Price drops

[tray]

Does NCL ever have price drops when they are running their freebies special? I have been watching prices for over a month and haven’t seen any drops. We need space for three people in one room on the Getaway, but the price difference between a mini-suite and the Haven suites is astronomical (for us, anyway). RCCL is having some pretty good specials right now and an Owners suite is half as expensive. We won’t use the Haven pool or dining area much;  we enjoy the vibe of the crowds on the ship. There are no regular suite options (I.e. we used to book the penthouse suites on NCL) on the Getaway, and we are only gold on NCL so don’t get priority disembarkation. We are diamond on RCCL so we would have priority disembarkation there. The reason I haven’t already switched over to RCCL for this cruise is because I really like our itinerary on the NCL cruise we are considering. Any advice on watching for price drops from you seasoned NCL cruisers?

 

 

 

[smplybcause]

There's no way to know if the price dropped without mock booking. NCL doesn't do sales like Royal (though some would argue Royal's sales really don't change the price either lol). It sounds like you're looking at Haven cabins, and it seems like price drops are rarer for those cabin types. Though based on what it sounds like, it's kind of crazy to pay all that just to get off the ship a little faster on the last day. With regular cabins the price drops usually happen after final payment - though not always as I have a March cruise that's dropped 3 times in the 6 months since I booked. 

[Bacci111]

Just saw that our Bermuda sailing on the ncl escape dropped for our category 50.00 per person, and being told that they wont offer any obc or upgrade, because already paid final payment. I have read that some people get at least an on board credit when the price drops. Makes one want to not book a cruise til 3 weeks before for the best deal. Anyone have any ideas? Or do you think that it is just my travel agent not making any attempt?

[smplybcause]

4 minutes ago, Bacci111 said:

Just saw that our Bermuda sailing on the ncl escape dropped for our category 50.00 per person, and being told that they wont offer any obc or upgrade, because already paid final payment. I have read that some people get at least an on board credit when the price drops. Makes one want to not book a cruise til 3 weeks before for the best deal. Anyone have any ideas? Or do you think that it is just my travel agent not making any attempt?

 

It depends. There's no guarantee that they would offer you anything after final payment. Maybe your TA didn't make an attempt, maybe the rep they spoke to didn't want to do it. Or it could be that as they only give 25% in OBC they don't do it when the OBC would be a small amount like $12.50. I'd try again if the price drops more - don't forget while it's not guaranteed NCL won't do anything for you more than once. 

[tray]

2 hours ago, smplybcause said:

Though based on what it sounds like, it's kind of crazy to pay all that just to get off the ship a little faster on the last day. 

No, lol....it was mainly for Santorini priority disembarkation.....probably still not worth it! I had a stroke in January and walk okay but find that I’m a little slower post-bleed. I just don’t want to get off the ship an hour or more late due to long lines (which I’ve read are common from other NCL threads) then slow things down even more once finally off the tender due to my frustrating slower pace.

[smplybcause]

2 minutes ago, tray said:

No, lol....it was mainly for Santorini priority disembarkation.....probably still not worth it! I had a stroke in January and walk okay but find that I’m a little slower post-bleed. I just don’t want to get off the ship an hour or more late due to long lines (which I’ve read are common from other NCL threads) then slow things down even more once finally off the tender due to my frustrating slower pace.

 

Ah! Well, every time I've been on an away class they have tender tickets. If you do a NCL excursion you automatically get it, otherwise it's a self serve - likely available to select the day before but it varies. Though they always ended up calling numbers early (Caribbean cruises). I've never waited an hour to get off once I got in line, but I haven't been to that port. 

[bernard530]

I'm sailing on the bliss on 12/20 - 12/28 and I noticed last week that my cabin price had dropped.  I called and they offered me a $50 OBC.  I thought that was a nice thing to do since they didn't have to do that.

[tray]

18 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

Ah! Well, every time I've been on an away class they have tender tickets. If you do a NCL excursion you automatically get it, otherwise it's a self serve - likely available to select the day before but it varies. Though they always ended up calling numbers early (Caribbean cruises). I've never waited an hour to get off once I got in line, but I haven't been to that port. 

Santorini is a tender stop, but apparently the time it takes to tender is inordinately long if you aren’t platinum or above or in a suite. On top of that, there are five BIG ships in port that day so trying to get anywhere apparently takes time. I am going to book a private tour, so that should help us get to Oia a little faster.