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RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)


John&LaLa
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1 minute ago, reverie4401 said:

You are absolutely correct.  Here is an FAQ from Costco Travel.

 

"Does Costco Travel participate in any cruise line bid-to-upgrade programs?  No. Costco Travel does not participate in any bid-to-upgrade programs, such as: RoyalUp with Royal Caribbean® or MoveUp with Celebrity Cruises. "

 
I would guess there is a cost to travel agents for working with RoyalUp.  Seems that Royal and Celebrity should note that exclusion in their advertising the RoyalUp program.  David

The above is the one one that I have heard of that does not participate.

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5 minutes ago, reverie4401 said:

I would guess there is a cost to travel agents for working with RoyalUp.  Seems that Royal and Celebrity should note that exclusion in their advertising the RoyalUp program.  David

 

Since RCI makes it available (and pays commission to TAs on the RoyalUp according to their FAQ), I would think the responsibility would lie with the TA to note in their booking paperwork that they opt out.

 

Just thinking out loud:  Is it really that much more work for a TA to participate? I don’t understand them opting out when they could lose customers over the inability to book. I just ‘won’ my RoyalUp. I wouldn’t book with a TA that opts out. 🙂

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26 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

 

Since RCI makes it available (and pays commission to TAs on the RoyalUp according to their FAQ), I would think the responsibility would lie with the TA to note in their booking paperwork that they opt out.

 

Just thinking out loud:  Is it really that much more work for a TA to participate? I don’t understand them opting out when they could lose customers over the inability to book. I just ‘won’ my RoyalUp. I wouldn’t book with a TA that opts out. 🙂

I’m a TA and it’s no work. I’m also bidding.

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On 8/30/2019 at 10:55 AM, parrotfeathers said:

Just got my royal up email for Navigator 4 night.  $100 minimum bid to go from GS to owner's suite.   Should I bid?  Doesn't really matter if I get it or not.  I need to check to see where OS are on Navigator.

A little for my response, but I think that’s a fantastic RoyalUp offer.  IMO the OS is far superior to a GS.  I hope you bid and get your upgrade.

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3 hours ago, reverie4401 said:

You are absolutely correct.  Here is an FAQ from Costco Travel.

 

"Does Costco Travel participate in any cruise line bid-to-upgrade programs?  No. Costco Travel does not participate in any bid-to-upgrade programs, such as: RoyalUp with Royal Caribbean® or MoveUp with Celebrity Cruises. "

 
I would guess there is a cost to travel agents for working with RoyalUp.  Seems that Royal and Celebrity should note that exclusion in their advertising the RoyalUp program.  David

This would explain why we are not eligible for the Royal Up bids.

 

thank you very much for finding this.

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5 hours ago, barbeyg said:

 

Since RCI makes it available (and pays commission to TAs on the RoyalUp according to their FAQ), I would think the responsibility would lie with the TA to note in their booking paperwork that they opt out.

 

Just thinking out loud:  Is it really that much more work for a TA to participate? I don’t understand them opting out when they could lose customers over the inability to book. I just ‘won’ my RoyalUp. I wouldn’t book with a TA that opts out. 🙂

Costco lost this customer.

 

I am currently sitting here at my laptop booking a cruise for next summer.  I was seriously contemplating booking through Costco until I read they don't participate in RoyalUp. After having success last month with our Royal Up bid, I would prefer to have the option of bidding again.  The $925 gift card is not worth losing that kind of control over my booking.  

 

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1 minute ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

When are people usually contacted that they’ve won a bid? Is it always the day before?

 

It was 13 days out for me on an upcoming Anthem sailing, and 10 days out for two others.  Some are still waiting and we sail in 8 days.

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4 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

When are people usually contacted that they’ve won a bid? Is it always the day before?

 

Notification of winning the bid varies, but the rejection seems to be more consistent at the day before.

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10 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Notification of winning the bid varies, but the rejection seems to be more consistent at the day before.

 

Yes, I was notified the day before our last cruise that we lost the bid. This is only our second bid, so I’m  curious when others got notified that they won the bid.

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Today I got the email with the Royal Up Offers for my upcoming cruise.  In reviewing the offers and their minimum bids, for the cabin I would be interested in booking, it appears that the offer price is the exact same price that I can obtain by calling RC directly to upgrade my room- in doing a mock booking for the upgraded room the additional cost is exactly the same as the opening bid on Royal Up.

