Upgrade bidding

[ranchette]

How long does it usually take to hear if your bid for an upgrade has been accepted?

[Ken at the beach]

6 minutes ago, ranchette said:

How long does it usually take to hear if your bid for an upgrade has been accepted?

Could be ip to 7pm the day of sailing.  No set time frame. 

[RobInMN]

5 minutes ago, ranchette said:

How long does it usually take to hear if your bid for an upgrade has been accepted?

Anytime up until about 8 PM embarkation night. Usually these are the rejection emails, but I suppose there could be last minute no shows.

[gumshoe958]

There is no usual. It can be several weeks before you sail. It can be the day you sail. Or any time in between.

[cruisegirl1]

I've only gotten one,  and it was the day prior to sailing.   I usually get  the rejection email boarding day afternoon or early evening. 

 

I've never heard of anyone getting the royal up after boarding, but I guess it can happen. 

 

M

[Tree_skier]

My one and only win was 6 days out.

[reeb4]

Last cruise (Nov 2022) we got rejections a week or so before sailing...for our cruise mid-next month we our bid was accepted last week.  So the answer is: at some point between making the bid and boarding your ship.  Good luck.  This was our first success with Royal Up.  Our bid was slightly more than modest, but not high, and not so low it would be an obvious reject. There are so many factors it is really not predictable IMHO.

 

[MichaelCMTX]

My lone win was 15-APR for a 29-APR departure.  I'm sure there's some "it all rolls downhill" involved because we upgraded GS to OS.  After which, I'm sure there was a bid that our now-available GS could be sold to, and other bid for the cabin of whoever got that GS. 

 

Since then we've been in an OS and I put in at least a token RS bid, because if nobody else does...

Edited August 16 by MichaelCMTX

[expectthebest]

Friends of ours that cruise RCL frequently rely on asking at the guest relations counter immediately when they board the ship. They said it helps to have a crisp $10 dollar bill folded and pressed into the palm of their hand. When approaching the counter swiftly stretch out your hand and shake the hand of the RCL guest relations rep. Make solid eye contact and ask if there are any unsold rooms onboard that you can be moved to. The rep will inevitably feel the crisp $10 dollar bill in your firm handshake and will try to help as best he/ she can.

Good luck !!!!

 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, expectthebest said:

Friends of ours that cruise RCL frequently rely on asking at the guest relations counter immediately when they board the ship. They said it helps to have a crisp $10 dollar bill folded and pressed into the palm of their hand. When approaching the counter swiftly stretch out your hand and shake the hand of the RCL guest relations rep. Make solid eye contact and ask if there are any unsold rooms onboard that you can be moved to. The rep will inevitably feel the crisp $10 dollar bill in your firm handshake and will try to help as best he/ she can.

Good luck !!!!

 

The RoyalUp program is run by a third party. Handing money to someone at Guest Services will have no impact on any pending RoaylUp bid.

[cruiseboy89130]

2 hours ago, expectthebest said:

Friends of ours that cruise RCL frequently rely on asking at the guest relations counter immediately when they board the ship. They said it helps to have a crisp $10 dollar bill folded and pressed into the palm of their hand. When approaching the counter swiftly stretch out your hand and shake the hand of the RCL guest relations rep. Make solid eye contact and ask if there are any unsold rooms onboard that you can be moved to. The rep will inevitably feel the crisp $10 dollar bill in your firm handshake and will try to help as best he/ she can.

Good luck !!!!

 

Do it with $100 and you will get a suite!

[leaveitallbehind]

2 hours ago, expectthebest said:

Friends of ours that cruise RCL frequently rely on asking at the guest relations counter immediately when they board the ship. They said it helps to have a crisp $10 dollar bill folded and pressed into the palm of their hand. When approaching the counter swiftly stretch out your hand and shake the hand of the RCL guest relations rep. Make solid eye contact and ask if there are any unsold rooms onboard that you can be moved to. The rep will inevitably feel the crisp $10 dollar bill in your firm handshake and will try to help as best he/ she can.

Good luck !!!!

 

What they are asking is not for royal up as that is typically advised prior to boarding.  They are seeing if there are any available staterooms in a higher category that were either unsold or based on no shows at boarding. Both of which have slim to none chances. 

 

The guest services reps on board will only be able to move someone if a stateroom is available and it will be by way of the guest paying the difference between their stateroom fare and the available stateroom fare as last offered.  It will not be for free and the $10 scenario you describe, no offense intended to you, would be offensive to the guest services rep, and IMO is laughable and classless of your friends.

 

I've cruised with RCL / Celebrity for 32 years with 50+ cruises and it doesn't work that way.

Edited August 17 by leaveitallbehind

[MaryZ]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

What they are asking is not for royal up as that is typically advised prior to boarding.  They are seeing if there are any available staterooms in a higher category that were either unsold or based on no shows at boarding. Both of which have slim to none chances. 

 

The guest services reps on board will only be able to move someone if a stateroom is available and it will be by way of the guest paying the difference between their stateroom fare and the available stateroom fare as last offered.  It will not be for free and the $10 scenario you describe, no offense intended to you, would be offensive to the guest services rep, and IMO is laughable and classless of your friends.

 

I've cruised with RCL / Celebrity for 32 years with 50+ cruises and it doesn't work that way.

We did this a lot after covid when the ships started sailing again
We just went to the diamond lounge and had the concierge see if there was a suite available to us.  A few times there was and I think the most we paid was $750.  Once we paid nothing.
I never went to guest services to ask.  All our cabins are casino comps for balconies so we moved to grand suites for very little, or the one time free.
Ships are full now.  We don't bother with royal up. 
If we want to upgrade we do it when booking with our casino rep.

