IRMO12HD

Mine showed "pending" up until I got the email that said that it was upgraded..

If you have the different apps, check out the Intercontinental (IHG); I just got a really good deal on a Bay View room for late November.  I found it by looking at Priceline first, and then found a lower price using the app.
I will be in the "2" part (literally -- December 3-5) of my Side-to-Side, and am staying at the Best Western in North Bay Village.  I got a really good deal on the room for the first night, and used BW points for the second.  It actually looks like a nice place to stay, and will give me a chance to explore.  Plus, they have a laundry!

Check a recent Cruise Compass.

Smart choice! Happy sailing!

I’m in the process of booking a one night pre-cruise stay in Miami.  3 of us will be getting in after 630pm and 2 others around 1pm (there are 2 more people joining us but they are going to book on their own). I checked into pricing for the Intercontinental and the and the Epic but I’m looking at over 1k for 2 bayside rooms.  I can book the doubletree in the same area for a lot less but would love to know if others have been happy there. The Marriott is another lower cost option.  We are going all out for this trip in other ways (we have the villa) and I wouldn’t mind spending extra if we were actually going to be there longer. The practical and thrifty side of me is cringing at spending that much just to sleep.  The bougie side of me says yolo.  😊Thanks for any guidance you can give.  

Great summary, @MrMarc.  

I think the value of the key varies on how many people are in your room.  I always cruise solo, and the price of the key has been near, ore even lower, than the price voom by itself or the cost of voom when added to a drink package.  On my upcoming cruise Voom has been as high as $23, but right now it's $15.99 or adds $14 to the drink package.  The Key was only !9.99, so I got it.  But if you have more than one person in the cabin, the Voom multi device packages start effectively increasing the daily cost of the Key.   If I am flying to the cruise, just a place to drop off my carry on is worth a lot to me.   So as a solo cruiser, and as long as the key is $19.99 or less, it has had enough value to me in the past, and still will with the new changes.   I will miss the lunch, but if I wake up at 3 am and want something to eat, I won't have to worry about the additional $7.50 over the tip.   But I think the value goes down as you have more people in your cabin.

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to give a quick update - I did email Michael Bayley's office and another person higher up in guest relations, that was yesterday afternoon.  I received a call from a wonderful gentlemen today and we are working on getting me off the fence of whether or not to go on the cruises. 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I will provide you with the final resolution. 😉

Put in bids 2 weeks ago for a grand suite, an owners suite, and a 2 bedroom owners suite. The two owner suites now say expired and the grand is pending. I’m about a week and a half out from my sail date.

@CAJ I "enjoyed" this exact scenario on my last sailing before the shut down as well as the first return sailing out of Nassau this June. I bid on 2 and 3 suites respectively, and as we came down to the wire all expired except one. so exciting, was not allowed to modify so I felt I had been blessed by the Royal Up program, but alas on each sailing one expired at 1800hrs and the last one 1900hrs the evening before sailing...bummer. BUT I always book a cabin that works for us going in and I get jazzed "bidding" (maybe I should see someone) so this sailing 21 November 21 I have placed four bids, I visit them on a regular basis lol and have limited expectations, but hey it's sure fun. Good Luck!   Can't wait for my next Royal Up email 🙂     
        

I just thought I’d share my royal up experience.  It’s thanks to what I read on this blog that I made a bid at all. We made a booking on Harmony of the Seas about 3 weeks ago.  Sailing a 7 nt med cruise from Barcelona.  Paid approx £550 per passenger for a guarantee sea view balcony ( as opposed to £900 per passenger to choose a cabin).   We haven’t sailed RC for many yrs, but elite plus on celebrity so we’re matched to Diamond on RC.  A few days after booking we had the a royal up email offering us Sky class suite upgrades.   I didn’t see much Benefit form going for a junior suite as not sky class…again learned from the blog thanks.
I bid £500 x 2 on a Grand Suite.   The bid went to pending 2 days ago and no longer able to be changed or cancelled.   Again on the basis of the blog, I took this as a positive sign and crossed my fingers.
Today the cabin on deck 8 which had been allocated under the sea view balcony guarantee changed…to a grand suite on deck 11.  We are delighted!  I priced a grand suite on this cruise two days ago…£7000 for two passengers!   It ended up costing is £2100.   
 
Huge thanks for the blog and all the advice.  I know this upgrade was only  possible because of the reduced occupancy on sailings at the moment, but it is a really awesome way to get back on the water.

I ordered multiple tests and used them for both my husband and I without a problem.

So I hate that things like this happen, let alone in 2021. Bear in mind you might get reps from countries that still hold outdated and wrongs beliefs. So those reps will not be understanding.
As a solo traveler, and woman, I have had several reps be condescending and rude because of that. Getting a good TA is worth their weight in gold for things like this. Unfortunately, some times you might get better answers on this blog. I would escalate it, those reps need to get in trouble because they are denying information to a paying human being. 

Go for the surprise! This happened a few weeks before our cruise for someone in my traveling party but it wasn't until about 3 days prior to the cruise like 2:30 pm we noticed the room numbers changed on our reservation that they were notified of the upgrade from junior suite to owners suite! 

I wish someone would post about actually using The Key since they started offering it again. I feel like nobody has actually used the "new" Key and therefore can't really ascertain if it is worth it or if the changes are good.
Also I am sailing Oct 31st, do you think my allure sailing will actually happen?????

So what's the answer?  Will my ship sail?

I ordered the 3 pack of the Rapid Antigen tests from the RC website,  can my adult son and I for sure share the same 3pack, or should i order another set in his name?

I know that people have ordered packs and used them for many family members.  I think when I ordered mine I added my husband's name in a spot where they asked (although I don't know that that's 100% necessary).

I asked an eMed representative about that. The name on the order is only to have a name to ship to. The test can be used for anybody.

My cousin and I went in January and ended up at "Frozen Paradise" according to his facebook check in. We went looking for conch fritters specifically, didn't think to look in advance since we didn't have internet on our phones once we left the ship and just kinda ran into that little hole in the wall and they were amazing. The people in front of us walked in, were rude when they saw the decor and lack of party and walked out so we felt bad and a little obligated to stay and I am SO glad we did. The conch fritters were excellent.
 

Have an ocean view balcony on the Symphony for 10/30 put in bids on 10/7. Today my bids for 1 bed owners suite and 2 bed owners suite are expired but my Grand Suite is still pending. Fingers crossed! I bid a bit over minimum and all we’re considered weak.

I received my first-ever Royal Up offers from RCL.  We recently reached Diamond status.  I went ahead and made some bids to upgrade from our Ocean View Balcony.  I was surprised that the offers from RCL come so early - we received the Royal Bid emails on 10/12/21 and 10/13/21 for our Odyssey sailings on 12/4/21 and 12/12/21, respectively.  Sounds like we will be waiting for a while to find out if we "won". 
-Jackie B

I rec'd Royal Up offers on my 2 Dec cruises about 10 days ago.   Yes, a long wait.  Maybe they hope to get more offers with adding more time to do it?

Interesting.  I just noticed that all our current Royal Up bids say they can be modified up until 3 hours before sailing. 

I boarded the Oasis yesterday afternoon. While at sea, sitting in the theater waiting for the show to start…I received this email. It’s a good thing I had the internet package!