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Have you heard of the Royal Up Program offered by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line? This online program gives some cruisers the opportunity to bid on cruise cabin upgrades. So how does it actually work? Do people really get an upgraded stateroom for less than the list price? We bid on several suites before our last cruise with Royal. Read on to see how it went!
Book the Cabin You Want From the Get-Go
Many many years ago, we learned the hard way that cruise cabin upgrades at the port are pretty unlikely. We were booked in an interior cabin with our then 2 year old and were wishing that we had booked a room with a balcony. We asked about stateroom options for an upgrade at the port and were told, “Sorry, no. No upgrades available.” When you arrive at the port on sail-away day, the ship only has a finite number of rooms still open. While I won’t say a last minute upgrade as you check in is impossible, it is on the rarer side.
Big big big important note: So the caveat to this post, is advice I would offer to anyone looking to cruise. This advice comes with more than a dozen cruises under my belt. Always always always book the cruise cabin that you really really want when you initially book your cruise. The upgrade program is in NO way guaranteed and the ship can only offer upgrades on available cabins. If you know that you absolutely MUST have a balcony or it will ruin your trip, BOOK THE BALCONY. The RoyalUp program should only be used to enhance the experience that you already booked and is in NO way guaranteed.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, let’s dive into Royal Up and I will tell you about our experience with it!
Cruise Cabins 101: What types of cabins do most ships offer?
Before you consider seeking an upgrade on your cruise, it is helpful to know what cabin types your ship has. Every cruise line has different names and categories for their accommodations, however almost every cruise ship offers the following basic stateroom categories:
Interior or Inside Cabins
Just like the name states, interior staterooms are windowless spaces located across the hall from the balcony staterooms and oceanview rooms. They are typically the cheapest rooms you can get on a ship and many times they are also offer the least amount of square footage. Inside cabins are a budget-friendly option. They are also a great choice for cruisers who spend little time in their rooms during the vacation!
Oceanview Cabins
For cruisers who enjoy views of the ocean, an oceanview cabin offers a window. The size of the window depends on the ship. Some oceanview cabins feature large, picture windows, while other ships simply have a small porthole-style window.
Balcony Cabins
Balcony cabins offer passengers the chance to relax outside on their own private deck space. Similar to a hotel room balcony, these areas usually offer a small table and a couple chairs. Balcony rooms are a really nice way to enjoy the sun, surf and ocean views in a private space, away from the masses on the public deck areas.
Suites
Suites are the biggest rooms on every ship. Most ships offer a variety of different suite types that vary in size, amenities and location. In addition to the bump in square feet, suites also almost always include a long list of perks and special services. These perks vary by cruise line (and sometimes by suite type) but some examples of suite perks that I have seen offered include:
- Priority boarding and debarkation
- Suite lounge access
- Complimentary happy hour
- Exclusive room drops and other gifts
- Priority seating at theater shows
- Luxury toiletries
- Free internet package
Royal Caribbean ships offer different suite classes: sky class and star class suites. Rooms like the Royal Loft Suite and the Ultimate Family Suite make up some of the most expansive suites on the ship. These suites come with concierge service, including a Royal Genie (Star Suite guests).
Pricing: In almost all cases, the interior cabins are the cheapest way to cruise. Oceanview are the 2nd cheapest while the balcony cabins are more. Finally, the suites are the most expensive accommodations on the ship.
Now that we have laid out the basics, let’s dive into the Royal Caribbean Royal Up program!
What is Royal Up?
Royal Up is a program offered by Royal Caribbean Cruises that gives some guests the opportunity to bid on cabin upgrades. Not only does it give passengers the chance to sail in upgraded rooms for less than list price, it also helps the ship fill empty cabins!
How does Royal Up work?
Many cruisers (but not all – see the point below) who already have a sailing booked with Royal have the opportunity to use Royal Up. Royal Up website shows individuals a selection of cabin types that they can choose to bid on for the chance at an upgrade.
Upon receiving an invitation to bid, passengers head to the Royal Up website and enter specific money amounts for each type of cabin they want to bid on.
At some point closer to the sailing (sometimes as late as the DAY OF EMBARKATION!), cruisers will receive an email if their bid was accepted for an upgrade.
