RoyalUp & MoveUp: How Cruise Cabin Upgrade Bidding Works (And How to Win)

You booked your cruise and paid your final payment. An email lands in your inbox asking if you want a bigger room for less than retail. This offer is called RoyalUp by Royal Caribbean. Celebrity Cruises has its own called MoveUp. Both programs run blind auctions for unsold staterooms, and both give you a chance at a balcony or suite for a fraction of the price you'd pay if you booked directly.

This guide takes you through the RoyalUp and MoveUp cruise upgrade bidding process step-by-step, shows you the actual winning bid prices, and gives you a plan to bid without wasting money.

What Is Cruise Upgrade Bidding? (RoyalUp, MoveUp & More Explained)

Cruise upgrade bidding is a blind auction for the available staterooms. After you book, the cruise line will ask you to name a price for a higher-category cabin. You choose an amount between a minimum and maximum posted amount, enter your card details, and wait. If the line accepts your offer, the charge is posted, and your cabin changes automatically. If the line rejects or declines your offer, you get your original room and pay nothing.

Most big lines handle their upgrade auctions through Plusgrade, a software company that also powers RoyalUp and MoveUp. By design, the auction is still blind. Because you do not see the other passengers' bids or the winning bids, the uncertainty of the auction leads many bidders to bid above the empty cabin's real market value. Once you get this design, you can start doing smart bidding. The cruise line makes the most money when you bid on emotion, not data.

How Does RoyalUp Work? Royal Caribbean's Upgrade Bidding Guide

RoyalUp covers Royal Caribbean sailings. The process moves through four stages.

Step 1: How to Check Your RoyalUp Eligibility

Royal Caribbean sends out invitation emails after the final payment, ranging from a few weeks to a few months before departure. You don’t have to wait for the email. Go to the RoyalUp page on the Royal Caribbean website and enter your last name and reservation number to find out if your sailing qualifies.

Step 2: Understanding RoyalUp Cabin Categories and Bid Ranges

The portal shows each stateroom class above your existing booking with the sliding scale showing the minimum and maximum bid. Small jumps like interior to ocean view are often in the $30* to $50* range per person. Suite bids begin in the hundreds. The Icon Loft Suite on Icon of the Seas is priced at a minimum of $1,625* per person.

Step 3: How to Place a RoyalUp Bid (Step-by-Step)

Bid on as many categories as you want. More bids increase your odds, and you only pay one upgrade if a bid wins. You put in card details when you submit, but Royal Caribbean charges nothing at this point.

Step 4: When Does RoyalUp Notify Winners?

Acceptance is sent by email at any time from submission up to two days before sailing. A win is a win. No way to opt out of the upgrade, fee posted immediately, and no refund available.

One more thing needs to be pointed out. A bid does not guarantee that a room is immediately available. Royal Caribbean also uses RoyalUp as a hedge against last-minute cancellations, so the system asks what you would pay if a room opened. Many bids go unanswered as no cabin ever becomes available.

How Does MoveUp Work on Celebrity Cruises?

MoveUp is built around its core mechanics with some Celebrity twists. Reservations are eligible to be booked within 90 days of departure once paid in full, and invitation emails are usually sent out about a month prior to sailing. You will need to sign up for Celebrity marketing emails to receive the invitation, but the MoveUp page does accept your last name and booking number to check your eligibility directly. Your reservation must be booked through a travel agent enrolled in the MoveUp program to qualify.

The MoveUp portal has a new offer of strength meter. Each bid is rated from weak to strong based on where the amount falls in the posted range. Handle the meter gently. The label is an indication of your place on the scale, not your odds against other bidders. A strong label doesn't guarantee anything.

Celebrity perks are worth a closer look. A winning bid for a suite gets you access to the Retreat lounge and the Luminae restaurant. Winning an Aqua Class means dining in Blu and access to the Persian Garden. Wi-Fi, premium drinks, and onboard credit combined with direct suite bookings are not transferable. You are retaining the promotions from your original booking and only getting the room and venue access. And the gratuity is upgraded to the new category, and the higher daily rate applies even if you prepaid when booking.

