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Royal Up program


Jill

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Since this is your first Star Class experience, I recommend you stick with the ATS on Deck 8.  It's an experience everyone should have at least once.  The 2-level suites are very nice but there's something very special about the A1 suites.  If you were on deck 9 or 10 I would say maybe...those rooms are significantly smaller than the ones on 8 but you have the biggest one of all.

Since they are all Star Class, you wouldn't gain anything by upgrading except being on deck 17 (which definitely has it's advantages !) and the novelty of having 2 levels.  Personally, I don't see ANY reason to spend more money at this point.  The only downside to being in the ATS is the walking distance.  It is a LONG way back there but it's worth the walk for the experience.  Be sure and get breakfast delivered to your suite and eat out on the balcony.  It's incredible out there !

Once you've done the ATS once you can consider the loft suites.  They are extremely convenient but I think you will regret not doing the ATS if you give it up now.

THANK YOU!!!  After thinking longer....you nailed our thoughts exactly!!!  Especially seeing the first booking of this cruise started out in a JS and within a week we were into the deck 8 ATS ? AND, as a family we have recently lost 175 lbs total and don't mind the walking....at...all!!!!  ?   We are cruise ready!!

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20 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Still a scam. If I want a suite I'll get it from the get-go when the itinerary is first announced. Why would I pay a starting bid of over $1,000.00 above what I got now for a measly 5 sq. ft. addition/slightly bigger room?? No way, Jose!!

Not really sure “scam” is the right term. Nobody is forcing you to bid. If you want to take advantage of maybe upgrading from a JS to a crown loft suite then I would say $1000/pp would be one excellent deal and far from a “scam”. I am looking forward to getting this email so I can upgrade from CLS to RLS.

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1 hour ago, Atlantix2000 said:

do you get the double points for suites when using Royal Up (when bidding to upgrade from a normal cabin)?

Nope and that's a deal breaker for me

Accepted offers will earn Crown & Anchor points at the original stateroom category

purchased, and not the category of the upgraded stateroom. The terms and conditions of your

original cruise booking will remain in effect following the acceptance

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I've never been able to get promotional emails.  I check the box each survey. I check the box in my C&A setting.  I've talked to IT, web support and the C&A team.  The next day the check box in my account settings is always once again unchecked.  Checked spam folders, trash and so on.  I've never received one promotional email from Royal.

I'm sailing Navigator soon with my step-daughter.  I didn't get an upgrade email, but she did.  I had to use her email to place a bid.  It went to her C&A email address.  Only my email address is on the booking and only my email address was used when I checked us in a while ago.  

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Just now, Cez said:

Nope and that's a deal breaker for me

Accepted offers will earn Crown & Anchor points at the original stateroom category

purchased, and not the category of the upgraded stateroom. The terms and conditions of your

original cruise booking will remain in effect following the acceptance

I noted that as well and find that very odd.  The upgrade bid for a suite speaks of "additional suite benefits" .

Also noted that single cruisers pay double occupancy rates.  Any one with over 340 C&A points gets reduced single supplement, except it appears when using RoyalUP.   

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I never did get an email for my upgrade offer.  Michelle got it though and told me about it.  She is off on an adventure - previewing the Celebrity Edge - so I will ignore it for now.

Since we are already in a full suite (GS) I'm not sure how much an upgrade to an OS or RS would really get us.  Nothing, really, except for more space and with just 2 of us, a GS is more than enough space.  We already get all of the suites amenities and double points.  We've never been in the RS before so maybe there's some advantage to doing that but the RS has been booked since I first booked this cruise (over 1 1/2 years ago) so I think the chances of them cancelling at this point are infinitesimal.  We love the Owner's Suite but I'm not going to pay a lot just for a little more space (and an indoor dining room table) and that's all we would be getting.

I have 6 cruises booked between Christmas 2018 and Feb 2020 and as far as I know, the only one for which there has been an offer to upgrade is the Christmas cruise on Grandeur next month.  3 of those cruises are Star Class already but as we have seen with KasinoCrazy, they will even try and get the SC cruisers to upgrade so I guess we'll see.  Michelle might have gotten some more offers but I won't know about them until she gets back.

I have a couple of random thoughts about this upgrade program.  Since nobody has actually gone through the process yet these are pure speculation, but they seem to be reasonable.

1.  If you are already booked in at LEAST a JS then you have nothing to lose re: C&A points.  You already qualify for double points so you will not loose anything there.

