Bidding on upgrades

[Starry Eyes]

10 minutes ago, teddie said:

Rather than create a new post on bidding for upgrades, I’ll ask my question here on the same topic.

 

We are in a regular balcony and we bid on JS, JS w large balcony, and GS. Why is it when I follow the link on my cruise details to the Bidding page, only the GS shows up top with the option to modify or cancel the bid? The two JS bids are listed below that do not offer those options.  When I do a mock booking, there are still cabins (albeit not so many) in all three categories showing as available. Any ideas?
 

thanks,

teddie

One of your bids (GS in your case) is “spotlighted” in the bigger box.  You can modify or cancel that one.  To switch to one of the other bids below, click on the stateroom name (Junior Suite, for example).  Your JS bid will move to the that spotlighted position at the top where you can modify or cancel it.  Your GS bid will be  rotate to the bottom while you work on JS.

 

 

[teddie]

8 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

One of your bids (GS in your case) is “spotlighted” in the bigger box.  You can modify or cancel that one.  To switch to one of the other bids below, click on the stateroom name (Junior Suite, for example).  Your JS bid will move to the that spotlighted position at the top where you can modify or cancel it.  Your GS bid will be  rotate to the bottom while you work on JS.

 

 

Ahhhh!  Thanks very much!

 

Teddie

[Fa-Li]

The past two cruises, when I did the mock booking to assess what a reasonable bid was, I realized that I could simply upgrade directly for less than I was being asked to bid.  I imagine this will go the way of the dodo as cruises are every more fully booked, but it's worth checking.

[twinmommy08]

Our holiday adventure cruise showed nearly all the GS still open when I received our bid up offers this week. The min is $175 pp. I booked two rooms so bid the min on both. We’ll see what happens. I’ve never won a bid so far! 

[mac_tlc]

7 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Your C&A level does not come into play on the bidding.  The program is handled by a third party outside of RCI, who don't have access to your C&A membership.  

Maybe someday Royal will follow their sister :

 

MoveUp allows you to bid on a stateroom upgrade after you’ve purchased your cruise. As a valued Captain’s Club member your bid gets a bonus boost based on your tier. So, you get more value than what you bid. Classic members get an extra 1% multiplier, Select members get a 2% multiplier, Elite members get a 3% multiplier, Elite Plus members get a 4% multiplier, and Zenith members get a 5% multiplier.

 

Not a big difference but you never know. 

 

 

mac_tlc

[amby6063]

Adding to the questions because this is my first time seeing a Royal up option (or booking a gty cabin!)

 

I am booked in a  neighbourhood balcony gty cabin, sailing Jan 7 2024. I bid on an ocean view cabin. 

Do these typically not get approved/ assigned until close to the cruise date? 
If it did get assigned early would it just change my neighbourhood gty to ocean view gty or would it give me a cabin number? If it did happen to give me a cabin number can I treat it like a gty and choose a different available cabin in the same category? 
 

thanks in advance! 

[ohiolovescrusing]

1 hour ago, Fa-Li said:

The past two cruises, when I did the mock booking to assess what a reasonable bid was, I realized that I could simply upgrade directly for less than I was being asked to bid.  I imagine this will go the way of the dodo as cruises are every more fully booked, but it's worth checking.

I’ve seen this too recently on Adventure. Check upgrading directly and make decision.  Also, if open to Guaranteed cabin much more likely to be able to do (and move up is a guaranteed cabin!). And just check periodically, and act quickly if something unusual comes up, it can disappear fast!  Just know ur limits and be patient, u may be rewarded.  Depends on many factors…

[George C]

7 hours ago, orville99 said:

The worst RoyalUP bid that we won was the first one that we bid on - upgrade from a JS to our first GS. The problem wasn't that the cabin was in a bad location (it was actually in a great location), but that DW fell in love with GS.😱

It has been the suite life ever since😇

 

I totally understand we moved up on our own almost ten years ago to grand suite, now we always book grand suites our one exception was for a owners suite.

[Starry Eyes]

29 minutes ago, amby6063 said:

Adding to the questions because this is my first time seeing a Royal up option (or booking a gty cabin!)

 

I am booked in a  neighbourhood balcony gty cabin, sailing Jan 7 2024. I bid on an ocean view cabin. 

Do these typically not get approved/ assigned until close to the cruise date? 
If it did get assigned early would it just change my neighbourhood gty to ocean view gty or would it give me a cabin number? If it did happen to give me a cabin number can I treat it like a gty and choose a different available cabin in the same category? 
 

thanks in advance! 

When my bids have won, the wins have come relatively close to sailing date (mostly within a week), and I have seen a lot of other people report wins close to sailing date (That makes sense if the cruiseline is hoping someone will book those cabins for full price). Certainly some wins are reported further out.  Theoretically you could win shortly after submitting you bid.

