Price Drop Before Final Payment is Due -- Only One "Re-faring" Allowed

[Yo Adrienne]

DH and I have a cruise booked for Fall of 2020...so our final payment isn't due until May,  though we have made our initial deposit.

 

Looking through emails and checking the NCL website, I found that the price of our cruise (same cabin/suite type) has dropped significantly--still with our same perks.  So, I contacted my TA to get the new price (we've done this before...in fact, this is the second time the fare has dropped since we made the original booking)...and she got the price reduction for us, but said that NCL is telling her that they only allow one "re-faring" for a price drop per booking...so they're actually doing her a favor by doing this.  (We keep our same cabin/suite and our same perks.)

 

(Note: Of course,  I could totally understand their NOT allowing us to do this if this were past the final payment date...but it's not.)

 

Also, since there are other cabins/suites in the same category still available on our same cruise (same sailing date/itinerary)...and since we haven't made our final payment yet...couldn't we just cancel the original booking...and rebook the same cabin/suite...at the reduced fare...as many times as we'd like...? 

 

Has anyone ever been told this kind of thing before...?  Am I missing something here...? 

 

Thanks so much for your insights here...

 

 

 

 

 

[julig22]

Somebody (NCL) is confused.  Since you can cancel without penalty up until final payment is due, there is nothing to stop you from re-booking (unless you have a specific room preference).  You get the perks available with the "new" booking, which can sometimes be better.  I would assume that it is actually easier for them to change a reservation than to cancel and re-book, but I don't know that for a fact.

 

After final payment is a different story and a single upgrade/refund (obc) is usually the limit, although I did a double upgrade on my first cruise.

 

BTW, it is not uncommon to get wrong info/different info from each an every person you speak to at NCL.

[sunshine55]

15 minutes ago, Yo Adrienne said:

DH and I have a cruise booked for Fall of 2020...so our final payment isn't due until May,  though we have made our initial deposit.

 

Looking through emails and checking the NCL website, I found that the price of our cruise (same cabin/suite type) has dropped significantly--still with our same perks.  So, I contacted my TA to get the new price (we've done this before...in fact, this is the second time the fare has dropped since we made the original booking)...and she got the price reduction for us, but said that NCL is telling her that they only allow one "re-faring" for a price drop per booking...so they're actually doing her a favor by doing this.  (We keep our same cabin/suite and our same perks.)

 

(Note: Of course,  I could totally understand their NOT allowing us to do this if this were past the final payment date...but it's not.)

 

Also, since there are other cabins/suites in the same category still available on our same cruise (same sailing date/itinerary)...and since we haven't made our final payment yet...couldn't we just cancel the original booking...and rebook the same cabin/suite...at the reduced fare...as many times as we'd like...? 

 

Has anyone ever been told this kind of thing before...?  Am I missing something here...? 

 

Thanks so much for your insights here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, you can cancel and rebook if final payment not paid but original booked cabin is not guaranteed.  We've done it several times and never had a problem of getting same cabin but there's always a possibility that it may be gone by time booking and rebooked in system. 

Edited January 20, 2020 by sunshine55

[Turtles06]

I’ve never heard of such a thing.  It’s ridiculous for the reasons expressed above. And if the OP’s TA thinks the info is correct, it might be time for a new TA.

[Yo Adrienne]

1 minute ago, sunshine55 said:

 

Yes, you can cancel and rebook but original booked cabin is not guaranteed.  We've done it several times and never had a problem of getting same cabin but there's always a possibility that it may be gone by time booking and rebooked in system. 

Thank you...that's exactly what we thought...!  We even told our TA that if we needed to just cancel and re-book, she could go ahead and do that...!  (We even gave her a list of other cabins/suites that she could switch us to, if need be.) 

[Yo Adrienne]

4 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Somebody (NCL) is confused.  Since you can cancel without penalty up until final payment is due, there is nothing to stop you from re-booking (unless you have a specific room preference).  You get the perks available with the "new" booking, which can sometimes be better.  I would assume that it is actually easier for them to change a reservation than to cancel and re-book, but I don't know that for a fact.

