RoyalUp Program worth the stress?

[island lady]

12 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

And to add more stress, some have received the upgrade or the denial while waiting in the checkin line. 

 

I got my denial the last time after I went to bed on first night.  😒

[Cruise a holic]

We bid sometimes and have gotten some great deals- mostly on celebrity.  On royal, bid from a balcony to a Jr. suite on the Adventure- but the suite was very tired .  Hope the ship gets an upgrade as the ship needs it badly.

 

Supply and demand!  If you are sailing a holiday week- or on a new ship- not great odds- but good luck to you..  

[Tin can]

The only stress for us with RoyalUp is despite a number of minimum, average and a fair few maximum bids we have not had a sniff of anything 😐

[xtremegk]

If you find the RoyalUp process stressful and you're content with the cabin you have, don't bid. Save yourself the stress.

 

Me, I'll continue to bid almost every time, despite being 0-for-275902592752109u359207 with RU.

[miyanc]

13 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Why would you think someone deserves a fcc? They/you were willing to take a gamble on a gty in order to save money. Either accept what is given (or change accordingly to their rules) or don’t go the gty route. Expecting a fcc is ridiculous. 🙄

I was referring to a room nightmare.  Like toilet overflowing, ac not working or various of other items.  Anything standard room selection issues like noise, position on the boat, obstructed would be fair game. 

[vadersprincess12]

On 4/22/2024 at 5:01 PM, miyanc said:

We book gty. Often it's the difference in going or not.  We are very agreeable with most things. Good room or bad. I should be knocking on wood.  I have had bad luck while picking my room myself and good luck letting them do it.  Maybe you get a bad room and get fcc out of it.  Maybe you only loose if you end up spending more for your room plus royal up compared to what it would have been if you booked the room straight away.  

I won't do gty because I'm afraid of getting stuck under the galley or other areas where there is a lot of noise to the rooms below.  I always pull up a deck plan pdf of the ship we are booking so I can see the location of the cabins before I book.

[miyanc]

On 4/24/2024 at 4:11 PM, vadersprincess12 said:

I won't do gty because I'm afraid of getting stuck under the galley or other areas where there is a lot of noise to the rooms below.  I always pull up a deck plan pdf of the ship we are booking so I can see the location of the cabins before I book.

Oh I will absolutely do the same when my assignment is assigned.  We have booked gty and thruought the process moved up by waiting for prices to drop and switching to different categories.  On this Alaska cruise we were lucky enough to get a gty when prices were low and it only went up,until the final payment and then dropped.  Just not enough to warrant switching. So we get what we get.  Our rooms are both ok.  If they stay to what the UPC says.  The only complaint would be the inside room is all the way forward, but there are not many inside rooms on newer ships in the middle.  My wife would prefer we be closer to the kids, but it's not to bad.  We are still waiting on low ru bids to see if the kids get a real window or maybe balcony.  Which may not solve the distance or location, but has its own perks.  

[cruiselvr04]

We did a Royal up for an obstructed balcony.  Honestly I think we got the worse one on the ship. Radiance class, last balcony on the side of the ship.  It was extended which was nice but we couldn’t see the ocean from the bed and half was obstructed with steel.  However it was a balcony, we had fresh air and it was nice to sit outside vs an ocean view. Compared to the original price of balconies on that sailing we were still happy.  
 

We don’t stress, have gotten some, not others. Don’t be upset over location if you do bid. We always bid if we’re in an ocean view.  We won’t bid at all if we’re doing B2B and have the same cabin. We won’t bid if we have an aft balcony.  We might bid for a suite from a regular balcony but have never gotten those bids. 
 

We never count on it and are happily surprised if they come through. 

[Mum2Mercury]

On 4/22/2024 at 4:45 PM, GSgolden11 said:

but hey why not save a few bucks?!

We've saved more than a few bucks going with Guarantees!  

On 4/22/2024 at 5:02 PM, loman said:

I , for one do not participate in this program for the simple reason as i dont want a cabin under the pool deck . 

I think this fear of a horrible room is over-rated.  I've had rooms that were better than others, but I've never had a genuinely bad room.  

