RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[barbeyg]

13 minutes ago, eggnoodle said:

Got the RoyalUp email today for our 12/15 sailing. We're currently in a ocean view balcony stateroom. Is it worth it to update to a spacious ocean view balcony for $325/pp or $450/pp for Ultra spacious ocean view w/large balcony?

 

TIA

 

I don't know how much the Ultra Spacious stateroom is normally on the ship you are sailing, but we are on Oasis 12/5, and the Ultra Spacious Balcony is only $321 more pp than the OV Balcony cabin if you book it instead of Royal Up.  I think that's a bit pricey, if you are sailing Oasis, and I wouldn't bid on the spacious ocean view balcony myself.  It's just a bit more square footage. 

 

Both seem high for a minimal bid.

Edited September 13, 2021 by barbeyg

[Biker19]

15 minutes ago, eggnoodle said:

Is it worth it to update to a spacious ocean view balcony for $325/pp or $450/pp for Ultra spacious ocean view w/large balcony?

Have you checked self upgrade prices?

[molly361]

17 minutes ago, eggnoodle said:

Got the RoyalUp email today for our 12/15 sailing. We're currently in a ocean view balcony stateroom. Is it worth it to update to a spacious ocean view balcony for $325/pp or $450/pp for Ultra spacious ocean view w/large balcony?

 

TIA

Sounds like a lot of money for not much difference to me for spacious ov balcony

[eggnoodle]

5 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

 

I don't know how much the Ultra Spacious stateroom is normally on the ship you are sailing, but we are on Oasis 12/5, and the Ultra Spacious Balcony is only $321 more pp than the OV Balcony cabin if you book it instead of Royal Up.  I think that's a bit pricey, if you are sailing Oasis, and I wouldn't bid on the spacious ocean view balcony myself.  It's just a bit more square footage. 

 

Both seem high for a minimal bid.

Agreed - price is high for min bid.  Needed someone to reconfirm that.  Thanks

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Have you checked self upgrade prices?

Sorry but is self upgrade price? mock booking?

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, eggnoodle said:

Sorry but is self upgrade price? mock booking?

Yes, see what it would cost you to upgrade without Royal Up. Some folks incorrectly assume that Royal Up is less than self upgrade.

[suekay]

Just printed off our Jewel  setsail pass and noticed a change of cabin, so my Royal Up bid  must have been accepted. I bid  £60 ($83) to go from a basic balcony to a spacious ocean view balcony and have been allocated 7674 aft cabin with large balcony and sunbeds. Woo hoo!!!

[pdawson30]

31 minutes ago, eggnoodle said:

Got the RoyalUp email today for our 12/15 sailing. We're currently in a ocean view balcony stateroom. Is it worth it to update to a spacious ocean view balcony for $325/pp or $450/pp for Ultra spacious ocean view w/large balcony?

 

TIA

I would be careful here. This is normally a mixed class. You get either a bigger room or a bigger balcony. We received the bigger balcony of the Odyssey but paid a lot less but could have recieved a bigger room with smaller balcony.

[luckyinpa]

1st timer to royal here. just booked saturday. today i get the royal up on oasis

 

3K for the royal suite

800 min for the star loft

 

those are the only ones id want

on saturday the one star loft was still available then it got snagged, per the poster above, someone actually won a star loft recently. i cannot believe they let a room get pulled out of inventory just to sit to have someone win at bingo. thats amazing. stinks it sat empty for days before the win. 

 

i realize the chances are pretty much zero to bid those minimums above but i am curious if just as 2 people you ever had those cabins. the royal seems really excessive just for us 2 but would be a 'steal' if just paid 3K more than current CLS. also i do prefer facing the ocean not the activities court. but the royal has best of both worlds

[barbeyg]

24 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

1st timer to royal here. just booked saturday. today i get the royal up on oasis

 

3K for the royal suite

800 min for the star loft

 

those are the only ones id want

 

A lot depends on the category you booked into.  I would do a mock booking to see if the bid prices are really good compared upgrading yourself to that category from the one you are currently in.  For example, we are OV Balcony and to upgrade to a Crown Loft Suite, we would pay $3800 additional right now.  So, if we bid $800 pp for the suite, it would be a great price for us if we won.  That's how I personally decide when to bid.  I keep a tally of the lowest prices for the suites and when the Royal Up rolls around, I decide whether the price justifies a bid. 🙂

[luckyinpa]

the royal was never available during my research for the cruise so i dont know the true pricing. the star loft was 4 or 5K more than my CLS so if i got it at 800 it would be nice except if i got the one facing the golf course i wouldnt like that as much as my CLS faces the ocean. it's a trade off for the genie etc.

 

 

[barbeyg]

9 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

the royal was never available during my research for the cruise so i dont know the true pricing. the star loft was 4 or 5K more than my CLS so if i got it at 800 it would be nice except if i got the one facing the golf course i wouldnt like that as much as my CLS faces the ocean. it's a trade off for the genie etc.

 

And this is the reason why some of us hesitate about Royal up and those suites.  I don't want to face the ship either, and that's why I'm still watching the CLS for price drops.  We would have a tough time deciding whether or not to Royal Up for that as well.🙂

[luckyinpa]

good point indeed plus i'm not even sure its worth it now. is the genie doing everything they used to do before or are new conditions preventing it?

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

 

And this is the reason why some of us hesitate about Royal up and those suites.  I don't want to face the ship either, and that's why I'm still watching the CLS for price drops.  We would have a tough time deciding whether or not to Royal Up for that as well.🙂

 

Personally, I'd trade for the star loft over CLS regardless of the view. Just look to port😉

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

good point indeed plus i'm not even sure its worth it now. is the genie doing everything they used to do before or are new conditions preventing it?

