Anthem RoyalUP Bid Successful

[Dawn T. 89]

My husband always bids on RoyalUP whenever he has the opportunity.  I always tell him it will never happen.  Well, we are sailing on Anthem next week, and he received an email yesterday that our bid was accepted.  We originally booked a 2C (ocean view with large balcony) long ago.  I wanted a junior suite, but it was more than double the balcony price.  I kept checking the JS price, but it was never reduced.  We ended up with a J1 (junior suite with large balcony) for $1,000 (total bid).  We think it is well worth the upgrade.  We get a bigger cabin, better bathroom, giant balcony, plus dinner access to Coastal Kitchen.  We are hoping to get dinner reservations for CK every night.  We sailed on Ovation in March in a grand suite.  We had 5:30 dinner reservations every night in CK, and the place was practically empty.  We’re hoping for this on Anthem.  For those wondering about bid timing, he placed the bid on 7/29/19.  Upgrade email arrived yesterday 10/1.  Sail date is next week.

😁

[Matt 8,457]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Dawn!

[JLMoran 5,171]

25 minutes ago, Dawn T. said:

We are hoping to get dinner reservations for CK every night.  We sailed on Ovation in March in a grand suite.  We had 5:30 dinner reservations every night in CK, and the place was practically empty.  We’re hoping for this on Anthem. ...Sail date is next week.

My wife and I sailed in a JS last October around the same time you're sailing, and we had CK booked each night at 6:30; it was practically dead on all but the last night. Even that last night wasn't crazy busy, just more like what I'd expect from a normal dining venue at prime dinner hour. The ship sailed full, so I guess most of the JS / full suite guests were enjoying the specialty dining on board every night, or eating closer to the traditional dining times. 5:30 will probably be fine for you next week.

Have a great sailing, and congrats on the bid win!

[Dawn T. 89]

2 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

My wife and I sailed in a JS last October around the same time you're sailing, and we had CK booked each night at 6:30; it was practically dead on all but the last night. Even that last night wasn't crazy busy, just more like what I'd expect from a normal dining venue at prime dinner hour. The ship sailed full, so I guess most of the JS / full suite guests were enjoying the specialty dining on board every night, or eating closer to the traditional dining times. 5:30 will probably be fine for you next week.

Have a great sailing, and congrats on the bid win!

@JLMoran This is excellent news!  It sounds like we might get lucky with CK. 

[sk8erguy1978 388]

19 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

My wife and I sailed in a JS last October around the same time you're sailing, and we had CK booked each night at 6:30; it was practically dead on all but the last night. Even that last night wasn't crazy busy, just more like what I'd expect from a normal dining venue at prime dinner hour. The ship sailed full, so I guess most of the JS / full suite guests were enjoying the specialty dining on board every night, or eating closer to the traditional dining times. 5:30 will probably be fine for you next week.

Have a great sailing, and congrats on the bid win!

Just sailed Anthem to Bermuda on 9/21 (the shortened Bermuda sailing) and had a Grand Suite. We only dined in CK on 9/24 as a "date night." Reason being, we had friends on-board and made various plans to dine with them. While we enjoy CK, the company of a few friends was more important. :).

[WAAAYTOOO 7,816]

Today I got an offer to bid on a Royal up for our December 1 Oasis cruise.  There is only 1 suite higher than what we have - the Royal Suite and it's been sold for months.  I don't expect to get it but I did put a minimum bid on it.

Interesting that I never got a Royal Up offer on the first half of my S2S - the Nov. 25 Brilliance Thanksgiving cruise.  That's the only cruise that I have booked that I did not at least get an offer to bid.

[eaglesfaninfl 53]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 

Interesting that I never got a Royal Up offer on the first half of my S2S - the Nov. 25 Brilliance Thanksgiving cruise.  That's the only cruise that I have booked that I did not at least get an offer to bid.

Not surprising to me, Waaay...we've done the Tgiving cruise for the last 4 or 5 years and it is always full. Signs in the port and on board "No upgrades available." We always book at least 18 mos. out to make sure we can get what we want!

[WAAAYTOOO 7,816]

Just now, eaglesfaninfl said:

Not surprising to me, Waaay...we've done the Tgiving cruise for the last 4 or 5 years and it is always full. Signs in the port and on board "No upgrades available." We always book at least 18 mos. out to make sure we can get what we want!

But what's so different about this cruise is it is NOT sold out. Not one single category is sold out.  I think the reason is b/c this is a Mon-Fri cruise, which is less popular than a cruise that encompasses as weekend or at least part of a weekend.  Besides, I don't think cabin availability has a darned thing to do with Royal Up.  There really isn't much that I would be able to bid  on anyway as I'm already in a GS.  Only the OS and RS above what I already have...it's just odd that I did not get an invitation to bid.  Not at all concerned about it...just surprised.

[eaglesfaninfl 53]

6 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

But what's so different about this cruise is it is NOT sold out. Not one single category is sold out.

I stand corrected and agree that the Mon.-Sat. scheduling is the probable cause. If my memory is correct (and it seldom is anymore!), our previous cruises actually left on Thanksgiving and covered the weekend.

