You might want to think twice before trying to win a cruise cabin upgrade.
I think it's fair to say a lot of people dream about being able to move up to a bigger and more lavish cabin. Whether it's from an inside to a balcony cabin, or all the way up to a spacious suite, who wouldn't want to pay less and get a nicer room?
The saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is" sometimes holds up when it comes to bidding for a cabin upgrade.
Royal Caribbean allows guests to place a bid for a nicer room, potentially at a cheaper price than booking that cabin outright. While the bidding program is definitely a legitimate option you can consider, there are downsides to Royal Up you should know about before placing a bid.
Since you'll pay more to win a cabin upgrade bid and have to change from the room you booked to something else, here are six reasons to turn down the opportunity to upgrade your cruise ship cabin.
You can't pick your room location
For a lot of people, picking the best rooms on a cruise ship means having control of exactly where the room is located, but you'll give that up with Royal Up.
When you place a bid for a room upgrade, you let Royal Caribbean pick the specific cabin to be assigned if you win the bid. There's no option to choose between cabins, and it's akin to a guaranteed cabin room assignment in that regard.
You could end up with a room that is at the far end of a hallway, and not only does that mean a longer walk to the elevators, but also potentially an issue if you are prone to motion sickness. A midship cabin is preferable for someone that is concerned about getting seasick.
Read more: How to beat seasickness on a cruise ship
Likewise, your winning bid might end up with a room near a public venue and you could get noise bleed that keeps you up at night or awake in the morning. Ideally, you want a room that is above and below other cabins and away from bars, pools, or other noisy venues.
There are some people who are not picky about their room location, especially if they are getting a better cabin at a cheaper price. Just be clear about the fact you'll let the cruise line pick your specific cabin should your bid be accepted.
Bidding is a complete guess
Don't get your hopes up, because there seems to be no pattern to how to actually win a room upgrade bid.
The program is similar to a silent auction, where the cruise line sets a minimum bid, and you make a bid without knowing what anyone else bid. Heck, you don't even know if there are actually any open cabins to be upgraded into.
While the Royal Up website provides a very easy to understand bid evaluator that ties a higher price to an increased chance at winning, the reality is max bids don't always win, and plenty of people have won upgrades with a minimum bid.
Read more: How can you win that Royal Up stateroom upgrade bid? It's pure luck
Jenn Greene, a Travel Planner with MEI Travel, called the bidding program "random" when describing it to her clients, "Royal Up is completely random. I let clients know that it’s more like a lottery than a guarantee. And that if you really want it bid high. With ships sailing full, I am seeing less opportunities for clients to bid."
As they say, you can't win if you don't play, but the whole process could just give you false hope of moving up and leave you disappointed.
It's expensive
While you might be able to save money on a cabin upgrade by bidding instead of changing your original reservation, it's not free.
Royal Caribbean gives you a range of prices you can bid, and that price you offer is going to be charged for two people, even if you're cruising solo.
That means you're adding onto the overall cost of your vacation, and more money spent on your cabin means a bigger vacation budget.
A lot of cruisers will tell you that money is better spent on experiences on the ship, such as shore excursions or specialty dining. Or better yet, money towards another cruise booking!
If you're on a tight budget, spending money to upgrade your cabin is going to balloon what you have available and may not actually be a deal in the grand scheme of things.
If you have more than one cabin booked
My favorite strategy for cruising with a family is to book two connecting cabins instead of one room, but this idea is incompatible with Royal Up.
You can certainly place bids for both rooms, but there's no promise if you win both rooms get upgraded. Or that the winning bid room will be anywhere near your other room, even if you booked connecting rooms.
Moreover, let's say you win a bid for one room to move up to a spacious suite. You cannot move the people from the other room into the upgraded cabin and/or cancel the other room.
In short, if you have more than one cruise ship cabin booked and care about being anywhere near each other, Royal Up would be a mistake.
If you booked a specific sub-category of cabin
If you do your research, you may spot certain special rooms that are quite rare and in high-demand. So placing a bid to upgrade your room means forgoing those rooms.
As an example, Royal Caribbean's family cabins offer significantly more space and a separate sleeping area for the kids along with an extra bathroom. Technically, these are inside or oceanview rooms, and a bid may get you in a higher category regular cabin.
There's also aft cabins, hump cabins, and a slew of other hidden gems that are advantageous because they have extra large balconies, preferable views, or are in a great spot.
If those kind of considerations are important to you, do not accept an upgrade offer.
You might not get extra points
If you booked a balcony and then move up to a suite with a winning Royal Up bid, you won't get the bonus Crown and Anchor points.
Royal Caribbean gives suite guests an extra point per night in its loyalty program for booking a suite. But that only applies if you actually book a suite from the beginning.
Those that book a standard cabin but end up in a suite from Royal Up will still only get one point per night.
If you don't care about moving up the loyalty program ranks as much as you care about which cabin you stay in, then you can safely ignore this advice. But there are a lot of beneficial Crown & Anchor perks at the higher levels that would be nice to get to faster.
Planning a cruise? Start here:
- 8 cruise tips for first-time Royal Caribbean cruisers
- What’s included in your Royal Caribbean cruise fare
- 5 quick and easy tips for finding a great shore excursion on your own
- Food on a Royal Caribbean cruise
- Which is the best Royal Caribbean cruise ship?
- What is the best time to go on a Caribbean cruise?
