AOS March 3 sailing