Who gets invited to bid on Royal Up?
This is a bit of a gray area. The chance to bid on Royal Up is NOT offered to all customers. I have heard certain rumors that cruisers who booked their cruise through a discount site or big box travel agency (for example, Costco) do NOT get the invite to bid.
We used a local travel agent to book our trip and we DID get an emailed invitation to bid on Royal Up.
How and when do you bid on a cruise cabin upgrade with Royal Up?
Invites to bid on Royal Up typically go out around the 60 day mark (prior to your sail date). We received an email inviting us to bid on Royal Up 75 days before our sail date.
There IS a form on the Royal Up site where you can input your reservation number and check to see if you’re eligible to bid if you did not receive an email invite.
To bid: You head to the Royal Up website. Once on the website, you will see the cabin categories that they are allowing you to bid on. (See our screenshots below.) Each cabin category has a minimum bid. You must bid at least that minimum amount to have a shot at winning the upgrade.
Next to the bid amount is a status indicator that tells you if you are placing a weak or strong bid. Honestly, take this gauge with a grain of salt. I have read multiple accounts of people winning upgrades despite placing “weak” bids and conversely, placing a “strong” bid does not guarantee that you will win.
Where can you check your Royal Up status?
You can check your bid status at any time on the Royal Up website. Your bid will most likely say “submitted” as you wait for the cruise to get a bit closer.
If you see “pending” this might indicate that your bid has been accepted, but it is not a guarantee. It Is more of a “maybe” until you get final confirmation.
If you see “accepted” your bid has been accepted and the credit card you put on file will have been charged. Check your email for a confirmation notice.
Can you change your bid on Royal Up?
Yes, you can! Simply head to the Royal Up site and change your bid up to a couple weeks before your sailing. You can change your bid as often as you want and you can also cancel your bid if you decide not to participate.
What kind of cabins can you bid on with Royal Caribbean RoyalUp?
You will be offered the chance to bid on cabin categories that are upgraded options from whichever cabin category you originally booked. Typically you can bid on one or two categories higher from your original cabin type.
For example, if you originally booked an interior cabin, a Royal Up might include options to bid on Oceanview and balcony cabins.
If you originally booked a Junior Suite, you might get a Royal Up invite to bid on an Owner’s Suite or Royal Suite.
Do weak bids ever win upgrades on Royal Up?
Yes, bids that the website lists as “weak” most definitely have a chance at being accepted. I know of multiple cruisers who entered the minimum suggested bid and won an upgrade. You just never know!
Is the Royal Up bid price per day or per cruise?
The Royal Up bid is PER PERSON and based on double occupancy. For example, if you bid $275 on Royal Up, you will be charged a total of $550 upon winning the bid.
How will I know if my Royal Up bid was accepted?
If your Royal Up bid is accepted, you will receive an email from Royal Caribbean. You will also see your upgrade information listed on the Royal Up website. When you log into the Royal app or website, your reservation will list your upgraded cabin number.
Will I be charged right away for a Royal Up upgrade?
YES. Your credit card on file will be charged immediately upon winning an upgrade.
Can I change my mind if I don’t like my Royal Up upgrade and switch back to the original room I booked?
NO. This is important: If you win a Royal Up bid, your original cabin is immediately removed from your reservation and the upgrade takes its place. There is NO WAY to get the original cabin back. So if you thought long and hard about your original cabin’s location, and you chose a specific cabin for specific reasons, you might need to think about whether or not an upgrade will work for you. Your upgrade might land you in a bigger room, however that bigger room might have an obstructed balcony view. Or it might be under the noisy casino. It might be a good idea to check out your ship’s deck plans before you bid. The deck plans will show locations for all cabins and other spaces on board.
Think carefully being submitting a bid!
My Royal Up status says “Your RoyalUp request will be reviewed onboard?” What does that mean?
Believe it or not, some cruisers actually don’t receive notice of an upgrade UNTIL THEY BOARD THE SHIP! My best guess is that this can happen due to last-minute cancellations (for example, due to an illness) from fellow passengers on your cruise.
Yes, this means you would actually have to switch rooms after you board! Hopefully though, the excitement about winning your upgrade will make up for the annoyance of room switching.
