Royal Up bidding process is different

[Sailor Dee]

What's up with Royal Up. They now ask for a credit card when you submit a bid. And I can't find a way to review my bids!! It was easier to manage in the "old" system.

[Cello56]

I have always had to provide a credit card when submitting a Royal Up bid.  They charge your card immediately if you WIN your bid.

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, Cello56 said:

I have always had to provide a credit card when submitting a Royal Up bid.  They charge your card immediately if you WIN your bid.

Same. This is not new.

[michaelp1446]

25 minutes ago, Cello56 said:

I have always had to provide a credit card when submitting a Royal Up bid.  They charge your card immediately if you WIN your bid.

This 

[SpeedNoodles]

I've been able to review my bids right on the Cruise Planner.  I find it much easier now since it's all in one place.

[TeRriii]

21 hours ago, Sailor Dee said:

What's up with Royal Up. They now ask for a credit card when you submit a bid. And I can't find a way to review my bids!! It was easier to manage in the "old" system.

You must be a Barbie Land citizen. Welcome to real world !

[ScottD]

On 7/29/2023 at 6:03 AM, Sailor Dee said:

What's up with Royal Up. They now ask for a credit card when you submit a bid. And I can't find a way to review my bids!! It was easier to manage in the "old" system.

Like everyone else, not sure what the old system was- but they always require a credit card first- they can't charge you when you win if they don't have your info. And you can review everything right in your cruise planner now. 

[Sailor Dee]

Okay, this isn't my first rodeo. My latest cruise was last month. In the past they charged the card I had on file with my booking. I've never had to re-enter my card info. I know how royal up works. I can read. 

[twangster]

6 hours ago, Sailor Dee said:

Okay, this isn't my first rodeo. My latest cruise was last month. In the past they charged the card I had on file with my booking. I've never had to re-enter my card info. I know how royal up works. I can read. 

Royal Up is operated by a 3rd party "PlusGrade" who doesn't have access to the card on file from the booking.  

[RCIfan1912]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Royal Up is operated by a 3rd party "PlusGrade" who doesn't have access to the card on file from the booking.  

I'm trying to understand the benefit to Royal Caribbean if a 3rd party runs this program. They get a percentage of the winning bid and what's left for Royal Caribbean when you bid 200 bucks for the first 2 people and Royal Caribbean to me seems like it's getting peanuts in the end. But I'm basing that on the low bids that I make.

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I'm trying to understand the benefit to Royal Caribbean if a 3rd party runs this program. They get a percentage of the winning bid and what's left for Royal Caribbean when you bid 200 bucks for the first 2 people and Royal Caribbean to me seems like it's getting peanuts in the end. But I'm basing that on the low bids that I make.

They get great benefits; they upgrade the person that won and sell that person cabin at a premium since its closer to sail date. 

[Matt]

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I'm trying to understand the benefit to Royal Caribbean if a 3rd party runs this program

The benefit to Royal Caribbean is RC didn't have to code up the site and logic to make RU work. Means they were able to offer it faster to customers with less up-front investment.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 minute ago, Matt said:

The benefit to Royal Caribbean is RC didn't have to code up the site and logic to make RU work. Means they were able to offer it faster to customers with less up-front investment.

This made me kinda giggle.  Can you imagine RU if Royal had created it and was operating it ?!?  

[ScottD]

11 hours ago, Sailor Dee said:

Okay, this isn't my first rodeo. My latest cruise was last month. In the past they charged the card I had on file with my booking. I've never had to re-enter my card info. I know how royal up works. I can read. 

But....they didn't. They do not have access to the card on file, as mentioned above it is an outside company and they would not have access to the credit card on file. 

[RCIfan1912]

On 7/31/2023 at 9:06 AM, Ampurp85 said:

They get great benefits; they upgrade the person that won and sell that person cabin at a premium since its closer to sail date. 

But I bid the minimum or just a pinch over and "won" a balcony from a central park inside view. That wasn't a premium price I don't think. 

 

[Ampurp85]

8 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

But I bid the minimum or just a pinch over and "won" a balcony from a central park inside view. That wasn't a premium price I don't think. 

 

No, you misunderstood. Your bid and such don't really matter. Royal has your money you paid for the room, they upgrade you to a room they haven't sold or issued a refund/FCC for. Then they get to sell the room you are no longer in at a premium. 

[Mike n Ky]

A change I have noticed on RU's is the minimums have gone way UP!

[RCIfan1912]

9 hours ago, Mike n Ky said:

A change I have noticed on RU's is the minimums have gone way UP!

I hope that's not the case for our Liberty cruise this October. We really want to try for a suite. 

[ScottD]

9 hours ago, Mike n Ky said:

A change I have noticed on RU's is the minimums have gone way UP!

I think it depends on the cruise... I see some posts with really low min bids, then mine is triple for the same rooms. 

[smokeybandit]

12 hours ago, Mike n Ky said:

A change I have noticed on RU's is the minimums have gone way UP!

Not in my experience.  It's probably a ship by ship thing 

[Mike n Ky]

7 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Not in my experience.  It's probably a ship by ship thing 

I am sure that is a factor and we are in a JS on Allure next month, so a move up is to a GS. That said the numbers were pretty high back in April on Wonder to move from an OVB to a JS.