 

After final payment is a different story and a single upgrade/refund (obc) is usually the limit, although I did a double upgrade on my first cruise.

 

BTW, it is not uncommon to get wrong info/different info from each an every person you speak to at NCL.

Thank you...that's exactly what we thought...!  (We sorta suspected that she wasn't getting the true answer...they probably just don't want us continuing to reduce the price of our cruise...!)  And we gave our TA a list of the other cabins/suites we could switch to--if she couldn't rebook into our current one, just in case. 

 

[Yo Adrienne]

3 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I’ve never heard of such a thing.  It’s ridiculous for the reasons expressed above. And if the OP’s TA thinks the info is correct, it might be time for a new TA.

No, we'd never heard of such a thing, either...!  Neither had our TA...which is why she was able to do it for us...! 🙂 

[Buford T Justiice]

I think its your TA politely saying don't call me again... My commission is decreasing each time you do this... But what the heck I'll blame NCL

[casofilia]

If you want to keep the same cabin it is best to book through NCL themselves.   They seem to be able to cancel and re-book into the same cabin very easily or so we have found.   I wonder if they have a way of holding the cabin when they cancel so it doesn't appear as available.

 

By the time a TA has gone through the system it it more possible that the cabin has gone online and someone has grabbed it before the TA could go through the actual re-booking which has to be done before the cabin choice.

[Yo Adrienne]

20 minutes ago, Buford T Justiice said:

I think its your TA politely saying don't call me again... My commission is decreasing each time you do this... But what the heck I'll blame NCL

HAHAHAHA...if she wasn't a good friend, I'd definitely think that...! 🙂 She's actually VERY good...and has always gone to the mat for us to get us the best deals...!  And when there's been a problem, she's gotten it resolved in our favor...! 🙂 

[julig22]

8 minutes ago, casofilia said:

If you want to keep the same cabin it is best to book through NCL themselves.   They seem to be able to cancel and re-book into the same cabin very easily or so we have found.   I wonder if they have a way of holding the cabin when they cancel so it doesn't appear as available.

 

By the time a TA has gone through the system it it more possible that the cabin has gone online and someone has grabbed it before the TA could go through the actual re-booking which has to be done before the cabin choice.

As far as I know, a TA calls and speaks to NCL, just like the rest of us would do if we booked through NCL.  They just have a different number to call.  I've done a couple of upgrades and usually my TA just calls and it's taken care of in a matter of minutes.

[tallnthensome]

28 minutes ago, Buford T Justiice said:

I think its your TA politely saying don't call me again... My commission is decreasing each time you do this... But what the heck I'll blame NCL

^^^ This .....they don’t want to be bothered with it as well.

[Freckles_51]

Our experience is similar to OP.  We made our final payment a few weeks prior to the due date.  Before we made the payment we checked pricing, as did our TA, noticed lower price, TA dealt with NCL Agent to give us the lower price.  Then the price dropped again on Black Friday Sale,  just a couple of days prior to the actual final payment due date.  The NCL agent told our TA that the booking had to be cancelled and then rebooked. However, like you, the NCL agent allowed the lower price without cancelling.

[goodml]

I have 6 cabins booked on Getaway in May of this year in the Med. I have called in (booked directly withNCL) to have the cabins repriced 4 times since we originally booked. Total drops over $1400  per cabin. They made the changes quickly with no issue and no cabin changes or rebooking required. Final payment was due earlier this month and the last price drop was about a month before that.

[musicgal]

I spoke to our TA for the first time yesterday.  It's our first time on NCL and I knew more about some things than she did.  She was very nice though.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I've had NCL reps tell me this for years when re-faring over the phone ...... they are instructed by management to say it, even if the policy is not upheld.  Usually I use the NCL agent system to re-fare my clients bookings without any issue as long as it is outside the penalty window.  As always, pricing/promos are tied together so taking a price drop could forfeit a bonus offer (obc, extra shore-excursion credits, free air, etc,) if no longer available at time of re-faring.  A good agent WILL know all of this ....... an "order taker" Agent who is not well versed will not .... not all agents are created equal!

