NCL upgrade

[hayleybirk]

Wondering if anyone has ever been in this situation...

 

I booked an inside room with the free air perk. The cruise is a little over a week away and the rates have been dropping like crazy the last few weeks. A balcony room is now cheaper than what I paid for the inside cabin, and the inside is a few hundred dollars less. I called NCL to see if they could upgrade me, or offer OBC. They said they normally would, but since the free air perk isn't available for that cruise anymore, they cant offer anything since the upgrade or OBC would change the booking. I would have to pay the air out of pocket ($650 pp) 

 

I asked them why they aren't able to upgrade now without losing the air perk, but I'm still able to bid for an upgrade? If I win, won't that change the booking? She didn't have an answer to that.

 

Do you think this means I probably wont even win an upgrade?

[spanishguy1970]

Hmmm never heard of that. What does the free air perk have anything to do with getting an upgrade? I was able to change mine, without losing my perks, in fact, i had a similar situation, booked an inside and balcony became cheaper, i called asked for an upgrade and i got it, everything stayed the same. Did you book your cruise with NCL? i would call again....

[ohhbother]

My sister's family and my parents both called this week and were upgraded at no cost from balcony to midship mini-suites - thanks to price drops - for our May cruise to Alaska on Bliss. They kept all their perks. 

[hayleybirk]

2 minutes ago, ohhbother said:

My sister's family and my parents both called this week and were upgraded at no cost from balcony to midship mini-suites - thanks to price drops - for our May cruise to Alaska on Bliss. They kept all their perks. 

 

Did they have the air perk when they booked, and is the air perk still available as a perk?

[hayleybirk]

52 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

Hmmm never heard of that. What does the free air perk have anything to do with getting an upgrade? I was able to change mine, without losing my perks, in fact, i had a similar situation, booked an inside and balcony became cheaper, i called asked for an upgrade and i got it, everything stayed the same. Did you book your cruise with NCL? i would call again....

 

I've talked to 4 different people over the last 2 weeks. I'm going to keep trying

[ohhbother]

5 hours ago, hayleybirk said:

 

Did they have the air perk when they booked, and is the air perk still available as a perk?

No, they didn't select the air perk. They have dining and beverage packages.

[esm54687]

5 hours ago, hayleybirk said:

 

I've talked to 4 different people over the last 2 weeks. I'm going to keep trying

Is it the same answer from 4 different people? Have you asked to escalate it to a supervisor or then a manager? 

 

I can see if a couple people having a different answer would set off flags but if you have 4 with the same (especially since your current cruise is not part of the free air perk) - it actually may be true answers you're receiving 

[helpwanted]

We booked with air perk.  Air perk no longer available on our cruise..yesterday I saw rooms considerably less expensive then we paid.  Called my TA and we were upgraded a category and kept all perks

[rmurray847]

19 hours ago, hayleybirk said:

 

I've talked to 4 different people over the last 2 weeks. I'm going to keep trying

Yes, keep trying.  I have found different reps give different answers.  I've always wondered if they are incentivised by how little they cave in on giving upgrades/freebies in these cases.  If they flat out won't upgrade your cabin, at least request some OBC.  That can't possibly screw up a free air perk (if that's what they continue to say).

[Dugg3482]

I am also booked on the Bliss for May 19.  I originally booked a Studio room and have been watching the prices ever since.  Now balcony rooms are just ~$90 difference (if booking from scratch) than what I paid originally.

 

I called NCL to see if I could upgrade from Studio to Balcony thinking they would say I could for ~$100, but the rep said it would cost ~$1327 to upgrade!!! Wow!!

 

From what you all said here and what I've read about others upgrading, this doesn't seem right.

 

Is this typical or should I call again and try another rep?

[cruisegirlinpa]

On 3/19/2019 at 4:37 PM, hayleybirk said:

Wondering if anyone has ever been in this situation...

 

I booked an inside room with the free air perk. The cruise is a little over a week away and the rates have been dropping like crazy the last few weeks. A balcony room is now cheaper than what I paid for the inside cabin, and the inside is a few hundred dollars less. I called NCL to see if they could upgrade me, or offer OBC. They said they normally would, but since the free air perk isn't available for that cruise anymore, they cant offer anything since the upgrade or OBC would change the booking. I would have to pay the air out of pocket ($650 pp) 

 

I asked them why they aren't able to upgrade now without losing the air perk, but I'm still able to bid for an upgrade? If I win, won't that change the booking? She didn't have an answer to that.

 

Do you think this means I probably wont even win an upgrade?

