RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[RFerrington]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Pretty sure numbers go backwards.  3 and 4 are the 1 bedrooms

Correct

[steveru621]

10 minutes ago, fridaythe13th said:

My TA doesn't participate in the NCL upgrade program so I'm sure they don't for Royal.  I'm sending her an email now.  Now I haVe To Go write my email. 

 

We got our email directly from RCI.  Our TA was not in the middle.

 

EDIT:  Just noticed they CC'ed our travel agent.

Edited November 28, 2018 by steveru621

[candlegirl]

2 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

 Nope.  They are both 2 BR (so both are Star Class) but the A1 is the bigger of the 2.  I have sailed in both.  The A1 is significantly bigger (both the stateroom and especially the balcony) than the A2.

Sorry for the confusion.  I abbreviated AquaTheater 1 Bedroom as A1 and AquaTheater 2 Bedroom as A2.  I didn't know those were actual codes for rooms.

[RFerrington]

33 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

It's going to be very interesting to see how nimble the hotel and loyalty staff will be with cabin changes (24 hours).

 

We have only got one free upgrade from OV to a balcony.  All materials upon arrival and for the entire week were addressed to the original occupant/passenger.  We never got anything with our name on it.

You're right.  Nimble is not a word that I would normally use for loyalty in situations such as this.

[RFerrington]

30 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

I was wondering what impact this process may have on your original booking?

 

Will you book a JS to get double points?  Then bid on your usual GS?

I would think this strategy makes good sense if points is important to you.

[NateUpNorth]

Navigator - leaving next week the 7th on a 10 day.

Currently in an interior dark cave for 2 adults 2 kids

 

Upgrade reserve prices:

Oceanview $70pp

Oceanview balcony $200pp

Panoramic Suite $400pp

Junior Suite $470pp

Edited November 28, 2018 by NateUpNorth

[cm071907]

I just received a Royal Up email for my upcoming 5-night sailing in Independence on 12/15. We originally booked a JS for myself, DH and our son (under KSF) for $1800 total. Here are our offers:

 

GS From $180 USD pp

OS From $200 USD pp

RS From $550 USD pp

 

I'll likely place the minimum bid on the GS & OS. It appears at the moment those categories are sold out.

[RFerrington]

17 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Laura has an inside casino comp. Not much reason to change it

John, before anything else, if you are considering an upgrade, I would recommend going to Club Royale to check.  My last few upgrades through the casino were very reasonable.  Of course, that was before all of this confusion.  I have no way of knowing how all of this will (or if) affect the casino upgrade rates.

[dswallow]

The algorithm used will factor in getting maximum revenue. That means they'll look for the choices that, all together, maximize the dollar amount received by the cruise line. Nothing else will matter. Ties will be rarer than you might think because the main factor beyond the incremental bid price on a candidate room will be what kind of room is freed up and what the best bid will be that can move into it, and even what cabin THAT frees up and the bid that can move into it. So dollar amount of your individual bid could end up being less important than the cascade effect that occurs when your bid is accepted vs. someone else's bid on moving to the same category.

 

That's why all of this has to happen without a human yes/no in the middle stopping the entire evaluation process. You have to start with the bids all known up front.

[awestover89]

I went ahead and bid close to the minimum for our sailing for a Panoramic Suite, Junior Suite, Grand Suite, and Owner's Suite. I'll come back and update the thread with any additional info throughout the process.

 

Our sailing is January 13th, so about 6 weeks away. The confirmation just says if a bid is accepted we will be notified no later than 24 hours before sailing.

[Froggy1369]

I want an offer. I feel left out! 

[Royal Fun]

I recd the Royal UP email for our Mar 15th Anthem sailing. I bid the minimum bid on a Jr Suite and a Grand suite. I'm quite confident I will not "win" the bid... But it's fun to "play"..lol🎰

[Froggy1369]

I want an offer. I feel left out! 

