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How much luck with Royal Up?


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On 9/23/2021 at 3:06 PM, Tmckee67 said:

Do you have to book through RC’s website to be eligible for Royal up? We’re booked on a 10/23 sailing on Symphony and haven’t received any email and the site says to wait until 30 days out. Well, we’re 30 days out and still won’t let me in to bid.

Depends.  Who did you book through?  Not all travel partners or travel agencies participate.  There is a well known big box retailer that offers cash cards but they don't participate so if you booked through, there won't be a  RoyalUp option.  Other big online type travel companies also do not participate in the upgrade program.  

Once you get away from the large online or warehouse type travel agencies most "regular" travel agencies do participate in RoyalUp.

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6 hours ago, Jconn said:

Teddy, did you get 4X points for the Royalup to a JR Suite? I am guessing that you went from either an inside cabin or a balcony to a JR Suite? I am booked for a balcony the end of Oct and got the option to Royalup to a JR Suite for $350 min but will only try if I get the 4X points. I have seen some people say 'read the fine print' and that it states that you get the points of the original booking. But I thought I have seen some people say that you get the 4X points. 

Thanks!

Only the points for the originally booked cabin, which was a balcony.  
 

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My husband and I were on Symphony for the 9/11/21 cruise.  We had a grand suite booked.  We bid $990 (total) for an owner's suite, $990 (total) for a crown loft suite, and around $2,000 (total) for an aqua theater suite (2 BR).  Probably a couple of weeks before the cruise, the owner's suite bid and the aqua theater suite bid showed expired.  The crown loft suite bid continued to show pending.  Three days before the cruise the upgrade to the crown loft suite was awarded.  The crown loft suite was amazing!  We loved being on deck 17, so close to the Coastal Kitchen and the suite lounge.

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On 9/25/2021 at 5:08 PM, teddy said:

Oh shoot...I forgot to come to this thread and follow up.  I apologize.

Our bid of $250 pp for a Junior Suite was accepted five days before our cruise.  It was an awesome cabin for two people used to Insides.  We had also bid $350 for a Grand Suite but that wasn't accepted.

The cruise was great.  No complaints from either of us.  The crew was outstanding. Every crew member we interacted with seemed to be genuinely thrilled to be working again.

We spent more time outside than usual...the small amount of guests combined with having to wear a mask when inside made us spend a lot of time by the Solarium pool.  On past cruises, we would spend time at the Cafe Promenade playing card and people watching.  There weren't a lot of people to watch this time. 

We didn't do anything in Nassau before or after the cruise.  Tight work schedules required us to fly in the day of and leave the day we returned.  We stayed onboard in Freeport, and only ventured off in Cozumel to buy a few souvenirs for people.  I wear a mask all day while working, but in the heat of Cozumel, it sucked in a way I wasn't quite prepared for.

I felt better protected from Covid on the ship than I do at my place of work (supermarket).  In our experience, everyone wore masks when required, kept distance, and was respectful.

I think the best way to explain how much we enjoyed cruising with the protocols is to mention that we will be boarding Freedom in 41 days.  🙂

Were you able to eat in the Coastal Kitchen?  I have a bid in now for a JS on Symphony so we can try that restaurant.

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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.

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That's great @Happy Cruiser! We have 4 bids in on Star Class suites for Allure sailing in 2 days and they're all not only still pending but also still modifiable. I'm guessing suites are fully booked and they're just keeping me hanging in case there's a last minute cancellation, and otherwise they'll all expire. But, we'll see!

In any case, I hope you have a great time with your upgraded cabin. 😀

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7 hours ago, karmamule said:

That's great @Happy Cruiser! We have 4 bids in on Star Class suites for Allure sailing in 2 days and they're all not only still pending but also still modifiable. I'm guessing suites are fully booked and they're just keeping me hanging in case there's a last minute cancellation, and otherwise they'll all expire. But, we'll see!