2.  If you generally cruise in suites, it's not such a big deal that you cannot choose your location with the upgrade.  For the MOST part, higher level suites are located in generally the same (desirable) area of the ship so the chances of getting a location that you hate are fairly small.  Yes, you could get one of the suites that adjoin to another suite but this is about the greatest risk to consider.  Those sailing in lower categories have real concerns about cabin placement on the upgrade.  If you want a certain deck or cabin placement then you probably better off booking what you want and sticking with it.  If you don't care that you might end up under the night club dance floor, go for it !

I'm sure there will be others that we learn about as people bid, win and live to tell about it.

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@WAAAYTOOO ,I received an offer yesterday for my January sailing on Allure which is Star class, Star Loft Suite, I had a choice of upgrading to the Royal Loft Suite, bid started at $800 and went to $3100PP, or either of the Panoramic Suites, bid started at $300 and went to $1100PP.

I talked it over with my wife and we were looking at the Panoramic and I said what the heck, I'll do the minimum for a total of $600 if we win, we win, if we don't no problem, but the balcony is actually smaller compared to out Star Loft and she didn't want to give that up, so ultimately we ended up doing nothing.

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I'm looking at this program as a positive addition.  We stay in ocean view balcony staterooms.  It may give us the opportunity to stay in a junior suite someday for a reduced rate.   I priced a junior suite for our next cruise and it was $5,200 more than our ocean view balcony.  This thrifty girl could not justify that price(and I'm a compulsive price watcher)!!   I'm hoping this program may make upgrading more obtainable because the upgrade fairy has never come knocking at our door!

 

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15 minutes ago, VacationCrazy! said:

I'm looking at this program as a positive addition.  We stay in ocean view balcony staterooms.  It may give us the opportunity to stay in a junior suite someday for a reduced rate.   I priced a junior suite for our next cruise and it was $5,200 more than our ocean view balcony.  This thrifty girl could not justify that price(and I'm a compulsive price watcher)!!   I'm hoping this program may make upgrading more obtainable because the upgrade fairy has never come knocking at our door!

 

Hope springs eternal and it will be a very loooooooooong spring!! ?

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1 hour ago, tiny260 said:

@WAAAYTOOO ,I received an offer yesterday for my January sailing on Allure which is Star class, Star Loft Suite, I had a choice of upgrading to the Royal Loft Suite, bid started at $800 and went to $3100PP, or either of the Panoramic Suites, bid started at $300 and went to $1100PP.

I talked it over with my wife and we were looking at the Panoramic and I said what the heck, I'll do the minimum for a total of $600 if we win, we win, if we don't no problem, but the balcony is actually smaller compared to out Star Loft and she didn't want to give that up, so ultimately we ended up doing nothing.

Star loft suite is a crown loft suite w/ star privileges?

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21 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Star loft suite is a crown loft suite w/ star privileges?

If you look at "cruisedeckplans.com", a:

- Star/Sky Loft Suite (Different names depending on what documentation you read) is 722 sq/ft, balcony 410 sq/ft, the balcont depends on what room you get, there are 2, 1718, 1720, 1720 looks like the bigger balcony.

- Crown Loft Suite is 545 sq/ft, balcony 114 sq/ft

We picked suite 1718 because we wanted to look off the side and not out that back at the miniature golf course.

Believe me, this is the minimum room (Price) I could get and still get Star Class, even though I think the Panoramic room may be less on different ships and sailing.

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39 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Star loft suite is a crown loft suite w/ star privileges?

One of the Star Lofts (1718 on OA and AL, and 1722 on HM and SY) looks like a giant CLS.  There is a running joke that it is a CLS on steroids. The other one (1720 on OA and AL; 1724 on HM and SY) has a different set up, still 2 floors but layout is different in that it doesn't look almost identical to a CLS.  But like @tiny260 said, the size is way bigger.

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2 hours ago, tiny260 said:

@WAAAYTOOO ,I received an offer yesterday for my January sailing on Allure which is Star class, Star Loft Suite, I had a choice of upgrading to the Royal Loft Suite, bid started at $800 and went to $3100PP, or either of the Panoramic Suites, bid started at $300 and went to $1100PP.

I talked it over with my wife and we were looking at the Panoramic and I said what the heck, I'll do the minimum for a total of $600 if we win, we win, if we don't no problem, but the balcony is actually smaller compared to out Star Loft and she didn't want to give that up, so ultimately we ended up doing nothing.

That Royal Loft looks pretty nice though..

??

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17 hours ago, VacationCrazy! said:

It may give us the opportunity to stay in a junior suite someday for a reduced rate.

IMHO Junior suite without perks of doubling C&A points it not worth even $500 extra. I would rather take that cash and put it as a deposit towards next cruise, but it's just me...

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Also, keep in mind any "additional" fare increase above your original fare price will increase your travel insurance bought from RCCL and this will also have to be paid per RCCL. I noticed a little "?" (see pic) and had to investigate and this is what I was informed directly.

