Changes to awarding RoyalUps - can anyone verify this?

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Got some insight to the new program for onboard upgrades.  It isn't called RoyalUp but will go by another name.  It's still early for the fleet, no word if or when it will roll out but ships are being made aware of it as they work out the details and finalize the process.

Interesting.  Just about the time they get this operating they will be back up to full capacity and there won’t be any spare rooms to upgrade to !

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

 It isn't called RoyalUp but will go by another name. 

I'm going with BidABetterBed

 

[TXTeacher]

We are going on Harmony of the Seas April 24 and really hoping one of our bids is accepted to upgrade. Maybe the spring break rush will be over by then and the ship will not be at full capacity. Fingers crossed!

[Leroyr55]

We are 74 days out for SOS and received a royal up email already. My question is doing the minimum bids ever go down. Also can you bid below the minimum. We are in a JS right now. Two year wait for this cruise.

[fa-li]

3 hours ago, TXTeacher said:

We are going on Harmony of the Seas April 24 and really hoping one of our bids is accepted to upgrade. Maybe the spring break rush will be over by then and the ship will not be at full capacity. Fingers crossed!

 Hi, I will be on this cruise with you!  Still waffling on whether to bid or not. May just have my TA see what she can get a nicer cabin for compared to the minimum bids, which seem high to me. What did you bid on?

either way, I agree! We are hoping not too much of a spring break vibe

[jticarruthers]

2 hours ago, Leroyr55 said:

We are 74 days out for SOS and received a royal up email already. My question is doing the minimum bids ever go down. Also can you bid below the minimum. We are in a JS right now. Two year wait for this cruise.

I have been getting "special invites" to bid with half the usual minimum bid .. not sure what that means since anyone that bid the regular minimum would be "above" me in order but who knows.

[twangster]

15 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I'm going with BidABetterBed

 

That could be it...

I wonder if they are trying to build it in house to avoid paying 3rd party fees.  

[smokeybandit]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

That could be it...

I wonder if they are trying to build it in house to avoid paying 3rd party fees.  

Could be. Which with the reputation RoyalIT has your bid from a JS to a OS may net you an inside cabin on Deck 2

[WAAAYTOOO]

25 minutes ago, twangster said:

I wonder if they are trying to build it in house to avoid paying 3rd party fees.  

God help us if this is the case...

[iceflyer101]

We are sailing on Allure this Sunday. I found a great deal on a Central Park Balcony, and was happy with my selection (11th deck, midship), but I kept getting Royal Up emails. The minimum bid for a Ocean View Balcony was only $35 a person, so I decided on Monday night to go for it. We got approved this morning and are on the 10th deck aft! The going rate for an Ocean Front Balcony is over $600 more than what I originally booked, needless to say we are very excited!

[PRebecca]

I booked a trip March 18th because we got a last minute casino offer. I'm getting the "make sure your sailing is within 30 days" note when trying to upgrade. The ships shows very little availability so I'm not surprised but bummed all the same.  *I did try booking JS to begin with but none available

 

[csrsue]

We are about 11 days out from our sailing.  If we haven't heard about our RoyalUp offer being accepted by now, should we just assume it was rejected?

We sailed in December 2021 - just a few months ago - and our offer was accepted about three weeks out.  Granted, I did bid more for that sailing and so that may be the reason.

I've done dummy or ghost bookings and there are still a ton of cabins available.

[TXTeacher]

On 2/23/2022 at 6:50 AM, fa-li said:

 Hi, I will be on this cruise with you!  Still waffling on whether to bid or not. May just have my TA see what she can get a nicer cabin for compared to the minimum bids, which seem high to me. What did you bid on?

either way, I agree! We are hoping not too much of a spring break vibe

We bid on an Ocean Balcony, but it doesn't look like many are left available, so I guess we will only get one if someone already booked upgrades and we get lucky. We will see!

[Temeculaguy]

On 2/24/2022 at 6:33 PM, csrsue said:

We are about 11 days out from our sailing.  If we haven't heard about our RoyalUp offer being accepted by now, should we just assume it was rejected?

We sailed in December 2021 - just a few months ago - and our offer was accepted about three weeks out.  Granted, I did bid more for that sailing and so that may be the reason.

I've done dummy or ghost bookings and there are still a ton of cabins available.

Don't give up hope just yet, when the ghost booking shows all the suites are gone, then you can. If there are ton of cabins still available, they likely haven't done the majority of the royal ups, you are still in the game! most royal ups are the week of the cruise.

[Michelle Porter]

I booked through Costco Travel (never again) and found out after final payment they do not participate with Royal Up, which was very disappointing. If these after boarding upgrades are considered part of Royal Up then I guess I still would not be eligible. Does anyone know if that is the case?

[jticarruthers]

I got confirmation from RoyalUp on Day 2 that my bid was not accepted ... seems to confirm they were still weighing options on Day 1. Frankly i would not have been happy to find out on Day 2 of a 3 night cruise that my upgrade was accepted and i was being charged and expected to change cabins.

Probably just convinced me not to bid on anymore RoyalUp options for short cruises right there.

[MamaG]

2 hours ago, jticarruthers said:

I got confirmation from RoyalUp on Day 2 that my bid was not accepted ... seems to confirm they were still weighing options on Day 1. Frankly i would not have been happy to find out on Day 2 of a 3 night cruise that my upgrade was accepted and i was being charged and expected to change cabins.

Probably just convinced me not to bid on anymore RoyalUp options for short cruises right there.

Yea, I've been thinking it sounds silly to offer it on embarkation day. Once your bags are in your room, moving it all would be a pain that I'm not sure is worth it. I'm curious to see if anyone has had to change rooms after day 1. Thanks for the update!

[andixgee2]

On 2/23/2022 at 8:11 AM, jticarruthers said:

I have been getting "special invites" to bid with half the usual minimum bid .. not sure what that means since anyone that bid the regular minimum would be "above" me in order but who knows.

Thats what I am wondering! Like do I just lose now? Lol so confusing.

[MikeK]

On 2/17/2022 at 7:21 PM, Bill S said:

Here's my problem:  We have a balcony stateroom. We bought the Deluxe Beverage Package, and the Key.  The beverage package barely makes sense for us. However, if we were to be upgraded to a suite (other than Junior, which we didn't bid on), we probably wouldn't need either of those, right?  We would also pack 2 bottles of wine to have, if we didn't have the beverage package. 

We can only cancel these and get a refund up to 2 days before the departure.  Otherwise it's cruise credit, and who needs/uses $1200 in credit? So, at this point, we will probably remove our Royal bids the 2 days before the trip - or at least substantially discount them. 

 You can buy a lot of Tshirts and refrigerator magnets with $1200