Bid upgrade accepted, sailing as a Mega Rock Star next week.

[CineGraphic]

We're hopping on the Valiant for a short 5 day sailing next week to hold us over until our 12 day September sailing on the Resilient, and we placed a few bids so we could experience Bimini as a Rock Star. I started to see what few RS suites were left disappear, so I put in a last minute bid on a Gorgeous Suite and was informed yesterday that our bid was accepted. The first sign that it was accepted was a notification that my credit card had been charged, then an hour or so later a flurry of rejection emails came in for each bid I placed on other suite categories, and finally one acceptance email noting our new cabin #. Today I called Red Glove Services to arrange our transportation to and from the port, and the rep, Jennily was great to deal with.

 

This will be our first sailing as any sort of Rock Star which will be fun since I worked so many years as backstage security at several of our local concert venues. From Pitbull to Bono, Dolly to Cher, and even Cheech & Chong, I've seen, heard, and smelled all sorts of things backstage. 🥸

Believe it or not, the only time I had to call the police was during an Indian concert. The "Elvis of Mumbai" fan's got way out of hand. 🤣
 

[Janthere]

Enjoy every moment as a MRS! We are sailing in a gorgeous suite on Sunday from Barcelona. Once you go RS its VERY difficult to go back! 

[CineGraphic]

2 hours ago, Janthere said:

Once you go RS its VERY difficult to go back! 

 

We're going to be regular Rock Stars in September, I hope it's not a huge disappointment. lol

[CineGraphic]

2 hours ago, Janthere said:

We are sailing in a gorgeous suite on Sunday from Barcelona.

 

I was just on the Scarlet for the sailing before the crossing.

The current cast & crew are fantastic! Enjoy your cruise!

[Tralfaz1138]

16 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

We're going to be regular Rock Stars in September, I hope it's not a huge disappointment. lol

I'll be curious how the experience compares for you.  We'll be "regular" Rockstars on the same September cruise.  After being in an aft suite on our first cruise I was figuring we might not be able to do it again given prices going up, but I ran across a couple of decent deals so we're sticking with it.  We really did enjoy the experience.  Our agent was fantastic.  We requested him again for the September cruise if he's available, but he was saying he was in line for promotion to a mega agent so that will probably not work out.

 

I hope you have a great time as a mega Rockstar!

[rebeccac]

IMHO, the best part about any of the Rockstar/MegaRockstar rooms is that the beds are actually comfortable.  

[CineGraphic]

5 hours ago, rebeccac said:

IMHO, the best part about any of the Rockstar/MegaRockstar rooms is that the beds are actually comfortable.  

 

It will be nice to be in a real king sized bed instead of two twins pushed together.

I've also been told that things like the pillows are upgraded as well.

[Wildcatllamas]

Congratulations!!! If there were options for an extra bed in the suites I would bid on one. I'm good friends with the folks that I travel with, but sharing a bed is definitely not an option.

[aviators99]

On 5/2/2024 at 6:44 PM, CineGraphic said:

We're hopping on the Valiant for a short 5 day sailing next week to hold us over until our 12 day September sailing on the Resilient, and we placed a few bids so we could experience Bimini as a Rock Star. I started to see what few RS suites were left disappear, so I put in a last minute bid on a Gorgeous Suite and was informed yesterday that our bid was accepted. The first sign that it was accepted was a notification that my credit card had been charged, then an hour or so later a flurry of rejection emails came in for each bid I placed on other suite categories, and finally one acceptance email noting our new cabin #. Today I called Red Glove Services to arrange our transportation to and from the port, and the rep, Jennily was great to deal with.

 

This will be our first sailing as any sort of Rock Star which will be fun since I worked so many years as backstage security at several of our local concert venues. From Pitbull to Bono, Dolly to Cher, and even Cheech & Chong, I've seen, heard, and smelled all sorts of things backstage. 🥸

Believe it or not, the only time I had to call the police was during an Indian concert. The "Elvis of Mumbai" fan's got way out of hand. 🤣
 

Congrats!  I am definitely interested in both the bid amount and where it was on the scale of bids for the MRS, if you are willing to say.