These offers are treated as "GUARANTEED ROOMS" per RCCL, which I was informed directly.

NOTE, if you do not like connecting rooms and by researching available rooms on one of the sailings I was offered by RoyalUp, these were the rooms that were mostly available and you just might end up with one. I recommend that everyone do their due diligence before making a decision you might regret later on. CAVEAT EMPTOR !!

ryo.png

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2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Why didn't I get the email offer???  I think Royal might hate me. lol

They obviously don't know about YOLO, or they would love you

My wife and I discussed this last night and have two trains of thought, either everything is sold out and they are hedging their bets on cancellations our these rooms are not sold out and they are trying to fill them, I'm 44 days out, why past final payment date, so I'm leaning more towards the "they are not sold".

@Lovetocruise2002 , yours may be the case that there is nothing above your room available to upgrade to on your sailing, so no email.

Without these offers of RoyalUp, what did RCCL do in the past if the cabins were not sold out? Offer them to a Pinnacle at a discounted rate? We have also had the discussion on here that they did nothing, they preferred to sail with some cabins not occupied verses giving them away at a discount.

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33 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

either everything is sold out and they are hedging their bets on cancellations our these rooms are not sold out and they are trying to fill them

I am leaning more towards this.

33 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

@Lovetocruise2002 , yours may be the case that there is nothing above your room available to upgrade to on your sailing, so no email.

The Royal Loft showed up as available today.  Would love the opportunity to bid on that.

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1 hour ago, tiny260 said:

Without these offers of RoyalUp, what did RCCL do in the past if the cabins were not sold out? Offer them to a Pinnacle at a discounted rate? We have also had the discussion on here that they did nothing, they preferred to sail with some cabins not occupied verses giving them away at a discount.

Twangbot wrote an excellent post on CC about this.  Maybe we can entice him to re-post it here.  It's really very insightful.  Easy thing for a bot, right ?

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On 11/28/2018 at 2:08 PM, princevaliantus said:

I received it but it is all about making money. Solo travelers do not benefit as you still have to pay double-occupancy. It is all a scam.

It's hardly a scam if you get what you wanted for the price you wanted!  Sure, the cruise line is doing this for their own benefit but that hardly makes it a scam

 

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Just now, jce2 said:

It's hardly a scam if you get what you wanted for the price you wanted!  Sure, the cruise line is doing this for their own benefit but that hardly makes it a scam

 

But ONLY "if you get what you wanted for the price you wanted!", which we all know in the world of reality, it'll never happen. You don't get to choose the room, nor location, and you might get stuck with a connecting room, an increase travel insurance rate if you buy it through RCCL who gets a kick-back, etcetera, etcetera.

image.png.1bacfe15967995954eaa59a226e72570.png

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3 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

But ONLY "if you get what you wanted for the price you wanted!", which we all know in the world of reality, it'll never happen. You don't get to choose the room, nor location, and you might get stuck with a connecting room, an increase travel insurance rate if you buy it through RCCL who gets a kick-back, etcetera, etcetera.

image.png.1bacfe15967995954eaa59a226e72570.png

And it's all disclosed up front and OPTIONAL.  Dont want it, dont bid!  No extra cost to you (or those who bid if they lose).  sorry, just seems like negativism for the sake of being negative to me.  I doubt I will ever take advantage of it but dont see any harm.  My kids on the other hand are hoping it comes thru for them.  They currently have an "oceanview" for our Alaska cruise (I have an aft balcony) and while they are aware of their lack of control, they have the attitude...any balcony anywhere on-board will beat their portal window.  They cant afford to just pay the thousands (literally) more that I paid so this might (though a long shot) work for them.  If not?  No foul!  they still have what they got

 

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10 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

But ONLY "if you get what you wanted for the price you wanted!", which we all know in the world of reality, it'll never happen. You don't get to choose the room, nor location, and you might get stuck with a connecting room, an increase travel insurance rate if you buy it through RCCL who gets a kick-back, etcetera, etcetera.

image.png.1bacfe15967995954eaa59a226e72570.png

It’s def not a scam. Maybe re-phrase it and make it “not worth it for a solo traveler”??? RC is providing a service that many people will consider a positive addition. If you want to talk about a scam, how about the elusive “upgrade fairy” that was about as real as the tooth fairy? I personally would rather pony up some cash and bid on an upgrade that I could possibly win instead of waiting around for another disappointing round with the fairy that never delivers...