On 4/22/2024 at 5:06 PM, GSgolden11 said:

I received a 6th floor GTY interior.

We usually end up on the 6th floor with Guarantees, and although it's not a crowd favorite, it's become our favorite.  

Once our kids were out of the house and we retired, we decided to try Interiors.  While a Balcony is certainly nicer, we actually like Interiors.  

On 4/22/2024 at 5:10 PM, GSgolden11 said:

won our RoyalUp bid for an ocean view!!! 

I don't get the point of an Ocean View.  An Interior is inexpensive, and it's fine if you just need a room for a place to sleep and shower.  A Balcony gives you more space (and a place for Dad to disappear while his daughters are dressing), and it gives you a real connection to the ocean.  But I don't see that an Ocean View has any real benefit over an Interior.  

On 4/22/2024 at 5:38 PM, smokeybandit said:

There should be no stress.

Agree.  Excitement, anticipation, curiosity -- sure, but not actual stress. 

On 4/23/2024 at 5:16 PM, miyanc said:

I was referring to a room nightmare.  Like toilet overflowing, ac not working or various of other items.  Anything standard room selection issues like noise, position on the boat, obstructed would be fair game. 

To be fair, a functional problem could happen in any room -- whether you chose the room or not.  

[ReneeFLL]

On 4/22/2024 at 5:01 PM, miyanc said:

We book gty. Often it's the difference in going or not.  We are very agreeable with most things. Good room or bad. I should be knocking on wood.  I have had bad luck while picking my room myself and good luck letting them do it.  Maybe you get a bad room and get fcc out of it.  Maybe you only loose if you end up spending more for your room plus royal up compared to what it would have been if you booked the room straight away.  

 

On 4/23/2024 at 5:16 PM, miyanc said:

I was referring to a room nightmare.  Like toilet overflowing, ac not working or various of other items.  Anything standard room selection issues like noise, position on the boat, obstructed would be fair game. 

You were talking about getting a bad room when booking a gty. Then you mention getting a fcc because of getting a bad room aka location. Nothing was even being talked about getting a room that has issues that need to be fixed like toilet overflowing, ac not working, etc. That's not what this thread was about so it sounded like you thought you or others should get a fcc because of the room. If people go the gty route to save money then they need to accept the results or pick their room. If they can't afford to do that, then maybe a vacation that they can afford should be looked into.

[loman]

I only book ocean view balcony cabins on Oasis class .

Pick the cabin that i want and stick with it .

Wont book gty cabins and wont do a royal up for a suite either ,as the bid is several thousand dollars more and could end up on deck 14 under the pool deck.

That is a deal breaker for me.

 

If i felt the need for a suite i would just select one and book it.

I had a crown loft and although it was nice with the perks that go along with it , i think a balcony cabin with the 4 free diamond drinks and perhaps a dining package is more of a value proposition for me.

[miyanc]

On 4/23/2024 at 3:51 AM, ReneeFLL said:

Why would you think someone deserves a fcc? They/you were willing to take a gamble on a gty in order to save money. Either accept what is given (or change accordingly to their rules) or don’t go the gty route. Expecting a fcc is ridiculous. 🙄

Your right which y I clarified.  The question was how bad could it be.  Meaning if you were assigned a room that turned out to be terrible.  I said if it was terrible for certain reasons you could get fcc and that likely would happen no matter what, but if you were randomly assigned a room in a gty vs picking the room you would add that to the experience of buying a gty.  It would 100% be included in anyone complaining about there gty experience.  If anyone had those experiences including those complaining about me suggesting fcc for a bad experience. Also was not referencing regular room issues and clarified that as well.  

[LuCruise]

On 4/22/2024 at 9:17 PM, taglovestocruise said:

And to add more stress, some have received the upgrade or the denial while waiting in the checkin line. 

We've put in a royal up bid for our upcoming cruise.  It can go either way as we may not get it (as we got a good deal on our current room so others may outbid us) or we may (as there are a bunch of rooms in the category still available).  Wondering though...what happens to your luggage if it is accepted last minute?  Do you need to go to the hallway of the original room mid afternoon to look for it (or whenever it is dropped off)?

