UPGRADE

[drsel]

Royal has offered me an upgrade from my inside cabin on an 8 night Med Cruise .

 

I have sea sickness, so I was wondering if it is
worth upgrading by paying more for a balcony or ultra spacious Ocean view or spacious Ocean view.

 

What are the chances of getting your bid accepted, if you bid at the lowest starting price?

 

Is it better to bid for only one category & wait for their reply, and if declined, then bid for the second category; and so on

OR

Bid for all three categories at the same time?

In which case would my chances be better?

Thanks 

Edited September 3, 2022 by drsel

[zebra36]

If you are overly sensitive to the motion of the ocean and have a cabin that you feel will minimize any problem, I would pass on any potential upgrade(?) that would put your comfort at risk.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

There would appear to be no rhyme or reason as to when, or what,  bids are accepted. Your chances range from 0% to 100%.

[drsel]

39 minutes ago, zebra36 said:

If you are overly sensitive to the motion of the ocean and have a cabin that you feel will minimize any problem, I would pass on any potential upgrade(?) that would put your comfort at risk.

My sea sickness is perfectly well controlled with dimenhydrinate tablets.

I wanted to know if it is better to bid for all three categories simultaneously, or only balcony and wait for a reply.

How long will it take Royal to reply because the sailing is 30 days away

[drsel]

How much would you pay per cabin (for 8 nights) to upgrade to a balcony, an ultra spacious Ocean view or a spacoius Ocean view for an 8 night Cruise

[J&L~SetSail]

I've had three Royal Caribbean cruises so far this year and won an upgrade on all of them. I bid on multiple option on the first two. On one, the "upgraded" cabin was in a terrible location.  The other one was just okay. On the most recent one, I only bid on the exact category I really wanted and won that one. A big however though...I received the upgrade the day before the sailing.

[drsel]

4 minutes ago, J&L~SetSail said:

I've had three Royal Caribbean cruises so far this year and won an upgrade on all of them. I bid on multiple option on the first two. On one, the "upgraded" cabin was in a terrible location.  The other one was just okay. On the most recent one, I only bid on the exact category I really wanted and won that one. A big however though...I received the upgrade the day before the sailing.

Thanks that's was very useful and informative. how much did you bid and for which category and for how many nights?

Did you bid the minimum amount allowed in all cases?

[J&L~SetSail]

First one was the Harmony, in early February. It was any easy win due to low capacity. I bid $10 over the minimum from Balcony to oversize balcony and junior suite. Got the oversize balcony. But it was under the lido with the overhang and a support beam in front of it. Next was the Odyssey in April. Went from inside to balcony for double the minimum bid. Won that one a week after I bid-about 30 days before sailing.  Both of those were 7 nights.  I just returned from an 8  night Mariner, and had an inside.  I really wanted one of the new cabins above the spa area-Panoramic Oceanview. I kept upping my bid along the way.  About 5 days out, I saw one come available to book, so I went ahead and maxed out my bid at $275. I may have gotten it cheaper, but I really really wanted that cabin. I was still all in for less than $1000 if I had booked it outright.

[drsel]

2 hours ago, J&L~SetSail said:

First one was the Harmony, in early February. It was any easy win due to low capacity. I bid $10 over the minimum from Balcony to oversize balcony and junior suite. Got the oversize balcony. But it was under the lido with the overhang and a support beam in front of it. Next was the Odyssey in April. Went from inside to balcony for double the minimum bid. Won that one a week after I bid-about 30 days before sailing.  Both of those were 7 nights.  I just returned from an 8  night Mariner, and had an inside.  I really wanted one of the new cabins above the spa area-Panoramic Oceanview. I kept upping my bid along the way.  About 5 days out, I saw one come available to book, so I went ahead and maxed out my bid at $275. I may have gotten it cheaper, but I really really wanted that cabin. I was still all in for less than $1000 if I had booked it outright.

Thanks, so what do you think are my chances if I bid the minimum allowed or maybe $1 above that?

Does Royal give these upgrade offers to everybody in inside cabins or everybody on the ship who are not in mini suites or suites?

[Ourusualbeach]

9 minutes ago, drsel said:

Thanks, so what do you think are my chances if I bid the minimum allowed or maybe $1 above that?

Does Royal give these upgrade offers to everybody in inside cabins or everybody on the ship who are not in mini suites or suites?

Nearly everyone gets these offers, including suites.  Your chance of winning will partly depend on how much you bid vs others.