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, aviators99 said:

Congrats!  I am definitely interested in both the bid amount and where it was on the scale of bids for the MRS, if you are willing to say.

 

I don't remember if the bidding page stated that my bid was "Poor" or just "OK", but there were quite a few Gorgeous Suites available, more than the other suite categories, so I didn't go nuts.

To be honest, we've always preferred the aft, and were hoping to win a Cheeky Corner suite, but there was only 1 available.

[babalooo]

On 5/4/2024 at 1:55 PM, CineGraphic said:

I don't remember if the bidding page stated that my bid was "Poor" or just "OK", but there were quite a few Gorgeous Suites available, more than the other suite categories, so I didn't go nuts.

 

How much extra did you bid? Do you know if was cheaper than if you had purchase that same cruise from the start and by how much? I am looking forward to be able to upbid on my future cruises to a suite level.

[CineGraphic]

3 minutes ago, babalooo said:

Do you know if was cheaper than if you had purchase that same cruise from the start and by how much?

 

I saved over 50%

[5ohh3]

On 5/5/2024 at 3:36 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

I saved over 50%

What numbers did you press when you entered your bid? $1000? $1500? I’m not trusting the website to tell me my bid is “low” 

[Essiesmom]

You don’t press numbers.  You slide the ball along the bar.  You need to know what the current price is to book that cabin type to know if it is a bargain for you.  Or what it would have cost if you have booked it originally.  I put in a minimal bid for the next category up for my July 14 sailing.  But I could t price check because the category was showing sold out.  EM

[scaught]

How soon before your cruise did you get the notification? We have a bid out for our upcoming cruise. Do you always get rejection emails?

[Eric&Pam]

1 hour ago, scaught said:

How soon before your cruise did you get the notification? We have a bid out for our upcoming cruise. Do you always get rejection emails?

 

OP here with new account: We received our upgrade notice on May 1 for a May 10th sailing.

We also received notices on that day for the other bids of ours that were rejected.

[cantgetin]

If I am at all interested in bidding, I make a computer note as to what the higher category prices are when I purchase.  Sounds silly maybe, but  getting a decent savings always feels good, 

[scaught]

1 hour ago, Eric&Pam said:

 

OP here with new account: We received our upgrade notice on May 1 for a May 10th sailing.

We also received notices on that day for the other bids of ours that were rejected.

Thanks. I still have the option to modify/update so I'm guessing it hasn't been processed yet. Less than a week until we sail.

[madmedic]

I've got my invitation to bid for an upgrade. Is the upgrade program the same as Celebrity where you don't have the opportunity to turn it down if the successful bid results in a cabin in a poor location? First time on VV and may try my luck. 🤞

[jon81uk]

22 hours ago, Eric&Pam said:

 

OP here with new account: We received our upgrade notice on May 1 for a May 10th sailing.

We also received notices on that day for the other bids of ours that were rejected.

How was your sailing as mega? Any thing you loved about it? 

[Eric&Pam]

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

How was your sailing as mega? Any thing you loved about it? 

 

We loved everything about it!

Our MRS Agent, Ruchelle took amazing care of us. She made sure we were well taken care of no matter where we were on board, and she always seemed to know how things went for us....she's obviously very connected to everyone working on the ship.

 

We jokingly said that we were changing our names for the next 5 days to Mega-Eric, and Mega-Pam, with our black wristbands giving us super-powers, and she had a lot of fun addressing us that way. Ruchelle quickly earned the title Mega-Ruchelle as she was truly a super hero, and I used an AI art program to create a Filipina Super Hero for her young daughter back home. It's very tough to be separated from your loved ones for so long, and she told me her daughter really enjoyed seeing her mom as a super hero.

 

 

We didn't have many special requests, but she made sure that there was ice-cold milk and some cookies waiting for us old farts every night when we returned to the cabin, and each morning she'd bring Pam her favorite latte before we headed out to breakfast.

We appreciated her attention to detail, and her genuine desire to make sure we were having a great time.

She even reminded us about things like putting on sunscreen if we were going ashore.

 

Ruchelle also hooked us up with tix to a few "secret shows", and I don't think that it was a coincidence that if there was audience participation, we were chosen. I think they are aware of who the MRS or VIPs are on board for each sailing. The cast and crew were all wonderful. It was nice to have so many familiar faces from past sailings stop by to say hello.