 

They are doing most of what they did pre covid. Plus there is so much more available than the few things the Genie can facilitate 

[barbeyg]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Personally, I'd trade for the star loft over CLS regardless of the view. Just look to port😉

Absolutely on the star loft!  😃  I just figure my hubby would choke at the bid prices....if I had to tell him.  😈

[luckyinpa]

i bid 820 on a star loft. the added perks would make sense financially and id love the genie to deliver meals in the room a few times. 

 

the royal for 3K just isnt worth it. for 2 people really seems excessive. 

[barbeyg]

1 minute ago, luckyinpa said:

i bid 820 on a star loft. the added perks would make sense financially and id love the genie to deliver meals in the room a few times. 

 

the royal for 3K just isnt worth it. for 2 people really seems excessive. 

 

I agree on the Royal.  Good luck with your bid!  🙂

[AustinCruise]

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

the royal was never available during my research for the cruise so i dont know the true pricing. the star loft was 4 or 5K more than my CLS so if i got it at 800 it would be nice except if i got the one facing the golf course i wouldnt like that as much as my CLS faces the ocean. it's a trade off for the genie etc.

 

 

They don’t hold inventory for RoyalUp, so if you don’t see it available to purchase, it’s unlikely you would win by bid. 
 

seams to me the only opportunity would be if someone cancels last minute or someone moves up leaving that room open. 
 

 

[forgotmyCCname]

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

1st timer to royal here. just booked saturday. today i get the royal up on oasis

 

3K for the royal suite

800 min for the star loft

 

those are the only ones id want

on saturday the one star loft was still available then it got snagged, per the poster above, someone actually won a star loft recently. i cannot believe they let 

 

 

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

1st timer to royal here. just booked saturday. today i get the royal up on oasis

 

3K for the royal suite

800 min for the star loft

 

those are the only ones id want

on saturday the one star loft was still available then it got snagged, per the poster above, someone actually won a star loft recently. i cannot believe they let a room get pulled out of inventory just to sit to have someone win at bingo. thats amazing. stinks it sat empty for days before the win. 

 

i realize the chances are pretty much zero to bid those minimums above but i am curious if just as 2 people you ever had those cabins. the royal seems really excessive just for us 2 but would be a 'steal' if just paid 3K more than current CLS. also i do prefer facing the ocean not the activities court. but the royal has best of both worlds

There are people on Symphony right now in 2Br AT who are just a couple. Hubs and I "won" a giant suite on Allure for very low bid on a lesser suite- they gave us the mambo size instead. On a different social media site I am seeing peeps who are procuring great upgrades at a minimal bid.

As for the suite being held for bingo- good chance these days that the people booked in it cancelled at last minute or tested positive or have an unvaxed kid.

 

Lucky- I remember you when you were trying to book the spa suite on NCL - how long ago was that? And good luck in the bidding!!

I am also in PA but we work in Baltimore .

Nice to see your name!

[forgotmyCCname]

29 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

i bid 820 on a star loft. the added perks would make sense financially and id love the genie to deliver meals in the room a few times. 

 

the royal for 3K just isnt worth it. for 2 people really seems excessive. 

$1640 for the two of you in the loft is less than the drink package, UDC and tips that you would pay ( except to Genie) . The free daily laundry is one of the best perks!!

[luckyinpa]

3 minutes ago, forgotmyCCname said:

 

 

There are people on Symphony right now in 2Br AT who are just a couple. Hubs and I "won" a giant suite on Allure for very low bid on a lesser suite- they gave us the mambo size instead. On a different social media site I am seeing peeps who are procuring great upgrades at a minimal bid.

As for the suite being held for bingo- good chance these days that the people booked in it cancelled at last minute or tested positive or have an unvaxed kid.

 

Lucky- I remember you when you were trying to book the spa suite on NCL - how long ago was that? And good luck in the bidding!!

I am also in PA but we work in Baltimore .

Nice to see your name!

 

the haven spa on breakaway was my 1st cruise and got me hooked. had to figure out which cabins had those darn poles in the middle of the room and yes there's a thread on that here. 

[molly361]

1 hour ago, barbeyg said:

 

And this is the reason why some of us hesitate about Royal up and those suites.  I don't want to face the ship either, and that's why I'm still watching the CLS for price drops.  We would have a tough time deciding whether or not to Royal Up for that as well.🙂

Same reason I would never RoyalUp to a CL.  Would love to try one but not the aft facing ones

[Ready2SailAway]

6 hours ago, molly361 said:

For those that have been upgraded to a suite did the concierge have time to contact you prior to sailing or did you just book dining etc once onboard?

 

No, the suite concierge did not have time to contact us prior to our sailing, so yes - we just booked dining etc once on board...

 

[forgotmyCCname]

54 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Same reason I would never RoyalUp to a CL.  Would love to try one but not the aft facing ones

We removed bids on Allure because of that reason. I like ocean, not sports court view!

[forgotmyCCname]

2 hours ago, barbeyg said:

 

And this is the reason why some of us hesitate about Royal up and those suites.  I don't want to face the ship either, and that's why I'm still watching the CLS for price drops.  We would have a tough time deciding whether or not to Royal Up for that as well.🙂

We are also watching. But for some reason we got a very good price on what WAS back when we booked , the last suite in Sky class. It's a GS  and we will be happy there. Even with the prices coming down, the GS is still $1850  over what we paid so the move to CLS doubles the price. Hoping the STAR fairy comes to visit!