Discover a dozen ways to enhance your vacation without spending an extra penny
How to Score a Cruise Upgrade—For Free!
Published on Jan. 10, 2025
There’s nothing like cruising the open ocean with water as far as the eye can see or sailing along a meandering river lined by quaint villages—except doing it in an upgraded cabin you didn’t pay extra for. Upgrades on a cruise can drastically enhance the experience by providing access to larger spaces, better amenities and services that elevate your journey.
After taking more than 25 cruises, I’m always delighted to learn I’ve scored an upgrade. On a December 2024 cruise aboard Celebrity Cruises’s newest ship, Ascent, an unexpected upgrade to the Retreat, the line’s exclusive ship-within-a-ship experience, was the king of all perks. My bestie and I had access to a private check-in lounge on embarkation day (with drinks and snacks), a private shore excursion departure lounge that streamlined the process, a private sundeck and lounge (where we never had to fight for chairs), a complimentary stocked minibar and a private restaurant. As you can imagine, the service in these special spaces was impeccable, and we wanted for nothing the entire week.
Want in? I drew from my years of cruise experience and talked to master cruise counselor Ange Fuller of the site Explore with Ange, to pull together 12 ways you can score a free upgrade on your next cruise. Read on for the must-try cruise tricks.
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Join the loyalty program
Loyalty programs reward frequent cruisers with points that can lead to various benefits, including cabin upgrades. For instance, Celebrity’s Captain’s Club program offers a one-cabin category upgrade from the classic level, based on availability (which must be requested at the time of booking).
Higher loyalty tiers may provide priority access to available cabin upgrades, exclusive discounts and other special perks, such as access to private lounges and events on board. To start accumulating points, simply sign up for the cruise line’s loyalty program online or during your cruise.
Celebrate a special occasion
Are you celebrating a significant occasion, like a honeymoon, anniversary or birthday? Cruise lines often provide complimentary upgrades to enhance the celebration, like a bottle of Champagne or special decorations in your room. Given the sheer volume of guests celebrating special occasions on cruise ships, it’s rare to receive a cabin upgrade. Still, it’s not unheard of. Let your travel advisor know about the big occasion so they can give the cruise line a heads up when booking, and remind the staff at check-in, and you just may luck out.
Monitor promotions
Keep an eye out for promotional offers that include the opportunity to book a higher-category cabin for the price of a lower one, often with additional benefits, such as onboard credit. Do this by regularly checking the cruise line’s website and signing up for its email newsletter. Black Friday cruise deals abound, but you can find great promotions throughout the year.
Bid on upgrades
Some cruise lines offer a bidding system that lets you make an offer to upgrade to a higher cabin category. Here are a few bidding programs worth checking out:
- Celebrity’s MoveUp
- NCL’s Upgrade Advantage
- Royal Caribbean’s RoyalUp
- Princess’s MoveOver
- Virgin Voyages Level Upgrades
By choosing to participate, you have the opportunity to secure a better cabin at a lower cost than usual … if your bid is successful. (Be sure to check pricing; an overly aggressive bid could have you paying more than if you had booked that cabin category in the first place.)
So how does this work? After booking your cruise, keep an eye out for an email from the cruise line inviting you to bid on an upgrade, then submit a bid that fits your budget and wait to see if it’s accepted.
Book through a travel advisor
Sure, you can book a cruise yourself, but working with a travel advisor can grant you access to exclusive promotions with various cruise lines throughout the year. How so? Advisors may be able to leverage their relationships with cruise lines or the buying power of their host or consortia to secure upgrades, sometimes even before you board. Even if you don’t get a cabin upgrade, you could score onboard credit or early access to dining reservations. Of course, there’s no guarantee when ships are sailing at capacity.
Take a repositioning cruise
Repositioning cruises, which occur when ships move from one region to another between seasons (such as the Mediterranean to the Caribbean in the fall or vice versa in the spring), can offer higher chances of upgrades. With fewer passengers and more cabins available, the likelihood of receiving an upgrade increases, potentially giving you access to better accommodations at a reduced cost.
Another way this may save you money: Depending on the trip, you might pay for only a one-way international flight.
Be flexible when booking
Showing flexibility in your cabin selection and travel dates can lead to unexpected upgrades if it helps the cruise line balance the ship’s occupancy more effectively. To try this out, indicate to your travel advisor or the cruise line booking agent that you are open to different cabin categories or dates. (You can also try this during the booking process online if the option is available.) This flexibility can be particularly useful when booking a last-minute trip.
