Never doubt a minimum bid!

[orville99]

28 minutes ago, Shire12 said:

Be careful of what you bid for.  I was recently on the Voyager of the seas in an inside room deck 7.  I bid for an outside and was reassigned two days before sailing to an outside deck two.  We were in the last room right next to where you disembark.  Our trip had 4 stops.  Each day around 6am, we could hear the gangway being set up right outside our window.  We also had hundreds of passengers standing outside our door waiting to get off.  Needless to say, this room was in a terrible location and was extremly noisy.  When we complained to guest services, they seemed surprised that were upgraded to this room.  We paid 100.00 per person.   We were told the ship was full and they could not change our room.  On day 3 just as we were heading out to dinner, we received a call that a room was now available on deck 7.  We were happy to change and from then on, the noise was minimal.

 

I guess in closing, try to find out what rooms are available.  Good luck!

 

Mary

 

 

 

We always look at the cabins still available for booking in a category to see whether we will get "stuck" with an undesirable location. Far less problematic when upgrading from a balcony to a suite or upgrading a suite to a bigger suite, but any category below a balcony cabin isn't really noted for having outstanding locations to begin with, and the "leftovers" in those categories on a ship are left over for a reason.

[Husky1987]

1 hour ago, klfhngr said:

The minimum bid was 100. I originally bid that but after seeing the current prices for a balcony, I upped it to 150 pp. It was on the very low end, but oh well, it worked!

 

So....you're saying you doubted your minimum bid? 😉

[3kidsncats]

1 hour ago, klfhngr said:

Come with, lol! We usually cruise with groups of friends, anywhere from 10 up to 30 peeps. This time, wife and I are alone! This is our 20th cruise and first time alone, lol! We did a 10 day Med cruise in May on X with my parents, that was awesome! But first time alone. Sorta scared 😉 

If I could make it happen, I would/will.  Unfortunately we booked the 31st (at the final payment day) before our friends booked this one on a casino perk and we weren’t planning on the $ outlay for both.  Plus have to arrange for the pets.  We do a mix — we have done….8 cruises with our friends, who we met on the NCL Jewel.  There were 30+ people we knew on a cruise last year (some we found out had co-incidentally booked the same sailing) but it felt like too many — got pulled in so many directions.  I do very much enjoy sailing with smaller groups of friends though 🙂

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by 3kidsncats

[Starry Eyes]

2 hours ago, Shire12 said:

Be careful of what you bid for.  I was recently on the Voyager of the seas in an inside room deck 7.  I bid for an outside and was reassigned two days before sailing to an outside deck two.  We were in the last room right next to where you disembark….. Needless to say, this room was in a terrible location and was extremly noisy. 

 

I guess in closing, try to find out what rooms are available.  Good luck!

 

Mary

 

 

 

Ahh, you really cannot know what rooms will be available via RoyalUp.  Granted, sometimes they are the unbooked cabins, and you can see those.  Others are cancellations; they could be anywhere.  Other cabins become available when their occupants won their own RoyalUp bids; those could be anywhere, too.  
 

Location of RoyalUp cabins is a risk, and people should think carefully (like gty) before they decide to take that risk.

[five.]

I tried the same on my Harmony cruise last week, but was unsuccessful. The itinerary changed (because of Fiona) and a number of people were deciding to cancel. So I was hopeful a minimum bid would be enough. I will say that the option to email you the results of the bid, when you don't have internet access is a bit nerve racking. I eventually braved the customer service line to be told that if we had won the bid, we would also have been notified by them. Hopefully that is correct.

[frogfly]

Mine keeps telling me that your sailing has to be within 30 days to submit. Is this true?

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, frogfly said:

Mine keeps telling me that your sailing has to be within 30 days to submit. Is this true?

That same error is listed for many issues - you need to find out from others on your sailing (perhaps via Roll Call thread or social media) if they have it available.

[Wineaux007]

I was able to bid on a RoyalUp on Brilliance 5 Nov 2023 TA just the other day.

[BirdTravels]

We got upgraded to a 2-story Sky Loft to Alaska with a $250 minimum bid in June. 

 

 

[boscobeans]

19 hours ago, frogfly said:

Mine keeps telling me that your sailing has to be within 30 days to submit. Is this true?

I just bid on a December 4th cruise. ANTHEM OTS

[IslandHppy]

On 9/28/2022 at 6:50 PM, Biker19 said:

That same error is listed for many issues - you need to find out from others on your sailing (perhaps via Roll Call thread or social media) if they have it available.

I am getting the 30 days error a few weeks away from sailing.  Ideas?  

[Biker19]

12 minutes ago, IslandHppy said:

I am getting the 30 days error a few weeks away from sailing.  Ideas?  

As mentioned, try to find out from others on your sailing if anyone else was able to bid. If the booking contains two different last names, try the other one.

[DukeASUGirl]

Lots of folks on the FB group for my sailing got last-minute lowball Royal Ups, but it was because so many of us had to cancel due to the storm. Our sadness becomes your happiness.

 

Enjoy!

[DirtyDawg]

Am I correct in assuming the reason why people won with minimum bids was because few other cruisers didn't bother to bid? Or are there other selection criteria being used for selection? 

Thanks

[OCSC Mike]

On 9/27/2022 at 12:05 PM, orville99 said:

but any category below a balcony cabin isn't really noted for having outstanding locations to begin with, and the "leftovers" in those categories on a ship are left over for a reason.

 

I book interior GTY's and have switched my assignment several times to other available locations I've found quite desirable. Different people prefer different locations for different reasons.