 

If you win, you will receive an actual cabin number.  A few people have reported success calling and trading to another available cabin in the exact same category as the one RoyalUp assigned….but when I have received my winning bid assignments, no other cabins in those categories were available..and that seems quite common (RoyalUp wins often done close to sail date and many/all the upgrade in a certain category may be done at once, so all those cabins may suddenly disappear)

Edited October 26, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, George C said:

now we always book grand suites our one exception was for a owners suite.

On the rare occasion where we do a one off single cruise instead of our usual B2B pattern, we will bid on an upgrade from a GS to everything up from there. That netted us CLS on both Allure and Harmony and OS on Jewel and Serenade.

Edited October 26, 2023 by orville99

[teddie]

Anyone else remember the "pier upgrades"?  That's when you could simply see the head person at check-in and ask if any were available?  The costs were nominal, if I recall. Sigh.....

 

Teddie

 

 

[twinmommy08]

2 minutes ago, teddie said:

Anyone else remember the "pier upgrades"?  That's when you could simply see the head person at check-in and ask if any were available?  The costs were nominal, if I recall. Sigh.....

 

Teddie

 

 

Yes! We did this on enchantment and upgraded to a GS for $100 total. Those were the days. Now they put up a sign that says no upgrades available 🤣

[long4acruise]

5 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Certainly some wins are reported further out.  Theoretically you could win shortly after submitting you bid.

Interestingly my credit card company (followed by a RC email an hour later) notified me today of a successful bid for a late Nov sailing. Submitted our minimum bids several days ago.

Edited October 27, 2023 by long4acruise

[BirdTravels]

On 10/25/2023 at 10:31 AM, jonthomas said:

we got an offer to bid on the top 4 cabins, owners suite etc.

 

anyone have any experience with this and can advise how to proceed?

 

Bidding is always fun. Even if you never get that wonderful email "Your stateroom has been upgraded". We bid on every cruise... mostly unsuccessful 😞

 

But, we did get a bid accepted last year moving to a 2-story loft on the Quantum to Alaska for a near minimum bid (I think it was $10 over minimum). It was an unbelievable room!

[Mick B]

Hi,

It is always nice to get a upgrade, even better if it is free or for the bare minimum.

 

There are 2 sides to this coin though.

One side is that you have the money to bid with and are not bothered where your new cabin will be as along as its a better choice of cabin than the one you originally booked. Fantasic! Good luck! And if you get the perks like Coastal Kitchen access, then even better!

 

The other side, as mentioned by others, is that although you may win a upgraded cabin, it may not be in the best place. In fact a lot of spare cabins left are the last to sell for this very reason, hardly anyone wants them! 

Depending on the size of the ship, your cabin may be right at the back leaving you with a longish walk even to the aft lifts each time. Not too bad if going to dinner, but one hell of a walk if your are off the theatre or front of the ship for some event. Again this depends on your state of health, fine if you are young and/or fit, but not that practical if you are bad on your feet.

Also that nice balcony may be obstructed in some way by either parts of the ship or parts of life boats. It may also be above a busy/noisy pub/venue or below the running track or ships equipment.

It may even be right at the front and depending on the ship/voyage, you may be subject to rough/high seas and therefore sea sickness.

 

I would not say don't take part in this, but I think that people who may have certain issues should think long and hard about the fact that once you are excepted you are then stuck with your new cabin and there is no going back to your old one. Although you can go to guest services after leaving port of the first day to see if there are any other cabins available, there is no guarantee that there is or that they will be any better, or even in your current grade.

Please, please please remember to check your ships layout when booking and look for what's above and below and next to your cabin. 

If you are doing a TA or alike, then remember that the sea may be rough so think ahead and think about the worst cabin you could get for this type of cruise as this may be the one you get upgrade to.

 

For me and my wife, we do not bother with the larger ships much and love the smaller class. We try to book a cabin that is towards the back, but not at the back, away from the lifts, but not too far away so we have easy access to the lifts/rear stairs but not the noise from people at 2am etc. 

If doing a TA then we opt for an interior and do not play the upgrade game as we have this cabin for a reason.

Sometimes on shorter cruises where we are not bothered, we do the cheaper GTY and hope we are going to get a good cabin in a good location, but... we only normally book a GTY if the prices for all other cabins are way too high, as we like to know where we are going to be.

 

Our next cruise will be in April 2024 doing the TA on the Jewel from FL to Southampton. We have our interior booked and I cannot see any reason for wanting to move or upgrade on this ship for this type of cruise, given that the Atlantic can be very unpredictable.

 

Mick.

 

[cruisegirl1]

On 10/25/2023 at 11:20 PM, KBRADFORD79 said:

I’ve made several bids, high and low as a Diamond Plus member and still haven’t met the Upgrade Fairy. 😅

Your crown and anchor status does not matter when it comes to a Royal Up. 

m