Coops2222

I think you are right - thanks for the post x

BTW ...bid an extra £500 for an upgrade to Club Suite balcony however been told I've been outbid. Determined to have a great time visiting all the ports etc. Thanks for supportive comments everyone who sent them ! 😉

Thanks Dr Ursula x

Thanks Asawi 😊 

They say they are fully booked however apparently someone at NCL told me yesterday that they hold back cabins for those that bid to upgrade.  I have just heard that the travel agent accepts it was their error and are refunding me some cash which I have put towards a higher bid for an upgrade. Fingers crossed 🤞

I just googled Monty Python

"Hello I am Bounder of Adventures" 

Hilarious 😂  thanks for that x

I dont disagree however they are a cruise specialist travel agency..not a high street package holiday travel agent. I only looked the cabin up AFTER I was informed on the confirmation invoice about the balcony being enclosed. No need to question it before paying as the photo of that cabin on their website showed a normal balcony and Iglu Cruises agent directed those cabins to me as being available over the phone so I did check out the photo before paying. The photos of hull balconies on the Epic are not good as other people have pointed out here on CC. See below. Whilst I appreciate othe posters have said they do not mind, I do mind and it is not what I paid for at the time of booking. I have also read on this forum that this has happened before to other cruisers however they didnt realise until they got in to the cabin. I would have rather saved money and booked an inside cabin. Cruise is sold out now so I can not do that. Have a great day Bird Travels.

I was on the phone with her booking the cruise and she directed me to that group of cabins which I found out afterwards are offered to solo cruisers. Had she said it was a hull balcony I would have said no thanks and been happy to pay more for a normal balcony which was available at the time. By the time the invoice came through ( after I paid) it said 'Please be aware this is an enclosed balcony' I had to look that up by the way....All balcony cabins are sold out now. Have offered to upgrade to club suite cabin on website upgrade but no guarantee I will get that as have offered £250 more and it's like an auction from what I'm told by NCL. 

Absolutely Asawi. All I requested was a normal balcony cabin. Not a balcony which turns out to be an  enclosed metal garage tacked on to the cabin with a porthole in it. Simple request and T A should have advised me it was not a standard balcony. Everything else fine so not sure where the Goldilocks syndrome comes in to it 🤔 

Thank you so much The Bearded Cruiser... I too thought that some of the posts lacked compassion however, unfortunately, realise it is what you set yourself up for when you post on a public forum. Also 100 % agree with this paragraph....this is what I am talking to the T A about at the moment. Not getting very far though 😕 

WRONG! OP hired a travel agent. Their job is to help their client. They are the expert! They should have noticed the symbol and informed their client that the symbol means that the cabin has an obstructed balcony.Otherwise, what is the point of a travel agent?

Thanks for kind message ! Ha ha... would tell you about tales of perspex if I get moved to a balcony cabin with that on the balcony. It's looking like they can't move me though so will take photos of metal casing balcony! 😅👀🙃 

Thank you so much for your helpful comment and best wishes DCGuy64 😊

Well...I've certainly learnt my lesson, not to mention a lot of new terminology and new found knowledge of deck plans, having had this experience, so that it won't happen again in future, TA or no TA.

Yup. That's why I used a travel agent and would have expected her to be able to decipher the symbols/terminology on the deck plan as she was guiding me to make a choice. I cruised on Princess at front of ship in March and it wasn't an enclosed balcony. Could see the bridge which didn't bother me so in more or less exactly the same place. I've never even heard of the term Priva Sea so wouldn't know what it meant had I noticed it. 😳 

TBH I dont know as the TA just directed me to these cabins on the deck plan - I normally pay single occ in a double cabin and had no idea these were for solo travellers and of course, that they had the metal enclosed balcony as the photos did not show that and she did not make me aware when we were choosing it over the phone. Again, learnt a lot on here so I hope it might help some other 'solo' cruisers or indeed couples who have these cabins suggested to them by the TA. { I think an upgrade to a cabin with proper balcony was an extra £348 however they sold out in the 2 days i was faffing with customer service over the phone.} 

Yes I think you are right. Thank you so much for the good review of the ship x

Epic doesn't have good reviews at all, however I liked the itinerary and have used NCL before. At least my expectations are low so I could be pleasantly surprised and it's a port intensive itinerary so looking forward to some new experiences there 😊 

Thanks Asawi. I received the invoice on Monday and called TA immediately. Spent most of the afternoon on hold waiting to speak to somebody only to have the call keep dropping out. At one point I was on hold to speak to Customer Service for over an hour and then they kept going off and leaving me on hold for a further hour only to tell me that they would call me back when they had listened to the phone call. I had to chase them again on Tuesday, again another huge wait, to be told they had listened to the phone call and at no time had the TA told me it was a hull cabin balcony. As you say, live and learn, I certainly will not be using them again. I did, however, learn such a lot from this forum last night so many thanks to everybody who commented. Onward and upward 😉

They said no balcony cabins available at all. Ship fully sold out on balcony cabins even as sole occ in double cabin.

Paid for solo occupancy which is way more which is why I'm disappointed I wasn't guided by the T A about this when we were looking at deck plans etc and booking it 

Since I called them about this enclosed balcony.. it took so long for them to respond all balcony cabins have sold out.

TA is in UK and covers other cruise lines.

Booked it 9 July with T A over the phone and she offered me cabins at front of ship saying they were balcony. Because sailing is 7 August she asked for full payment up front. I'm aware the issue I have is with T A and not NCL as they put the package together with me..inc flights and transfers. 

Thank you so much for that....

It wasn't that I couldn't be bothered or that I chose to ignore anything. I hadn't even heard of the term Privasea so wouldnt have seen that on the deck plan. I learnt about it on this forum this evening.  Also didn't know that the square symbol means enclosed balcony until this forum this evening but then Im not a cruise specialist travel agent. I can now see this is ignorance on my part. I have learnt a lot this evening so at least it won't happen again. Thankyou for your comments.