Royal Up from Guaranteed?

[cruisingcasual]

We have a Guaranteed Interior Cabin booking on Harmony in late December for 4 of us. I just got a Royal Up email (first time for that!) and I'm curious about opinions on what I should do. I'm not 100% sure how it all works and what pros and cons might be.

[karmamule]

First a word of caution: any bid you make is PER PERSON, so if you bid $500 you'd get charged $1000. (Only the first two passengers matter so you won't have to pay for any kids with you.) 

 

Secondly, Royal can accept it at any time and once they accept there is no turning back, so only bid if you can afford it and are confident it's worth it. They usually only accept a few days or even hours before the cruise leaves, but reserve the right to accept any bid IMMEDIATELY. Be sure you're ok with the added expense.

 

Caveats aside, your odds of winning a bid seem much better right now while ships are running at partial capacity, and some people bidding the minimums are winning, so why not give it a shot if you can afford it?

 

One other reason not to do it for most people is they are risking a reservation for a specific cabin for an unknown one of a certain room type. BUT, since you're doing a guarantee you don't have to worry about it because that's already true for you.

 

If your budget allows, I say GO FOR IT and good luck!

[cynt]

1 hour ago, cruisingcasual said:

We have a Guaranteed Interior Cabin booking on Harmony in late December for 4 of us. I just got a Royal Up email (first time for that!) and I'm curious about opinions on what I should do. I'm not 100% sure how it all works and what pros and cons might be.

 

O I'm jealous. I booked the same thing in hopes of RoyalUp. I have a December cruise and I want to RoyalUp but it's not open yet. I knew extending the pay in full to 30 days out would mess up the RoyalUp timing. But glad to hear they are offering it. I guess I'll go back to checking the RU website every day. LOL!

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, cynt said:

I knew extending the pay in full to 30 days out would mess up the RoyalUp timing.

Not sure final payment has had any influence on Royal Up bid timing.

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, cruisingcasual said:

I'm curious about opinions on what I should do.

You can only go up from an inside GTY booking so it's a no brainer to Royal Up as long as cost is reasonable. The fact that you'll only be charged for the first two is a bonus.

 

Biker, who would certainly bid on an Ultra Spacious Balcony.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Biker19

[RosieRoo]

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure final payment has had any influence on Royal Up bid timing.

I don’t think it does. I’m sailing 12/5 and have only just made my deposit and already got the Royal Up email today. 

[Lou33]

5 hours ago, cynt said:

 

O I'm jealous. I booked the same thing in hopes of RoyalUp. I have a December cruise and I want to RoyalUp but it's not open yet. I knew extending the pay in full to 30 days out would mess up the RoyalUp timing. But glad to hear they are offering it. I guess I'll go back to checking the RU website every day. LOL!

You don't need to wait for an email.  Just google "royalup bid" and you'll see a link where you can enter your name and reservation number, and it should let you bid right now.  

 

But there is probably no benefit to bid early.  Especially now, bids seem to get accepted 2-5 days before departure.  If your bid gets accepted 2 months in advance, you probably bid way more than you needed to.  

[cruisingcasual]

You all convinced me, I pulled the trigger. 

Went a bit above the minimum on Spacious Ocean View and Spacious Interior.

 

Now we wait...

Edited September 28, 2021 by cruisingcasual

[LilBlackDress]

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

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, cruisingcasual said:

Now we wait...

While waiting, keep looking at self upgrade prices - they might be even cheaper than the min bid.

[Fisical1]

We are cruising December 3rd.   I havent seen an email yet and when I try I get this.   I guess I cant access yet.

 

[HaraldOslo]

If ships now sail at half capacity, I would think that they would upgrade all interior GTYs to outside balconies, just to give people a taste of it and hopefully they will pay full price next time.

 

It doesn't cost them anything, and it's just good customer service and makes sense from a marketing point of view.

 

We have a cruise on Harmony in October, booked 1 oceanfacing balcony GTY and 1 oceanview GTY, excited to see what we will get. As it's the same reservation / they are linked, I would hope they put the oceanview close to us, or perhaps upgrade us to connecting balconies. That would be awesome.

 

A junior suite would be too much to hope for, I know..

[mtiffany24]

If you are traveling solo you have to pay for TWO Royal ups. Not worth it.