In any case, I hope you have a great time with your upgraded cabin. 😀

Thanks #karmamule.  Flying to Barcelona a tomorrow and joining the ship on Sunday.  Hope you have a great cruise too and fingers crossed for a last minute upgrade for you guys.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I currently have pending the owners suite for 24th October on Harmony of the Seas. Placed my bid about 2 weeks ago on several rooms and the others all expired with the owners suite pending and does not allow me to change it. This is actually frustrating as Royal Caribbean state is can be changed if not yet accepted but it is frozen so in suspense.

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@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 🙂     

Despicable Me Please GIF        

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5 minutes ago, KevinH said:

So if you bit the minimum or any bit is it on top of what you already paid or is it what it appears $1,000 per person (2 people) so $2,000 and taxes etc.  I did get the 30% off and flash sale savings on the original booking. Does that come into play?

Yes, it is additional to what you originally paid.  Any discounts do not come into play.

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On 10/7/2021 at 1:24 PM, Happy Cruiser said:

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.

Just to add….we had an amazing time on Harmony.  Only 2000 guests on our sailing.  Suite concierge booked all the shows for us so we could just turn up at whichever one we wanted (of course they gave unused seats to people in line without reservations before the shows started). Coastal kitchen was awesome for breakfast and lunch as there were often long lines for windjammer even with reduced occupancy.    Grand suite was a real treat, as was the suite sun deck.  Dined in all the speciality restaurants for dinner and some lunches, all great, although 150 PC was our least favourite. Felt really safe with pre testing and daily temp checks.  Cannot thank the crew enough for the efforts they made to make everyone’s cruise the best.

so yes….royal up bid was absolutely worth it!

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On 9/27/2021 at 9:41 PM, twangster said:

Depends.  Who did you book through?  Not all travel partners or travel agencies participate.  There is a well known big box retailer that offers cash cards but they don't participate so if you booked through, there won't be a  RoyalUp option.  Other big online type travel companies also do not participate in the upgrade program.  

Once you get away from the large online or warehouse type travel agencies most "regular" travel agencies do participate in RoyalUp.

It is possible Royal Up will not be offered for your sailing.  Not all sailings offer the option.

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14 hours ago, Swar said:

I bid $105 /pp for a balcony from a virtual balcony. Minimum bid was $100 /pp. This was a 7 day Alaska cruise in October '21. Didn't "win" it, but got it.

Hahaha, I love this statement because it's so true. My husband states every. single. time. I speak about or check my Royal Up bids.....YOU ARE NOT WINNING ANYTHING! He is such a funny guy, I know he is secretly in the background willing the cabash on my bids, but my will is stronger, I will WIN one day!!

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On 9/28/2021 at 7:04 AM, Dawn T. said:

My husband and I were on Symphony for the 9/11/21 cruise.  We had a grand suite booked.  We bid $990 (total) for an owner's suite, $990 (total) for a crown loft suite, and around $2,000 (total) for an aqua theater suite (2 BR).  Probably a couple of weeks before the cruise, the owner's suite bid and the aqua theater suite bid showed expired.  The crown loft suite bid continued to show pending.  Three days before the cruise the upgrade to the crown loft suite was awarded.  The crown loft suite was amazing!  We loved being on deck 17, so close to the Coastal Kitchen and the suite lounge.

Do you know if 3 days the norm of a "win"  announcement of winning?  Or is that the minimum time you find out?  (I still have 2 in the pending status for a 21 Nov Oasis departure).   Could someone show up on embarkation day and find you they've been upgraded?

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2 hours ago, cruisellama said:

Do you know if 3 days the norm of a "win"  announcement of winning?  Or is that the minimum time you find out?  (I still have 2 in the pending status for a 21 Nov Oasis departure).   Could someone show up on embarkation day and find you they've been upgraded?

