Free Room Upgrades of Olden Times

[Chewie]

I've sailed on several Royal Caribbean cruises, but only recently have rediscovered them after a hiatus of several years.  A lot has changed since I was gone.  There is now the Royal Up program.  In the past, room upgrades were complimentary and were handed out on a seemingly random basis.  Are those completely gone now that Royal Up allows guests to bid on the upgrades?  Just curious if the cruise line ever randomly upgrades anyone nowadays.

[WAAAYTOOO]

No random upgrades anymore that I am aware of.  Why give away what you can sell ?

[Pattycruise]

Oasis did some the end of August.  I was not offered that opportunity.  2 people reported it in the Facebook group.  This was not a Royal Up

[Linda R]

About 9 years ago I got a free upgrade.  But have not heard of it since.  So am not sure.

[twangster]

Prior to the pandemic in 2019 and early 2020 the ships were full.  Nearly every cabin sold before departure so there were few cabins available and those were filled using RoyalUp. 

During the restart in 2021 and early 2022 there were upgrade opportunities outside of RoyalUp mainly because the ships were half empty.  The ships stopped being half empty in the spring of 2022 in some regions.   

What you may have experienced in the distant past stopped many years ago even before RoyalUp because Royal would fill their ships one way or another. 

There are one-offs to the current process but only a select few guests are lucky this way.  In July for example a family with several cabins failed to board the ship.  Their luggage did so maybe a kid tested positive in the terminal or some other factor caused the group not to board.  I scored an upgrade from interior to balcony as a result so you never know.

[FireFishII]

Here is an alternative I just read but I am not sure if it is true (ie: only 1 source).  I read that instead of using Royal Up, either talk to your TA or RCL directly to see how much it would cost to upgrade.  I read that this route can be cheaper than Royal Up.  

As anyone gone this route?  Is it true? Does it work?

Thanks in advance. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, FireFishII said:

Here is an alternative I just read but I am not sure if it is true (ie: only 1 source).  I read that instead of using Royal Up, either talk to your TA or RCL directly to see how much it would cost to upgrade.  I read that this route can be cheaper than Royal Up.  

As anyone gone this route?  Is it true? Does it work?

Thanks in advance. 

Absolutely check to verify whether a direct upgrade might be as cheap or cheaper than a RoyalUp.  Since the chances of being awarded  a RU are pretty low these days, it might be worth it to do a direct upgrade even if the price is slightly higher.  With a direct upgrade you will get to choose your cabin and if you upgrade to a Junior Suite or higher on your own, you will get double C&A points; a JS or higher awarded via a RU will not net you double points.

I did this just last week.  I had a RU bid option that would have cost $300.  When I called, I found that a direct upgrade would cost $470.  For the extra $170 I got a for-sure upgrade and chose my own room.  I will now get double C&A points.  It was worth the cost and the chances were very low that I would have won the RU bid anyway.  Win-win.