Book the cheap cabin, then gamble for the upgrade
This is our go-to booking strategy, and it's as simple as it sounds: book the cheapest cabin you'd genuinely be happy with, then let the cruise line's upgrade bid programme have a go at surprising you.
How it actually works
Book direct with the cruise line, and choose the lowest interior cabin category, as long as it's one you don't mind having. A few weeks before sailing, once your cruise is fully paid, an invitation usually lands in your inbox to bid on a better cabin: balcony, ocean view, sometimes even a suite, for a fraction of what booking that category outright would have cost. You name your bid, submit it, and then you wait to find out.
Good to know: we've written more about how these bidding programmes actually work behind the scenes (the platform most cruise lines use, and why booking direct matters) in our book direct and loyalty club post, this one's more about the strategy itself.
The one rule that makes this work: don't bid on a cabin you'd be upset to keep
This only works if you're genuinely fine sailing in the interior cabin you originally booked. If you win the bid, brilliant, you've got a nicer cabin for less than it would've cost to book outright. If you don't, you're still going on the exact same holiday you paid for and were happy with in the first place. The strategy falls apart if you book the cheap cabin assuming you'll definitely get upgraded, then feel let down when you don't.
It's genuinely part of the fun
There's something oddly enjoyable about not knowing until close to sailing whether you'll be bumped up. It adds a bit of excitement to the countdown that a fully locked-in booking doesn't have, checking your inbox in the weeks before you go, wondering if this is the one where you get the surprise upgrade.
Our track record, for what it's worth
Across all our cruises, we've only missed out on a bid once, and it was during high season on a completely full ship, which makes sense: there simply weren't any spare higher-category cabins left to give away. Outside of peak periods, when ships have more unsold inventory in the higher categories, the odds have been in our favour far more often than not.
The five-minute version
- Book direct with the cruise line, in the cheapest cabin category you'd be happy with
- Wait for the upgrade bid invitation, it usually arrives a few weeks before sailing
- Only bid what you'd be glad to pay if it's accepted, it's normally non-refundable
- Only do this if you'd be genuinely content keeping your original cabin
- Expect better odds outside peak, high-season sailings are more likely to be fully booked