I have 5 still pending, I bid on  everything accept the most expensive I believe Royal Loft, it was 3,000 minimum & I can't swing it. It seems currently booked anyways so I felt no "pull" to submit at that price point. My friend is on facebook for this sailing and she told me others on this sailing are already being notified of winning bids. I believe they probably hold out until the very last minute for the few Star class options in order to sell them at their premium price if at all possible. I do believe while not preferable you could find out as soon as the evening before, maybe even at the port say if a last minute funky test gets in the way, but otherwise CWC is a 48 hour thing so I would start really expecting a notification at the earliest Wednesday or Thursday night, the 17th or 18th. 

I preface this by saying I am just thinking this through, I really have no idea either. I am actually surprised I have yet to receive any "expired" notifications yet, but also have my expectations in check...okay not really. Keep us posted, I will do the same. If I am not mistaken we are both in CLS which is a nice place to be BUT I would like to see STARS!!🤩

 

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14 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I have 5 still pending, I bid on  everything accept the most expensive I believe Royal Loft, it was 3,000 minimum & I can't swing it. It seems currently booked anyways so I felt no "pull" to submit at that price point. My friend is on facebook for this sailing and she told me others on this sailing are already being notified of winning bids. I believe they probably hold out until the very last minute for the few Star class options in order to sell them at their premium price if at all possible. I do believe while not preferable you could find out as soon as the evening before, maybe even at the port say if a last minute funky test gets in the way, but otherwise CWC is a 48 hour thing so I would start really expecting a notification at the earliest Wednesday or Thursday night, the 17th or 18th. 

I preface this by saying I am just thinking this through, I really have no idea either. I am actually surprised I have yet to receive any "expired" notifications yet, but also have my expectations in check...okay not really. Keep us posted, I will do the same. If I am not mistaken we are both in CLS which is a nice place to be BUT I would like to see STARS!!🤩

 

Yes, we're up on 17 too (which we really like).    I fully expect Royal to hold out for the most advantageous bids.  I'm not used to seeing "pending" this close in.

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My husband and I are relatively novice cruisers (this will be our third, we get to go once every few years.) Because of the absolutely stupid good deal we got on this one (6 days Western Caribbean, Allure, Jan 30 22) I felt okay getting ocean view instead of a the cheapest option - be nice, we're working hard to be able to afford the fancy stuff 😛

So if I am understanding this right, the cost difference between state rooms is based off of room pricing without discounts? And then your bid is a percentage of that difference, correct? I'm curious because it seems like there is ALWAYS some kind of promotion going on.

I did a mock reservation for this same cruise to see what I might be in for if bidding is an option and the prices are currently way crazy. Like an interior stateroom was ~$400 and an oceanview was ~$2000! Weirder still, a balcony was ~$550. Not sure what is up with that.

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On 11/1/2021 at 1:49 PM, TNTcruisers said:

My husband and I are relatively novice cruisers (this will be our third, we get to go once every few years.) Because of the absolutely stupid good deal we got on this one (6 days Western Caribbean, Allure, Jan 30 22) I felt okay getting ocean view instead of a the cheapest option - be nice, we're working hard to be able to afford the fancy stuff 😛

So if I am understanding this right, the cost difference between state rooms is based off of room pricing without discounts? And then your bid is a percentage of that difference, correct? I'm curious because it seems like there is ALWAYS some kind of promotion going on.

I did a mock reservation for this same cruise to see what I might be in for if bidding is an option and the prices are currently way crazy. Like an interior stateroom was ~$400 and an oceanview was ~$2000! Weirder still, a balcony was ~$550. Not sure what is up with that.

It looks like this. The "your bids" is a slider that controls the price. When the price moves on the slider, the pointer on the  offer strength reflects the "strength" of your offer.  This meter is generally recognized as the high pressure auction meter around here. 

Missing5.png

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Oh cool, thank you. 

 

I am 99% sure I am going to move to balcony anyway - since it's all paid for I can find money for the difference. I might try to pay for a Jr. Suite regardless because those 4x points would bump us to the next membership level. We're planning on just a shorty with our little ones at the end of August, so it would be perfect. 

