How Cruise Cabin Upgrade Bidding Works

You’ve booked your cruise, paid your deposit, and now an email lands in your inbox inviting you to bid for a better cabin. It sounds like a lottery, and parts of it are — but there’s real strategy involved once you understand how the system works. This guide covers what to expect, how to figure out what to offer, and when you’re better off just paying for the upgrade directly.

How the Cabin Bidding System Works

Here’s how it runs from start to finish:

1. Make your final payment: That’s the trigger. The bidding invitation arrives once your balance is paid in full.
2. Watch for the invitation: It usually lands anywhere from a few weeks to a few months before sailing. If nothing arrives, check your online account or the cruise line’s app — the portal is often sitting right there in your booking.
3. Log into the portal: You’ll see which cabin categories are available above your current booking, each with a price slider running from a minimum up to a ceiling.
4. Set your bid: On most lines, bids are per person — AU$500 per person means AU$1,000 charged to your card if accepted. MSC works differently: they charge per cabin, not per person. Third and fourth guests in the cabin are upgraded at no extra cost on most lines.
5. Bid on more than one category if you like: You can bid on an oceanview and a balcony at the same time. The moment one is accepted, the others cancel. You can only ever win one upgrade.
6. Wait: The auction is blind — you have no idea what anyone else has offered. Bids can be accepted any time from submission up to 48 hours before sailing.
7. If accepted: your card is charged immediately. The upgrade is nonrefundable. Once the cruise line says yes, that’s it.
8. If not accepted: nothing happens. Your card isn’t touched and you stay in your original cabin.

Most Cruise lines run the same Plusgrade platform underneath, but the differences in timing, category limits, and what perks actually come with a win are worth knowing before you bid.

Cruise Lines That Allow Upgrade Bidding

Princess Cruises Upgrade: Princess Upgrade One of the earlier bidding windows going — 115 days out for voyages of 25 nights or longer, 85 days for shorter trips. No minimum bid price. Third and fourth guests in the cabin come along at no extra charge if your bid succeeds.

Royal Caribbean Upgrade: RoyalUp Invitations go out in the weeks before sailing and you can bid across multiple categories at once. A Star Class suite win is one of the better outcomes in cruise bidding — Genie personal host service and all the associated inclusions come with the room.

Celebrity Cruises Upgrade: MoveUp The portal opens within 90 days of departure and includes a bid strength meter — a useful guide, though it reflects scale position not your actual odds. Worth knowing before you bid: a suite win does not include suite-level Premium Drinks or Premium Wi-Fi. You keep your original perks and gain the room and Retreat lounge access.

Norwegian Cruise Line Upgrade: Upgrade Advantage Your starting cabin determines how far you can bid: Inside and Studio holders can go up three levels (to Club Balcony Suite), everyone else up to two. Haven suites do come up occasionally, though a win gives you the cabin and venues only — the Free at Sea perks direct Haven bookers receive don’t transfer.

MSC Cruises Upgrade: MSC Upgrade One key difference from every other line: bids are priced per cabin, not per person. Invitations arrive by email before sailing. Win an upgrade to Yacht Club or Aurea and the full experience transfers — butler service, private dining, and private pool access included.

Carnival Cruise Line Upgrade: Upsell Offer Carnival doesn’t run a bidding program. Selected passengers get a discounted upsell offer by email or phone in the weeks before sailing — a set price to move to a higher category, no auction involved. If the offer arrives, take a proper look at it.

Working Out What Cabin Type To Bid On

The auction is blind, so there’s no way to know exactly what wins on any given sailing. What the forums consistently show is that successful bids tend to land somewhere in the low-to-mid range of the available scale. Bidding the floor minimum rarely works. Going to the ceiling is almost never necessary. A few things that actually help:

• Start around the midpoint: Find the midpoint of the bid range and treat it as your anchor. It’s a reasonable position that doesn’t leave money on the table or overpay.
• Use an odd number: Most people default to round figures — AU$500, AU$700, AU$1,000. A bid of AU$657 or AU$923 edges you past everyone who stopped at the round number below yours, for minimal extra cost.
• Cover more than one category. If a balcony would make you happy but you’d also take an oceanview, bid on both. Only one can ever be accepted, and the others drop off the moment one succeeds.
• Your current cabin type matters: People bidding out of interior, oceanview, and entry-level balcony cabins tend to have better success. The cruise line has more incentive to move them up, and those cabins are easier to resell.