[island lady]

23 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

We've put in a royal up bid for our upcoming cruise.  It can go either way as we may not get it (as we got a good deal on our current room so others may outbid us) or we may (as there are a bunch of rooms in the category still available).  Wondering though...what happens to your luggage if it is accepted last minute?  Do you need to go to the hallway of the original room mid afternoon to look for it (or whenever it is dropped off)?

 

You could send your cabin attendant after it....or simply do what you just mentioned, of which IMHO...would be faster.  

[vadersprincess12]

On 4/26/2024 at 7:09 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

We've saved more than a few bucks going with Guarantees!  

I think this fear of a horrible room is over-rated.  I've had rooms that were better than others, but I've never had a genuinely bad room.  

We usually end up on the 6th floor with Guarantees, and although it's not a crowd favorite, it's become our favorite.  

Once our kids were out of the house and we retired, we decided to try Interiors.  While a Balcony is certainly nicer, we actually like Interiors.  

I don't get the point of an Ocean View.  An Interior is inexpensive, and it's fine if you just need a room for a place to sleep and shower.  A Balcony gives you more space (and a place for Dad to disappear while his daughters are dressing), and it gives you a real connection to the ocean.  But I don't see that an Ocean View has any real benefit over an Interior.  

Agree.  Excitement, anticipation, curiosity -- sure, but not actual stress. 

To be fair, a functional problem could happen in any room -- whether you chose the room or not.  

We have had a terrible cabin.  It wasn't on Royal, but it ended up being under the galley so there was constant noise especially at night after the dining rooms closed and things were being cleaned up and prepared for the next day.  Could hear pots and pans being banged around and one night it seemed like a cabinet door wasn't closed properly and it kept banging and banging.  

[island lady]

11 hours ago, vadersprincess12 said:

We have had a terrible cabin.  It wasn't on Royal, but it ended up being under the galley so there was constant noise especially at night after the dining rooms closed and things were being cleaned up and prepared for the next day.  Could hear pots and pans being banged around and one night it seemed like a cabinet door wasn't closed properly and it kept banging and banging.  

 

That is one of the first things I look at when booking my cabin...what is directly overhead on the above deck.  😮 

[Candleonwater]

I'm not a fan of GTY cabins, but when I helped my daughter book her cruise, she was able to get a balcony GTY for $100 less than a PR cabin, and $1k less than balconies were going for at the time.

 

She put in 3 different royal up bids, but not only hasn't heard anything, she's still in GTY status (she sails in 30 days). I know she could still be in for a long wait - I think on my last GTY booking, I found out the day before I sailed.

 

Her sailing now appears to be sold out, what are the odds of any Royal Up bids being accepted?

[MandyMooToo]

1 hour ago, Candleonwater said:

I'm not a fan of GTY cabins, but when I helped my daughter book her cruise, she was able to get a balcony GTY for $100 less than a PR cabin, and $1k less than balconies were going for at the time.

 

She put in 3 different royal up bids, but not only hasn't heard anything, she's still in GTY status (she sails in 30 days). I know she could still be in for a long wait - I think on my last GTY booking, I found out the day before I sailed.

 

Her sailing now appears to be sold out, what are the odds of any Royal Up bids being accepted?

The odds are the same as any other time.  Plenty of people no show due to emergencies, cancel, etc.  When this happens, RU easily fills the empty spaces and it can be a domino effect. Example, suite is canceled, a JS or balcony may get bumped up, which then bumps up a balcony or ocean view and then an interior, etc.  Even sold out cruises often wind up having empty cabins or RUs.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Candleonwater said:

what are the odds of any Royal Up bids being accepted?

 

Pretty low on most cruises these days.

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Pretty low on most cruises these days.

But not zero, especially if you're looking to upgrade to ocean view or balcony.

[OCSC Mike]

47 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

But not zero, especially if you're looking to upgrade to ocean view or balcony.

 

For sure. It will never be zero and there's never a downside to bidding as far as chances go.