[EllieinNJ]

Back in September I went. from an inside s ailaway to a BD balcony when they started the 20% off latitudes promo.  Instead of rebooking my TA just upgraded me for the price and I didn't get the double points that came with it. (21 points!!!)  So sometimes it's better to rebook.

[ceb65]

I just had my fare reduced yesterday for the second time. I book directly with NCL. The rep on the phone said I could call anytime before final payment in May and have it reduced as many times as I want.

[laurabegorrah]

22 hours ago, Yo Adrienne said:

NCL is telling her that they only allow one "re-faring" for a price drop per booking...so they're actually doing her a favor by doing this. 

I think the key phrase here is re-faring vs cancelling and rebooking.  Maybe your TA is being conservative, not wanting to risk losing your specific room in the time it takes to cancel and rebook., and just negotiating a price adjustment on the current reservation.  Only a thought.  Could also be (as mentioned) different NCL customer service people will give you different answers to the same question.

[laurabegorrah]

21 hours ago, Buford T Justiice said:

I think its your TA politely saying don't call me again... My commission is decreasing each time you do this... But what the heck I'll blame NCL

Yeah - this....I change my answer to this lol

[Yo Adrienne]

39 minutes ago, laurabegorrah said:

Yeah - this....I change my answer to this lol

If the TA wasn't someone I've used for years, I might be inclined to think this...but definitely not the case here.  My TA is excellent...she's always going to bat for us for good deals...and when there's a problem, she always gets it resolved in our favor...!  I don't use a TA often, but when I do, she's my "goto"...!  As someone else mentioned, maybe NCL agents aren't supposed to "refare" more than once, but they don't enforce it.  Regardless...my TA got us the reduction--without having to go through the cancel and re-book process. 🙂 

[Jerseygich]

19 hours ago, goodml said:

I have 6 cabins booked on Getaway in May of this year in the Med. I have called in (booked directly withNCL) to have the cabins repriced 4 times since we originally booked. Total drops over $1400  per cabin. They made the changes quickly with no issue and no cabin changes or rebooking required. Final payment was due earlier this month and the last price drop was about a month before that.

Did the same thing with upcoming cruise in April. No rebooking, no cabin change. Additionally with one of the price reductions, OBC was included. 

[marktwothousand]

I think I was able to re-fare twice...from an Inside to a Balcony with no Perks. Then from that Balcony to another Balcony with Perks. Each time I re-fared, the price was always higher, even if only slightly. It was all GTY bookings and each time, a new cabin was assigned.

 

This was done through a TA. The TA Called NCL to make the change and NCL simply applied the total cost paid to-date, to the new booking. This was done less than a month out.

Edited January 21, 2020 by marktwothousand

[tokidoki]

I booked Bliss for 3/1/20, and 4 times this past 6 months I called or used the chat to get the new lower price! I even jumped from OA to BF for a lower price! After the final payment, u can only get OBC or an upgrade once.

[zqvol]

On 1/20/2020 at 3:43 PM, Yo Adrienne said:

DH and I have a cruise booked for Fall of 2020...so our final payment isn't due until May,  though we have made our initial deposit.

 

Looking through emails and checking the NCL website, I found that the price of our cruise (same cabin/suite type) has dropped significantly--still with our same perks.  So, I contacted my TA to get the new price (we've done this before...in fact, this is the second time the fare has dropped since we made the original booking)...and she got the price reduction for us, but said that NCL is telling her that they only allow one "re-faring" for a price drop per booking...so they're actually doing her a favor by doing this.  (We keep our same cabin/suite and our same perks.)

 

(Note: Of course,  I could totally understand their NOT allowing us to do this if this were past the final payment date...but it's not.)

 

Also, since there are other cabins/suites in the same category still available on our same cruise (same sailing date/itinerary)...and since we haven't made our final payment yet...couldn't we just cancel the original booking...and rebook the same cabin/suite...at the reduced fare...as many times as we'd like...? 

 

Has anyone ever been told this kind of thing before...?  Am I missing something here...? 

 

Thanks so much for your insights here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TA just doesn't want to do any more adjustments. I would cancel the cruise with the TA, unless they are giving you great perks over and above NCL, and rebook without the TA, then you get as many price drops as you want before final payment.