Royal Up Program

[newfolio]

I was wondering if the lower capacity numbers during COVID would make it more likely that a Royal Up bid will be accepted? Does any who has sailed since the restart have any feedback/advice regarding thier Royal Up Bids? Do you feel the capacity of the ship had any effect?

I feel like if they are forced to sail at 50%-60% then they would have to block off a lot of cabins across all classes. So, I assume there would be more availablilty for people to get thier Royal Up bids accepted? 

[Swar]

Yep, many topics cover this subject. I have gotten all 4 Royal Ups in the last 2 months with $5 over minimum bid. interior to spacious balcony.

[Beth Davis]

My upgrade from an Ocean View to a Spacious Balcony was accepted at minimum bid.

[Curtis Kari]

My upgrade from an inside to a balcony was approved at the minimum bid

[KLA]

Yes - there have been lots of Royal Up bid win stories with the reduced capacity here. I went from a GTY Balcony to a Junior Suite for a bit over the minimum bid, but there are even some stories here of people winning Star Class bids and getting all of the benefits of that experience. 

[newfolio]

Thank you so much for all your very encouraging reply’s. We’re on Symphony on Feb 5th in a Central Park balcony. We have placed 2 bids for slightly over the min amount. One for a Jr. Suite and one for an bigger balcony room. I’ll let you guys know what happens! 

[Yesiamthere]

This past October I went from a balcony to a Grande Suite.  My bid was over the minimum bid.  I did so because my balcony room was a free casino room (paid port charges and taxes). Since original balcony room was really cheap, and I really wanted to try the grande suite, I made sure my bid reflected that.  At the end, I still got the grande suite way less than half of what it was going for on the internet.  

[PetraElise]

Generally, yes, lower capacity increases your chances, but it is somewhat sailing/cabin category dependent.  I got both upgrades for our AOS sailing in August for incredibly low bids (GS to OS for one week, JS to OS for the next week) but for my upcoming sailing next week, low bids (even solid medium high bids) are not winning for JS and above.  Inside to OV or Balcony are much easier.  

[atseau]

Quick Question Do the bid prices ever go down or up or do they stay the same?

[twangster]

22 minutes ago, atseau said:

Quick Question Do the bid prices ever go down or up or do they stay the same?

I have observed that the minimum bid does go up and down.  One time I saw it go up after I submitted a bid so I deleted my bid and it went back down.  Apparently I was the one causing the minimum bid to go up and down.  

[Julieh]

Considering making an offer from a Balcony to a JS but before I do, I just want to confirm that I will NOT receive double C&A points.  Is that accurate?

[SpeedNoodles]

22 minutes ago, Julieh said:

Considering making an offer from a Balcony to a JS but before I do, I just want to confirm that I will NOT receive double C&A points.  Is that accurate?

Correct.

[SPS]

My Royal Up bid was just accepted this morning a full two weeks ahead of the sail date. My bid was right in the middle of the "Fair" category.

I'm thinking that I  probably could have gotten it a lower price, but I got our original fare so low with a re-price that our total price after the upgrade is still more than worth it!

BTW, does anyone know when our eDocs with the new luggage tags might be updated? Our Set Sail passes are updated on the app and on the website, but the eDoc PDF still have our previous deck and room number listed.

***UPDATE*** I asked Royal Caribbean through a DM on Twitter about new eDocs. In UNDER 2 MINUTES, I received a response that I should expect new eDocs within 48 hours of my bid being accepted.

***UPDATE 2*** Exactly 7 hours after received my Royal Up upgrade email, I received an email containing my new eDocs.

[B&S]

Does anyone know the link to the Royal Up program to see where things stand?  Thanks!

 

[The Fox]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade

 

[SpeedNoodles]

3 hours ago, SPS said:

My Royal Up bid was just accepted this morning a full two weeks ahead of the sail date. My bid was right in the middle of the "Fair" category.

 

I haven't heard about my RoyalUp on that sailing, yet.  What categories did you move from/to?  And most of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

[mnshortie21]

I was not going to bid on a balcony, but I checked this week on the bid I do have for a neighborhood interior and saw for the balcony category a notice, "Pricing above reflects a 25% discount to normal bid pricing. Act fast as this promotion is only valid until Jan 31, 2022" 

Has anyone else seen this in RoyalUp? Is it normal? Might it go lower?  It's extremely tempting as I have never had a balcony.

[The Fox]

Just received our Royal Up on the Oasis, Jan 30, from Interior to Neighborhood View with a minimum bid. Docs came today too.

[Natalfaz]

32 minutes ago, The Fox said:

Just received our Royal Up on the Oasis, Jan 30, from Interior to Neighborhood View with a minimum bid. Docs came today too.

Did they send you an invite or did you go on the web page and just checck if u could? 

[SPS]

3 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I haven't heard about my RoyalUp on that sailing, yet.  What categories did you move from/to?  And most of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

We went from Interior to Balcony. We generally cheap out and get an interior room so we can put more money toward excursions, dining, drinks, etc. We have a real "just get us on the ship!" mentality. 

Like I said, though, our fare ended up being so low that bidding extra to get a balcony was still more than reasonable.

PS: Don't tell my wife we got a balcony, it's a surprise! 

[SpeedNoodles]

4 minutes ago, SPS said:

We went from Interior to Balcony. We generally cheap out and get an interior room so we can put more money toward excursions, dining, drinks, etc. We have a real "just get us on the ship!" mentality. 

Like I said, though, our fare ended up being so low that bidding extra to get a balcony was still more than reasonable.

PS: Don't tell my wife we got a balcony, it's a surprise! 

