Jetdriver787

Just appeared on todays cruise compass: ”Occasionally animals may find their way onboard our ships. For your safety, if you encounter any animals onboard, it is prohibited to interact with or touch them. We ask that you please report any sightings or encounters to any of our Officers or Crew.” I am absolutely outraged that only now do they tell us! All week I’ve been using them to dry myself! Not only that, but I suspect the “crew” have been leaving them?

Next booking.

Not sure if this is just a US thing? Ticking the box on the UK site has pretty much the same success rate as finding the Loch Ness monster?

Captain has just announced “Medical emergency” for diversion. Ship is still travelling at over 20kts (displays were erroneous.) Hope affected passenger makes a swift recovery.

Currently onboard Anthem from New York to Funchal (Day 5). Marine trackers now showing ship diverting to Ponta Delgada in the Azores arriving tomorrow (3rd May) at 20:00 GMT. No announcements yet, but Captains midday scheduled announcement due in about 1 hour. Ships speed appears (from room displays) to have dropped back from 21 kts to 14 kts which might suggest it isn’t necessarily a medical emergency? No doubt all will become clear.

Yes, or perhaps an emotional support drone?

Indeed! I just asked my wife, but she muttered something I couldn’t quite hear, and then stormed off to play something called “Bingo?” 🤷‍♂️

I don’t understand all of the fuss! Just take a Wicker basket. I throw all my clothes somewhere near it and 2 days later they all appear clean and folded in the drawer? 🤷‍♂️

They don’t really care why you might “give up a bedroom.” Thats your issue and not their issue. They are not “offering” you anything that necessarily exists. They are soliciting voluntary bids to see if you want to commit to a binding offer IF a room in a higher category becomes available at some point in time before your cruise departs. It is not inconceivable that a person booked a 2 bedroom suite simply because that was all that was available at the time they made their booking? They might well be delighted to acquire a higher grade of room albeit with one less bedroom. Presumably, if they weren’t they wouldn’t make a bid in the first place. It isn’t royal that put together the bid profile, it’s a company called “Plusgrade” that do it to maximise revenue as an ancillary source.

We secured the Royal suite for 26 nights, some years ago, on a “Freedom” class ship, for a Westbound TransAtlantic followed (5 months later) by the subsequent Eastbound TransAtlantic. For us, it was a wonderful experience and although we have had many great experiences since, those trips will always be etched in life’s scrapbook! Both ways, escorted onboard by the concierge, who also went out of (his) way to ensure our every whim was entertained. I could have happily lived in the room for the foreseeable future, and would regularly indulge my “Niagra” fetish of showering under all three shower heads at the same time! (Sorry Greta!) The autoplay Piano also triggered the “Elton” fetish (not so much the eyewear or drugs,) and the delighted staff on the deck above regularly showed their full appreciation by dragging furniture across the floor (ceiling) at around 2am every morning! My wife also made friends with the Captains wife, who was also onboard for his then current tour of duty. I believe (albeit it unverified) they spent many a happy hour bemoaning the sacrifices and tribulations of being the spouse of a Captain! We had the privilege of being invited to the Captains quarters. (Not sure of the source of that invitation, but I’ve always had my suspicions?) Invited (along with our then 11 year old son) to the captains table for dinner, and again later in the week to a private dinner in “Chops” with the Captain, Chief Engineer and their spouses, to celebrate our sons birthday! I can’t promise your experience will be the same, but I can promise you will love it!……..Enjoy! 🍾🥂👍

PS. The “stress free” day was spent being dragged around 1,245 “outlet stores” by my wife. I was tempted to throw my credit cards on the floor, knowing that whoever found them was unlikely to ever spend as much as she was on them! I’m now thinking of walking there to meet him! 🤦🏻‍♂️

“She paid a stupid low rate for Balcony GTY, do you think that gets factored into acceptance (or denial) of bids?” No. This is ancillary revenue arranged through a company called “Plusgrade” What you paid is already money in the bank. Now the name of the game is maximising revenue chains.

As an epilog to this story, my son has booked a limo’ in order to impress the girlfriend! 🤷‍♂️ So they can enjoy adding to the congestion whilst we await their arrival stress free! 🙏🏻

Important to understand that “Royal up” is very different from “Guarantee!” The latter exists (usually,) and it is only the specific assignment within that category that is notified at a later date. The former, often doesn’t exist and is used as an ancillary revenue generator for possible unsold or returned inventory at a later date. It is run by a company called “plusgrade” who run similar programmes for many other hospitality and transportation companies. It can be quite misleading when terms such as “offer” and “invitation to bid” are used, because it makes it sound like an auction for a product. In fact there is usually no product to auction. It is the possibility of one becoming available (that the subscribing company doesn’t otherwise sell, resell or keep) at a later date, that is really being “offered!” As a revenue generator for the company, it also seeks to do that by creating chains whereby the revenue is maximised within each individual chain. Somebodies highest bid won’t necessarily achieve that result, and of course the result of a bid is opaque to the bidder. Additionally, the programme can (and is) used to balance stock, particularly in the large categories. Think of it as a pyramid. At various junctures between a cruise going on sale and the sailing itself, there will be expected levels of sales projections. Sometimes a particular category isn’t selling at projection. The programme enables the subscribing company to utilise “bidders” to rebalance inventory in order to free up stock that likely would be easier to sell. Most cruise ships these days are built to maximise “balcony” cabins. Broadly speaking, this is 3 tiers up the pyramid and it is usually within this category (possibly including Junior suites) that a sales imbalance can occur. Selling a cheaper category is often much easier and can also be achieved without necessarily devaluing the brand. Rebalancing (where it might be required) enables the company to maximise revenue on remaining sales. In order to do this it requires that there be time to sell. Clearly that isn’t likely 3 days before sailing, so you will often see people saying they got a “bid” accepted 56 days out (or whatever). Even on a full cruise (completely sold out) “Royal up” will invite bids on all categories of room (relevant to the existing product held) even though none may be available. That enables potential revenue chains to be created later, from unsold or late returned inventory (no-shows, cancellations etc.) Usually these tend to be allocated at around 3 days before sailing, although they can occur right up until departure and technically up to 2 hours after sailing. For the bidder you are entering into a binding offer to accept a “better” grade of cabin IF one becomes available that is subsequently assigned to you, at ANY time between making the valid bid and acceptance or closure of that allocation cycle.

Thank you folks. I have definitely got the message that if Dante had lived long enough the Beltway would have been his “Tenth circle!” looking like it’s going to be a warm weekend as well, which will likely only make it even worse! I really appreciate all of the tips, so once again, thank you! 🙏🏻