I had that happen yesterday - only $200 pp to upgrade to a concierge suite - but they want to charge me an extra $1,000 for the flights even though it's been ticketed for weeks and that American has already been paid - there can't be an up charge (well, to NCL anyway).  I even asked for a supervisor who advised me that NCL sold "perk" flights underwater and that this was their way of "recouping" .  That since the air is no longer on promo they can charge Me prevailing, although AA has obviously already been paid. It's insane as the ship has every single category still available and we are just about 30 days ahead. I might try calling back, but I was super offended.  And yes, I was still welcome to bid for upgrade, that would not effect the flights!

OY!

[luv2kroooz]

2 hours ago, Dugg3482 said:

I am also booked on the Bliss for May 19.  I originally booked a Studio room and have been watching the prices ever since.  Now balcony rooms are just ~$90 difference (if booking from scratch) than what I paid originally.

 

I called NCL to see if I could upgrade from Studio to Balcony thinking they would say I could for ~$100, but the rep said it would cost ~$1327 to upgrade!!! Wow!!

 

From what you all said here and what I've read about others upgrading, this doesn't seem right.

 

Is this typical or should I call again and try another rep?

Looks like it is more like a $500 difference. $1249 studio vs $1724 solo non-guarantee balcony. Hang in there, more Alaska price drops are forthcoming due to oversupply in the market.

Edited April 1, 2019 by blcruising

[Dugg3482]

Just now, blcruising said:

Looks like it is more like a $500 difference. $1249 studio vs $1724 solo non-guarantee balcony

The Studio was $1649 back when I booked it ($2135.11 total after taxes and gratuities).

 

If you book a balcony now it's $1724 (roughly $2225 total after taxes and gratuities depending on which offers you take).

[luv2kroooz]

Wow! That was pretty expensive. Yeah, not sure why they won't let you pay to upgrade. Seems like a fair "ask" to me. Good luck!!

[Dugg3482]

10 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Wow! That was pretty expensive. Yeah, not sure why they won't let you pay to upgrade. Seems like a fair "ask" to me. Good luck!!

I agree. I think I will continue to watch the prices and call back if/when it drops again.  If I get the right person, I might be able to upgrade at no additional cost.

[JamieLogical]

So, the "rule" about perks when doing direct upgrades is that you get the promotions that are *currently* available. So, for instance, when I booked my upcoming sailing on the Escape, I got all five perks plus free airfare and it was also a Latitudes Rewards sailing, so an extra Latitude point per night and $100 OBC. Last week the price on aft balconies dropped and I called about upgrading directly. But, because the current promo is only two Free at Sea Perks, I would have lost out on my WiFi and shore excursion credit plus it's no longer listed as a Latitudes Rewards sailing, so I'd lose my extra points and OBC. I decided it wasn't worth it to give all that up.

 

When you upgrade through the Upgrade Advantage Program, you keep all of your original perks, but receive no new ones (unless they are associated with the room type like spa access for the spa categories or Haven access for the Haven categories). This is significant because usually different metas receive different numbers of Free at Sea perks. Like an inside only receives one. OV, balcony, and mini-suite receive two, and Havens receive them all. But when you upgrade through the UAP, you don't get the extra perks for moving up in meta. Someone going from an inside to a balcony still only gets their one original perk.

[robin13]

23 hours ago, Dugg3482 said:

I am also booked on the Bliss for May 19.  I originally booked a Studio room and have been watching the prices ever since.  Now balcony rooms are just ~$90 difference (if booking from scratch) than what I paid originally.

 

I called NCL to see if I could upgrade from Studio to Balcony thinking they would say I could for ~$100, but the rep said it would cost ~$1327 to upgrade!!! Wow!!

 

From what you all said here and what I've read about others upgrading, this doesn't seem right.

 

Is this typical or should I call again and try another rep?

The same thing happened to me last April on the Escape.  I booked a studio cabin and saw that the balcony cabins were cheaper than what I paid for the studio about 2 weeks before the cruise.  I thought no big deal in upgrading as when I booked the cabin I asked the NCL rep if it would be possible to do this and he said no big deal.  Well it was a big deal as they now wanted to charge me $1700 to go from the studio to the balcony cabin.  They said that I booked under the "solo cruisers discount" and that is why they couldn't do it for cheap.  They also mentioned that since the studio cabin is just for one person you have to pay double for the balcony cabin.  Lesson learned here is that I will never book the solo cruisers discount again if I want a chance to upgrade.

[Dugg3482]

43 minutes ago, robin13 said:

The same thing happened to me last April on the Escape.  I booked a studio cabin and saw that the balcony cabins were cheaper than what I paid for the studio about 2 weeks before the cruise.  I thought no big deal in upgrading as when I booked the cabin I asked the NCL rep if it would be possible to do this and he said no big deal.  Well it was a big deal as they now wanted to charge me $1700 to go from the studio to the balcony cabin.  They said that I booked under the "solo cruisers discount" and that is why they couldn't do it for cheap.  They also mentioned that since the studio cabin is just for one person you have to pay double for the balcony cabin.  Lesson learned here is that I will never book the solo cruisers discount again if I want a chance to upgrade.

