Any Pattern of Upsells, Upgrades?

[Luna'sMom]

Ok, I know this issue has probably been beaten to death but….

Is there any set pattern on how the cruise lines (NCL in particular) offers upgrades and upsells to their passengers?

We are now Gold level members and have NEVER been offered either one. We always book a balcony BA or better and have never received anything. The first time we went on RCCL we booked an inside cabin at the last minute and were upgraded to a balcony. The same thing happened with Princess; we booked a balcony cabin and were upgraded to a better balcony, the ones with the HUGE balcony partially covered. I do not remember the category.

I know it also depends on how full the ship is and what time you sail, but we always sail off peak. We don’t like the crowds either. On our upcoming cruise to Bermuda, the ship seems to be nowhere near capacity, but I have not received any calls. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for free, I am willing to pay, but I have never been offered. Any ideas why?

Thanks!

[Why Knot Me]

Ok' date=' I know this issue has probably been beaten to death but….

Is there any set pattern on how the cruise lines (NCL in particular) offers upgrades and upsells to their passengers?

We are now Gold level members and have NEVER been offered either one. We always book a balcony BA or better and have never received anything. The first time we went on RCCL we booked an inside cabin at the last minute and were upgraded to a balcony. The same thing happened with Princess; we booked a balcony cabin and were upgraded to a better balcony, the ones with the HUGE balcony partially covered. I do not remember the category.

I know it also depends on how full the ship is and what time you sail, but we always sail off peak. We don’t like the crowds either. On our upcoming cruise to Bermuda, the ship seems to be nowhere near capacity, but I have not received any calls. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for free, I am willing to pay, but I have never been offered. Any ideas why?

Thanks![/quote']

 

If we knew why, the biggest mystery that is discussed here a few times a week would be solved!! We all wished we knew the logic, but nobody knows for sure.

[Whippets]

Luna's Mom, don't feel loney. We are in the same "boat" with you. Never have received that call in 11 total cruises. I agree would pay extra if it was a decent deal not looking for a complete hand out........

[Got Tequila?]

Ok' date=' I know this issue has probably been beaten to death but….

Is there any set pattern on how the cruise lines (NCL in particular) offers upgrades and upsells to their passengers?

We are now Gold level members and have NEVER been offered either one. We always book a balcony BA or better and have never received anything. The first time we went on RCCL we booked an inside cabin at the last minute and were upgraded to a balcony. The same thing happened with Princess; we booked a balcony cabin and were upgraded to a better balcony, the ones with the HUGE balcony partially covered. I do not remember the category.

I know it also depends on how full the ship is and what time you sail, but we always sail off peak. We don’t like the crowds either. On our upcoming cruise to Bermuda, the ship seems to be nowhere near capacity, but I have not received any calls. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for free, I am willing to pay, but I have never been offered. Any ideas why?

Thanks![/quote']

 

Did you book with a TA or dirctly with NCL? I know most say that it doesn't matter when it comes to upsells, but if you are booked with a TA they may have booked you as part of a group reservation (without your knowledge even) and I seem to think they don't get called as frequently. Also when you book through a TA NCL has to contact them (not you) and make the initial offer....and sometimes certain TA's don't contact the client about the upsell at all and you never know it had been offered. Seems like they would want to make a bit more commission, but I guess it isn't worth their time. :confused:

 

I'm Platinum and haven't been offered an upsell recently, since I stopped using the NCL PCC, and went with an online TA who offers a better price and free travel insurance.

[Luna'sMom]

The first few times we cruised with NCL we used an online TA, but the last few cruises, including our upcoming Bermuda Cruise, we booked directley with NCL????

[Got Tequila?]

The first few times we cruised with NCL we used an online TA' date=' but the last few cruises, including our upcoming Bermuda Cruise, we booked directley with NCL????[/quote']

 

Maybe you'll have better luck this time. I wouldn't expect a call/email until just under 2 weeks prior to your cruise.

[Toyz711]

my only upgrades were with airlines..

never a upsell call...

guess i am in good company.

more of us DON'T get call, then do get it. feel sorry for newbies that think it's a regular thing for everyone to get upselled or upgraded.

[Ella2]

I'm a TA, and honestly, the clients who I have received calls for for upsells were all first-time NCL cruisers! I know the calls have run the gamut from newbies, like my clients, to seasoned NCL cruisers. I honestly have no idea what their thought process is. I was prone to believe they like to entice the new NCL cruisers with awesome suites to get them to sail again, but it seems like there are just as many folks who have cruised NCL many times who get the call.

 

I hope you get lucky this time and get the offer! :)

[janice4559]

Ok' date=' I know this issue has probably been beaten to death but….

Is there any set pattern on how the cruise lines (NCL in particular) offers upgrades and upsells to their passengers?

