RoyalUp and gty cabins

[little britain]

I have a gty for my cruise in January ( don’t go there ok…) and today is 60 days out and I receive the RoyalUp email.  It’s hard to Up if you don’t know what you are Upping from!! 
I should be allocated a balcony as my Up list starts with large balcony then moved up through the suites..but interesting not the top

loft suites and I see there are a few available left to book 

 

Is it possible that an Up could be allocated before my regular cabin? I’d hate to bid on something that I would have got anyway! 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Is it possible that an Up could be allocated before my regular cabin? I’d hate to bid on something that I would have got anyway! 

Yea, but unlikely. You should find out your assignment (via the barcode trick) at 45 days out when you check in. 

The available list you see is normal - the list is usually limited to two major categories above your existing cabin category. 

[reallyitsmema]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

I have a gty for my cruise in January ( don’t go there ok…) and today is 60 days out and I receive the RoyalUp email.  It’s hard to Up if you don’t know what you are Upping from!! 
I should be allocated a balcony as my Up list starts with large balcony then moved up through the suites..but interesting not the top

loft suites and I see there are a few available left to book 

 

Is it possible that an Up could be allocated before my regular cabin? I’d hate to bid on something that I would have got anyway! 

 

I had a suite GTY and got the Royal Up email and bid on a GS and OS knowing I would likely get a JS for the GTY.  I was assigned my cabin a few weeks prior to the cruise and received a 2 BD GS!  I quickly went and cancelled both of my bids but I was nervous until we boarded that we would win something that was less than the cabin I was assigned.  I won't do Royal Up on a GTY anymore.  I know it is rare to get something better than the minimum but it does happen.

[BlackForest]

I did Royal Up for the first time a month or so ago. I booked a guaranteed balcony but bid on 3 categories of suites (Junior, One Bedroom and Royal). 45 days from sailing we checked in and did the "trick" of adding the check-in set sail pass to the apple wallet so that we could see what cabin number we were assigned so we could go behind the veil of guaranteed. That is when I saw we received (via the guaranteed) a minor upgrade to a "spacious" balcony with a specific cabin number. We still had our bid in. Then 30 days from sailing, to the day, RC sent an email stating our previous bid was cancelled along and also confirmed our cabin number of our spacious balcony but added we could re-bid with more suite options available to bid on this time (added two bedroom suite and Owner's suite). About 5 days later we received congratulations that out Junior Suite bid was accepted (at $150 total).

 

So the pattern for us was...

1) 45 days Check-in and knew cabin number by placing it in Apple Wallet

2) Placed Royal Up bid on 3 categories (Junior Suite on up)

2) 30 days received email from RC confirming our cabin number of a spacious balcony and stating previous bids were cancelled but now can re-bid. The Suite options for bidding were greater than previously provided 45 days out.

3) Then 25 days from sailing received congratulations that our Royal Up bid for a Junior Suite was accepted.

 

Hope the pattern above applies to everyone so that your guaranteed cabin will be known to you before bids are granted. Cheers.

[retiredgram]

18 hours ago, Biker19 said:

. You should find out your assignment (via the barcode trick) at 45 days out when you check in. 

 

I have tried the search but did not have luck.  How do you do the barcode trick??

Also, can it be done with android phone? Thank you.

[reallyitsmema]

7 minutes ago, BlackForest said:

I did Royal Up for the first time a month or so ago. I booked a guaranteed balcony but bid on 3 categories of suites (Junior, One Bedroom and Royal). 45 days from sailing we checked in and did the "trick" of adding the check-in set sail pass to the apple wallet so that we could see what cabin number we were assigned so we could go behind the veil of guaranteed. That is when I saw we received (via the guaranteed) a minor upgrade to a "spacious" balcony with a specific cabin number. We still had our bid in. Then 30 days from sailing, to the day, RC sent an email stating our previous bid was cancelled along and also confirmed our cabin number of our spacious balcony but added we could re-bid with more suite options available to bid on this time (added two bedroom suite and Owner's suite). About 5 days later we received congratulations that out Junior Suite bid was accepted (at $150 total).

 

So the pattern for us was...

1) 45 days Check-in and knew cabin number by placing it in Apple Wallet

2) Placed Royal Up bid on 3 categories (Junior Suite on up)

2) 30 days received email from RC confirming our cabin number of a spacious balcony and stating previous bids were cancelled but now can re-bid. The Suite options for bidding were greater than previously provided 45 days out.