 

A lot more people were successful months ago as the shipos were not sailing full.  Now that a lot of ships are sailing full or close to it the chances of you being successful has decreased.

 

It makes no difference if you bid on one or 3.  many find out between a week before and the day of sailing

[ggo85]

Put yourself in RCCL’s place.  Their preference is to sell the cabin for “full” price (less any ongoing sales).  If they have lots of open cabins, they might start offering upgrades earlier.  If they have only one or very few, they might hold off, hoping for a last-minute booking.  They have all of the knowledge, so it’s hard to out-guess or out-game them. 
 

It’s like a silent auction. Bid an amount where, if you get it, you feel like it’s money well spent and, if you don’t, you’re happy you didn’t spend more b/c it wasn’t worth it — to you.  

Edited September 3, 2022 by ggo85

[bucfan2]

14 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Nearly everyone gets these offers, including suites.  Your chance of winning will partly depend on how much you bid vs others.

 

Indeed, as it’s a blind/silent auction. I always chuckle at (and appreciate) those willing to state what they bid…helps when you’re hoping to outbid them. We got our RoyalUp to a CL a couple days ago, and bid what we’re happily willing to pay.  We never go into it ‘expecting’ an upgrade….we book what we want initially and hope for the best w/ bidding up. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by bucfan2

[SplashOfWater]

We bid in the fair range for a suite, but received the "your request will be reviewed onboard" email yesterday (we're a few days away from sailing). Our sailing disappeared from Royal's website several days ago, leading me to believe it was sold out. I think more people started booking cabins when Royal relaxed the vaccination requirements. I am not optimistic about the upgrade, but we are perfectly happy with the cabin we booked and will enjoy the cruise either way!

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

8 hours ago, drsel said:

Is it better to bid for only one category & wait for their reply, and if declined, then bid for the second category; and so on

 

You've been given lots of good information, I would only add that I do NOT recommend waiting to hear back before bidding on additional categories. While there are exceptions, you usually don't find out that your bid was unsuccessful until it's too late to do anything about it. I generally get that email on embarkation day. 😉 

[lenquixote66]

In the old days one could get an upgrade without bidding.

We once went from on OV to a balcony.

[drsel]

1 hour ago, ggo85 said:

Bid an amount where, if you get it, you feel like it’s money well spent and, if you don’t, you’re happy you didn’t spend more b/c it wasn’t worth it — to you.  

Yes for me it's a win win situation.

if I get any one of the cabins at the minimum bid price, it's great deal.

 

If I don't then it's no problem,  because we will be out of the cabin whole day enjoying all the shows, activities and entertainment.

So it's probably not worth paying more

[okiedrifters]

3 hours ago, SplashOfWater said:

We bid in the fair range for a suite, but received the "your request will be reviewed onboard" email yesterday (we're a few days away from sailing). Our sailing disappeared from Royal's website several days ago, leading me to believe it was sold out. I think more people started booking cabins when Royal relaxed the vaccination requirements. I am not optimistic about the upgrade, but we are perfectly happy with the cabin we booked and will enjoy the cruise either way!

My cruise disappeared also and our sailing (goes into Canada) testing is still on. My 🤞🏻are still crossed for my RoyalUp, but I feel chances are very slim for acceptance. We’ve won before and it was wonderful! We are almost

 D+  and in all those cruises were never visited by the “upgrade fairy” so I am very happy with the RoyalUp program that at least gives me hope and a chance for an upgrade. That being said, we always book the minimum cabin category we would be happy with…so either way, it’s gonna be a great trip! 
 

Funny tho, we sailed many years ago with friends on Holland America to Alaska..our first and only time on HAL…we were given a free upgrade to a suite! It was a wonderful surprise!!! Wonders never cease….😅

Good luck everyone….

Edited September 3, 2022 by okiedrifters
Typo

[drsel]

5 minutes ago, okiedrifters said:

Holland America to Alaska..our first and only time on HAL…we were given a free upgrade to a suite! .

Thanks, how would you compare Royal with HAL

[drsel]

3 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

You've been given lots of good information, I would only add that I do NOT recommend waiting to hear back before bidding on additional categories. While there are exceptions, you usually don't find out that your bid was unsuccessful until it's too late to do anything about it. I generally get that email on embarkation day. 😉 

Thanks. Royal offered me an upgrade to Ocean view,  spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view or balcony.

But surprisingly  all categories in Ocean view and balcony are showing as "sold out" if you try to book a new Cruise.

From where will they give me these cabins?

 

If these 4 categories of cabins are still available,  then why don't they sell them to new customers?