We are now Gold level members and have NEVER been offered either one. We always book a balcony BA or better and have never received anything. The first time we went on RCCL we booked an inside cabin at the last minute and were upgraded to a balcony. The same thing happened with Princess; we booked a balcony cabin and were upgraded to a better balcony, the ones with the HUGE balcony partially covered. I do not remember the category.

I know it also depends on how full the ship is and what time you sail, but we always sail off peak. We don’t like the crowds either. On our upcoming cruise to Bermuda, the ship seems to be nowhere near capacity, but I have not received any calls. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for free, I am willing to pay, but I have never been offered. Any ideas why?

Thanks![/quote']

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but why don't you call them (about two weeks out). People have done this and have gotten deals. Why wait for a phone call. And if you are just going to wait, will it make it better if you understand how they do it??? Why are people posting their wishes. I wish I could win the lottery, but I don't go on chat boards and post it.

[Aladdin1968]

We were extremely lucky. Already the first time we booked a cruise (any cruise), two weeks before sailing we got a call from the NCL upsell person. I missed the call but she immediately sent us an email with the offer to be upgraded from BA to AB of A3 for a relatively very small extra. I immidiately took the bait and took the A3 which is marvellous. Now we are spoilt and only book Courtyard Villas. Well done NCL. And of course have not ever heard from the upsell lady again. :D I still feel stupid not asking why we got the offer. I assume it was because we had a baby with us and having the extra room is very convenient. But maybe it was only to get us hooked or just coincidence. Anyway, if you are going to call (what I have heard it is not too good for your reputation to disturb NCL with upsell requests) pulling the family card might be a wise one...

[katemsw]

We are sailing with NCL for the first time next Sunday. We received a call on Thursday offering an upsell from our AB to an A1. This cruise was booked through a TA. It is unclear from the message whether the call originated through RCI or TA. However, my theory is that we received this call for two possible reasons: the 5 of us booked in the AB would be much more comfortable in the A1 and therefore might "take the bait" and/or there is high demand for the AB which is sold out for our sailing.

[mylesf]

This is a manual process for NCL and they, usually, start to work the sailing about two weeks out. In most cases, it comes down to what is still available on that sail date and if they need your current cabin. It is not based on who you booked the cabin through or how many prior cruises you have sailed with NCL.

 

For the post that indicated "but if you are booked with a TA they may have booked you as part of a group reservation (without your knowledge)" you should at some point get a NCL confirmation and that confirmation, if booked into a group will include an individual reservation number and a group number so you may not know it at the inital booking but once you get the NCL confirmation you should know it. If you book through a Travel Agent, make sure to ask for NCL's confirmation not just the trave agent generated invoice. NCL does offer two confirmations, one for the travel agent and one for the passenger.

[Got Tequila?]

This is a manual process for NCL and they, usually, start to work the sailing about two weeks out. In most cases, it comes down to what is still available on that sail date and if they need your current cabin. It is not based on who you booked the cabin through or how many prior cruises you have sailed with NCL.

 

For the post that indicated "but if you are booked with a TA they may have booked you as part of a group reservation (without your knowledge)" you should at some point get a NCL confirmation and that confirmation, if booked into a group will include an individual reservation number and a group number so you may not know it at the inital booking but once you get the NCL confirmation you should know it. If you book through a Travel Agent, make sure to ask for NCL's confirmation not just the trave agent generated invoice. NCL does offer two confirmations, one for the travel agent and one for the passenger.

 

Good point. I haven't seen an NCL Confirmation since we started booking with online TA's....but I have never asked for one, yet. I just assumed they are booking us as part of a group since they offer extra perks like the OBC and free wine. It really doesn't matter too much for us, since we always book a cabin we are happy with at a fair price. :)

[AuntieBarb]

The NCL "Upsell Fairy" called us the 2nd time we cruised (4 of us in a Cat H Interior to Cat AB Penthouse for a total $800), the 4th time we cruised (3 of us in a BA Balcony to AF Mini-Suite for a total of $200), the 7th time we were offered the Owner's Suite, but missed their phone call and our last time we were offered an AF Mini-Suite for our Aft BA Balcony, which we declined! :)

 

So I doubt it has anything to do with how many times you've cruised with them. We've booked most of our cruises directly with NCL, but not all. Regardless, we know others who have booked with TA's and received upsells.

 

My conclusion? There is NO pattern.

[BIG_Steve]

My completely unscientific observation, based on posts in this discussion board suggests that most of the upgrades seem to be from Minisuite to Garden Villa. Don't know why. Maybe it's easier to resell a MS over a Penthouse?? We've got an AD, and I won't pay listed price for a GV. But if an upsell comes along at about 50% of the difference, I'll be all over it like a bum on a bologna sandwich. And if it doesn't, well I still have my suite on the stern.

 

Save your breath (some of you) I'm not going to argue.......