3) Then 25 days from sailing received congratulations that our Royal Up bid for a Junior Suite was accepted.

 

Hope the pattern above applies to everyone so that your guaranteed cabin will be known to you before bids are granted. Cheers.

 

That is great to know that they will cancel bids made prior to a GTY assignment.  I didn't give them that chance and was able to cancel myself.  Maybe I will rethink bidding in the future.

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, retiredgram said:

I have tried the search but did not have luck.  How do you do the barcode trick??

Also, can it be done with android phone? Thank you.

 

With an android, you need to get a barcode reader.  On an iphone, once your setsail pass is available, you put it in your Apple wallet and below the bar code is a number and the last digits are your cabin number.  If your cabin is not assigned yet, the last digits are GTY.

[retiredgram]

Just now, reallyitsmema said:

 

With an android, you need to get a barcode reader.  On an iphone, once your setsail pass is available, you put it in your Apple wallet and below the bar code is a number and the last digits are your cabin number.  If your cabin is not assigned yet, the last digits are GTY.

Thank you.

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

That is great to know that they will cancel bids made prior to a GTY assignment. 

The GTY assignment is what cancels the bid - any major change to the booking will usually do that (cancel the bids).

[island lady]

Has anyone, that had put in a bid in on Royal Up...ever received an email from RCI telling you that your bid was "out bid" and then asked if you want to up the bid?  

 

I don't bid often, but I was surprised at this email.  I am 10 days from sailing, and had bid on a GS.  

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The GTY assignment is what cancels the bid - any major change to the booking will usually do that (cancel the bids).

 

Not in my experience.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

I don't bid often, but I was surprised at this email. 

Biker, who wonders if RCI asked for this change or if Plusgrade did it on their own.

[RFerrington]

14 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Biker, who wonders if RCI asked for this change or if Plusgrade did it on their own.

Seems unlikely that PlusGrade could/would make a change like this without authorization from the client.

[SG65CB]

18 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

I had a suite GTY and got the Royal Up email and bid on a GS and OS knowing I would likely get a JS for the GTY.  I was assigned my cabin a few weeks prior to the cruise and received a 2 BD GS!  I quickly went and cancelled both of my bids but I was nervous until we boarded that we would win something that was less than the cabin I was assigned.  I won't do Royal Up on a GTY anymore.  I know it is rare to get something better than the minimum but it does happen.

 

I know another poster here is saying that RU bids are canceled when a GTY is assigned, but there have been people posting here in the past to say that their RU bid was accepted and was actually a downgrade because they had upgraded on their own but didn't cancel their bids. So it is a good thing you canceled right away, if they had switched you out of the 2 BD GS there would be no way to get it back. 

 

That said, it's odd they gave you the 2 BR suite for a GTY booking, you would think they would sell that 2 BR suite through RU to someone who had already booked a smaller suite, then give you that person's suite. they left money on the table. 

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

 

I know another poster here is saying that RU bids are canceled when a GTY is assigned, but there have been people posting here in the past to say that their RU bid was accepted and was actually a downgrade because they had upgraded on their own but didn't cancel their bids. So it is a good thing you canceled right away, if they had switched you out of the 2 BD GS there would be no way to get it back. 

 

That said, it's odd they gave you the 2 BR suite for a GTY booking, you would think they would sell that 2 BR suite through RU to someone who had already booked a smaller suite, then give you that person's suite. they left money on the table. 

 

We were very surprised when we got it and loved having the two bathrooms.  The cabin slept 8 and there was only two of us!  No way would I do 8 in that cabin, unless I had 6 little kids.  Four sleep in a very small bedroom that has two pullman in it.  Two get the sleep sofa, which was actually part of a large sectional.  Master bedroom was good sized with a bathroom with a tub.

 

 

[BlackForest]

Having my one and only experience on Royal Up, I am interested in this topic. Can they really win a bid that is a downgrade? Wouldn't the bid options always be better than the guarantee category? Or was it just an oversight on the bidder that they didn't modify their bid when they made changes to their booking?

 

I am interested because my experience may not be typical. Thanks.