[gumshoe958]

9 minutes ago, drsel said:

Thanks. Royal offered me an upgrade to Ocean view,  spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view or balcony.

But surprisingly  all categories in Ocean view and balcony are showing as "sold out" if you try to book a new Cruise.

From where will they give me these cabins?

 

If these 4 categories of cabins are still available,  then why don't they sell them to new customers?

Just because you can bid via RoyalUp does not necessarily mean that category is available; it may indeed be sold out.

 

But if someone cancels last minute or no-shows on the day, thanks to RoyalUp an otherwise empty cabin or suite can be filled immediately and Royal makes a few more $$$. Win win.

[Merion_Mom]

16 minutes ago, drsel said:

Thanks. Royal offered me an upgrade to Ocean view,  spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view or balcony.

But surprisingly  all categories in Ocean view and balcony are showing as "sold out" if you try to book a new Cruise.

From where will they give me these cabins?

 

If these 4 categories of cabins are still available,  then why don't they sell them to new customers?

 

It is likely that people have booked "guarantee" categories and it's a jigsaw puzzle to fit them into cabins + deal with RoyalUp upgrades.  It's like a game of dominoes.

[Tolkmit]

24 minutes ago, drsel said:

Thanks. Royal offered me an upgrade to Ocean view,  spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view or balcony.

But surprisingly  all categories in Ocean view and balcony are showing as "sold out" if you try to book a new Cruise.

From where will they give me these cabins?

 

If these 4 categories of cabins are still available,  then why don't they sell them to new customers?

 

Royal offers basically everyone the option to bid for an upgrade to the ~5 categories immediately above them; regardless of any current availability. Them offering you a chance to bid does not mean they have cabins available.

 

Royal's meter telling you "bid strength" is also almost completely unrelated to the likelihood of your bid being accepted. The scale is a generic amount based on all cruises on all ships; nothing specific to your ship or your sailing.

 

Royal is very unlikely to reject any of your bids until after 5pm the day of your sailing. There is no benefit to them to reject bids until they know everyone actually boarded and all rooms are occupied.

[okiedrifters]

39 minutes ago, drsel said:

Thanks, how would you compare Royal with HAL

I actually loved HAL! It is or seems so, to be for a more mature crowd (not necessarily all seniors by any means, but not a rowdy crowd for sure) and there were very few children onboard and they were well behaved children at that. We had a blast, 50’s music one night…think “at the hop” dancing, etc. The food was excellent, impeccable service, entertainment too…can’t fault them in any way. That was pre Covid so I am sure, like all lines, they are doing their very best with what they have.  That being said, we are “loyal to royal”…..

[drsel]

25 minutes ago, Tolkmit said:

 

Royal offers basically everyone the option to bid for an upgrade to the ~5 categories immediately above them; regardless of any current availability. Them offering you a chance to bid does not mean they have cabins available.

 

Royal's meter telling you "bid strength" is also almost completely unrelated to the likelihood of your bid being accepted. The scale is a generic amount based on all cruises on all ships; nothing specific to your ship or your sailing.

 

Royal is very unlikely to reject any of your bids until after 5pm the day of your sailing. There is no benefit to them to reject bids until they know everyone actually boarded and all rooms are occupied.

Thanks. I bid on spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view and balcony, all at the minimum bid price.

if all three categories become available due to last minute drop outs then I suppose they will accept my highest bid, which is for the balcony cabin; and charge my credit card only for that one bid.

what will happen to the cabin which I vacate?

[Tolkmit]

5 minutes ago, drsel said:

Thanks. I bid on spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view and balcony, all at the minimum bid price.

if all three categories become available due to last minute drop outs then I suppose they will accept my highest bid, which is for the balcony cabin; and charge my credit card only for that one bid.

what will happen to the cabin which I vacate?

 

So if all three of those cabins become available, they will accept based on totality of their income, which depends on what other people bid. For instance, if you bid 200 for ocean view, or 300 for balcony, but someone already in an ocean view bid 200 for balcony; they will move the person in ocean view to the balcony, and you into their ocean view, getting 400 (200 from their bid for balcony & 200 from yours for ocean view) rather than taking the 300 to move just you to a balcony.

 

What happens to your cabin, since you're in an interior, is pretty random. There is a chance it stays empty. There is a chance they use it for crew. There is a chance they move someone who is in a guarantee that is unhappy with their assigned room to yours once it opens up, and someone else's cabin stays empty or gets used for crew.