I recently received a Royal Up offer from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for our upcoming cruise for spring break on the Icon of the Seas. I did a lot of research on how this works and I am going to put it all here for you so that you do not have to look for it in multiple places,

• What is a Royal Up offer?  It is a way to place a bid on available room types for your upcoming cruise sailing with Royal Caribbean.    I have seen videos of people being upgraded for the lowest bid and getting their offer accepted for their last three cruises. Royal Up is a third-party tool Royal Caribbean uses to manage its upgrades.

• What rooms are available?  Every sailing is different and not everyone is eligible for a Royal Up bid.  The rooms available will have a minimum and maximum bid with a strength indicator. On our upcoming cruise, we had everything from an Ocean View with a large balcony, an Infinite Family Ocean View Infinite Balcony to a Sky Junior Suite.

• If you get a suite, do you get double points?  No, a Royal Up Offer does not give you the suite benefits so you would only get one point for each day of the cruise.

• When will you hear back if you won your Royal Up?  Typically cruisers start hearing back a couple of weeks before their cruise but some find out the day before or even during their check-in on the day of the cruise at the port.  If you are reading this at the last minute, there is still hope that you may get your Royal Up bid!

• How will you hear back?  Royal Caribbean will notify you via email if you won your bid,  

• Will I pay for the upgrade for everyone in the cabin? It depends on how many people are in your cabin.  You pay the upgrade fee for each of the first two people in your cabin. So if you have 4 people in one cabin, you just pay it for the first and second passengers.

• Anything I can do to improve my chances of getting my Royal Up Offer?  The more rooms you bid on the better your chances of winning your offer and getting the upgrade on your next cruise.

• Where can I check if I am eligible for a Royal Up? You can check on the Royal Up site.

• Will I get notified if I did not receive it?  We did not get notified, the option was just removed from the Royal Caribbean site right before the cruise.

• Should I book a cheaper room and hope for a Royal Up (grade)?  No.  Always book the room that you truly want on your cruise.  If a balcony is what makes you happy, book the balcony.  You can can bid on even better rooms but you will still be happy with your original choice if you do not win your bid.