RoyalUp vs MoveUp: Key Differences Every Cruiser Should Know

Both programs feature the Plusgrade engine, per-person pricing based on double occupancy, blind bidding, and the no-refund rule. The differences are on the edges. RoyalUp invitations are issued months before departure, while MoveUp activity is within the past 90 days. Celebrity has a named strength meter, while Royal Caribbean uses the sliding scale alone to indicate likelihood.

The biggest gap is perks. Royal Caribbean suite perks include amenities associated with the stateroom class, such as Genie service with a Star Class win. Celebrity strips the suite of the drink, Wi-Fi, and credit bundle, and Aqua wins, which reduces the real value of a MoveUp suite versus a direct Retreat booking. Consider this in your max bid on Celebrity, as the upgraded room is less than the retail price difference would suggest.

How Much Does a Cruise Upgrade Bid Cost? (Real Winning Prices)

Every cruise cabin upgrade bid is priced per person, based on the first two guests, for the entire sailing. A $150* bid on a 7-night cruise costs $300* total if accepted, regardless of the number of nights. Third, fourth, and fifth guests in the same room pay nothing extra, which makes bidding attractive for families. Solo travelers receive no discount. A $500* solo bid still costs $1,000* because pricing assumes double occupancy.

Real numbers show potential value. One cruiser upgraded from an interior to an ocean view on Serenade of the Seas with a $200* bid, on a room priced nearly $500* higher at booking. Another won an ocean view infinite balcony on Icon of the Seas with the $170* minimum after confirming the ship had plenty of open cabins.

A Grand Suite guest bid the $1,625* minimum for the Icon Loft Suite and saved around $700* per person, per day against the retail rate. On Celebrity, one solo traveler moved from a veranda to Aqua Class for $200* total and later calculated a $2,000* gap between the two fares.

What Happens After You Submit

Bids are on hold until a decision is reached. You can cancel or change any bid up to two days before departure, provided that the line has not yet accepted the offer. Watch the status labels carefully. On Celebrity, a bid you no longer have the option to modify, but is still marked pending, often indicates a win in progress. If the label has expired, the bid is lost.

Acceptance results in immediate charge and automatic cabin change. The line chooses your new room. In an upgraded category, you have no control over deck, location, or view, and the assignment may sometimes be to a lower deck than your original cabin or behind an obstruction.

Sometimes a phone call will get you a swap if other rooms in the same category stay open, but there are no guarantees. One Celebrity guest did not like the rooms on Aqua Class assigned after a win, called and received a different stateroom in the same category.

7 Proven Strategies to Win Your Cruise Upgrade Bid

Strategy 1: Book the least expensive cabin you would live in. Bidding is not a plan, it's a bonus. If a category is important to you for your trip, book that category directly and avoid gambling.

Strategy 2: Bid slightly over the minimum. Many bidders bid the floor amount. A little bump to stand out from the crowd for a small fee. Like $95* versus a $75* minimum.

Strategy 3: Bid in categories. You only pay for one win, so bidding on every category you'd enjoy doubles your chances for free.

Strategy 4: Research inventory with simulated bookings. Test a booking on the cruise line website for your sailing and count the open cabins in each target category.

Strategy 5: Sail outside peak times. Ships are busy during summer, spring break, Christmas, and New Years. An empty cabin earns the line for nothing, so a half-full ship in shoulder season will accept weak bids.

Strategy 6: Price the direct upgrade first. Fares drop close to sail. Check the paid upsell before you bid and make sure your bid is less than the difference between your fare and the current cost of the upper category.

Strategy 7: Look at your present cabin. Frequent cruisers often say the algorithm favors bidders who have easy-to-sell current rooms. The balcony, being centrally located, empties faster than a forward-end cabin, so the better room goes to the higher bidder more often. This is community theory, not a confirmed fact, as neither line publishes the selection criteria.

When Should You Bid for a Cruise Upgrade (And When to Skip It)

If you are flexible on where you sit on the ship, sail during off-peak season, and consider any upgrade to a bonus, then bid. If your group needs adjacent cabins, skip the auction because each reservation bids on and wins land in scattered locations.

Skip it when suite perks are the reason for the upgrade, especially on Celebrity, where drinks, Wi-Fi, and onboard credit don’t travel with you. Skip if the direct upgrade cost is near the minimum bid amount, as you can get cabin choice and full perks with a direct booking for similar money. And never bid an amount you’ll regret paying, as a win locks the charge and no refunds are given.