[leaveitallbehind]

47 minutes ago, MaryZ said:

We did this a lot after covid when the ships started sailing again
We just went to the diamond lounge and had the concierge see if there was a suite available to us.  A few times there was and I think the most we paid was $750.  Once we paid nothing.
I never went to guest services to ask.  All our cabins are casino comps for balconies so we moved to grand suites for very little, or the one time free.
Ships are full now.  We don't bother with royal up. 
If we want to upgrade we do it when booking with our casino rep.

Agree.  Just after the restart there often would be available staterooms. Your casino situation would have influenced your upgrade, but otherwise depending on the time and ship you may pay a relatively nominal amount. We, too, had benefited from that at the time. It was all part of the restart when ships were sailing very light. Those days of course are past.

 

My reaction was to the comment of handing a crisp $10 to the guest services rep as a way to influence getting an upgrade, which is, IMO, ridiculous.  The only thing that would influence an upgrade is the rare instance of stateroom availability and the passenger's willingness to pay the difference for it.

Edited August 18 by leaveitallbehind

[Billy Baltic]

6 hours ago, expectthebest said:

The rep will inevitably feel the crisp $10 dollar bill in your firm handshake and will try to help as best he/ she can.

I would have thought they’d burst out laughing when they see it’s a $10 bill. 

[MaryZ]

16 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Agree.  Just after the restart there often would be available staterooms. Your casino situation would have influenced your upgrade, but otherwise depending on the time and ship you may pay a relatively nominal amount. We, too, had benefited from that at the time. It was all part of the restart when ships were sailing very light. Those days of course are past.

 

My reaction was to the comment of handing a crisp $10 to the guest services rep as a way to influence getting an upgrade, which is, IMO, ridiculous.  The only thing that would influence an upgrade is the rare instance of stateroom availability and the passenger's willingness to pay the difference for it.

I actually forgot to add that I thought that was pretty ridiculous too.  I think their friends were telling a tall tale there. 
 

[leaveitallbehind]

11 minutes ago, MaryZ said:

I actually forgot to add that I thought that was pretty ridiculous too.  I think their friends were telling a tall tale there. 
 

Let's hope so.  Would be pretty embarrassing otherwise.

[Jetdriver787]

Getting a bit confused between threads. Do you slip them the  $10 bill before you ask them to remove everybody's gratuities, or afterwards?🤷‍♂️

[Tree_skier]

7 hours ago, expectthebest said:

Friends of ours that cruise RCL frequently rely on asking at the guest relations counter immediately when they board the ship. They said it helps to have a crisp $10 dollar bill folded and pressed into the palm of their hand. When approaching the counter swiftly stretch out your hand and shake the hand of the RCL guest relations rep. Make solid eye contact and ask if there are any unsold rooms onboard that you can be moved to. The rep will inevitably feel the crisp $10 dollar bill in your firm handshake and will try to help as best he/ she can.

Good luck !!!!

 

Yeah $10 is really going to get things moving LOL

Edited August 18 by Tree_skier

[vjmatty]

On 8/15/2024 at 7:29 PM, ranchette said:

How long does it usually take to hear if your bid for an upgrade has been accepted?

Anywhere from 2 months before your cruise up until 2 hours after you board. 

[expectthebest]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

Yeah $10 is really going to get things moving LOL

My apologies to the group.. I just spoke to our friends to clarify and they said it was “pre” Covid when this strategy worked so well. They have not sailed since but they said most likely would try it with a neatly folded $20 bill to get the job done. But they insisted that you still need to maintain eye contact. 

[RNCindy]

4 hours ago, MaryZ said:

We did this a lot after covid when the ships started sailing again
We just went to the diamond lounge and had the concierge see if there was a suite available to us.  A few times there was and I think the most we paid was $750.  Once we paid nothing.
I never went to guest services to ask.  All our cabins are casino comps for balconies so we moved to grand suites for very little, or the one time free.
Ships are full now.  We don't bother with royal up. 
If we want to upgrade we do it when booking with our casino rep.

Agree!  We have received the majority of our upgrades from our casino comps. We usually have a balcony comp and always ask if an upgrade is available. We have bid on Royal Up a few times but have never won one.

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, expectthebest said:

My apologies to the group.. I just spoke to our friends to clarify and they said it was “pre” Covid when this strategy worked so well. They have not sailed since but they said most likely would try it with a neatly folded $20 bill to get the job done. But they insisted that you still need to maintain eye contact. 

[leaveitallbehind]

10 hours ago, expectthebest said:

My apologies to the group.. I just spoke to our friends to clarify and they said it was “pre” Covid when this strategy worked so well. They have not sailed since but they said most likely would try it with a neatly folded $20 bill to get the job done. But they insisted that you still need to maintain eye contact. 

Still wouldn't have worked then either, $10, $20, or $100, and my comments remain unchanged. Laughable and classless. JMO.

 

It's not a strategy, it's a ridiculous notion. You don't bribe GS reps for upgrades. And certainly not for $20! It's offensive and also not within their authority to upgrade with a wink an a nod.  Upgraded staterooms are rarely available, but If one ever is, they are paid for. But I guess because your friends tell you so, it must be.....

 

Nothing more to be said.

Edited August 18 by leaveitallbehind

[Tree_skier]

12 hours ago, expectthebest said:

My apologies to the group.. I just spoke to our friends to clarify and they said it was “pre” Covid when this strategy worked so well. They have not sailed since but they said most likely would try it with a neatly folded $20 bill to get the job done. But they insisted that you still need to maintain eye contact. 

LOL $20 won't get you any further than $10...