I won an upgrade to a suite with Royal Up. Will I earn double Crown and Anchor Points?
That depends. Suite passengers on Royal Caribbean sailings earn DOUBLE Crown and Anchor points. IF you originally booked a suite and you win a Royal Up to another suite, you will earn double points. You had to be booked in a suite on your original reservation in order to earn the double points.
If you were booked in an interior cabin and won an upgrade to a Junior Suite, you would NOT earn double points. If you were booked in a Junior Suite and won an upgrade to a Grand Suite, you WOULD earn the double points.
Our Royal Up Experience – We Won an Upgrade to Owner’s Suite
We sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas in October 2022 on a 5-night itinerary to Bermuda. This was our 3rd cruise with Royal and in my life I have sailed on 10+ cruises. I have sailed in almost every type of cabin that a cruise offers, except an oceanview cabin. I have experience traveling in interior, balcony and suite staterooms and definitely see pluses and minuses for each, depending on individual preferences and budgets.
When we got ready to book this cruise on Adventure, Royal was running a great sale. Kids were free, which got our 8 year old on board for just the cost of taxes and port fees. The cruise sailed from New Jersey, so we qualified for a resident discount (we live in PA), plus a first responder discount (husband is a firefighter). We thought the prices for this cruise were very good deals. They were so good, in fact, that we ended up skipping our typical balcony room for a Junior Suite.
Junior Suites on Royal Caribbean are an interesting accommodation. They are larger than a standard cabin. They do earn cruisers double Crown and Anchor points and there are a few perks such as priority boarding. However, that’s about it. Junior Suites do not come with the long list of perks reserved for guests in larger (more expensive suites).
We booked our cruise on 5/22/22. The Junior Suite cost $3600 for 4 people.
Our invitation to bid on Royal Up came via email to me and also to my travel agent on 7/26/22. We were able to bid on the Grand Suite (1 bedroom), Grand Suite (2 bedroom), Owner’s Suite and the Royal Suite.
I bid on all 4 of these suites, and bid about $200 above the minimum amount for each suite.
As this point, I also popped over to Royal’s site and went through the booking process for each type of suite to get an idea of what the actual list price was for each suite type. This helped me make some practical bids, while knowing that I wasn’t even close to list price or going over list price.
At some point in early September, I went back into Royal Up and decreased all of my bids a bit. The cruise was getting closer and I still wanted an upgrade, but decided to modify the bids and see how they did. I lowered the maximum bid on all available suites by at least $10.
On September 22, 2022 (approximately 2 weeks before our cruise), I received a Royal Up email confirming that my bid was accepted for an Owner’s Suite!
My bid was $385 per person (remember, you are only charged the RoyalUp fee for two people, even if you have more than 2 people in your cabin). The total cost to upgrade our room from a Junior Suite to an Owner’s Suite was $770. From my best estimate, we saved about $6500 on our suite by upgrading through Royal Up versus booking that suite directly.
Immediately after receiving the acceptance email from Royal Up, I checked my cruise reservation and the cabin change had already been made. I was able to see our new cabin number right away.
We spent 5 fabulous nights in Owner’s Suite 1598 on Adventure of the Seas. It was truly a phenomenal, luxurious stay and we had a blast taking full advantage of lots of suite extra perks. We spent ample time enjoying the room and the view from the huge picture window and balcony.
Would we bid on a Royal Up again?
YES. 100 times yes. Great experience! We thoroughly enjoyed our fantastic upgrade (and probably enjoyed it EVEN MORE because we knew how much money we had saved off the listed price)! It was great to have the extra space to spread out and the suite perks were nice extras.
And once again, let me be clear: we booked the room that we truly wanted when we originally made the reservation. The Royal Caribbean Junior Suite was our original choice and booking. We knew we would love that room and it would be a great stay. So had we not gotten an upgrade, it would have been fine and we would have had a great time!
Let’s hear about YOUR experience with RoyalUp! Have you ever bid on a Royal upgrade? How did it go? Drop us a comment and tell us about it!
While you’re here, make sure you browse our collection of cruise content. We have cruised a bunch and have many many cruise reviews and other cruising tips on the blog!
