This is not an upgrade, but NCL thinks it is...

[Luna'sMom]

We have cruised 20+ times and usually take a gty and have never had a complaint.

We booked a MB guarantee on the Breakaway and assumed we would get a mid-ship mini suite on some deck. I checked yesterday and we have been assigned (upgraded?)to a MA (Family Mini-Suite) on the 12th deck near the kid’s splashdown area. I do not need a cabin with an extra bed, connecting doors or a bathtub. I would like to know what NCL is thinking. We are in our late 50's, traveling without kids and really need a vacation from our stressful NY jobs. For the 1st time ever I called our PCC to express my displeasure and ask if we could “refuse” the upgrade. He was very understanding and said that he would check and call me back. He did call me and tell me that NCL will not move my cabin. Yes, I know that is their policy, but WHY would they put us in that location? I just don’t get it. Do you think that NCL may move us again if there is a demand for the Family mini’s?

It seems that I could cancel and rebook with a specific cabin. I do not have any OBC and I am close enough to Platinum to not need the 9 month out credit for booking.

Any thoughts and what I should do? I really like my PCC but I may have to go to an outside TA.

[sparks1093]

We have cruised 20+ times and usually take a gty and have never had a complaint.

We booked a MB guarantee on the Breakaway and assumed we would get a mid-ship mini suite on some deck. I checked yesterday and we have been assigned (upgraded?)to a MA (Family Mini-Suite) on the 12th deck near the kid’s splashdown area. I do not need a cabin with an extra bed' date=' connecting doors or a bathtub. I would like to know what NCL is thinking. We are in our late 50's, traveling without kids and really need a vacation from our stressful NY jobs. For the 1st time ever I called our PCC to express my displeasure and ask if we could “refuse” the upgrade. He was very understanding and said that he would check and call me back. He did call me and tell me that NCL will not move my cabin. Yes, I know that is their policy, [b']but WHY would they put us in that location[/b]? I just don’t get it. Do you think that NCL may move us again if there is a demand for the Family mini’s?

It seems that I could cancel and rebook with a specific cabin. I do not have any OBC and I am close enough to Platinum to not need the 9 month out credit for booking.

Any thoughts and what I should do? I really like my PCC but I may have to go to an outside TA.

 

They put you there because you booked a guarentee and that cabin is the one that is available. If they aren't moving you that would indicate to me that there are no other cabins available but who knows. I am not sure when you are sailing but you could wait until the cruise gets closer and see if cabin choices change or if you are outside the penalty period you could cancel and re-book. This is the very reason that I won't book a guarentee (again).

[xenagurl]

As long as they're not near to capacity for your room type I'd cancel and rebook with NCL directly. Running out of rooms might be why they've put you in that room, but the only way to deal with them Is to book with them. I hope it can be rectified. I agree that type of an "upgrade" (regular to family room) really isn't unless you find it useful. I hope that you can get a room better suited to your desires. :)

[Mysticks1]

Have you gone online and checked to see what other cabins are available for that sailing?

[Luna'sMom]

Xenagurl, I am booked directly with NCL, I always book directly. I am on the same cruise as you. I have looked online and there are plenty on minis available. My PCC said to wait until I have to pay in full to see if he can get me moved, but I am afraid that if I cancel then, the prices will go up.

[che5904]

This is the very reason that I won't book a guarentee .

 

Me too Sparks, I would much rather pay the little more to be in control of exactly where I want to be. Otherwise yup, you are getting a deal but leaving the control to the powers that be to decide where you may end up.

[sparks1093]

Xenagurl' date=' I am booked directly with NCL, I always book directly. I am on the same cruise as you. I have looked online and there are plenty on minis available. My PCC said to wait until I have to pay in full to see if he can get me moved, but I am afraid that if I cancel then, the prices will go up.[/quote']

 

If you aren't at final payment then cancelling and re-booking with the cabin of your choice is probably the best option.

[xenagurl]

Xenagurl' date=' I am booked directly with NCL, I always book directly. I am on the same cruise as you. I have looked online and there are plenty on minis available. My PCC said to wait until I have to pay in full to see if he can get me moved, but I am afraid that if I cancel then, the prices will go up.[/quote']

 

LOL I knew that name looked familiar. If you're booked directly with NCL, I'd give them a call directly and not rely on your PCC. Some customer service people are more helpful than others and situations change, so hopefully someone can assist. If nothing else they can add a note stating that you'd prefer a regular mini suite. With so many families leaving from NY, I'm sure they'd appreciate being close to the kids club as much as you'd appreciate a quieter spot.

 

I don't think you'll necessarily get a mid-ship mini suite with a guarantee cabin as that is prime "territory", but hopefully one on the opposite end of the ship.