 

I think you're greatly over-generalizing.

[orville99]

33 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I book interior GTY's and have switched my assignment several times to other available locations I've found quite desirable. Different people prefer different locations for different reasons.

 

I think you're greatly over-generalizing.

You do realize that you are making my point. If you booked a GTY, and then once it is assigned you succeed  in moving to a different location you found more desirable you open up the less desirable cabin you didn't want to keep for someone else's RoyalUP bid.😇

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, orville99 said:

You do realize that you are making my point. If you booked a GTY, and then once it is assigned you succeed  in moving to a different location you found more desirable you open up the less desirable cabin you didn't want to keep for someone else's RoyalUP bid.😇

 

I see your point but I don't think you understood mine. I may have opened up a cabin someone else finds desirable, not undesirable.

 

As an example, some people like lower decks for motion sickness or to be closer to the promenade. I prefer to be a bit higher. If I move from deck 6 to deck 10 in almost the same location of the ship, what type of cabin did I open up? Desirable or undesirable?

 

My main point is that desirability is subjective when it comes to many cabins.

[Yankeegirl49]

I am sailing on my first Royal cruise this Sat. I booked a balcony which I am fine with. I bid for both a junior suite and a grand suite. Yesterday I got an email saying it hasn't been granted...YET. The email said that it will be reviewed on the ship and I could be upgraded then. My question is, is this common? Do they usually do the upgrades once on the ship? 

[orville99]

19 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I see your point but I don't think you understood mine. I may have opened up a cabin someone else finds desirable, not undesirable.

 

As an example, some people like lower decks for motion sickness or to be closer to the promenade. I prefer to be a bit higher. If I move from deck 6 to deck 10 in almost the same location of the ship, what type of cabin did I open up? Desirable or undesirable?

 

My main point is that desirability is subjective when it comes to many cabins.

Simply, there is a reason why a GTY booking option exists - to sell the cabins that everyone passed by in order to book the cabin they wanted. In the hotel industry it is called "run of the house". Book that way and you get whatever remains after all the cabins that people who booked what they found desirable for them are gone. You may find the GTY you get fine for you, but the reality is that it only exists because everyone else passed it by on the way to the one that they found desirable.

Edited October 6, 2022 by orville99

[orville99]

4 minutes ago, Yankeegirl49 said:

My question is, is this common? Do they usually do the upgrades once on the ship? 

It is not common, but it does happen when a cabin opens up because the party that originally booked it misses the ship.

Edited October 6, 2022 by orville99

[Jerseygirl1416]

On 9/26/2022 at 7:45 PM, klfhngr said:We paid $1300 for 2 for the Promenade, the balconies are now up to 3k! We paid $1600 total! Never doubt!

First I want to say I’m glad you’re happy with your upgrade. I am though wondering if we’re looking at the pricing of these Royal Up bids right? I’d think to see if you got a good deal you’d have to compare the cost of the category on the day you purchased your cruise and not on the cost of the category right before sailing because that’s usually a very inflated price. I know when I book a balcony or a spacious ocean view balcony for a 7 day September/October cruise 10-12 months out I usually pay around $1500-$1800. I’d be interested in someone noting the category prices when they book and then the cost with the Royal Up bid. 
 

 

[OCSC Mike]

17 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Simply, there is a reason why a GTY booking option exists - to sell the cabins that everyone passed by in order to book the cabin they wanted. In the hotel industry it is called "run of the house". Book that way and you get whatever remains after all the cabins that people who booked what they found desirable for them are gone. You may find the GTY you get fine for you, but the reality is that it only exists because everyone else passed it by on the way to the one that they found desirable.

 

I'll let it go after this but there are often tons of cabins left (at least for large categories like interior) when GTY's are assigned. By your logic, they are all undesirable or at least less desirable than the ones sold and that's simply not the case because of the subjectivity I've referenced.

[Starry Eyes]

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Simply, there is a reason why a GTY booking option exists - to sell the cabins that everyone passed by i order to book the cabin they wanted. In the hotel industry it is called "run of the house". Book that way and you get whatever remains after all the cabins that people who booked what they found desirable for them are gone. You may find the GTY you get fine for you, but the reality is that it only exists because everyone else passed it by on the way to the one that they found desirable.

Were all gty’s assigned after all other cabins were booked (ie when cruise is sold out) and if people had access to full inventory, then it would be accurate that all others had passed by the cabins that went to the gty’s.  However, that is simply untrue.  First, we know some gty cabins are assigned relatively early, and most are assigned before the ship is sold out.  Secondly, when booking people do not have access to all cabins.  There may be hidden inventory.  There are categories people may not have access to when they booked if ever (example: triple balcony cabins were never released for bookings by parties of two on a recent cruise yet I was assigned one as a gty).  
The other point is that, depending on pricing pattern, substantial percentage of bookings on a cruise may be gty.  If only a small percentage of cabins are hand selected by knowledge cruisers (rookies might hand select inferior cabins, like right below the pool deck for convenience), the large number of gty assignments move closer to random.

[five.]

On 9/29/2022 at 12:56 AM, BirdTravels said:

We got upgraded to a 2-story Sky Loft to Alaska with a $250 minimum bid in June. 

Those pictures look amazing!

[Starry Eyes]

On 9/29/2022 at 12:56 AM, BirdTravels said:

We got upgraded to a 2-story Sky Loft to Alaska with a $250 minimum bid in June. 

 

 

That is a wonderful upgrade, though I bet you started bidding from a very nice suite.