[Ptrg]

Anyone won the bid? By how much? And worth it to do so? Thanks

[Pattycruise]

There are always people who win the bids in the Facebook group for my sailings. No one mentions what they bid.  
i always check out the bid costs and decide against it.  I am very particular about my cabin location and feel any money spent for an upgrade could be spent elsewhere. 

[smokeybandit]

The two times I won it was with one notch above the minimum 

[RCIfan1912]

6 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

The two times I won it was with one notch above the minimum 

Same here. Just a tad over minimum. 

[Ampurp85]

I have won both mine with the minimum. 

[Dad2Cue]

I have never done Royal Up.  I understand it this way:

I pay a premium so that I can select my room.  Then I make a Royal Up bid and potentially pay more so Royal can select my room.  Would you only do Royal Up if you let Royal pick your room in the first place?

I care more about location than the size of my room.

 

[OCSC Mike]

Just now, Dad2Cue said:

I care more about location than the size of my room.

Then I don’t think RU is for you.

[Dad2Cue]

23 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Then I don’t think RU is for you.

That's what I thought.

Another question ... Is the minimum bid based on the category of room you are upgrading from?

For example,  an upgrade from an interior room to a grand suite might have a minimum bid of $2,000 whereas an upgrade from a junior suite to a grand suite might only have a minimum bid of  $500.

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, Dad2Cue said:

Another question ... Is the minimum bid based on the category of room you are upgrading from?

Pretty much, yes. Prices & availability may also factor in. No one knows the actual algorithm.

Also, if below a balcony, you can usually only bid up to a balcony. You usually need to be in a balcony or higher to bid on suites. My experience at least.

[ScottD]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Pretty much, yes. Prices & availability may also factor in. No one knows the actual algorithm.

Also, if below a suite, you can usually only bid up to a balcony. You usually need to be in a balcony or higher to bid on suites. My experience at least.

We are in a balcony and have the bigger balcony, the bigger room with balcony, and 5 different suites, from a JR all the way to a crown loft,  all listed on our RU right now..definitely wasn't expecting seven upgrade options.

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, ScottD said:

We are in a balcony and have the bigger balcony, the bigger room with balcony, and 5 different suites, from a JR all the way to a crown loft,  all listed on our RU right now..definitely wasn't expecting seven upgrade options.

I typoed that post. Fixed it now. My bad. Should have said if you're below a balcony you can only bid up to a balcony.

Rolling the dice on anything?

[ScottD]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I typoed that post. Fixed it now. My bad. Should have said if you're below a balcony you can only bid up to a balcony.

Rolling the dice on anything?

Nah, we already paid to upgrade from Boardwalk to ocean view balcony a few months ago (saw that it was only like 100 bucks more so we had our TA jump on it) The prices for the RU bids on mine are really high... I wouldn't bother with the larger balcony ones, and the junior suite starts at 450pp.... no way I'm spending another 900 just for a slightly bigger room. Crown loft starts at 2800pp, lol.  

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, ScottD said:

Nah, we already paid to upgrade from Boardwalk to ocean view balcony a few months ago (saw that it was only like 100 bucks more so we had our TA jump on it) The prices for the RU bids on mine are really high... I wouldn't bother with the larger balcony ones, and the junior suite starts at 450pp.... no way I'm spending another 900 just for a slightly bigger room. Crown loft starts at 2800pp, lol.  

I don't blame ya.

[Dad2Cue]

4 hours ago, ScottD said:

we already paid to upgrade from Boardwalk to ocean view balcony a few months ago (saw that it was only like 100 bucks more so we had our TA jump on it)

I have upgraded myself this way and feel better about it.  At least the cost/benefit ratio is more obvious plus I can still pick my room.

The whole pricing scheme Royal uses is hard to comprehend.  I have seen ocean view balconies priced less than Central Park or Boardwalk.  Sometimes I would rather have Central Park but I'll take an ocean view if it costs less.

I booked two rooms not that long ago.  Ocean view for my daughters and Junior Suite for wife and me.  Adjacent rooms but not connected. There were slightly different discounts involved. 

The issue of refundable vs. nonrefundable came into play. The Junior Suite had a $1,000 premium for refundable.  The ocean view refundable was about $200.  I got the Junior Suite NRD for less than the ocean view refundable. 

My daughters change their minds too much and aren't so committed.

[Linda R]

12 hours ago, Dad2Cue said:

That's what I thought.

Another question ... Is the minimum bid based on the category of room you are upgrading from?

For example,  an upgrade from an interior room to a grand suite might have a minimum bid of $2,000 whereas an upgrade from a junior suite to a grand suite might only have a minimum bid of  $500.

Usually an interior cabin is not able to bid on a suite.  It kinda goes in sections.  An interior would get offers for ocean view or balcony.  Depending on the ship and the cabins available.  Balcony would get offers for suites.   I have bid several times and never had one accepted.  I even once did max bid on an upper suite, and did not get it.   I usually book back-to-back cruises so I rarely bid anymore.  But many people do get upgrades and with lower bids.  So, it can be  worth trying, even if you do not get it.