 

So I say all of this to say (lol) I think that if you give NCL a call and not your PCC asking them to add a note to your booking that you prefer a Mini-suite without connecting doors they might be able to accommodate you. HTH :)

[Demonyte]

We booked a MB guarantee on the Breakaway and assumed we would get a mid-ship mini suite on some deck. I checked yesterday and we have been assigned (upgraded?)to a MA (Family Mini-Suite) on the 12th deck near the kid’s splashdown area. I do not need a cabin with an extra bed' date=' connecting doors or a bathtub. I would like to know what NCL is thinking. We are in our late 50's, traveling without kids and really need a vacation from our stressful NY jobs. For the 1st time ever I called our PCC to express my displeasure and ask if we could “refuse” the upgrade. He was very understanding and said that he would check and call me back. He did call me and tell me that NCL will not move my cabin. Yes, I know that is their policy, but WHY would they put us in that location? I just don’t get it. Do you think that NCL may move us again if there is a demand for the Family mini’s?

It seems that I could cancel and rebook with a specific cabin. I do not have any OBC and I am close enough to Platinum to not need the 9 month out credit for booking.

Any thoughts and what I should do? I really like my PCC but I may have to go to an outside TA.[/quote']

 

As others have said (and you do know already), this is NCL's policy so changing to a TA won't make any difference. I do understand your frustration, but on paper you were upgraded and the guarantee was fulfilled because you got same category or higher.

 

You were put on a family cabin (as were we last spring, more on this later) because I'd guess that the family cabins are not that popular outside school holidays etc and there are a lot of them. Nobody travelling without kids would like to book one just for the heck of it and thats why people cruising without kids choose to book lower cabin categories instead and that's why NCL wants to bump the GTY booked pax out from the categories that sell out just fine without.

 

I have been telling my story in similar threads on number of occasions and just found one of my first messages regarding this matter:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=32888141&postcount=6

 

In that case we booked OA GTY and were "upgraded" to O1 which was at the time sold for much less pp than the category we paid for. But it was an upgrade so there was nothing we could do (except to pay more and enjoy the suite life but that's another story ;)).

 

I'd cancel and rebook to a specific cabin this time - lesson learned here.

 

P.S. Regarding this family classification thing, I wrote this in another thread couple of weeks ago:

 

While I do understand and appreciate NCL diffrentiating the cabins especially suitable for families, the ranking of the categories should be done just like people with common sense do: better overall location equals higher category - not just some arbitary reason like naming the cabin by prefixing it with "family" and making it "better" just because of that.

[Luna'sMom]

I guess my luck has run out after all of my Gty cabins. I have paid for a MB, that is a mid-ship mini suite. I took that because I knew that I would be mid-ship in a mini but I didnt care what deck I was on. I learned my lesson and I will not book a gty again. I think I will give it a few days and look around to see what is available.

[Luna'sMom]

I looked at online Travel sites and there are still plenty of cabins available. I'm going to call NCL and ask to speak to a supervisior. I hate having to do this. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for all of your suggestions!

[hladygirl]

The best balcony cabin I was on was gty. We were assigned back of ship next ti kids club. I called to change my cabin and was assured I would not even know I was next to the kids club. They were right! Never heard a sound. I love the back of the ship. Close to rear elevators, less sea spray on your balcony in rough seas and just enough movement to lull me to sleep but not too much to bother me like the front of the ship cabins. Did a forward cabin deck 9 before and will never do anything less than deck 10 aft again.

[ttnc4me]

I looked at online Travel sites and there are still plenty of cabins available. I'm going to call NCL and ask to speak to a supervisior. I hate having to do this.

If you hate to do it, then don't. :rolleyes: You booked GTY and got GTY and there it is. I paid a lot to have the cabin I wan;t so others can do the same. There's no way that someone should expect to get the best of the best unless it's paid for. So for you to complain to supervisor is just ludicrous.

Be grateful it's before your 90 days and can still make new arrangements.

[spacepotatoes]

I guess my luck has run out after all of my Gty cabins. I have paid for a MB' date=' that is a mid-ship mini suite. I took that because I knew that I would be mid-ship in a mini[/b'] but I didnt care what deck I was on. I learned my lesson and I will not book a gty again. I think I will give it a few days and look around to see what is available.

 

Unfortunately, that's not exactly what a guarantee means. You are not guaranteed the exact cabin of your choice. You are guaranteed a cabin in the category you booked or higher. You won't get a lower category, but you may not get the exact category that you booked. That was the gamble and in this case, it didn't work out.

 

Good luck with NCL. If they have cabins available that you'd prefer, hopefully you can work something out. It may come to having to cancel the gty and rebook but either way, I hope it works out for you.

 

In the future, if you have a strong preference for a particular cabin type, just book a specific cabin.