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Just now, tonyfsu21 said:

It’s def not a scam. Maybe re-phrase it and make it “not worth it for a solo traveler”??? RC is providing a service that many people will consider a positive addition. If you want to talk about a scam, how about the elusive “upgrade fairy” that was about as real as the tooth fairy? I personally would rather pony up some cash and bid on an upgrade that I could possibly win instead of waiting around for another disappointing round with the fairy that never delivers...

Hope springs eternal and it seems it will be a very looooooong spring.

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One of the advantages of RoyalUP is handling of last minute cancellations.  They can take bids for cabins even if cabin types aren't available and might never become available.  

Before RoyalUP if a Royal Suite cancelled at T-24 hours, that RS would likely be given to a Pinnacle upon check in.  Net revenue increase $0.

Now they have pre-established a line of succession.

 

We have a GS willing to pay $1,500 for an RS

We have a JS willing to pay $1,000 for an GS

We have a balcony willing to pay $800 for a JS

We have an OV willing to pay $400 for a balcony

We have an INT willing to pay $150 for an OV.

RS cancels at T-24 and the system automatically executes the line of succession.  Net revenue increase $1,500+$1,000+$800+$400+$150 = $3,850.  Ships sails with an empty INT cabin.  Big deal.  

Five happy cruising couples who 'scored' an upgrade.  Pinnacle will never know what they didn't get.  Royal makes more money, even if they give a percentage to the 3rd party.  Win-Win (Pinnacle loses but they'll never know that so neutral).

 

If Royal was smart with RoyalUp in place, they would modify the last minute cancelation penalties and offer an FCC for last minute cancellations.  $50 for OV, $100 for a balcony, $150 for a JS, $200 for a GS, etc.  

I did a no-show on Majesty when my daughter graduated AF BMT.  It all happened last minute and I was in 100% penalty.  I didn't notify Royal, I simply did a no show.  Maybe a last minute hurricane or mechanical issue would impact my sailing and I'd get a refund.  Why notify and cancel?  I'd get zero.   I got taxes back even as a no-show so there is no reward to notify Royal if you need to cancel within the 100% penalty period.

My cabin likely sailed empty.

Now with RoyalUP they should introduce a last minute FCC for close in cancellations.  I'd take that and the RoyalUP line of succession can kick in.  The $200 FCC would be offset by all the RoyalUp line of succession revenue upgrades.  

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26 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

It’s def not a scam. Maybe re-phrase it and make it “not worth it for a solo traveler”??? RC is providing a service that many people will consider a positive addition. If you want to talk about a scam, how about the elusive “upgrade fairy” that was about as real as the tooth fairy? I personally would rather pony up some cash and bid on an upgrade that I could possibly win instead of waiting around for another disappointing round with the fairy that never delivers...

Agreed.  Just because it may not be something everyone is interested in, doesn't make it a scam.  

Royal is a business.  This is about taking a manual upgrade process that only typically benefited Pinnacles (for the most part) and automating it.  Automation is more efficient and can process through the ripple effect of a suite becoming available much better than humans can deal with it.  

As a D+ I've never been visited by the upgrade fairy.  Probably never will.  With RoyalUP I can choose to play the game and have a chance at a paid upgrade.  Before RoyalUP I might have been lucky enough to see a suite pop into inventory before anyone else but then I'd have to pay full price which for a full suite that can be three or four thousand more.  That's just not worth it.  I'll book another cruise for that.  So I'm not losing out on anything with RoyalUP in place.

I have a cruise coming up with a step-daughter.  We could use a bigger cabin, free room service, get her into the concierge lounge, etc.  That isn't worth a massive amount to me, but it's worth something.  I've thrown a low bid in that probably wouldn't be accepted if such a suite becomes available.  Who knows?  I'm not counting on it.  

If double C&A points were on the table that would be worth something more to me that would cause be to offer a higher bid.  Absent of double C&A points I'd rather sink $2,000 or more into another cruise.  If Royal dramatically updates the C&A program double C&A might be worthless if the goal posts are moving.  

With automation of a manual process presumably bringing in new revenue Royal can keep base fares low to remain competitive.  That's a side effect we all can benefit from.  

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7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Why didn't I get the email offer???  I think Royal might hate me. lol

@Lovetocruise2002 Well I think maybe it's because you already have a fantastic room for March ? and your other cruises are for summer. I am sure that you will get one in the new year when it gets closer to your other cruises. ?

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I've had my doubts about this program since I first heard about it, but, I got the email about my 1/27 sailing of Freedom (58 Days!) and found myself visiting the bid site adding a bid for a balcony cabin.

Sure, my bid registered on the upper scale of "weak" on the bid strength meter, but, I don't find it worth it to pay more than I would have paid at the time I booked.

Fingers crossed. If I get picked, GREAT! if not, I'm still gonna have a good time!

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