Winning RoyalUp bids after return to full capacity

[dleahy4444]

Once cruising resumed and sailings were at low capacity, it seemed that a higher percentage of cruisers were winning their RoyalUp bids. Now that sailings are at full capacity and inventory on the website often shows multiple stateroom categories as sold out, are there any recent success stories out there? I’m particularly interested in winning bids within the suites category. My upcoming sailing shows balconies as available but the suite category is sold out. I know there is no way of guessing how Plusgrade  determines who wins a bid, but it’s fun to try to detect recent trends

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, dleahy4444 said:

Now that sailings are at full capacity and inventory on the website often shows multiple stateroom categories as sold out, are there any recent success stories out there?

Do a title limited search for Royal Up and browse the several threads on this topic for your answer.

[Joseph2017China]

Getting an upgrade, under the old way, and with the new bidding has always been extremely rare except for a small period of time.  Don't try to over guess this, since the odds of getting an upgrade is slim to none, but bid a really high number and maybe you will get it.  I would guess just getting what you want in the first place is better.  

[Starry Eyes]

we are in the same situation for our upcoming b2b. We submitted bids for full suites though full suites are sold out.  So first someone in a suite must cancel; that’s not a frequent event but it does happen now and then.  Then Royal either puts the suite for sale on the web or puts it into RoyalUp.  If it goes to RoyalUp, our bid must be selected.  I bid what the suite is worth to me.  As our bids are not super high, good chance somebody will have out bid us.  Overall, my odds are low, but as the bidding is easy I still take the shot.

 

 

We won a RoyalUp on our January cruise from OV to balcony.  Balconies and suites had been sold out (the whole cruise was sold out for a bit) for weeks. There must have been cancellations and we moved up.  There are far more balconies on a ship than suites.  So more balconies become  available due to cancellations than do suites.

[cruisegirl1]

We received a Royal up on a full ship in December (Christmas week) .  It was obviously a last minute cancellation as all the paperwork for the   intended occupant was in the cabin and every time we gave our cabin number in the dining room, they addressed us by the name of the intended occupant.   

 

M

[orville99]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Don't try to over guess this, since the odds of getting an upgrade is slim to none, but bid a really high number and maybe you will get it. 

And yet, we have won suite upgrades six times since the restart with minimum bids, four of which were after ships started sailing at full capacity, and at least three were upgrades to categories that showed as sold out when we placed our bids.

[dleahy4444]

Wow that is a lot! Were you bidding the max? 

[Joseph2017China]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

And yet, we have won suite upgrades six times since the restart with minimum bids, four of which were after ships started sailing at full capacity, and at least three were upgrades to categories that showed as sold out when we placed our bids.

Cool.  Since you got 6 upgrades, you must have taken it all from others.  I was making a point that upgrades were mostly non existent, and most are from lower cabins to the next one up which are minor upgrades.  However, you must be the only person ever to post that you are getting upgrades and on a regular basis.  All we ever hear is that people are not getting any

 

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

Wow that is a lot! Were you bidding the max? 

Nope. We have never bid more than the minimum bid for any RoyalUP upgrade.

[Starry Eyes]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

And yet, we have won suite upgrades six times since the restart with minimum bids, four of which were after ships started sailing at full capacity, and at least three were upgrades to categories that showed as sold out when we placed our bids.

Of those four suite upgrades since full capacity, how many were from one suite category to another suite category?  And how many from a regular stateroom up to a suite?

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

Cool.  Since you got 6 upgrades, you must have taken it all from others.  I was making a point that upgrades were mostly non existent, and most are from lower cabins to the next one up which are minor upgrades. 