[AshleyDillo 3,261]

17 minutes ago, eaglesfaninfl said:

Not surprising to me, Waaay...we've done the Tgiving cruise for the last 4 or 5 years and it is always full. Signs in the port and on board "No upgrades available." We always book at least 18 mos. out to make sure we can get what we want!

Oddly enough the Thanksgiving sailing for Oasis this year isn't sold out..and prices are cheap!  Very convenient to get a 7-day cruise for only 3 days taken off from work compared to the typical 5.

[GaCardinal 2]

I think we might be on your sailing and we are still waiting to see if our bids get accepted.  We bid just a bit lower than your so fingers crossed.

[mworkman 1,820]

I put in bids all the time, i'm sill awaiting my rejection letter for Symphony's sailing in two days. 😂

[Dawn T. 89]

9 hours ago, GaCardinal said:

I think we might be on your sailing and we are still waiting to see if our bids get accepted.  We bid just a bit lower than your so fingers crossed.

Good luck!

[PamR413 5]

We're also on the 10/10 sailing on Anthem - we're in a regular balcony and have bid on a Grand Suite....still no word and fingers crossed!

[mworkman 1,820]

Well we received our rejection email last night 4 times 🙄 no crown loft, owner suite, aqua theater suite or star loft for us! 😪 

Someone could at-least have the courtesy to cancel so we could receive the upgrade! 😂

[Va4fam 90]

If you win an upgrade bid to a JS or larger, do you still qualify for double Crown & Anchor points?

 

[Flacruiser99 205]

17 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

If you win an upgrade bid to a JS or larger, do you still qualify for double Crown & Anchor points?

 

No you only get the points for the category you originally booked

[YOLO 283]

24 minutes ago, Flacruiser99 said:

No you only get the points for the category you originally booked

Gee, for me that would take a lot of the fun out of upgrading to JS.  IMO that doesn't seem very fair and I find it very confusing...

[S0nny 201]

Thank you SO much for sharing! This is the first cruise we are going on with the Royal Up program, so I have some trepidation about it. I don’t know what minimum bids are vs. what is normally accepted (like... if I bid minimum, is there any chance?). I’m always curious about what that experience is like for other cruisers. 

[ANGELA ROMAN 23]

@sonnyJust realize that whatever dollar amount you do decide to bid you have to multiply that dollar amount by every person in your cabin.

The bidding scale you see next to the room you want to upgrade to slides up to whatever maximum amount RC will accept.

Slide the scale all the way till the end & then see how much that max bid would be, then you decide if it is worth it to whatever you feel would be appropriate for that cabin verses whatever you want to pay.

I just experienced winning an upgrade and I travel solo, so that 440 bid cost me 880 all by myself.

I even won the bid 12 days before my sailing to make it really nice, but "ouch" on that price.  I was misinformed by the RC rep when I first asked them about this Royal up bidding.

We all live  & learn.  I wish you a safe & healthy cruise & of course a "winning bid!" 😊

[monctonguy 1,291]

7 minutes ago, ANGELA ROMAN said:

 

 

I just experienced winning an upgrade and I travel solo, so that 440 bid cost me 880 all by myself.

 

Ouch....I wonder how many others who booked solo have found that out the hard way??!!

[AshleyDillo 3,261]

14 minutes ago, ANGELA ROMAN said:

@sonnyJust realize that whatever dollar amount you do decide to bid you have to multiply that dollar amount by every person in your cabin.

Not true..you only have to double the bid.  Makes it much more worthwhile when you've got 4 in your cabin to begin with, but not so great when you are solo.

One thing to remember is that the RoyalUp is tied to a single room.  For example if you split your family between 2 balcony cabins and then got a RoyalUp offer that included a 2-bedroom suite, you won't be able to combine the two rooms together into that single room.  You would still have to pay for both rooms.  You could get extra room keys so everyone could have access to one room, but only the ones on the original booking in the cabin that was upgraded will have access to the suite amenities.

I've only taken a shot at a RoyalUp once..upgraded from an inside GTY to an OV balcony on Freedom of the Seas Blog Group Cruise  Total price with the RoyalUp was cheaper than I would have been able to get a balcony straight up for my sailing, so I am extremely pleased with it.  

[mpoole3 92]

Nice upgrade!  On my honeymoon (last month 9 night Jewel) I booked an Ocean View on deck 3, for $2,800.  The going rates for an ocean balcony was $5,500+ a little to much for just a standard balcony if you ask me.  I placed a bid of $300pp ($600 total) and about a month out we were upgraded! I was so excited, because a balcony in Europe was amazing.  

[monctonguy 1,291]

Now that's a deal!...

 

[Dawn T. 89]

2 hours ago, S0nny said:

Thank you SO much for sharing! This is the first cruise we are going on with the Royal Up program, so I have some trepidation about it. I don’t know what minimum bids are vs. what is normally accepted (like... if I bid minimum, is there any chance?). I’m always curious about what that experience is like for other cruisers. 

Hi @sonny!  Just to add to my original post....  The $1,000 total bid was the max bid for a JS.  Originally, my husband bid lower, probably in the middle.  Later, he went in and maxed out all the bids (for JS, GS, and OS).  He really wanted an upgrade.  Best $1,000 we ever spent!  We managed to get 5:30 reservations in Coastal Kitchen each night without a problem.