When it comes to making a bid to upgrade your Royal Caribbean cabin, there's a mix of strategy and a dash of luck involved.
Cruise ship passengers can choose to bid for a stateroom upgrade through Royal Up for less than it would have cost to have booked the room outright.
The cruise line uses Royal Up to sell unsold cabins, while passengers could get a better room.
The trick to winning a Royal Up bid isn't as simple as putting in the highest possible bid. Based on our experience, there's a few different factors at play.
If you're wondering what it will take to get a room upgrade, here are the tricks other cruisers have found.
First, check if there's actually a room available
The first truth of Royal Up is just because you can place a bid does not mean there's a room available.
Royal Up is used for both selling unsold cabins and guarding against a last-minute cancellation.
What it's really asking is if there was a room available, how much would you bid for it.
Before you get hopes up, I'd recommend making a mock booking for the cruise you're sailing on via Royal Caribbean's website to see if there are actually cabins in that category available.
This is especially important with suites, as they are the most desirable staterooms and have the least inventory.
The closer you are to your sail date, the less likely there are unsold cabins left.
While you're looking at which cabins are left, you could also simply call Royal Caribbean and ask how much to upgrade your cabin "the old fashioned way". Not only could it be for a reasonable price, but there's no guessing or algorithm to contend with.
The room you're already booked in plays a factor
Many cruisers swear the cabin you booked is taken into consideration for which bid is accepted.
A reader wrote, "It's as much the cabin you're currently assigned as it is your bidding."
"If you have a cabin type that will sell easily vs a more expensive cabin, your chances increase. Last two upgrades were from junior suites to higher category suites."
For example, if you're booked in a centrally located balcony, your bid would be more desirable than someone booked in a balcony at the very front of the ship. Or at least, that's what we think.
Part of the reason Royal Caribbean offers stateroom bidding is to maximize the profitability of a sailing. Many people believe the algorithm takes into account:
- How much you originally paid for the cabin
- How much you bid
- How likely and how much it could resell your old cabin
No one really knows how the Royal Up system works, but this rationale seems to hold up given that simply placing a maximum bid doesn't always work.
Try bidding for upgrades on an offseason cruise
I think your highest chance of success with Royal Up is to try it out on a less popular cruise.
If you can take advantage of a shoulder season cruise when there are less families onboard and demand is lower, you might have better luck.
Being on a cruise with higher availability of rooms simply will help your chances.
That isn't to say you can't win an upgrade on a spring break or Christmas cruise, but it's likely Royal Caribbean will sell the cabins conventionally without needing to offer them as an upgrade.
More bid upgrade tips
Many cruisers have shared in their experience, bidding a little more than the minimum has won them a Royal Up.
Going just a few dollars above the minimum price works just as well as max bid.
Plus, in some cases the max bid price will cost more than the stateroom might have cost outright.
Also, keep your hopes in check for that suite.
Reality check: everyone wants a suite, but bidding on a Promenade View cabin is more likely to get accepted because less people are interested in it.
If you book your cruise in an interior room, I think you'll have a better shot at winning a Royal Up when trying for a balcony or lower category room.
Royal Caribbean ships typically have a lot of room categories that offer different views and spaces. Even just upgrading to a "spacious" room could make your voyage more enjoyable.
Don't rely on Royal Up as your primary room selection strategy
Think of Royal Up like playing the lotto at home: you don't play it expecting to win.
Instead, book the room you really want and will enjoy for a cruise. You should never depend on winning a Royal Up because the odds are against you with so many other people trying to Royal Up too.