 

I presume that every RoyalUP upgrade takes a cabin that someone else once held that was freed up as they won an upgrade to the next level. As for our six wins, 3 were from JS to CLS; 2 were from JS to GS; and one was from GS to OS. And, each win was accomplished with the minimum bid. We bid on upgrades any time we have a single cruise booked. We never book on any B2B cruises. Since we now do virtually all B2B or longer cruises, and always book suites, we haven’t put in a RoyalUP bid this year. The last one that we won was the GS to OS on Jewel in December. BTW, there were no OS showing as available when we placed the bid.

[orville99]

3 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Of those four suite upgrades since full capacity, how many were from one suite category to another suite category?  And how many from a regular stateroom up to a suite?

We always book at least a JS, so all of them were suite category upgrades. I presume that someone received an upgrade from a lower category to our vacated suite.

Edited March 27, 2023 by orville99

[Starry Eyes]

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We always book at least a JS, so all of them were suite category upgrades. I presume that someone received an upgrade from a lower category to our vacated suite.

OK, how many were full suite to full suite?

when I think of a suite upgrade, I am thinking if a full suite, not a (yawn) JS.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[dleahy4444]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

And yet, we have won suite upgrades six times since the restart with minimum bids, four of which were after ships started sailing at full capacity, and at least three were upgrades to categories that showed as sold out when we placed our bids.

 

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Nope. We have never bid more than the minimum bid for any RoyalUP upgrade.

Wow what do you think is the secret to your success? Sheer luck?

[orville99]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

OK, how many were full suite to full suite?

when I think of a suite upgrade, I am thinking if a full suite, not a (yawn) JS.

 

 

We haven’t booked anything lower than a JS in years, and most of our upcoming cruises are in GS. So as I stated in post#11 above, 5 were from the JS that we originally booked to a full suite, an 1 was from a GS that we had originally booked to an OS.

Edited March 27, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

26 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

 

Wow what do you think is the secret to your success? Sheer luck?

The entire process is sheer luck. Since we always book at least a JS, we really don’t care if we win an upgrade, so we never bid more than the minimum. I guess (at least from our experience) the amount one bids has no discernible impact on the outcome.

[Jenna1983]

I just got notified my minimum bid for spacious OV Balcony was accepted. Sailing in 34 days. 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Jenna1983

[orville99]

13 minutes ago, Jenna1983 said:

I just got notified my minimum bid for spacious OV Balcony was accepted. Sailing in 34 days. 

Congratulations…enjoy your cruise.😇

[dleahy4444]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

The entire process is sheer luck. Since we always book at least a JS, we really don’t care if we win an upgrade, so we never bid more than the minimum. I guess (at least from our experience) the amount one bids has no discernible impact on the outcome.

You definitely are lucky! I have put in bids at least 6 times. Only won once, and that was a very minor upgrade from a balcony to a balcony with a bigger balcony. Interestingly the other 5 times I was bidding from a JS or above to higher suite categories with no luck.  No rhyme or reason I guess. 

[GetToLivin]

We had luck in the suites category over a NYE sailing no less, Dec 2022. We went from a Jr. Suite to a Spacious 1-bedroom Aqua Suite on Deck 11. I bid a decent amount but also what I was comfortable paying, and it worked out for us.

[orville99]

38 minutes ago, GetToLivin said:

I bid a decent amount but also what I was comfortable paying, and it worked out for us.

At the end of the day, this is what is important to know - bid what you feel the upgrade is worth compared to what you originally booked. 

[mandyleighflies]

On a whim of inspiration, I just threw in a bid from our GS to an OS on our Grandeur cruise for this upcoming weekend. I DOUBT we will see anything of it, but hey, ya never know! 🍀😆

[nemesees]

How does one get a chance for the Royal Upgrade? Does RCL randomly pick or is there a location to sign up?

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, nemesees said:

How does one get a chance for the Royal Upgrade? Does RCL randomly pick or is there a location to sign up?

You may get an email to bid or you can go directly to the site and bid, if eligible - not everyone is.

[sargemrs]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

You may get an email to bid or you can go directly to the site and bid, if eligible - not everyone is.

How late is this process started?  New to RCL.