Question about paying to upgrade

[irishred]

Hi, we are past the final payment. We are in an oceanview, and the prices on balcony rooms have dropped down to just $300 more than we paid for our OV, so I'll be happy to pay the difference. My question is, our original room had 2 perks, and the balcony room, if I booked it today, would have the "take all" perks and has the double shore excursion offer as well. If I pay to upgrade, will I get those perks, or only have my original perks? My PCC is out of the office until October and I am waiting to hear back from the person who is her back up. Thanks!

[IRMO12HD]

I'll be interested to read responses and how this eventually works out for you.  We haven't yet reached final payment for our cruise in April 2020 on the Bliss, and have managed to increase the number of perks and decrease the cost of our balcony cabin at the same time.  I wonder how being past final payment will affect your change in cabin -- hoping for the best for you!

 

[Starry Eyes]

When I saw a price drop after final payment recently, I upgraded from a sailaway OV to a higher category OV with 2 perks, paying just a few dollars more in fare (plus gratuities on perks).  That was a quick and easy upgrade.

 

so, I suspect as you are tossing in additional money to upgrade, you will get the additional perks that come with your new category/price.  Enjoy the balcony and the extra perks.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Starry Eyes

[Birdie And Sue]

Perks are based on what was available and what you booked on your original booking.  Upgrades do not impact them at all.

[gmbhardy]

1 hour ago, Birdie And Sue said:

Perks are based on what was available and what you booked on your original booking.  Upgrades do not impact them at all.

 

Oh yes they do. My TA told me that NCL is the only cruise line that treats upgrades as a total rebook. You get the perks of the upgraded room, not what you had for your original booking. I just upgraded from a balcony to a H5 and lost $200 of OBC. 

[ceilidh1]

I'm thinking it depends on who you get on the phone...

I'm on Bliss and originally booked an H8. It had all of the perks including extra guests free when I booked. Around a week ago (long after final payment) I noticed that the H4 had dropped in price and when I did a dummy booking the price came out to about $40 more than I paid for an H8 - still had all the perks but not free extra guests. I called and asked to upgrade and expected to pay the $40. The rep told me that it was only an additional amount due to being charged for the 3rd guest so, technically it was a "downgrade" as based on my original booking the price was less than what I had paid. I didn't really understand it, but got the upgrade at no additional cost. The confirmation showed all the same perks (including 3rd guest free) that was on the original booking..

 

 

[Birdie And Sue]

23 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

 

Oh yes they do. My TA told me that NCL is the only cruise line that treats upgrades as a total rebook. You get the perks of the upgraded room, not what you had for your original booking. I just upgraded from a balcony to a H5 and lost $200 of OBC. 

 

 

You got scrod.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, gmbhardy said:

 

Oh yes they do. My TA told me that NCL is the only cruise line that treats upgrades as a total rebook. You get the perks of the upgraded room, not what you had for your original booking. I just upgraded from a balcony to a H5 and lost $200 of OBC. 

Yep totally agree. This is my experience as well. We upgraded from an H5 to H6 and our OBC changed from $325 to $375 bc that’s what was being offered at the time. In this case it worked out in our favor. The OP should be able to find out from their TA or NCL directly. 

[Starry Eyes]

16 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

Perks are based on what was available and what you booked on your original booking.  Upgrades do not impact them at all.

If you mean upgraded by bidding, that would be true.  But if one calls in and agrees to pay an upgrade at the current posted rate, one os going the current perks.  Sometimes the current perks are better, sometimes not, but NCL attaches the current price to a certain set of perks.  Sometimes a price drops but perks drop, too...one cannot call to get the better price while keeping the better perks.

[gmbhardy]

I still think it’s absurd that you get to keep your perks when you win through the bidding process and lose them when you pay twice your original amount to upgrade straight out. You also don’t pay the increase in DSC if you win a Haven bid (if it’s been prepaid). I know that’s the policy but it makes no logical sense.

[smplybcause]

2 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

I still think it’s absurd that you get to keep your perks when you win through the bidding process and lose them when you pay twice your original amount to upgrade straight out. You also don’t pay the increase in DSC if you win a Haven bid (if it’s been prepaid). I know that’s the policy but it makes no logical sense.

 

I'm thinking it has to do with their 3rd & 4th guest free and now the free airfare promos. While not always, those promos tend to disappear the closer you are to sailing (and 3/4 free disappears the most), and when guests 1/2 are no longer having to pay for 3/4 (yes, even when free their fare is being paid by someone) the prices for 1/2 drop. So if the repriced or upgraded you when the prices dropped in part because they have less promos, but then let you keep your old promos but use the new pricing then NCL would lose money. When NCL does pricing it's not just individual things, they look at the whole package.

Edited September 23, 2019 by smplybcause

[GA Dave]

When we paid to upgrade from a mini-suite to a Haven CY Penthouse on the Getaway, we received all the perks that were listed for the Haven room at the time we made the upgrade.

[irishred]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I just got a call back from the 'fill in' PCC, and he did confirm that I will receive all the perks available for the room we upgraded to. So all four of the free at sea offers, as well as the additional $50 per port excursion credit promo. I went ahead and paid the difference:)

[Starry Eyes]

8 hours ago, irishred said:

Thank you everyone for the replies! I just got a call back from the 'fill in' PCC, and he did confirm that I will receive all the perks available for the room we upgraded to. So all four of the free at sea offers, as well as the additional $50 per port excursion credit promo. I went ahead and paid the difference:)

I’m glad you got the upgrade you wanted with all the current perks.  Have fun.

[shof515]

for my cruise in November, the rate of my inside cabin went down by like 250 dollars and i only had on perk. i called my ncl this morning and they gave me a free upgrade to an oceanview cabin. i keep my existing perk and based on the confirmation that was emailed to me, my original booking date remained the same and it listed by old and new cabin category. the oceanview cabins usually gets 2 perks. should i be eligible for a 2nd perk? not that i matters since i dont need any other perks. i did read on various pages on the ncl website that with upgrades do not include any new promo/perks

[Starry Eyes]

11 hours ago, shof515 said:

for my cruise in November, the rate of my inside cabin went down by like 250 dollars and i only had on perk. i called my ncl this morning and they gave me a free upgrade to an oceanview cabin. i keep my existing perk and based on the confirmation that was emailed to me, my original booking date remained the same and it listed by old and new cabin category. the oceanview cabins usually gets 2 perks. should i be eligible for a 2nd perk? not that i matters since i dont need any other perks. i did read on various pages on the ncl website that with upgrades do not include any new promo/perks

If you had selected a higher category at a slightly higher fare (assuming such was available), you probably could have paid the fare difference and gained the second perk (and kept your one time adjustment in your back pocket in case prices keep dropping).   But, that would have cost you at least some money, and you might not want to spend any if you don’t really value the perks.  And sometimes there is not a fare that costs only a few dollars more (fares are less, equal or substantially more).  Depending on where they placed you, you might still be able to do this is prices drop enough.

 

By electing to accept NCL’s freebie, you get the better cabin, but no extra perks were included in their offer.  Best to remember that NCL was not obligated to do anything, per contract, but they did upgrade you anyway.  So be happy and have a wonderful time.