RoyalUP? (Bid for stateroom upgrade)

[Cruise a holic]

17 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

Just received my email today that I won my bid to upgrade from a balcony cabin to an Owner's Suite on Independence this weekend.  As a solo.

Going to be interesting to compare this experience with my two latest cruises, which were in a Haven Courtyard Penthouse Suite on NCL Getaway in September 2018 and a Yacht Club Deluxe Suite on MSC Meraviglia in August of this year.  I know there won't be a Butler on this ship like NCL and MSC, but should I plan for tip money for the Concierge?  Not sure if Royal includes them in the daily service charge pool or not.

Enjoy 

[binro01]

19 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

Haven Courtyard Penthouse Suite and a Yacht Club Deluxe Suite on MSC Meraviglia

On Independence you will not see the same level of service as Haven or the Yacht Club on MSC. It's not until you are booked into Star class suite on an oasis class or quantum class ship on Royal, that you start to really live the "suite" life. Just want to level set your expectations.

You don't have to "tip" the Concierge unless you feel that they provided you a service deserving of a tip. It's a personal preference. I'm unsure if they participate in the increased tip pool that GS and above rooms are charged. 

[GA Dave]

36 minutes ago, binro01 said:

On Independence you will not see the same level of service as Haven or the Yacht Club on MSC. It's not until you are booked into Star class suite on an oasis class or quantum class ship on Royal, that you start to really live the "suite" life. Just want to level set your expectations.

You don't have to "tip" the Concierge unless you feel that they provided you a service deserving of a tip. It's a personal preference. I'm unsure if they participate in the increased tip pool that GS and above rooms are charged. 

Thanks for the information.  Very much appreciated .

[crusinthrough]

On 11/5/2021 at 3:17 PM, Cardex said:

 

I had the same message too. I just message Royal on FB and they said the RoyalUp promo is by invite only. You have to receive the email. Guests are randomly selected and sent email to bid.

This is one of the many times I would not trust a RC response.  From a business view (especially during these times), what is the financial advantage of only inviting some people to bid. Since you don't who will bid or the anyone's threshold of an individual, you engage as many reservations as possible to maximize the potential financial outcome.  

12 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

Has anyone ever been RoyalUp blacked out?   On our upcoming cruise we tried to log in to see what was out there and got a message that my cruise wasn't open for Royal Up, check back 30 days out.

Have you cleared Cookies or tried a different browser?  I've had this happen and kept trying.  Eventually, the site worked. 

[RCCL Fan]

28 minutes ago, crusinthrough said:

This is one of the many times I would not trust a RC response.  From a business view (especially during these times), what is the financial advantage of only inviting some people to bid. Since you don't who will bid or the anyone's threshold of an individual, you engage as many reservations as possible to maximize the potential financial outcome.  

Have you cleared Cookies or tried a different browser?  I've had this happen and kept trying.  Eventually, the site worked. 

 

 windows, chromebook, iPad, iPhone,  nadda. 

call to customer service didn't reveal anything either

I think it's too late at this point,  we're totally happy in our cabin, just never had this happen before and couldn't figure out why.

 

I'm bidding high on my next sailing and counting on an upgrade, so I'm hoping I'm not on some RoyalUp naughty list or something. 

[binro01]

1 minute ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

 windows, chromebook, iPad, iPhone,  nadda. 

call to customer service didn't reveal anything either

I think it's too late at this point,  we're totally happy in our cabin, just never had this happen before and couldn't figure out why.

 

I'm bidding high on my next sailing and counting on an upgrade, so I'm hoping I'm not on some RoyalUp naughty list or something. 

Why would Royal want to put a high bidder on the naughty list 😛 I figure they would want you to bid every time, as many times as possible. You are what is known in the bidding/auction industry as a whale. Or in casino parlance, a high roller.

[RCCL Fan]

1 minute ago, binro01 said:

Why would Royal want to put a high bidder on the naughty list 😛 I figure they would want you to bid every time, as many times as possible. You are what is known in the bidding/auction industry as a whale. Or in casino parlance, a high roller.

 

I don't truly believe there's a naughty list.   I just meant I can't figure out why I was not included this sailing.  Didn't know if it was because I did a Lift & Shift.... but doesn't sound like anyone else had issues.    95% likely just some IT hiccup.

[binro01]

3 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

I don't truly believe there's a naughty list.   I just meant I can't figure out why I was not included this sailing.  Didn't know if it was because I did a Lift & Shift.... but doesn't sound like anyone else had issues.    95% likely just some IT hiccup.

I know. I was just being silly. But just post what cruises you are on, so I know not to book them and compete against you in a RoyalUp bid. I will surely lose. (again, being silly)

[HBCcruiser]

8 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

95% likely just some IT hiccup.

 

I am betting on this ☝️ 

Did you check your spam (I am sure you did). I find many of my RCC emails go to my Spam folder. 

[RCCL Fan]

3 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

I am betting on this ☝️ 

Did you check your spam (I am sure you did). I find many of my RCC emails go to my Spam folder. 

You don't need the email.   I went directly to the link and entered my info....

 

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

 

Nothing. 

[brillohead]

8 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

I don't truly believe there's a naughty list.   I just meant I can't figure out why I was not included this sailing.  Didn't know if it was because I did a Lift & Shift.... but doesn't sound like anyone else had issues.    95% likely just some IT hiccup.

You want to talk IT hiccups.... I have five cruises coming up soon.  Freedom, one day off, Symphony, Allure, Allure, one day off, Jewel.  I'm able to check in for all of them EXCEPT Symphony.  Not on the website, not on the app. 