[rvsullivan]

Some of these posts are very funny!! If NCL had put you in a full suite I bet you wouldn't be complaining! We see posts almost every day from folks that say they are booking a gty because they want to get the free upgrades. But when they get something other than what they want, they immediately want NCL to give them a free change to whatever they decide they would like. My suggestion is to do what everyone else has to do. Book the room you want and pay for it, or book gty and take what you get! It is very clear on NCL's website that a family mini is a higher cat than an MB, if you know that, why would you think it might not happen?

[Freebythesea]

I guess my luck has run out after all of my Gty cabins. I have paid for a MB' date=' that is a mid-ship mini suite. I took that because I knew that I would be mid-ship in a mini but I didnt care what deck I was on. I learned my lesson and I will not book a gty again. I think I will give it a few days and look around to see what is available.[/quote']

 

Luna'sMom,

We too book gty as that is what we can afford. I figure "I'm on a cruise. how bad could it be"? 2x now on HAL we got AWESOME upgrades-which were the only two cruises we have been on. We booked a gty with NCL, through a TA this time. When the price went down for our catagory I asked if we could get a reduction (we had just made the purchase). They checked, said no but that NCL was going to upgrade us. Well, we too recieved a non-upgrade; full forward, porthole (rather then the mid-ship obsturcted view we booked). Being unhappy with this I asked the TA if they could help out, they did and ended up with a mid-ship full ov. Whoo hoo!

Moral of story; Ask for what you want, be grateful for what you get and make lemonade when needed.

I wish you the best and until we actully "afford" to book the room that we want, we will continue to book gty.

[keystoneboarder]

OP - GTY doesn't mean you are entitled to an upgrade. It means you are entitled to that category or better. If you don't like your cabin, don't book the GTY.

 

Also, Suites are never assigned through a GTY. If you book a minisuite GTY, the highest cabin you will get is a minisuite.

 

Xenagirl - PCC's ARE NCL direct. The PCC may not understand the rules of the GTY very well or is trying to satisfy someone who feels they are entitled to something and is afraid to tell the OP the truth.

 

Regardless, the OP chose the GTY because it was a better price. Otherwise you would have paid more to get what you want. You got what you paid for.

[Luna'sMom]

I paid the same price for a GTY as the mid ship mini's are going for now. I think it was only $100 less for a gty. I took it bacause I have never had a bad experience. I have decieded to stay where I am, I really dont have the time to state my displeasure with our cabin assignment to NCL.

That being said, I learned my lesson. Never again, BUT, even if you have a specific cabin when you book they can still move you.. Did you know that??

[sparks1093]

I paid the same price for a GTY as the mid ship mini's are going for now. I think it was only $100 less for a gty. I took it bacause I have never had a bad experience. I have decieded to stay where I am' date=' I really dont have the time to state my displeasure with our cabin assignment to NCL.

That being said, I learned my lesson. Never again, BUT, even if you have a specific cabin when you book they can still move you.. [b']Did you know that[/b]??

 

Yes, I know that, but they don't do it often nor without a good reason (like if someone was in an accessible cabin that didn't need it).

[mrbill2000]

I know during the Dash sale the free upgrade offered for the mid-ship mini-suite on the Breakaway was a family mini-suite just as you described next to the splashdown area. So yes Norwegian thinks this is an upgrade and it is price wise but for a couple without children I don't see it as an upgrade either.

[Luna'sMom]

We have cruised 20+ times and usually take a gty and have never had a complaint.

We booked a MB guarantee on the Breakaway and assumed we would get a mid-ship mini suite on some deck. I checked yesterday and we have been assigned (upgraded?)to a MA (Family Mini-Suite) on the 12th deck near the kid’s splashdown area. I do not need a cabin with an extra bed' date=' connecting doors or a bathtub. I would like to know what NCL is thinking. We are in our late 50's, traveling without kids and really need a vacation from our stressful NY jobs. For the 1st time ever I called our PCC to express my displeasure and ask if we could “refuse” the upgrade. He was very understanding and said that he would check and call me back. He did call me and tell me that NCL will not move my cabin. Yes, I know that is their policy, but WHY would they put us in that location? I just don’t get it. Do you think that NCL may move us again if there is a demand for the Family mini’s?

It seems that I could cancel and rebook with a specific cabin. I do not have any OBC and I am close enough to Platinum to not need the 9 month out credit for booking.

Any thoughts and what I should do? I really like my PCC but I may have to go to an outside TA.[/quote']

 

UPDATE: I called my PCC to pay in full and again I voiced my despleasure with being in a family mini-suite near the "Splashdown" kids area. He said, no problem, and moved me to a regular mid ship mini on deck 10. I have no idea why NCL refused to move me when I previousley asked, but I am very happy!

Thanks NCL.....

[nyc12345]

With a GTY, you can get that category or anything above it, unfortunately, MA is above MB in NCL's system.

 

I always book my cruises through TA though, get some extra OBC wouldn't hurt...