That will be such a FUN surprise!  I'm so happy for you guys!!!!

[JasonOasis]

4 hours ago, B&S said:

Does anyone know the link to the Royal Up program to see where things stand?  Thanks!

 

Normally you receive an email letting you know you qualify for a Royal Up.

[SpeedNoodles]

4 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

Normally you receive an email letting you know you qualify for a Royal Up.

But when you're obsessive (like I am), you check to see which bids are still pending, or expired, etc. 

[The Fox]

19 hours ago, Natalfaz said:

Did they send you an invite or did you go on the web page and just checck if u could? 

They sent us an invitation through email.

[Pattycruise]

23 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I haven't heard about my RoyalUp on that sailing, yet.  What categories did you move from/to?  And most of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I never received anything on Royal up for my February sailings.  However, when I went to the royalup website and put in my reservation number it showed the bids available to me.  Same happened for my January cruise, but I did receive one for my March cruise.  Seems to be an issue somewhere!

[Pooch]

When I check the link, it tells me the cruise must be within 30 days of sailing?

[WAAAYTOOO]

Not all bookings are eligible for RoyalUp.

[SpeedNoodles]

1 hour ago, Pattycruise said:

I never received anything on Royal up for my February sailings.  However, when I went to the royalup website and put in my reservation number it showed the bids available to me.  Same happened for my January cruise, but I did receive one for my March cruise.  Seems to be an issue somewhere!

I meant that I hadn't heard anything on my bid (I'm on the same sailing as SPS, got an email and bid quite a while ago).  No issue here.

[SPS]

58 minutes ago, Pooch said:

When I check the link, it tells me the cruise must be within 30 days of sailing?

That's odd. I just checked my inbox and I received the Royal Up email at 53 days to go.

[Pooch]

  I can get it for me on the same cruise but not my brother.  He’s in a JS & we’re in an OS.  Would love to surprise him with a full suite.

[Natalfaz]

28 minutes ago, Pooch said:

  I can get it for me on the same cruise but not my brother.  He’s in a JS & we’re in an OS.  Would love to surprise him with a full suite.

I get the same, dont know why? 

[Shay]

Quick story.

I was in the app looking over the check-in prompts and noticed for a quick 10 seconds I could not see my stateroom or muster station. It was blank. I got soooo excited thinking my royal up was accepted.... Then my original stateroom appeared.... My heart sank . I'm 25 days out so it's not to late. LOL

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

3 hours ago, SPS said:

That's odd. I just checked my inbox and I received the Royal Up email at 53 days to go.

I got my Royal Up email at least 2 weeks ago and my cruise is March 6th!  This is the first time I have been able to try for a larger room!  But with still so many days to go...it's making it a very LONG wait to find out!!!!  LOL

[CathyEtch]

I have a silly question.  Have never done the Royal Up.  There are 3 of us currently scheduled for Allure of th Seas on 4/2/22.  I have done some research and it looks like 2 of the 3 of us would pay the upgrade if accepted.  Does that mean the 3rd doesn’t pay anything extra at all?  And even more silly, what are the minimum costs for upgrades?  Is it a percentage or a dollar amount?  We are in a larger ocean view room.  Wouldn’t mind going a little bigger if we an???

[SpeedNoodles]

24 minutes ago, CathyEtch said:

I have a silly question.  Have never done the Royal Up.  There are 3 of us currently scheduled for Allure of th Seas on 4/2/22.  I have done some research and it looks like 2 of the 3 of us would pay the upgrade if accepted.  Does that mean the 3rd doesn’t pay anything extra at all?  And even more silly, what are the minimum costs for upgrades?  Is it a percentage or a dollar amount?  We are in a larger ocean view room.  Wouldn’t mind going a little bigger if we an???

Correct, you are only charged for the first two people in the room and the 3rd would not owe anything.  The minimum cost for an upgrade really varies.  I've seen the minimum of $50 per person (lower category) and as high as $1500 per person (suites).

[CathyEtch]

Thank you.  I will be looking into possibly bidding around mid Feb to mid March?

[IRMO12HD]

On 1/15/2022 at 1:28 PM, mnshortie21 said:

I was not going to bid on a balcony, but I checked this week on the bid I do have for a neighborhood interior and saw for the balcony category a notice, "Pricing above reflects a 25% discount to normal bid pricing. Act fast as this promotion is only valid until Jan 31, 2022" 

Has anyone else seen this in RoyalUp? Is it normal? Might it go lower?  It's extremely tempting as I have never had a balcony.

@mnshortie21I received a 20% discount on a minimum bid for Interior - OV Balcony on Oasis in early December.  Minimum bid was reduced to $125 from $145 or $150 (can't remember which); I bid $135 and won the upgrade.  I probably could have won it with a minimum bid of $125.  If you don't care too much for your present location, I would double check current balcony fares and go from there.  I ended up saving about $300 total -- and my daughter's first cruise was in a balcony vs. in an interior

[mathbees]

For our October cruise on the Odyssey, we put in a slightly above minimum RU bid on a Grand Suite to a Star class Loft Suite and got it. We were notified about 5 days out from the cruise and truly enjoyed the upgrade.

Originally we were supposed to be on an 8-day on the Independence out of Miami, but they shifted us to Odyssey out of Fort Lauderdale, kept us in the same Grand Suite category, but at the Indy price.  All said, this was the lowest price we will ever see a star class suite...

[newfolio]

We WON our bid!! We got upgraded from an Central Park Balcony to a JR Suite with only a couple of dollars over the min bid!!!  So excited!!

[LCWind]

Congrats!!! Have a great time on your cruise. Go to Coastal Kitchen as soon as you board to get dinner reservations.