 

Ugh double post. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Froggy1369

[FLACRUISER99]

44 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

Onboard they use a different DNS server for their own web addresses, and fail to provide any resolution for the uncommon domains, so they generally appear unreachable while onboard (for example, the creative.rccl.com address won't resolve onboard). If you use a service like DNSCrypt which redirects DNS requests over SSL port 443 connections you can get the normal resolution of names and reach all the RCCL sites (and many other sites they block only by name resolution). You could also configure the address locally on your computer in the hosts file or equivalent. Generally I don't think phones tend to offer an easy way to do something similar, though maybe there's something that'll do it in a VPN-like app.

 

One more #fail for Royal's IT department.

Thanks I knew something like that was going on. I think the easiest solution is to just wait until I get off the ship on Friday.

[twangster]

29 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Navigator - leaving next week the 7th on a 10 day.

Currently in an interior dark cave for 2 adults 2 kids

 

Upgrade reserve prices:

Oceanview $70pp

Oceanview balcony $200pp

Panoramic Suite $400pp

Junior Suite $470pp

 

That's just great.  I've been watching this sailing for an opportunity to upgrade. 

 

I can't get promotional emails because no one at Royal can get me added to the list.  IT, website support, C&A, my TA - no one can figure it out.   Even if I check it under my profile and the next day it's unchecked again.  

 

A program that uses something that relies on Royal IT as it's foundation is guaranteed to be a failure.  

[John&LaLa]

33 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Navigator - leaving next week the 7th on a 10 day.

Currently in an interior dark cave for 2 adults 2 kids

 

Upgrade reserve prices:

Oceanview $70pp

Oceanview balcony $200pp

Panoramic Suite $400pp

Junior Suite $470pp

 

Go for Panoramic Suite, its huge

[RFerrington]

1 hour ago, fridaythe13th said:

On NCL you take the perks you already have with you.  You get no more.

On the Q&A page that I tried to post (the link was blocked) it said that you could take any perks that you already had, with you to the upgraded room but no new perks.

[John&LaLa]

19 minutes ago, Froggy1369 said:

I want an offer. I feel left out! 

 

Me as well. 🙄

[FLACRUISER99]

12 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Sorry.  Looks like the link is blocked.

 

Please delete this post.

Funny thing is it works on board with Voom. Go figure?

[molly361]

For those that have gotten the offers have others on your roll calls in the same category as you gotten them as well?  Just wondering if everyone booked in a JS would get one for that sailing or they picking certain folks for whatever reason

[John&LaLa]

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

That's just great.  I've been watching this sailing for an opportunity to upgrade. 

 

I can't get promotional emails because no one at Royal can get me added to the list.  IT, website support, C&A, my TA - no one can figure it out.   Even if I check it under my profile and the next day it's unchecked again.  

 

A program that uses something that relies on Royal IT as it's foundation is guaranteed to be a failure.  

 

Mine is checked, nothing yet

[cm071907]

1 minute ago, molly361 said:

For those that have gotten the offers have others on your roll calls in the same category as you gotten them as well?  Just wondering if everyone booked in a JS would get one for that sailing or they picking certain folks for whatever reason

There are only 5 people on my roll call. No mention of any Royal Up offers.

[dswallow]

I'm booked in a Spacious Ocean View on Grandeur in February and in Ocean View Balcony cabins on Anthem in December and January , and received the Royal UP offer email for all 3 sailings.

[HBE4]

23 minutes ago, Froggy1369 said:

I want an offer. I feel left out! 

 

Me too!!

 

Although I guess I would have to have a cruise actually booked. lol

 

Me thinks this topic will consume CC for the next several days. Nice change of pace from the usual tipping, pets,dress code, RCI sucks, shared drinks (my personal fave) and chair hog threads.

[ProvoAggie]

I used the Cyber Monday sale on Monday to get a free upgrade to a balcony from an inside cabin on the Allure. I just got the Upgrade e-mail as if I was still an inside cabin. The minimum bid to upgrade to a balcony was $200pp.