Best Way/Time to try to Upgrade to a Suite

[bgregan]

My wife and I are booked on Allure of the Seas for Oct 25-30.  This is our 4th cruise with RC and we were thinking about trying to upgrade our Large Ocean Balcony (Cabin 8194) to one of the Royal Suites.  There are still quite a few available on our sailing.  We are celebrating our 25th anniversary. 🙂  What is the best way/time to go about trying to get a deal on the upgrade?  Thanks in advance for any info.

[firefly333]

I think it depends on how long ago did you book? When allure came out these dates were cheap, and now way way up. So if you locked in a price long ago to upgrade by paying the difference is a huge jump.

 

Royal up would be the cheaper option often. Be sure you know how much it costs to upgrade and do a mock booking.

 

See if your oct dates are open .. if not they will be rather soon. Sept royal up already been open a while.

 

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

 

 

[bgregan]

22 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I think it depends on how long ago did you book? When allure came out these dates were cheap, and now way way up. So if you locked in a price long ago to upgrade by paying the difference is a huge jump.

 

Royal up would be the cheaper option often. Be sure you know how much it costs to upgrade and do a mock booking.

 

See if your oct dates are open .. if not they will be rather soon. Sept royal up already been open a while.

 

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

 

 

Thank you so much!!  It's not available yet but we will keep watching for it. 

[orville99]

10 minutes ago, bgregan said:

Thank you so much!!  It's not available yet but we will keep watching for it. 

Not sure how much you paid for your balcony cabin, but given the small difference in price today between a Junior Suite, a Grand Suite, and a Crown Loft Suite, I'd probably skip over the JS and just bid on the GS and the CLS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by orville99

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

small difference in price

 

"Small" is relative.

 

I agree skipping the JS and going to a GS makes sense given the Oasis class perks though.

Edited August 5, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[bgregan]

5 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Not sure how much you paid for your balcony cabin, but given the small difference in price today between a Junior Suite, a Grand Suite, and a Crown Loft Suite, I'd probably skip over the JS and just bid on the GS and the CLS.

 

 

 

 

We paid $2474 for our Balcony cabin and yes we planned on skipping over the JS for either the GS or the CLS because of the Perks and price wasn't that much more.  Thank you

[gmerick]

Best Way:  Call you TA, say money no concern, I want a suite.

Best Time:  When the sailing is first released, second best time: NOW.

 

History and experience show prices have only gone up since the shutdown.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, bgregan said:

We paid $2474 for our Balcony cabin and yes we planned on skipping over the JS for either the GS or the CLS because of the Perks and price wasn't that much more.  Thank you

You only get to celebrate your 25th anniversary once (unless you get traded), so congratulations and I’d pull the trigger on a GS. Nothing better than a quiet, romantic dinner on your balcony on your anniversary. (Room service from the MDR is no charge in a GS or above). If you go for the CLS, the Allure CLS have a two person walk-in rain shower upstairs. The Coastal Kitchen on Allure is also our favorite layout of all the CKs.

Edited August 5, 2023 by orville99

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, bgregan said:

My wife and I are booked on Allure of the Seas for Oct 25-30.  This is our 4th cruise with RC and we were thinking about trying to upgrade our Large Ocean Balcony (Cabin 8194) to one of the Royal Suites.  There are still quite a few available on our sailing.  We are celebrating our 25th anniversary. 🙂  What is the best way/time to go about trying to get a deal on the upgrade?  Thanks in advance for any info.

Just pay for the upgrade if you really want it.  If it doesn't really matter then try for the Royal up but very few of those ever get awarded these days

[Jerseygirl1416]

The Owners Suite is so much better imo than the GS and the CLS. Full disclosure- never stayed in a CLS but the stairs and the balcony are turn offs for me. The GS balcony is too cramped feeling. OS just perfect 🤩 

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, bgregan said:

My wife and I are booked on Allure of the Seas for Oct 25-30.  This is our 4th cruise with RC and we were thinking about trying to upgrade our Large Ocean Balcony (Cabin 8194) to one of the Royal Suites.  There are still quite a few available on our sailing.  We are celebrating our 25th anniversary. 🙂  What is the best way/time to go about trying to get a deal on the upgrade?  Thanks in advance for any info.

Save your money and splurge on some specialty dining. The additional cost for a suite is much more than it’s worth. 
 

Full disclosure: we normally sail in a Grand Suite. Last cruise we were in a Loft to Alaska. But I can’t, with a clear conscious, tell someone “money doesn’t matter” because it does.

 

You can have a first class cruise in your ocean view room with a few special extras. A few hundred dollars versus thousands of dollars. Money matters. 

[orville99]

14 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

The Owners Suite is so much better imo than the GS and the CLS. Full disclosure- never stayed in a CLS but the stairs and the balcony are turn offs for me. The GS balcony is too cramped feeling. OS just perfect 🤩 

Agree, but unfortunately there are none showing as available on the OP’s cruise.