Thus, I'm wondering if, as the cruise date gets closer, will RC lower the opening/minimum bids?  If not, I see no benefit in bidding if I can simply call the cruise line for an upgrade at the same cost.

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Some on my Snowbird October cruise were getting notices even a week ago...Very lucky they got this much notice.

So apparently it really does vary. RoyalUp has a few categories still available to bid on but website showing nothing available...which I understand has little to no bearing on what's actually available.

This whole program is such a mystery to me.

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41 minutes ago, stampingoddess said:

Thus, I'm wondering if, as the cruise date gets closer, will RC lower the opening/minimum bids?  If not, I see no benefit in bidding if I can simply call the cruise line for an upgrade at the same cost.

You should always check both, as both numbers can change, though the Royal Up ones much less so. BTW, RCI counts on the fact that people don't bother looking at self upgrade prices and blindingly bid via Royal Up.

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1 hour ago, stampingoddess said:

In reviewing the offers and their minimum bids, for the cabin I would be interested in booking, it appears that the offer price is the exact same price that I can obtain by calling RC directly to upgrade my room- in doing a mock booking for the upgraded room the additional cost is exactly the same as the opening bid on Royal Up.

 

The minimum bid may or may not go down.  Our upcoming cruise was priced much better.  My aggressive bid net us a Grand Suite, and if we had booked at the lowest price, we would still have paid double for it.   In keeping up with the other categories, I did notice that the Owners Suite maximum went up a great deal.  Was still a bargain, but I had a minimal bid on that category, and the minimum never went down.

 

You can check occasionally for bid adjustments by clicking on that same email.  I wouldn't book without comparing prices, ever.  Very smart of you to check!

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2 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

When are people usually contacted that they’ve won a bid? Is it always the day before?

Last cruise we were notified the day before that we lost, we are 24 days out and have not received any notice, but I will be surprised if my bid is accepted.

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I wonder what % of bids are winners? I assume its fairly low. Seems odd to forego booking with someone that may have a lower price or more amenities just for the opportunity to submit a bid and not win. 

 

mac_tlc   

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On 8/31/2019 at 4:22 PM, CTCruiser76 said:

Hi - I have posted in other threads pertaining to GTY bookings and for help with possible RoyalUP upgrades, while everyone has been very helpful, I cannot seem to get the RoyalUP to work for our cruise. 

 

We were assigned our GTY Suite 14 days before sailing, which turned out to be a JS, which we are 100% happy with, but when I looked to see what was still available, there were 13 GS suite available for booking, so I thought we may be able to do a RoyalUP bid to sneak into a GS. 

 

Whenever I enter our last name and booking number, I receive an error saying, "Please ensure your sailing is within the next 30 days - Please ensure there are no errors in the information you entered" - Our sailing is 9 days out...so we are good there and I also spelled our last name correctly. 

 

The only thing I was thinking is that this was booked as a GTY through a TA, and not with RCCL - could this be the issue ? or Does anyone have any thoughts on what to do next ? 

 

Not that its a big deal, but if the $$ is right - we would absolutely love a GS....plus with Dorian here.....our cruise could possibly be light on people so.....just wondering.

 

Thanks 

 

I doubt with RoyalUp being a thing anyone gets a GS from a Suite GTY, but I believe you can ask to be put back into the pool and hope to be assigned a better room.

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I just put in my bid for a Villa suite and Royal suite on my Liberty Sailing over Halloween. Both have been sold for at least a year, but I'm hoping anyways. I'm really hoping for the Villa, but it is the same kind of hope I have when I buy a powerball, have fun dreaming about it knowing it won't happen.

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On 9/1/2019 at 10:15 AM, reverie4401 said:

You are absolutely correct.  Here is an FAQ from Costco Travel.

 

"Does Costco Travel participate in any cruise line bid-to-upgrade programs?  No. Costco Travel does not participate in any bid-to-upgrade programs, such as: RoyalUp with Royal Caribbean® or MoveUp with Celebrity Cruises. "

 
I would guess there is a cost to travel agents for working with RoyalUp.  Seems that Royal and Celebrity should note that exclusion in their advertising the RoyalUp program.  David

 

There is no reason for them to advertise that on Royals page since they wouldn’t be the booking engine/agent. That is the other agencies job. 

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