Cruising on a budget typically means booking the cheapest stateroom onboard. However, there are opportunities to upgrade your cabin for less than it would cost to book balconies and suites outright.
Celebrity's upgrade program is called Celebrity MoveUp and allows guests to bid on higher stateroom categories. If your bid is chosen, you will automatically be billed and upgraded to the higher cabin category for your cruise.
The process is fairly straightforward. About a month before your cruise, you can check if your reservation is eligible through the MoveUp website. After inputting your last name and reservation number, you will be redirected to a portal showing the available categories and the minimum bids.
Sounds easy, right? Not every bid is accepted, which is why I always argue that you should book your preferred cabin category at the get-go. Otherwise, you might be stuck in a stateroom you aren't happy with.
For instance, if you book an inside cabin thinking you will win an upgrade to a verandah but your bid is not accepted, you will be in the windowless interior stateroom for your entire cruise.
Here's everything you need to know about Celebrity MoveUp's program and winning a cruise ship cabin upgrade bid.
How can you win a Celebrity MoveUp stateroom upgrade bid? It's pure luck
There's no way to know what the highest bid is. The MoveUp portal showcases a minimum and maximum bid for each category; however, it doesn't disclose the highest bid placed by other passengers.
For example, if the minimum and maximum bids for an ocean-view balcony are $215 and $1,290 per person, you can't see if someone else had placed a bid closer to the maximum or somewhere in between.
The lack of transparency means you're unaware of how competitive your bid is, making the process a gamble, even if Celebrity's bid rating system says you're placing a strong bid.
Additionally, the MoveUp program helps Celebrity sell unsold cruise ship cabins, especially if there's a last-minute cancelation. So, just because you are placing a bid on an ocean-view balcony or a Reflection Suite doesn't mean that specific cabin is actually available.
That said, you are more likely to win an upgrade to a stateroom with more availability, such as a balcony. Cruise ships have far more balconies than suites. Plus, everyone dreams of scoring a suite upgrade for a lower cost, making the competition much higher.
There's also no indication as to when a bid is selected. Celebrity's website states that an upgrade bid could be accepted anytime from the moment it is submitted up until two days before your sailing's departure.
There's no clear, consistent strategy for winning a Celebrity MoveUp cabin upgrade. The best you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best!
Read more: Celebrity Cruises Cabin Overview
Any submitted offer is for the entire cruise and only applies to the first two guests on the reservation
Still, let's assume you want to take the risk and bid on a nicer stateroom. Using the same ocean-view balcony example as above, if you were to place an upgrade bid for $500 per person and it's accepted, the total cost for the entire cruise will be $1,000, regardless of whether you have two, three, or four guests in the stateroom.
On a similar note, if you're a family of four staying in two cabins, an individual bid must be placed for each room. Celebrity cannot guarantee that both bids will be accepted, either.
If one reservation gets upgraded, the other guests cannot be moved into the upgraded stateroom. Choosing to do so will cancel the second reservation, which means you'll be subject to Celebrity's cancellation fees.
Additionally, if all staterooms are upgraded, Celebrity cannot guarantee they'll be close together. If you reserved cabins solely based on their proximity to one another, you could be disappointed with the upgraded rooms' locations.
Those traveling alone will pay the full bid amount themselves; there's no single traveler discount because all upgrades are based on double occupancy. In other words, if you bid $500 for a balcony upgrade, you will be responsible for paying $1,000.
Your gratuity rate depends on the stateroom you end up in
Celebrity's gratuities, or tips, vary depending on which stateroom category you're in. For example, those in standard cabins (i.e., interior, oceanview, and veranda staterooms) are charged $18.00 per person, per day, whereas guests in The Retreat are charged $23.00 daily.
If your bid to move from a standard balcony to The Retreat is accepted, each guest will be subject to a higher rate, even if you prepaid your gratuities at the time of booking.
The difference between the original and the upgraded cabin gratuities will automatically be applied to all guests.
On that note, you'll only earn Captain Club's points based on your original stateroom. So, you won't earn the extra suite points if you upgrade from a standard cabin to a suite.
Read more: I spent $5,000 for an infinite veranda cabin on Celebrity's newest ship
You can modify or cancel a bid after submitting it
Celebrity allows guests to modify or cancel an upgrade offer up until two days before departure, so long that the bid hasn't been accepted.
Because you never know when or if your bid will be accepted, it's best to thoroughly consider your initial offer. You don't want to place a high bid just to change your mind after your credit card has been charged.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