[taglovestocruise]

51 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Save your money and splurge on some specialty dining. The additional cost for a suite is much more than it’s worth. 
 

Full disclosure: we normally sail in a Grand Suite. Last cruise we were in a Loft to Alaska. But I can’t, with a clear conscious, tell someone “money doesn’t matter” because it does.

 

You can have a first class cruise in your ocean view room with a few special extras. A few hundred dollars versus thousands of dollars. Money matters. 

+ they are in a forward hump cabin, nice location with a larger balcony and no cabins across the hall.

[jk04]

The GS is very nice, lots of extra space in the room.  The bathroom is so much larger with a double sink.  The tub is a bit of a step up to get into, or a sit and swing with your legs.  The balcony may not be as large as the OS but there is a table with 2 chairs plus 2 chairs with footrests.

 

I love the CLS on Allure because of the rain shower in the upstairs bath.  That's the other thing, two bathrooms!  Deck 17 is great with the huge hallways and not a lot of foot traffic.  It's also right there next to Coastal Kitchen and Suite Lounge and one floor down to WJ.  A con is that the elevators can sometimes take a while.

 

The perks are very enjoyable for GS and above on Allure.  Don't know if you are familiar with them, the Concierge will contact you about a week out for dining and show reservations and other requests.  You can arrive an hour early than your boarding time where there is a dedicated area to sit.  Not as nice in PC as in Miami.  You each get an internet package.  In addition to CK and SL, there is a Suite Deck.  Haven't been on Allure in a while, but assume it's the same as Oasis did, the Concierges on port days for the first couple of hours will do express elevators for debarkation.  One of my favorite perks is priority debarkation on the last day.

 

Yes, it is quite a bit more money going from a balcony to a full suite.  And, as others have mentioned, a Specialty Dining package, The Key, and some other purchases will also make your cruise just as special.  For me, I like splurging on the extras you get with a full suite on an Oasis class ship.  

 

I hope you have a wonderful Anniversary Cruise!!  ☺️

[Jerseygirl1416]

1 hour ago, jk04 said:

The GS is very nice, lots of extra space in the room.  The bathroom is so much larger with a double sink.  The tub is a bit of a step up to get into, or a sit and swing with your legs.  The balcony may not be as large as the OS but there is a table with 2 chairs plus 2 chairs with footrests.

 

 

On Oasis they have two padded loungers crammed parallel to the ocean side by side which barely fit even like that so the chairs with the ottomans would be a great improvement! And I forgot about the bathroom situation. It’s bad and dated and definitely needs to be replaced.

[jk04]

4 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

On Oasis they have two padded loungers crammed parallel to the ocean side by side which barely fit even like that so the chairs with the ottomans would be a great improvement! And I forgot about the bathroom situation. It’s bad and dated and definitely needs to be replaced.

Yeah, it was like that on Indy last September, so I did some rearranging.  Moved the table and chair out of the way so I could take one of the loungers over to the other side of the balcony.  Then angled both loungers from the corners toward the ocean.  The table and chairs went in the middle between the two loungers.  That way, both of us could use the loungers and watch the ocean.

 

Agree about the tub in the bathroom.  But I do like the double sink and the extra space.  Plus, all the storage. 

[bgregan]

We decided to just pull the trigger and upgrade to the GS.  The perks on the Oasis class ships helped us make the decision.  We got Cabin 8260 which seems like a great cabin on the 8th deck.  Thank you 🙂

[loman]

1 hour ago, bgregan said:

We decided to just pull the trigger and upgrade to the GS.  The perks on the Oasis class ships helped us make the decision.  We got Cabin 8260 which seems like a great cabin on the 8th deck.  Thank you 🙂

Good move ! 

I wont do royal ups for fear of getting awarded a noisy cabin under the pool deck and having to pay thousands of dollars more for it .

If i want a suite i will do what you did and that way you can control the location.

I wont give up my ocean view balcony on deck 8 for an upgrade.

 

The suite lounge and costal kitchen are a great perk on Allure. We were on Allure in a CL and really enjoyed the experience.

Have a wonderful cruise !

[jk04]

3 hours ago, bgregan said:

We decided to just pull the trigger and upgrade to the GS.  The perks on the Oasis class ships helped us make the decision.  We got Cabin 8260 which seems like a great cabin on the 8th deck.  Thank you 🙂

Congratulations!!  We were on Allure for our 25th anniversary as well, but in a CLS.  She was our first Oasis class and I fell in love.

 

We have been on Deck 7 and Deck 9 in GS on other Oasis class.  Deck 7 was nice if you remember which elevator to get on over Boardwalk 😂

 

Deck 8 is going to be great!!   Right there by specialty dining, if you decide to spring for that.  If you are able to take the stairs, very quick to get to Boardwalk on Deck 6 or Royal Promenade on Deck 5.  Listening to the ocean on your balcony as you sail is so relaxing.  If you like steak, the first night in Coastal Kitchen is Filet with Truffle Mashed Potatoes.  Both are excellent!!

 

Have a great time and enjoy!!