Similarly, booking a “guarantee cabin”—aka a cabin that the cruise line will assign closer to your sailing date based on the category of cabin you booked—could land you an upgrade. While the cruise line guarantees it will put you in at least the category you have chosen, it could put you in a higher category.
Ask at check-in or once you’re on board
At the end of the check-in period or once all passengers are on board, the cruise line will be aware of any empty cabins; asking now can lead to on-the-spot upgrades, especially if certain cabin categories have not been fully booked.
Once on board, visit the guest services desk to inquire about a room upgrade. If the sailing wasn’t fully sold or if there have been no-shows, you may be able to pay for an upgrade. For smaller ships, where the check-in process is often more relaxed or even takes place on board, inquiring about upgrades during check-in is also a possibility (larger ships that need to check in thousands of guests in a few hours generally do not allow upgrade requests at check-in).
Choose off-peak season travel
Cruising during the shoulder or off-peak season often means fewer passengers. And that increases the likelihood of the cruise line offering upgrades to enhance passenger satisfaction and fill higher-category cabins.
So book your cruise during slower seasons, like late fall or early spring, and avoid major holidays (including Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving) and school vacations.
Snag last-minute offers
Booking a cruise at the last minute can sometimes result in automatic upgrades because cruise lines prefer to sail at full capacity and may offer unexpected upgrades to fill all cabins, often providing you with a better experience at a lower cost. Monitor cruise offers and be ready to book when a last-minute deal becomes available—just be sure to keep last-minute flight prices in mind, as they may offset your cruise savings.
Participate in casino offers
High levels of casino gameplay can attract offers from the casino for deeply discounted cruises, room upgrades or other perks as a reward for your loyalty and spending in the casino. If you enjoy spending time in the ship casinos, be sure to sign up for the onboard casino’s loyalty program and ensure that all your gameplay is tracked using your player’s card.
Consider group travel
Travel advisors often have access to special perks and incentives for group bookings that can include room upgrades, among other benefits. For example, group leaders might receive complimentary upgrades to better cabins as an incentive, and group members may get perks like an onboard credit, treats delivered to their stateroom or some other onboard amenity.
When planning group travel—whether it’s a cruise for families, friends or corporate events—coordinate with a travel advisor specializing in group bookings. The advisor will negotiate on behalf of the group to secure not only the best rates but also potential upgrades based on the size and value of the group booking.
Important upgrade considerations
Before you accept a cruise upgrade willy-nilly, always take some time to evaluate factors like the cabin’s location, proximity to onboard venues, amenities and views to ensure it’s going to be as great in reality as it sounds on paper.
“When it comes to cruise ship upgrades, it’s crucial to understand what you’re really getting,” explains certified travel counselor Gary Pollard, president and CEO of Ambassador Tours. “The term upgrade in the cruise industry isn’t as straightforward as moving from economy to business class on a flight. What constitutes an upgrade can vary significantly between cruise lines, and more importantly, what feels like an upgrade to one passenger might be a downgrade to another.”
A prime example, says Pollard, is this common scenario: You’ve carefully selected a midship balcony cabin—perfect for minimizing motion and offering quick access to main amenities—only to be offered an “upgrade” to a junior suite at the far aft of the ship. While you might get more square footage and perhaps additional amenities, you’ve lost that prime location you specifically chose. For passengers prone to motion sickness or those who value convenience, this could actually diminish their cruise experience.
Finally, upgrades to a high category of cabin may not always come with the benefits of that category. For example, Fuller says that with Norwegian Cruise Line, a price drop after final payment could result in the possibility of an upgrade to a higher category of cabin, but it would not come with perks like butler service.
“It’s a good idea to not allow for automatic upgrades without the chance to accept or decline,” she advises. “Otherwise, you could lose the cabin you initially chose without having the chance to approve the new cabin type and location.”
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Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of travel stories that help readers explore the world safely, easily and affordably. We regularly cover topics such as the best places to visit (and the best times to visit them), tips and tricks to zoom through airport security, flight-attendant secrets, hotel-room hacks and more. We’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. For this piece, Jill Schildhouse tapped her experience as a longtime travel writer who has taken more than 25 cruises. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Ange Fuller, CTC, master cruise counselor at Explore with Ange; email interview, Dec. 27, 2024
- Gary Pollard, CTC, president and CEO of Ambassador Tours; email interview, Dec. 27, 2024