The Cabin Location Problem

Most bidding guides skip this, and it’s the thing people regret most when a bid goes wrong.

When you book normally, you choose your exact room. When you win a bid, the cruise line chooses it for you and you can’t change it. So, before you bid, ask yourself honestly: if I win and land on deck 14 at the very front of the ship, am I fine with that?

And here’s why it matters:

• Motion sickness. Upper-deck cabins at the bow or stern move considerably more in rough weather than midship cabins on lower decks. If you picked your current cabin for stability, a winning bid can undo that.
• Groups and families. If your group deliberately booked adjacent or nearby cabins, a bid win can scatter you across different decks. The cruise line won’t keep you together.
• Noise. If you steered clear of cabins near the pool deck, lifts, or entertainment venues, a bid win can drop you right back there.

If location matters to you, call the cruise line before you bid and ask whether a preference can be noted. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s worth asking. If you’re easy about where within the category you end up, go for it.

The Golden Rules To Follow When Bidding For A Cruise Cabin

One more option worth knowing: some lines let you pay the fare difference to move to a better cabin directly, bypassing the bidding program entirely. If you’ve decided you definitely want the upgrade, ask your travel agent or the cruise line whether that’s possible. It’s straightforward when you know exactly what you want.

Things People Miss

• You can usually pull your bid. Most programs let you modify or cancel right up to 48 hours before sailing, as long as the cruise line hasn’t accepted it. If the direct upgrade price drops after you’ve placed a bid, check the portal before assuming you’re committed.
• The invitation isn’t always an email. If nothing has arrived and your sailing should be eligible, log into your cruise line account or the app. The bidding portal is often sitting directly in your booking without any email prompting it.
• Travel agent bookings are fine. The invitation goes to the email address on the booking — yours or your agent’s, depending on the setup. If you’re not sure, check with your agent. They can either access the portal for you or confirm where the invite landed.
• Accessible cabin holders are generally excluded. If you’re booked in a wheelchair-accessible cabin, the bidding program typically won’t apply — there’s no guarantee you’d receive an accessible room in the upgraded category.
• A sold-out sailing still gets upgrades. Late cancellations and group releases return cabins to inventory right up to the day of departure. If you’ve received an invitation, the program is running for your sailing.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How far in advance will I find out if my bid was accepted?
   There’s no set timeline, and that’s one of the more frustrating parts. Bids can be accepted at any point from when you place them up to 48 hours before sailing. Most people hear back in the final two weeks, but some find out the day before boarding. Keep an eye on your email and your booking portal through that last month.
2. Can I bid on more than one cabin type?
   Yes. Bid on as many categories as you like. The moment one is accepted, the rest cancel automatically — you can only ever land one upgrade per booking.
3. What happens if none of my bids are accepted?
   Nothing at all. Your card isn’t charged and you stay in your original cabin. There’s no downside to placing a bid and missing out.
4. Do I need to be a loyalty member to get an invitation?
   No. Invitations go out based on your booking. Higher-tier loyalty members may hear earlier on some lines, but membership isn’t a requirement.
5. Is there a minimum bid amount?
   Yes. Each line sets a floor per cabin category and the slider won’t go below it. The minimum shifts based on the line, the sailing, and demand — expect it to sit higher on popular or near-sold-out departures.
6. What if I don’t receive an invitation?
   Check your spam folder first. If it’s not there, log into your account on the cruise line’s website and look for an upgrade section in your booking. The portal often shows up through the app as well. If you still can’t find it, call the cruise line or your travel agent — eligibility can be checked and the portal accessed manually.
7. Can I bid as a solo traveller?
   Yes, though it’s worth checking the terms for your specific line. Bids are typically priced per person based on two occupants, which can affect how the cost works out for a single traveller in a single-occupancy cabin.
8. Will a winning bid affect my loyalty points?
   On most lines, yes — in a good way. Points are generally calculated on the cabin you end up in, not the one you booked, so a successful bid gives your status a small nudge. Confirm with your cruise line if that matters for this sailing.
9. Is it worth bidding on a sailing that’s showing as sold out?
   Yes, it can be. Cruise lines hold back inventory and receive cancellations right up to departure. An invitation means the program is active for your sailing regardless of what the public booking page says.
10. Do gratuities change if my bid is accepted?
    Yes. Gratuities are calculated by cabin category, so moving up typically means a slightly higher daily rate. The difference is usually small, but factor it in when you’re working out whether the bid stacks up.