RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[snaefell]

Firstly aplolgies as I am sure there had been a similar post recently but I can't find it,so sorry if I am going over old ground.

We are 4 weeks away from our cruise & have had an email from RCI inviting us to Bid Up for a 'better' cabin,if you are succesful do you have to accept the upgrade or can you decide to stay with what you already booked?

Also,just out of curiosity,from what I read am I right in thinking that in Loft Suites the bed is upstairs & if that is right is there also toilet facilities up there?

[molly361]

You have to accept what they give you if you win.  Yes there is a bathroom upstairs

[snaefell]

6 minutes ago, molly361 said:

 Yes there is a bathroom upstairs

Thank goodness for that,I had visions of sleeping downstairs,thanks Molly!

[parrotfeathers]

21 hours ago, SRV FAN said:

We are seasoned "Loyal to Royal" cruisers & I "feel" like they won't accept our upcoming bid because of that. I think they look at the cruise history of the bidders & offer the upgrades, no matter how big or small to the newest cruisers, to "wow" them & get them hooked. We're hooked without the upgrade...but it sure would be nice to win one once! 

 

Congrats!!! 

 

To a certain extent, I certainly believe this to be true.  But, I have cruised with RCL for 10 years (one Celebrity) and was upgraded from GS to OS with minimum bid.  I do believe they accepted this because they are attempting to get other cruisers into a GS (that haven't booked that before) to get them hooked into a GS and above.  I'd love to know how the "machine" works that figures out the maximum profits (should we accept this crummy bid on an OS to get this better bid on a GS which ultimately brings in more revenue after it's added up).

 

This is my first OS and it will be interesting to see if it changes my preferences.

[SRV FAN]

1 hour ago, parrotfeathers said:

 

To a certain extent, I certainly believe this to be true.  But, I have cruised with RCL for 10 years (one Celebrity) and was upgraded from GS to OS with minimum bid.  I do believe they accepted this because they are attempting to get other cruisers into a GS (that haven't booked that before) to get them hooked into a GS and above.  I'd love to know how the "machine" works that figures out the maximum profits (should we accept this crummy bid on an OS to get this better bid on a GS which ultimately brings in more revenue after it's added up).

 

This is my first OS and it will be interesting to see if it changes my preferences.

 

CONGRATS on your winning bid!!

 

Agreed... we are in a GS on Allure upcoming.... we have SKY suite perks. The only upgrade that made sense to us was to get into a cabin that offered STAR perks. The first cabin category to get that level of perks that was offered was the Aquatheater 2 Bedroom suite. So, that is what we bid on. It sleeps 8...there are just two of us.... so I doubt VERY SERIOUSLY that we'd get the upgrade. But, like you said they could resell our GS if they did accept our bid. We're happy with our GS, so it's no big deal if we don't win the bid...but it sure would be FUN if we did! 

 

There appears to only be one interior cabin left for our sailing. So who knows how THAT works when there are "no cabins" left to upgrade to, yet they still show them as an upgrade. 

 

Like you, I'd so like to know how it all works...…. 

Edited September 8, 2019 by SRV FAN

[SRV FAN]

20 hours ago, barbeyg said:

 

Thank you! We were 13 days out when the email came. Just after 7 pm on a Friday. Others (in a private group) on our cruise have been awarded up to balcony cabin level, and a few were loyals as well. No Jr Suites yet, but we are hoping for several of them. 🙂

 

Here’s my theory, which is worth about 2 cents: if they think we might actually book the category we are RoyalUp’d to, they award it if the bid is good enough. With us, they are right. I am going to surprise my husband with this RoyalUp, then at the end of the cruise when he is prime for it, will tell him I already upgraded us to a GS on our 35th anniversary cruise next year. AND I will bid for the higher categories if offered and the price is right. 

 

Good luck again! 🙂

 

Fingers crossed! THANKS!! 

[Ready2SailAway]

On 9/6/2019 at 4:43 PM, Ready2SailAway said:

Just checked RoyalUp online for our upcoming cruise and my status still shows pending for the GS-1bdrm & OS that I bid on, but when I click to check on the other upgrade options (JS & GS-2bdrm) it says "Not eligible for upgrade".

 

So it seems the RoyalUP options are percolating now and I'll get that email soon -let's have some good news!

 

 

UPDATE:  Received an email notification around 8pm EDT last night (night before our sailaway) that our bids on a GS-1bdrm & OS were unsuccessful...  But no worries, as we're on board now and happy with our Spacious Oceanview Balcony!

[lovescats5]

Just got an email from RCI with a RoyalUp offer.  Have never had one and was jealous of all you people who had received one.  They offered us a chance to bid on the Royal Loft (Star Class) for $1200pp more.  Not if I understand how this works we have our cabin which is a Crown Loft (Star Class) and they want us to pay an extra $4800 for a bigger room and get Star Class.  I am guessing they do not really look at what people have already booked before they send these out.  So I am thinking my answer to the RoyalUp is a definite NO.  Have to admit I would love to stay in the room but not at that price.  Maybe they will come down in price if it is still vacant a week or two out from the Thanksgiving sailing.  If not, oh well, still have the genie in our lowly Grand Loft.

[sandebeach]

13 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

Just got an email from RCI with a RoyalUp offer.  Have never had one and was jealous of all you people who had received one.  They offered us a chance to bid on the Royal Loft (Star Class) for $1200pp more.  Not if I understand how this works we have our cabin which is a Crown Loft (Star Class) and they want us to pay an extra $4800 for a bigger room and get Star Class.  I am guessing they do not really look at what people have already booked before they send these out.  So I am thinking my answer to the RoyalUp is a definite NO.  Have to admit I would love to stay in the room but not at that price.  Maybe they will come down in price if it is still vacant a week or two out from the Thanksgiving sailing.  If not, oh well, still have the genie in our lowly Grand Loft.

