I’ve done Celebrity’s MoveUp program twice now, and won both times. Both bids were modest, nothing aggressive, and both times the final price still came in significantly cheaper than if I’d just booked that cabin size outright from the start. Based on that experience, yes, it’s worth trying. But there’s a catch that caught me off guard the first time, and it’s worth knowing before you bid.
How it actually works
Most major lines run some version of this now. Royal Caribbean calls theirs RoyalUp, Celebrity’s is MoveUp, Norwegian has Upgrade Advantage, MSC runs MSC Upgrade, and Virgin Voyages has its own Level Upgrade program. The mechanics are the same across all of them, a blind auction on unsold cabin inventory. You’ve already paid for your cruise in full, and the line offers you the chance to bid on a better category, interior to oceanview, oceanview to balcony, balcony to suite, whatever’s available and unsold close to sailing. You name a price, and if it’s accepted, your card gets charged automatically and the upgrade is locked in. No refunds, no changing your mind after the fact.
The catch nobody mentions upfront
This is the part I learned the hard way after my first successful bid. You don’t earn loyalty points based on the cabin you actually end up in, you earn them based on the cabin category you originally paid for. Celebrity confirms this directly in its own Captain’s Club terms, points are awarded at the stateroom category rate paid, not the category berthed. So if you book a Sky Suite and win a MoveUp bid into a Penthouse, you’re still only earning Sky Suite points for that sailing, not Penthouse points. It’s a small thing in the moment when you’re excited about the upgrade, but it adds up if you’re tracking toward the next loyalty tier, and it’s exactly the kind of detail that isn’t obvious until after you’ve already won the bid.
When it’s actually worth trying
Based on my own results, the math works when the bid amount lands meaningfully below what you’d have paid booking that higher category directly. Both times for me, the gap was significant enough that the modest bid felt like an easy call once it was accepted. Cruise Critic’s own breakdown of these programs backs this up too, invitations usually only go out to eligible passengers close to sailing, so opting into the cruise line’s marketing emails is worth doing if you want a shot at the offer at all.
When to skip it
If the reason you want the upgrade is specifically for the suite perks, specialty dining access, spa passes, priority boarding, it’s worth checking the fine print first. Some of those perks don’t automatically transfer with a MoveUp win the way they would if you’d booked directly into that category. And if the minimum bid is already close to what the direct upgrade would cost anyway, just book the higher category outright instead, you’ll get guaranteed cabin choice and the full set of perks without gambling on a blind auction.
The bottom line
I’d do it again, and probably will next time I’m eligible. A modest bid that comes in well under the direct upgrade price is genuinely a good deal, even accounting for the loyalty points quirk. Just go in knowing that one detail ahead of time instead of finding out after your card’s already been charged.