That seems like an invalid excuse by NCL. Especially when you can go on their site and go through the process of booking a balcony for 1 person at double occupancy rate and see that the total will be less than the total you paid for a studio. It shouldn’t matter what discounts you got if the amount of money you have already paid exceeds the total cost of booking a balcony for 1. 

 

The amount they want me to pay to upgrade is almost the cost of booking a balcony from scratch. I’m not paying for a cruise twice just to move rooms. I’m like you. I’ll just take this as a lesson learned for next time.

[robin13]

1 hour ago, Dugg3482 said:

That seems like an invalid excuse by NCL. Especially when you can go on their site and go through the process of booking a balcony for 1 person at double occupancy rate and see that the total will be less than the total you paid for a studio. It shouldn’t matter what discounts you got if the amount of money you have already paid exceeds the total cost of booking a balcony for 1. 

 

The amount they want me to pay to upgrade is almost the cost of booking a balcony from scratch. I’m not paying for a cruise twice just to move rooms. I’m like you. I’ll just take this as a lesson learned for next time.

 

And like you I also said there was no way I was paying that price for the balcony cabin.  Fast forward one year and I did get to upgrade for free from a balcony to a mini-suite for my 15 day TA on 4/27.  The only caveat was that they picked the cabin but since it was a mini suite I didn't think there were any bad locations.

[havenfan]

17 hours ago, robin13 said:

The only caveat was that they picked the cabin but since it was a mini suite I didn't think there were any bad locations.

 

Some are definitely noisier than others, e.g., there have been complaints about cabins under the gym or under parts of the sun deck where people move chairs around a lot.  But some people pay full price for those cabins anyway, either because they don't know or because that's all that's left when they book.

 

Edit: Sorry, I just realized you were talking about the Escape.  I'm thinking about the older ships where the mini suites are all under the pool deck.

Edited April 3, 2019 by havenfan

[robin13]

3 hours ago, havenfan said:

 

Some are definitely noisier than others, e.g., there have been complaints about cabins under the gym or under parts of the sun deck where people move chairs around a lot.  But some people pay full price for those cabins anyway, either because they don't know or because that's all that's left when they book.

 

Edit: Sorry, I just realized you were talking about the Escape.  I'm thinking about the older ships where the mini suites are all under the pool deck.

 

My TA is on the Epic on deck 14.  In looking at the deck plans it does seem that is it under the pool deck but since this is a TA going from Orlando to Barcelona I'm hoping not many people will be laying out.  At least I'm near the elevator and the buffet is just one deck up.  Regardless, I'm just happy to be in a mini suite for two weeks as the last time I was on this ship I was in the tiny studio cabin.

[RWKBRO1]

I have a question regarding upgrade bids.

 

If a person receives an upgrade acceptance, are they entitled to that cabin's embarkation process in terms of priority boarding and waiting areas prior to boarding ?

 

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, RWKBRO1 said:

I have a question regarding upgrade bids.

 

If a person receives an upgrade acceptance, are they entitled to that cabin's embarkation process in terms of priority boarding and waiting areas prior to boarding ?

 

 

Yes. You get all of the perks associated with the room type, just no additional Free At Sea perks.

[RWKBRO1]

Thanks !!

[timf2001]

On 4/1/2019 at 10:23 AM, Dugg3482 said:

I am also booked on the Bliss for May 19.  I originally booked a Studio room and have been watching the prices ever since.  Now balcony rooms are just ~$90 difference (if booking from scratch) than what I paid originally.

 

I called NCL to see if I could upgrade from Studio to Balcony thinking they would say I could for ~$100, but the rep said it would cost ~$1327 to upgrade!!! Wow!!

 

From what you all said here and what I've read about others upgrading, this doesn't seem right.

 

Is this typical or should I call again and try another rep?

 

I am on the same sailing and originally had one balcony and one studio booked.  Back in February, I noticed they had reduced solo supplements on balcony rooms so I was able to switch the studio to a balcony for the price difference at the time (under $200).  The agent originally thought it would cost a lot more, but after putting it in her computer was surprised to see the price matched what I saw on the website.  The new room was a sail away rate, but the solo doesn't drink so the perk wasn't important.

 

Incidentally, the same agent would not let me upgrade my room from a balcony to mini-suite for no cost because we already had a guarantee rate and the new room would also have been a guarantee rate.  We would have needed to upgrade to a non-guarantee category for nearly $2000 more.  Perhaps this is the same rule you ran into.  Was your original studio a guarantee?