Starry Eyes

I agree with Biker. Personally, I elect not to prepay gratuities; paying on board gratuities can consume a lot of OBC.

I’m glad you like your predicted cabins. So far when a number has appeared with the barcode trick it has always accurately predicted my gty assignment. Of course, the cruiseline is allowed to change around gty cabins if they wish (though they rarely do), so I admit there’s an off chance one could change sometime. Also, while the apple wallet method seems fool-proof, barcode reading apps can be more finicky, so one needs to take care to really get a valid barcode reading.

Yeah, though the barcode trick has given me results several times, other times it still said gty. You can re-check with the barcode trick (especially if a muster station appears before your cabin assignment, as the OP experienced). Or your cabin assignment might appear without the barcode ever giving you a preview of your cabin number. Hang in there.

Emergencies do happen. Cancellations occur. If hypothetically someone in a high end suite must cancel 4 days before sailing, a whole cascade of upgrades would probably occur, each resulting in a money for the cruiseline and hopefully delighted cruiser in a better cabin.

As your set sail pass shows a muster station, Royal has planned a cabin for you even though it is not officially assigned. Would you like a preview? If so, use the “barcode trick.” If you use an iPhone, add your set sail pass into your apple wallet. Then in your apple wallet, look at the string of characters under the barcode…the numbers to the right of the dash (-) are a cabin number that is very, very likely to be assigned to you before the cruise. Android users can download a barcode reader to accomplish the same.

I’m currently impacted by the password issue. My old password is not working on the app. I’ll try resetting it soon on my computer. I don’t know if all these access problems are contributing to your issues or not. I have not heard of these Vancouver-specific app check-in requirements, so take the following with the appropriate grain of salt…On the app, at 45 days we go straight to step two and pick our time. Having secured our time slot, we complete the rest of the check in process at our leisure. If for some reason, that did not work and I had trouble with my Credit Card entry, I’d check in as though I wanted a cash account then add the credit card at guest services.

If they cancel only the fourth guest would they be apt to get a bit of money back with little risk of being moved or repriced?

Strokes vary greatly so you should avoid generalizing about “stroke victims.” This person was medically disembarked, with care properly transferred to a local hospital. If providers at the local hospital concluded she was incapable of making her own decisions, they’d have tried to reach her emergency contact. If they determined she was capable of making her own decisions, then the onus is basically on her. She’d have a right to privacy and self determination; that is reality. She was able to communicate with the “late eight” after the stroke and she was then able to fly alone half way around the globe, including changing planes.

This showed up in my news feed. Of course it cannot balance all those other articles. https://www.escape.com.au/travel-advice/cruise-passengers-stranded-the-travel-lesson-we-had-to-have/news-story/29ac559969eea6ff52e5b042b6d6bb70?amp&nk=6eb43bf5e3f1644397e212cb3c6b515e-1712414303

Per a media report, that wallet was not left on the ship. The wallet was recovered from in a tour van, so some random tourist or a local could have gotten into the in the wallet. The wallet was returned to her more than 24 hours after she left the hospital (so 2 days after the ship sailed). https://www.businessinsider.com/norwegian-cruise-passenger-stranded-africa-stroke-2024-4?amp In several media reports, the 80 year olds family expresses frustration and anger that they were not contacted by the cruiseline. The family does not seem to acknowledge that conscious, reasonably competent patients have privacy rights and make such decisions themselves. If mom does not call her son or ask that son be called, neither cruise line nor hospital nor hotel will call that son.

Occasionally the minimum bid may be adjusted. Usually my minimum bids remain constant, but I have seen a few minimum bids go down or up over the bidding period. If the current minimum bid for the sunset junior suite is more than you are willing to pay, you could re-check your offers occasionally to see if the minimum has changed.

Pending may turn into a win; it has for me. However, other posters have reported pending bids that never went further. Are you watching for corresponding activity on your credit card? That would be the first indication of success

I have started from a gty and had successful RoyalUp bids, though I was not necessarily dissatisfied with my assignment or results bar code trick. Unless my gty assignment was an upgrade (however small), I do not think my feelings about that gty assignment would have had any bearing on the bidding. Knowing my future cabin assignments via the bar code trick or actual assignment does sometimes impact my bidding. For example, if I find I like my gty cabin enough, I’ll cancel bids for small upgrades. On several occasions my original RoyalUp bids have been cancelled when my gty cabin is assigned. I have the opportunity to bid again; occasionally I am able to bid on additional categories. Sometimes my bids are cancelled repeatedly, sometimes once, and other times not at all.

Valid point. I look at my own RoyalUp bids as longshots and I never get my hopes up, despite having past winning bids. Even if it is a long shot, the OP might want to consider bidding.

If paying to upgrade them to Sky class at today’s prices to a bridge too far, you could consider placing an upgrade bid via RoyalUp (if they get a RoyalUp offer from balcony to a Sky class suite). If you have their reservation number (and their consent), you can check for RoyalUp offers with this link. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade RoyalUp should be happy to take your credit card number rather than theirs when submitting a bid if this is a gift to your kids. Then, like so many other cruisers, you can sit back hope the bid is accepted.