 

Being able to enjoy 2 bottles of wine each day was a nice perk. One night in the Wake as we were waiting for our dessert and after dinner drinks, a party of two were just getting seated  at the table next to us, and I overheard one of them mention that they were celebrating a birthday, and that they liked a particular style of wine that unfortunately wasn't offered by the glass, so I asked our waiter to bring her a bottle. It was nice to play "Santa" to a complete stranger.

 

At disembarkation, Ruchelle did a great impersonation of Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea as she whisked us past the long lines of folks waiting to scan off the ship.

 

Added perks such as daily same-day laundry, daily in-room bar refresh, and the pre/post cruise private transfers were all great perks. There were two stewards who serviced our suite twice a day, and my only complaint is that our luggage wasn't in our suite when we arrived. The stewards wanted to introduce themselves first, and check on any special requests before delivering our bags, and we just wanted to unpack and visit a crew members before they got too busy as the ship filled up.

 

We're sailing as normal Rock Stars on the Resilient this fall for 12 days, so it will be interesting to compare the two experiences, but Ruchelle has already told us that she was going to put in a good word with her colleagues, and make sure they take good care of us.

 

 

 

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, Eric&Pam said:

t disembarkation, Ruchelle did a great impersonation of Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea as she whisked us past the long lines of folks waiting to scan off the ship.

That was one of the biggest advantages just of regular rockstar last time too, lots of people didn’t book timeslots to get off the ship and the queue was huge, but once we were found by our rockstar agent we went straight to the gangplank.

 

Other than the agent the other main thing we made use of as regular rockstar was the happy hour each night, again it’s not as good as the drinks all the time as mega, but we got a few drinks in each night at happy hour setting me up for the evening.

 

sounds like mega rockstar is a great experience though, the laundry sounds a great perk and getting coffee delivered each day so easily. I’m looking forward to trying it next year.

 

 

[CineGraphic]

16 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

sounds like mega rockstar is a great experience though, the laundry sounds a great perk and getting coffee delivered each day so easily. I’m looking forward to trying it next year.

Initially, I think our agent and stewards were a little nervous, as I’ve heard some people let this status thing go to their head, and want all sorts of special treatment, but I assured them at the beginning that I have in fact been around many rock stars, both kind and demanding, and that I would never subject them to some of the things I’ve seen or heard. I believe in treating everyone right. I don’t know how anyone could spend their vacation demanding things just because they think they can.

These are wonderful, hard working folks and we were very appreciative of how we were treated.

[Janthere]

@Eric&Pam

 

I read your summary of your MRS experience with Ruchelle with interest as she was our MRS agent last year. We had the complete opposite experience with her that you did - so much so that for the first time ever we had to speak to the MRS Supervisor to express our dissatisfaction. I am very glad to hear that she has obviously stepped up her game and made your experience onboard such a great one! (as it should be when you pay that much for MRS cabins!) 

[Liao]

On 5/2/2024 at 6:44 PM, CineGraphic said:

We're hopping on the Valiant for a short 5 day sailing next week to hold us over until our 12 day September sailing on the Resilient, and we placed a few bids so we could experience Bimini as a Rock Star. I started to see what few RS suites were left disappear, so I put in a last minute bid on a Gorgeous Suite and was informed yesterday that our bid was accepted. The first sign that it was accepted was a notification that my credit card had been charged, then an hour or so later a flurry of rejection emails came in for each bid I placed on other suite categories, and finally one acceptance email noting our new cabin #. Today I called Red Glove Services to arrange our transportation to and from the port, and the rep, Jennily was great to deal with.

 

This will be our first sailing as any sort of Rock Star which will be fun since I worked so many years as backstage security at several of our local concert venues. From Pitbull to Bono, Dolly to Cher, and even Cheech & Chong, I've seen, heard, and smelled all sorts of things backstage. 🥸

Believe it or not, the only time I had to call the police was during an Indian concert. The "Elvis of Mumbai" fan's got way out of hand. 🤣
 

Please tell me that America’s Queen Dolly was as special as she appears to be!