You would only pay for the first two in the cabin, not for 4 people. 

[lovescats5]

So it would cost us a total of $2400 to upgrade?  There will be 4 in the cabin.

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

So it would cost us a total of $2400 to upgrade?  There will be 4 in the cabin.

 

Correct, you pay for two upgrade amounts, no matter how many people in the stateroom.

[lovescats5]

So, if we would upgrade from a Star Class to a Star Class room would we still have a genie because I read in these posts somewhere that if you upgrade from non Star to Star you do not get the genie.  But since we already have a genie we would still have that perk, correct.  Thanks.

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

So, if we would upgrade from a Star Class to a Star Class room would we still have a genie because I read in these posts somewhere that if you upgrade from non Star to Star you do not get the genie.  But since we already have a genie we would still have that perk, correct.  Thanks.

 

I believe if you upgrade from anything to Star, you get the Genie.

 

The only things you don't get when you upgrade are extra C&A points if you upgrade from non-suite to suite.

[molly361]

9 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

So, if we would upgrade from a Star Class to a Star Class room would we still have a genie because I read in these posts somewhere that if you upgrade from non Star to Star you do not get the genie.  But since we already have a genie we would still have that perk, correct.  Thanks.

If you are in a regular Crown Loft that is sky class, no genie

[lovescats5]

You are correct.  We are in a Grand Loft on Anthem which is Star Class.  Drives my son nuts because I keep getting the lofts mixed up.

[RFerrington]

22 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

 I keep getting the lofts mixed up.

Don't feel alone !  It is all very confusing and it doesn't help that THEY changed the names of the suites.

 

I was faced with a similar RoyalUp bid but it just doesn't make any sense to me to spend more money to move from 1 Star Class suite to another Star Class suite with the SINGLE exception of moving from one of the corner Loft suites on Deck 10 of Anthem to one on Deck 8.  THAT would be worth a little extra money.  Those corner deck 10 loft suites are REALLY tiny compared to the ones on deck 8 - definitely NOT worthy of Star Class, IMO.  I learned that lesson the hard way.

 

But for the most part, a Star Class suite is a Star Class Suite and to just throw money at a bigger suite with no other advantage just doesn't make sense to me.

[lovescats5]

I agree, it does not make much sense to just stay in the same class.  A bigger room and balcony would be nice but not for the price.  And when I went on the RCI site to look it did not show the Royal Loft as available for the Anthem Thanksgiving sailing.  Maybe someone thought it was a good deal after all.

[Trinam2]

So I booked kind of last minute today for a cruise October 9th. Do you think they still may offer a chance to bid even though it’s in less than a month? Just curious if anyone has had experienced that happening.

[WeighAnchor]

2 hours ago, Trinam2 said:

So I booked kind of last minute today for a cruise October 9th. Do you think they still may offer a chance to bid even though it’s in less than a month? Just curious if anyone has had experienced that happening.

 

Bidding doesn't open until 30 days before the sail date (at least on my cruise). You do not have to wait for an email to see if they are accepting RoyalUP bids. Just use the link below and plug in your surname and reservation number:

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade

Edited September 10, 2019 by WeighAnchor

[klfrodo]

How does one cancel their RoyalUp bid?

I had a GS booked, received the email to RoyalUp, I bid $200pp for a CL.

Then today, I was looking around, called my TA, upgraded to CL for a total of $400 less than what I had paid for my GS

[molly361]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

How does one cancel their RoyalUp bid?

I had a GS booked, received the email to RoyalUp, I bid $200pp for a CL.

Then today, I was looking around, called my TA, upgraded to CL for a total of $400 less than what I had paid for my GS

There's a place to modify or cancel your bid on the confirmation email you received when you bid

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, klfrodo said:

How does one cancel their RoyalUp bid?

I had a GS booked, received the email to RoyalUp, I bid $200pp for a CL.

Then today, I was looking around, called my TA, upgraded to CL for a total of $400 less than what I had paid for my GS

How were you able to upgrade to the Crown Loft  for less than you paid for the GS?  You are obviously after final payment as you received an offer to bid.

[klfrodo]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

How were you able to upgrade to the Crown Loft  for less than you paid for the GS?  You are obviously after final payment as you received an offer to bid.

I went to a cruise travel website, saw that there were still a CL available, called my TA to see if what I was seeing correct, she called her contact at Royal,,, called me with Royal on hold and asked if we wanted that cabin ., I said Yes. She called back after it was all done and said we would get a $400 refund to our cc.

I don't know the hows or the whys,,, it just did.

Edited September 10, 2019 by klfrodo

[molly361]

34 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

I went to a cruise travel website, saw that there were still a CL available, called my TA to see if what I was seeing correct, she called her contact at Royal,,, called me with Royal on hold and asked if we wanted that cabin ., I said Yes. She called back after it was all done and said we would get a $400 refund to our cc.

I don't know the hows or the whys,,, it just did.

If you were after final payment date when you upgraded according to their terms you should not get a refund.  You could have upgraded but not get any money back

[klfrodo]

3 minutes ago, molly361 said:

If you were after final payment date when you upgraded according to their terms you should not get a refund.  You could have upgraded but not get any money back

So, you're saying I should just give it back? 😵