 

I dunno, mulling it over. I guess I will wait the two more months anyway. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/31/2021 at 12:19 PM, cruisellama said:

Do you know if 3 days the norm of a "win"  announcement of winning?  Or is that the minimum time you find out?  (I still have 2 in the pending status for a 21 Nov Oasis departure).   Could someone show up on embarkation day and find you they've been upgraded?

Hi.  So sorry for the long wait for a reply.  I just saw this.  I'm not sure you could find out on embarkation day, but I wouldn't be surprised.  From what I have been reading here, days before the trip is the norm for finding out of an upgrade through Royal Up.

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8 minutes ago, Rene Desmarais said:

question:

When bidding, the initial bid you offer is multiplied by the number of total guests in that room?

EX: family of 4, bid is 50.00 x 4 = 200 dollars total? 

No, initial bid  x 2 even if more people in the cabin. Only first two passengers are charged.

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On 10/31/2021 at 11:19 AM, cruisellama said:

Do you know if 3 days the norm of a "win"  announcement of winning?  Or is that the minimum time you find out?  (I still have 2 in the pending status for a 21 Nov Oasis departure).   Could someone show up on embarkation day and find you they've been upgraded?

We were just notified last night that our Royal Up bid for the Owners Suite, on Symphony, sailing this Saturday, so 4 days or so.   I don't know if that's standard or not.  This was our first time ever using Royal UP.

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16 hours ago, Keanoknick said:

We were just notified last night that our Royal Up bid for the Owners Suite, on Symphony, sailing this Saturday, so 4 days or so.   I don't know if that's standard or not.  This was our first time ever using Royal UP.

Yes, this is pretty much in line with how it normally works. Between 2-4 days prior to sailing your CC gets charged and the email is sent out confirming your win. Enjoy!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Received the email that my RoyalUp bid was successful. From JS to Owner’s Suite.
The cruise is on the Anthem from Bayonne NJ on December 12…so, five days from embarkation day. The last time I was notified of a successful bid was on Nov 5th for the Anthem sailing on Nov 8th…so, three days out. 
Yay!😁

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@BrianB Next time I am sending you my info so you can make my Royal Up Bid! Congratulations, that is just wonderful. As someone who placed 5 bids on our last sailing & didn't even get one "frozen" would you be comfortable sharing with me two answers? Are you high in the Crown & Anchor tiers, Diamond or above perhaps? Also, do you bid at the top of the bidding scale? For instance, if the minimum is 500 do you bid the highest bid shown (allowed?) say 1,500.00?

I need to defeat Mr. RUB Cabash soon, please help? LOL, thanks BrianB again so awesome and super happy for you. Enjoy your sailing! 

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19 hours ago, Neesa said:

@BrianB Next time I am sending you my info so you can make my Royal Up Bid! Congratulations, that is just wonderful. As someone who placed 5 bids on our last sailing & didn't even get one "frozen" would you be comfortable sharing with me two answers? Are you high in the Crown & Anchor tiers, Diamond or above perhaps? Also, do you bid at the top of the bidding scale? For instance, if the minimum is 500 do you bid the highest bid shown (allowed?) say 1,500.00?

I need to defeat Mr. RUB Cabash soon, please help? LOL, thanks BrianB again so awesome and super happy for you. Enjoy your sailing! 

I’m D+… I never bid the highest, just what I’m comfortable with at the time. Usually at the lower end of the scale. I think I was just lucky with the first one because that was Anthem’s first cruise after returning from the UK and the first day was removed making it just a six day cruise, so there may have been some cancellations. 
For Sunday’s cruise…also luck. I bid the lower end again and don’t know why I got it. There must have been lots of availability and they awarded bids on the higher cabin categories, freeing up mine. Keep trying! Good luck!

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Hi,

Does someone have the link or website to use to see your status on bids?  The only way I've been able to get back in is to use the modify/cancel from the email and then I can't see status on that one.

I've also noticed that even though I walk through the bid and it says offer has been submitted, I never got the email confirmation and the next time I went in using the link - it didn't have any offers.  Glad I checked.  Resubmitted and did get the email the 2nd time around.

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