Should I Upgrade Or Upsell? Advice Appreciated. :)

[dreamr]

Hi there!

I will be cruising on the Getaway in a few weeks (October 2) with my older sister and my 19 year old niece. It will be my sister's birthday that week and since we live on opposite coasts (they live in Washington state, I'm in South Carolina) and don't get to see each other very often, I'm hoping to make this week really special and memorable.

 

I would love to get us a balcony, but I need to do it as economically as possible, since I'm footing the entire bill for this trip. :P

 

I've been keeping an eye on the balcony prices and at the moment, the balcony guarantee category is $140/pp above the price of our current inside.

 

If I understand everything about upgrading versus upselling, then that gives me two options:

 

1. I can upgrade to a balcony guarantee and pay approximately $280 (my niece is "free" with the 3rd/4th guests free perk, which I believe I would keep since we wouldn't be cancel/rebooking?). The only thing about this is that I wouldn't know what stateroom we would get and that's always a gamble, since we could end up in an undesirable location. Then again, there's always the chance (no matter how tiny) that we'd end up with a really great room and might even be upgraded from a regular balcony to something even better (again, I realize the chances of that are slim). - I just realized that we would probably lose the 3rd/4th person free perk with this option, which means that I will probably have to go with #2...but I'm going to leave the thread up because perhaps I'm wrong. I can hope, right?

 

2. I can wait until closer to the cruise and try the upsell line. The upside to this is that I would be able to know the room offered immediately and decide whether or not that room is worth paying the extra money. The downside to this is that there's always the chance that there won't be any balcony rooms available and/or the price wouldn't be in the range that I'm willing to pay.

 

So if you guys could tell me what you would do and/or correct any incorrect assumptions I'm making in the options above, it would be appreciated. Thank you! :)

Edited August 28, 2016 by dreamr

[hladygirl]

I would definitely go with the balcony for$240. That is really cheap for an upgrade.

[txagfan]

Your edit is correct, you cannot upgrade and retain (increase) your perks if you go to a guarantee cabin.

 

Call the upsell line a week or two out and see what they say. Don't know that I've seen many upgrades priced below $150 pp ($300 for cabin), but doesn't mean it won't happen.

 

Anything else posted on here is going to be much of the same...

 

 

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[dreamr]

Your edit is correct, you cannot upgrade and retain (increase) your perks if you go to a guarantee cabin.

 

Call the upsell line a week or two out and see what they say. Don't know that I've seen many upgrades priced below $150 pp ($300 for cabin), but doesn't mean it won't happen.

 

Anything else posted on here is going to be much of the same...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, I caught it as soon as I posted the thread. Darn. :(

 

The prices for our week's cruise has been dropping recently, so I'm hoping it continues to drop and/or I can get a really good price for an upsell. We shall see! *crosses fingers*

 

I went from a studio to a balcony on the Escape in November for $100. I felt like I had won the lottery. XD

[txagfan]

Interesting, did they charge you $200 for double occupancy?

 

 

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[easyboy]

Upgrade price for a guarantee balcony is attractive to me.

[tinkr2]

i just had this discussion with NCL. yes that would be considered a rebook and you would loose all your promos if you went to a guaranteed balcony. But I would def call a week out and see about upsell. Who knows?

My cabin category is selling for more than what I booked it for and they told me it would cost me 1200 and I would loose a promo, I have 3. I declined that offer quickly:D I will not be upgrading my cabin.

[Two Wheels Only]

Option 3 could be to keep the stateroom that you have and use the money for VIBE passes for all 3 of you.

[logan25]

Only NCL can tell you whether the upsell from inside to any guarantee category is possible. Restrictions on guarantees are sometimes/often available to new bookings only. Found out that the hard way. So the cheap price you see for a guarantee balcony may be irrelevant to you as a currently booked passenger. NCL gets to make the rules. No harm in asking.

[NittanyCruise]

Anyone who has upgraded their room after final payment... does NCL refund the original booking amount and then recharge you for the new full amount or do they just charge you for the difference between the new and old?

[el820]

I sailed the Escape on Aug. 20th. I called 3-4 days before sailing and NCL was able to move me from an ocean view to a balcony without losing any of my original perks & excursion reservations. NCL just changed my stateroom number.

[easyboy]

I sailed the Escape on Aug. 20th. I called 3-4 days before sailing and NCL was able to move me from an ocean view to a balcony without losing any of my original perks & excursion reservations. NCL just changed my stateroom number.

When you called, did you specifically asked for an upgrade?

[drvalo]

Doesn't hurt to call ask. It has been my experience that after final payment, you can pay for an upgrade and not lose any of the promos. In fact, I have gained them in the past for the new level that were available when I first booked. But it is likely true with the new conditions/limitations on the gtys that you may not be able to upsell to that and keep the promos, but you may be able to upsell to the others.

 

In my experience, after final payment, it was not a rebook. It was just a change in cabin and I paid the difference.

[easyboy]

Doesn't hurt to call ask. It has been my experience that after final payment, you can pay for an upgrade and not lose any of the promos. In fact, I have gained them in the past for the new level that were available when I first booked. But it is likely true with the new conditions/limitations on the gtys that you may not be able to upsell to that and keep the promos, but you may be able to upsell to the others.

 

In my experience, after final payment, it was not a rebook. It was just a change in cabin and I paid the difference.

Nice to know. Thanks.

[Crusi3r_]

Disregard

Edited September 4, 2016 by Crusi3r_