Royal Up Thoughts

[Jbluebird]

We are currently booked in an Oceanview Balcony room on Jewel of the Seas, which is a partially obstructed view (top of lifeboat) above the casino, but mid-ship.  We got the Royal Up email and have bids in for both a Junior and Grand Suite. In looking at the deck plans, the Suites are on Deck 10, with most of the Grand Suites and some of the Junior Suites below the pool area (Most of the Junior Suites are below the Windjammer and the art gallery).  I've read that being below the pool area can get noisy when the chairs are being moved around, but the cruise is towards the end of August going to the UK so I don't really think it will be a lay around the pool cruise.  I wasn't sure about noise from the Windjammer, but why would people buy suites if they always had chair noise? We also have the option to bid on a Spacious Ocean View balcony and in doing a mock booking, there are still over 20 of those rooms available generally mid-ship on Deck 9. I've been hesitant to bid on those because I'd love a Suite, but now in looking at room locations I'm wondering if I should bid on a Spacious, which I might be more likely to get. I also know that just because the current Spacious Balcony rooms are being shown doesn't mean we'd get one of those, which is also why I'm partially hesitant to bid. I still have time to put a bid in on the Spacious as my current bids are just showing as submitted. Any thoughts from those who may have won their Royal Up bids and/or others who have been on Jewel?

[Kellie in Texas]

I don't know anything about Royal Up but we were in an aft junior suite on Serenade (sister ship to Jewel) last summer (June 2022) and we loved it. It was on 10 under the Windjammer. We would occasionally hear people talking but it was never too loud. Rarely heard any chairs scraping. I can't tell you what to bid on, but I got very spoiled to that aft balcony.

[Starry Eyes]

If I am fairly happy with my current balcony, I do not tend to bid on the spacious balcony upgrade.  Winning such a bid might mean I spend money to be in a worse location plus I no longer have a shot at a suite upgrade.

On the other hand, if I don’t like my current balcony cabin (perhaps a gty assignment or whatever), then I am apt to bid on the spacious balcony upgrade. Another roll of the dice may give me a cabin I like better.

 

Early morning deck cleaning requires chairs to be moved and that is the often the source of the noise complaints.  Don’t kid yourself about the season.  Expect the deck to be cleaned and chairs to be moved.  Consider whether you are light sleepers or not.  Are you noise sensitive or not?  Are you generally particular about your cabin location?  RoyalUp is not for everyone because you cannot select your cabin number.  It is good that you are thinking it through before you bid.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[firefly333]

On grandeur several people in JS were below the solarium with lots of noise. Be prepared for wherever you are moved if you win. 

[Jbluebird]

24 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

If I am fairly happy with my current balcony, I do not tend to bid on the spacious balcony upgrade.  Winning such a bid might mean I spend money to be in a worse location plus I no longer have a shot at a suite upgrade.

On the other hand, if I don’t like my current balcony cabin (perhaps a gty assignment or whatever), then I am apt to bid on the spacious balcony upgrade. Another roll of the dice may give me a cabin I like better.

 

Early morning deck cleaning requires chairs to be moved and that is the often the source of the noise complaints.  Don’t kid yourself about the season.  Expect the deck to be cleaned and chairs to be moved.  Consider whether you are light sleepers or not.  Are you noise sensitive or not?  Are you generally particular about your cabin location?  RoyalUp is not for everyone because you cannot select your cabin number.  It is good that you are thinking it through before you bid.

I currently like that we are mid-ship and don't mind the partially obstructed view. Not sure about being above the casino. In reality, we are only at sea 3 days and the other days are generally early excursions so we have to be up early anyway. We've never been in a suite and my feeling was the same as yours, a Spacious Ocean View Balcony is just a slightly bigger balcony room and I'd love to try a suite room if we can win the bid because in general, those rooms are out of our price range.

[Jbluebird]

1 hour ago, Kellie in Texas said:

I don't know anything about Royal Up but we were in an aft junior suite on Serenade (sister ship to Jewel) last summer (June 2022) and we loved it. It was on 10 under the Windjammer. We would occasionally hear people talking but it was never too loud. Rarely heard any chairs scraping. I can't tell you what to bid on, but I got very spoiled to that aft balcony.

Thank you. It's nice to get the perspective of someone who's been on a similar ship and good to hear the noise wasn't as often as I would have thought.

[pghflyer]

We had midship Junior Suite on Grandeur (Vision Class) and the noise of chair cleaning was pretty rough, spouse still mentions it years later every time I choose a cabin location...........

[Ashland]

Don't be too concerned about being under a public area on Jewel. We've sailed recently on her and Serenade in OS's and no problems with noise. 

[George C]

We have done at least 6 grand suites that were below pool deck had no issues with noise . Jewel doesn’t offer many perks for grand suites, you do get 3 hour happy hour , breakfast in a specialty restaurant and concierge. 

[chiguy67]

We had the Spacious OV Balcony on the Navigator in February and it really was only about 5 SF larger, you really don’t get that much room. We always Royal Up but if we don’t get it it’s ok, since we are not in our cabin much.

[Mikew0805]

5 hours ago, Jbluebird said:

We are currently booked in an Oceanview Balcony room on Jewel of the Seas, which is a partially obstructed view (top of lifeboat) above the casino, but mid-ship.  We got the Royal Up email and have bids in for both a Junior and Grand Suite. In looking at the deck plans, the Suites are on Deck 10, with most of the Grand Suites and some of the Junior Suites below the pool area (Most of the Junior Suites are below the Windjammer and the art gallery).  I've read that being below the pool area can get noisy when the chairs are being moved around, but the cruise is towards the end of August going to the UK so I don't really think it will be a lay around the pool cruise.  I wasn't sure about noise from the Windjammer, but why would people buy suites if they always had chair noise? We also have the option to bid on a Spacious Ocean View balcony and in doing a mock booking, there are still over 20 of those rooms available generally mid-ship on Deck 9. I've been hesitant to bid on those because I'd love a Suite, but now in looking at room locations I'm wondering if I should bid on a Spacious, which I might be more likely to get. I also know that just because the current Spacious Balcony rooms are being shown doesn't mean we'd get one of those, which is also why I'm partially hesitant to bid. I still have time to put a bid in on the Spacious as my current bids are just showing as submitted. Any thoughts from those who may have won their Royal Up bids and/or others who have been on Jewel?

Just Fyi - That is not really an obstructed view, and you will not see the lifeboat. There is a canopy above the lifeboats, and it is more of a down ward obstruction. Top of the canopy is basically level with your balcony floor.(just a bit higher) No obstruction looking out.

[goldfish65]

If it were me, II would bid on the GS and higher, that's what I'd call an upgrade,  a more spacious cabin. and the suite lounge on Jewel is nice, there is an actual bar you can sit at, and a nice assortment of breakfast foods, away from the crowds.  We had an OS under the windjammer for 12 nights and never heard anything. 

[Jasukkie]

I've had a junior suite(the accessible one with the big balcony) on deck 10 under the solarium  and the noise was minimal. I would book that location again in a heartbeat.