leaveitallbehind

If the booking were to be canceled you likely could reinstate it, but it also likely would be at the current stateroom fare and associated promotions. That actually is one additional advantage of booking through a TA as they will track payment dates and remind you ahead of time. Often they will actually process the payment a few days or so ahead of time to assure there are no issues in processing your payment.

Since you enter you booking number to get into the MoveUp website, all of your booking information is visible to the process. I'm certain what your current stateroom could resell for in consideration of what you paid, or be released to a bid from a lower category, is taken into consideration with the bid amount you offer to the upgrade categories you select. My understanding is bids are awarded based on highest per category, but that is likely only one factor as moving your current stateroom as mentioned will factor in as well. The MoveUP program is managed by a third party and I am certain pricing algorithms play a large roll in the process with little direct human involvement, other than perhaps confirming any award.

We have been cruising for 32 years, and back in the day before specialty restaurants the MDR was quite good and with a nice variety of offerings. Primarily in order to manage costs, that presentation has certainly changed and has been reduced overall in quality and selection. And unfortunately that is what the complimentary included dining options now consist of. I also don't think RCCL is alone in this. IMO the specialty restaurant options far exceed that and have taken even the old very good MDR offerings to a whole new level. It really is you get what you pay for. The MDR is not bad, it just isn't what it used to be and is nowhere near the level of the specialty restaurants, which is why we dine primarily in the specialties. To us, the specialty restaurant dining packages are well worth the cost and is now just a part of the overall cruise budget for us.

In our experience the Concierge lunch menu is fixed and there are no options available. Keep in mind it is on day one when everyone is boarding and it is designed to offer Concierge guests, which is a limited number of guests, a more relaxed alternative to the normal day one restaurant options. But as it is serving a limited number of guests, it is not designed as an open menu venue. The chicken is pretty basic, but likely with a sauce. So if nothing appeals to you on the menu then you would just have to go to the alternative venues for lunch.

As mentioned food quality is completely subjective and recognizing that fact and the fact that others will completely disagree, we dine almost exclusively at the specialty restaurants and have for a number of years, and of the three you mention Jamie's is by far our least favorite and one we typically avoid on any ship. So for us that would leave Chops and Izumi. Hard choice as both are good but totally opposite so it would come down IMO to which palate you generally prefer. Note that Izumi is a la carte and not one, for that reason, that we would include on a prepaid fee basis as our a la carte selections rarely equal the credit allowed. But they book quickly so if you wait to do so on board I would go there to make reservations as soon as you board. Just our experience. I guess based on that I would choose Chops to pre-book on the planner. But you can always add a lunch at Izumi a la carte to experience that venue as well. Same basic menu. On Symphony our favorites are 150 Central Park, Hooked, and certainly Izumi. Not excluding Chops as we eat there virtually every cruise a well.

This can also be done on board through the Loyalty Ambassador. They can handle any and all C & A updates. Just suggesting in case you might need a reason to book another cruise - LOL. Otherwise the suggestion provided by @cruiseguy1016 is the easiest way. Their US / Canada phone number is (800) 526-9723. Just have your C & A account # handy.

My assumption (dangerous I know) was that the OP is D+ and I was addressing how they can combine their bogo with other non-D+ travelers in answer to his question. But your comments are clearly correct and we are on the same page.

But you can split your D+ bogo with a D. We have done that before twice when traveling with D friends, most recently on our Oasis NYE cruise. My wife and I each get the bogo. The charge for the bogo goes on our D+ cards, but we share the dinners with our D friends traveling with us and they pay us separately for 1/2 the total cost. That way we each end up with a discounted cost, but don't have to miss dinners together since they don't have the bogo benefit.

While I agree the their post is a bit confusing, the OP indicates that they have been assigned a deck 6 GTY, so there is no way to downgrade to a deck 2 unless they selected that as their RoyalUp bid, which wouldn't make sense. Their deck 2 experience was with what is indicated as a bid from a prior cruise - but also not sure why one would bid on a category that could be assigned there. Wonder if they meant GTY? Confused. I'm interpreting their stress as waiting to hear if their upgrade bid was successful. The other option if they are unhappy with their current deck 6 assignment would be withdraw the bid to move it as mentioned in my prior post.

No, you cannot reserve the bogo in advance to my knowledge What we do is talk with any Maître d once we board and prepay the total amount due with the bogo and then reserve days during the week that we want to use it, with the first restaurant normally being scheduled either day one or two as we may prefer. In this manner you can also coordinate any specialty dining reservations around this so as not to loose the bogo benefit, with the first specialty restaurant scheduled on the first or second day as determined by your bogo choice. We have used our bogo as a split with other traveling guests so that can be done. You just have to work out in advance who is paying for whom. But I know of no way to do it in advance of the sailing.

Having to join by way of paying a membership in order to hopefully save money through them on future travel would turn me away as well. How much is the membership? How much can you save? Etc. The voucher was sent to get your $50 IMO, with the hope that by doing so you would then join. Maybe that was what the $50 was for - a commitment to join? Best to stay away IMO.

You were likely typing as I was posting as I just mentioned that two posts before you - LOL. But it doesn't matter whether you mention GTY or not as your booking will show that when they are making the change.

Agree. My comment was not so much that the shows would be changed every five years but that would be when they could be changed if so planned. And that came from a cruise director a number of years ago. Hopefully the OP will see your comments and feel more comfortable with their booking.

Agree. Not sure why a speculative bid would carry any stress, especially as it is the people who do so's choice to do it. If you get it, great, if not, no loss as you stay where you originally purchased.

With any US booked GTY assignment if you are not happy with the stateroom location all you have to do is contact whomever you booked through and you can move to any other location that is still available within the assigned sub-category. They will confirm available locations and then will reassign your original stateroom to the new one. Have done so several times. Same holds true for a stateroom you originally selected. Not sure why you think you would get an FCC from a room selection you made. And certainly not with a GTY that they assigned. Especially when, as indicated, you can change either based on availability.