I keep getting emails telling me to check in, but the website or app "breaks" every time I try ("Information not available" or "Check in has checked out" error messages).  I even get Royal Up offers for my Symphony cruise.  I've purchased Cruise Planner items just fine.  I just can't check in.  My TA doesn't know why, Royal's customer service doesn't know why, and CAS customer service doesn't know why.  Both my TA and CAS have put in IT tickets on the problem, but still no luck.

I'm down to 11 days from sailing, and all my other cruises in this bunch are all checked in fine. I figure I'll have the Diamond Concierge try to help me on Freedom, and if I still can't get checked in, I'll just show up at the pier and let them type in all the information for me.

RCI -- Really Consistently Inconsistent.

 

[marktwothousand]

I am a single occupant and showing $150 for a balcony upgrade on the slider. Does that mean I will be paying $150 or has the calculation already been made to reflect a total based on double occupancy?

 

if so, it’s $300 MINIMUM to upgrade to a balcony. That’s HIGH. My TA is offering me much lower.

 

if it’s $150 total, that’s excellent. 
 

do the minimum prices on offer ever change?

Edited November 9, 2021 by marktwothousand

[Merion_Mom]

2 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I am a single occupant and showing $150 for a balcony upgrade on the slider. Does that mean I will be paying $150 or has the calculation already been made to reflect a total based on double occupancy?

 

if so, it’s $300 MINIMUM to upgrade to a balcony. That’s HIGH. My TA is offering me much lower.

 

if it’s $150 total, that’s excellent. 
 

do the minimum prices on offer ever change?

 

It's $300

 

And it's not unusual for it to be cheaper for you to upgrade yourself than to use RoyalUp.

[marktwothousand]

3 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

It's $300

 

And it's not unusual for it to be cheaper for you to upgrade yourself than to use RoyalUp.

I had heard that 😞 has anyone ever heard of offers changing? Or if it is $150 minimum now, it will be like that till the cruise? (As long as I don’t put in offers)

[Merion_Mom]

Just now, marktwothousand said:

I had heard that 😞 has anyone ever heard of offers changing? Or if it is $150 minimum now, it will be like that till the cruise? (As long as I don’t put in offers)

It *can* change.  It all depends on how many people bite at that price.

[Merion_Mom]

FWIW - it's always 2x.

 

One passenger in cabin?  x2

Two passengers in cabin? x2

Three passengers in cabin? x2 

Four passengers in cabin? x2

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

I had heard that 😞 has anyone ever heard of offers changing? Or if it is $150 minimum now, it will be like that till the cruise? (As long as I don’t put in offers)

I received an email on September 27 to bid $300+ for a GS on the Mariner on November 11.  On November 3, I received another email to bid $90+ for the GS.  

[marktwothousand]

43 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I received an email on September 27 to bid $300+ for a GS on the Mariner on November 11.  On November 3, I received another email to bid $90+ for the GS.  

Me likey what me hearey…

 

anyone know: once a bid is accepted, can you get an email to bid for something higher? Right now I’m interior so my max is verandha. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by marktwothousand

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, marktwothousand said:

Me likey what me hearey…

Realize that min bids changes are somewhat rare and big changes like in that example are even rarer.

[marktwothousand]

13 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Realize that min bids changes are somewhat rare and big changes like in that example are even rarer.

Ya but my bids are too high rn so there’s no way I’d be going for it anyway. So nothing lost.

 

I also wonder what happens if someone bids on multiple room types. Hmmm!

[Biker19]

14 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I also wonder what happens if someone bids on multiple room types. Hmmm!

Folks do that all the time - you can only win one.

[binro01]

2 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

anyone know: once a bid is accepted, can you get an email to bid for something higher? Right now I’m interior so my max is verandha. 

Once a bid is accepted, that will be your room, you will not get another option after to bid on any higher level staterooms

[DMWT Cruiser]

3 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Me likey what me hearey…

 

anyone know: once a bid is accepted, can you get an email to bid for something higher? Right now I’m interior so my max is verandha. 

 

Realize that the RoyalUp process, in my experience, is a batch of stateroom "auctions" that all end at the same time, usually five (5) days or less from the date your cruise departs.

 

Passengers bid on any or all of the stateroom types available to them via RoyalUp.  When the "auction" ends, all of the winning bidders receive their staterooms and the process ends.  I have never seen sequential "rounds" of bidding.  In other words, when the RoyalUp "auction" for your sailing ends, it ends for everyone and no more bids are accepted or solicited.  You won't get another opportunity.  RoyalUp will not assign multiple winning bids to a single booking, so you can bid on as many stateroom categories as you'd like and bid as much as you'd like on each but at most only one would be a winning bid. 

 

 It does appear that minimum required bid amounts do fluctuate and i have even seen additional stateroom categories appear in RoyalUp between the initial "invitation email" and when the process ends.  So check back as often as you'd like to see if any additional, more desirable, stateroom categories are added to your bidding options.

 

Again, that is what I have experienced.  Hope that helps.

[Biker19]

33 minutes ago, binro01 said:

Once a bid is accepted, that will be your room, you will not get another option after to bid on any higher level staterooms

You can Royal Up again from the new cabin, but with assignments coming fairly late, there’s not much time for that. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Biker19

[gerig]

Set to cruise on the Anthem on Sunday (14th) and I did put in a bid for a junior suite which states that it is pending.  The website has all the suites listed as sold out so why doesn't show my bid as cancelled.  Am I reading into this as being a good sign?