[Starry Eyes]

 

When my gty assignments have been minimal upgrades (booked a gty balcony on Mariner and assigned 4B balcony for example rather than 4D), my bids have been cancelled.  Sometimes my assignment caused my bids to be cancelled even I was assigned a standard cabin.  Nevertheless if I upgraded myself or if I received a free upgrade to a cabin I liked, I would take the initiative to immediately cancel any unwanted bids myself.

[Starry Eyes]

23 minutes ago, BlackForest said:

Having my one and only experience on Royal Up, I am interested in this topic. Can they really win a bid that is a downgrade? Wouldn't the bid options always be better than the guarantee category? Or was it just an oversight on the bidder that they didn't modify their bid when they made changes to their booking?

 

I am interested because my experience may not be typical. Thanks.

Sometimes what I consider an upgrade/downgrade might not match what you consider an upgrade/downgrade or what PlusGrade has programmed their computer to say is an upgrade/downgrade.

 

Let’s imagine a family of four booked an inside cabin and placed RoyalUp bid for a balcony.  Two weeks later an Ultra spacious Oceanview cabin becomes available at a decent price.  It does not have a balcony but it has a lot more interior space for their family of four.  They may feel that cabin is better for them than a regular balcony; winning a balcony bid would “feel” like a downgrade to that particular family because they value space.  PlusGrade lists balconies above all OV cabins, even ultra spacious (and plenty of families would agree…just not my example family because tastes vary).

 

BTW, the change in cabins should cancel the old bids and give the above family a new set of bidding options with new minimums but it takes a couple days.  In the meantime I’d still cancel my old bids if I were in their shoes to avoid any inadvertent, unwanted upgrades.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[BlackForest]

Thanks for the explanation. I am counting myself very lucky!!!

[island lady]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Biker, who wonders if RCI asked for this change or if Plusgrade did it on their own.

 

It seemed creepy, but they had all my info for the cruise.  Though I know from several websites, including RCI's website, and reps on the phone that the suites are sold out for my cruise.  Including a trusted TA on these threads...Ken you know who you are.  😉 

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, island lady said:

reps on the phone that the suites are sold out for my cruise. 

As with most of the bids, much of the info could be for marketing purposes (how much are people willing to bid or raise their bid), not for actually winning a bid.

[reallyitsmema]

43 minutes ago, BlackForest said:

Having my one and only experience on Royal Up, I am interested in this topic. Can they really win a bid that is a downgrade? Wouldn't the bid options always be better than the guarantee category? Or was it just an oversight on the bidder that they didn't modify their bid when they made changes to their booking?

 

I am interested because my experience may not be typical. Thanks.

 

We had booked a suite GTY which typically gets assigned a junior suite.  We received the email to bid through Royal Up prior to being assigned a cabin.  We bid on a grand suite and an owners suite.  I check daily to see if I am assigned a cabin when I book a GTY and found we had been assigned a two bedroom grand suite, which is definitely an upgrade from either a GS or OS.  I immediately went and cancelled our bids on GS and OS, they had not been automatically cancelled.  I never got an email to bid again on that reservation and I honestly never went looking to see if I could bid as I was very happy with what we were assigned through the GTY.

[island lady]

Just now, Biker19 said:

As with most of the bids, much of the info could be for marketing purposes (how much are people willing to bid or raise their bid), not for actually winning a bid.

 

Definitely agree...and had been saying that all along.  It's a tease...a marketing ploy to get you all excited...at a price.

 

Sigh...remember the sweet up grade fairy years ago that would offer free upgrades...no cost at all?  Got lucky many years ago (twice).  Since then her evil sister the Upbid fairy came along and threw her overboard.  RIP sweet fairy.  😢

[BlackForest]

I was wondering if the reason we won the Royal Up bid was because our family booked 3 cabins and we linked our reservations. It just seems very unusual for us to win TWO cabins for an upgrade and the upgraded cabins are right next to each other. We didn't bid on the 3rd cabin so we are two for two. Maybe they take into consideration the number of cabins one books when they "decide" who wins the bid???

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Sigh...remember the sweet up grade fairy years ago that would offer free upgrades...no cost at all?  Got lucky many years ago (twice).  Since then her evil sister the Upbid fairy came along and threw her overboard.  RIP sweet fairy.  😢

Exactly! We never won eventhough D+ w_50+ rcl cruises. Glad you had a couple!

Interestingly, we were upgraded on our 1st Disney cruise from inside to balcony. Same thing happened on our 1st MSC sailing.

Wondering up upgrades go to newbies more often. 🤔