Jetdriver787

“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! 🙏🏻

Depends on what you are bidding from and to? At this stage any upgrade is likely to come (if at all) around 3 days before sailing. First you would likely know about it would be a debit on your credit card flagging up. You then get an email telling you yea or nay. It’s a speculative bid so definitely don’t stress. The answer is usually “Nay!” but like the lottery, you might get lucky.

Thank you both for the confirmation, I appreciate the reinforcement of what I guess I already knew. The last time I drove from JFK to EWR was 1989! My (soon to be wife) and I had booked a rental car. We were lucky enough to fly in on the Concorde and since the flight only took 3:30 (those were the days!) My Champagne input precluded me being the driver. As best as I recall the stop start drive around the beltway took longer than the flight from London! We were very nearly divorced before we ever got married! I was hoping you were going to laugh and tell me that 35 years later, things were much better! Indeed I recently saw a video clip of some chap driving from the airport to the Manhattan Central court and he and his entourage just flew through! 🤣🤷‍♂️

I understand this is a “how long is a piece of string” type question, but….. we are sailing out of Bayonne this weekend and (sensibly) flying into EWR on Thursday. My son is joining us but flying into JFK at around 5pm on Friday. Don’t ask “why?” But I have agreed to drive from EWR-JFK and then pick them up and drive back from JFK-EWR (Elizabeth NJ.) I know I am going to regret this, but it is what it is! Can anybody with local knowledge give me any advice or tips for likely journey times, parking or pick up at JFK (T8) and best times to try and aim for (assuming pick up JFK around 6pm at JFK) Any help is much appreciated.

Ignore them or change your marketing preferences.

The main thing to understand is that it has nothing at all to do with availability. It isn’t run by Royal Caribbean. It is run by a company called “Plusgrade.” They operate similar schemes for a whole spectrum of cruise lines, airlines, hotels, etc. The purpose is to maximise ancillary revenues for the subscribing companies. The programme does two major things. It provides capacity smoothing. Where a major category isn’t selling as well as it is projected to do at various junctures, it allows the subscribing companies to pull capacity into a higher category with a promised level of committed payment (your bid) attached to it. This opens up the often easier to sell lower categories. It also serves to balance the projected sales levels in order to achieve higher sales prices for the now (less plentiful) remaining capacity. The second thing is does is to provide a commited bid for any unsold or returned inventory at a point when it is otherwise unlikely to sell or resell. Unlike a competition or auction, there doesn’t have to be (and usually isn’t) any “prize” on offer. But the invitation to bid is only on a “possibility” that requires no payment, only a binding commitment, should availability actually arise at a future date.

Don’t know about a review? It reads like a brochure. 🤷‍♂️

Some of the coffee products will utilise 2 punches.

Broadly speaking, hasn’t this always been the case?

I’ve always thought the C&A loyalty programme was very clever. Yes, there have been tweaks along the way, some of which people love and some of which they hate, but it does exactly what it is meant to do, by generating repeat business. That repeat business goes far beyond simply getting you to book another cruise, but it expands into the additional business you bring with you. We have 7 kids who all cruised with us at one time or another as children. They are all now adults. Each and every one has cruised at least once in their own right with their own families. All of those cruises have been on Royal Caribbean. I guess because it’s both a known product and because it rewards them with “benefits.” All of this comes without any customer acquisition marketing spend on the part of the company. That aside, and I doubt I am alone here? But when pricing a cruise, I will take into account the apparent discounts that the loyalty tier affords combined with the benefits that come with a category or cabin to arrive at a “value” price. By example, the cruise I have in a fortnight reduces the effective price by 65% (of what actually was a very good price to begin with,) for the price of that cabin alone. If you like, it’s a case of the discounted ancillaries driving the cabin sale. A reverse of something like “Casino comps” where the free/discounted cabin is driving the ancillary revenue.

Except, that unlike the bar/restaurant, they are selling “duty free” alcohol from a bonded warehouse. That alone should double the ”profit” margin on a like for like comparison. The direct “cost” is likely to be negligible. To what extent it affects the otherwise purchase of drinks packages must be a consideration?

The oldest is now on the cusp of becoming a teenager! My guess is they would trade their souls for those simple days of vomit on the bedsheets!