“Greatest deal ever” sale begins November 16th

[kenzie]

Well I have been tracking cruises for Feb/Mar and waiting for Black Friday, what a joke, they have gone up and also they dropped the flight promotions!! 

[ontheweb]

On 11/16/2021 at 9:23 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

I just received this 'sneak peak' email fron NCL if interested:

 

We received the same ad in the mail yesterday.

[ontheweb]

On 11/16/2021 at 11:37 AM, Shayhooper said:

The Prima cruise I priced this weekend is priced the exact same today.  Right down the penny.  No savings what so ever.

 

Bummer.

We booked a Prima cruise for the summer of 2023 earlier this month. After getting the ad for the Black Friday sale, I called our TA and asked him would we be better off with this. He said he would price it and then call back. I forgot the exact figure, but after he compared the 2, he said the price with this would be up $200+, not exactly the greatest sale ever!

[CWMixer]

Whether current pricing is an actual "sale" or not (regardless of all the marketing word salad) also depends on your reference point.

 

I track the base fare per person of cruises I've booked or am considering booking, usually updating #'s whenever there's a new "sale".  I include cabin categories on either side of the one I'm interested in.

Below is a sample: Escape, 7 day, 01/08 - 15/22.

4 other cruises (1 in '22, 3 in '23) show similar trends.

 

Using 3/12 as the base #'s, the current "sale" is nothing: overall #'s are up, regardless of all the "sales" since then.

If July/August #'s were the base,  there was a "sale" in September and basically nothing since then.

[spanishguy1970]

Well, the prices with NCL are so high i don't see the 70% off second guest thing. They are price gouging. IMO. The average price for a Transatlantic now is 2000 and up Balcony, no room for anything. I understand the price hikes but not like this. Again, my opinion.

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, bbnmom said:

I will have to pay them or someone 2 days prior.

Are you sure that you'll have to pay if you just go to a local place prior to the cruise?  Mine was free at CVS.

[bbnmom]

On 11/18/2021 at 12:14 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Are you sure that you'll have to pay if you just go to a local place prior to the cruise?  Mine was free at CVS.

I will look for free. And fast seeing that it has to be within 48 hours. Thanks

[tinkr2]

On 11/16/2021 at 5:48 PM, Acruzaholic said:

I hope someone @ NCL is reading our responses to this promo  (greatest deal ever -hahahaha) and know we are onto their deceptive advertising promos!!!!!!!!!!!!  The sales and ads are not geared for people to reprice, They are to generate new bookings. The cruise first is nice for a new booking. And prices are always relative.

 

On 11/17/2021 at 9:12 AM, dbrown84 said:

WOW.  This is crazy, even for NCL.  I've been waiting for this sale to book my next cruise thinking I would actually get a cruise first cert as part of booking.  If I'm going to spend $250, I might as well get a cruise next, which has less restrictions.  Even the T&C don't clearly spell out that you're only getting the opportunity to buy a $250 cruise first (with a $500 value) vs the standard $150.  Marketing at its best...... Isn't that still better? I am confused. I need to book 4 cabins , can't I buy a cruise first for all 4 and save 1000 rather than 600?

 

[dbrown84]

On 11/22/2021 at 12:07 PM, tinkr2 said:

 

 

Interesting question.....you can't get the cruise first until you book your cruise and you can't apply cruise first certs to already booked cruises.  So the question is will they let you buy the $250 cruise first and use it immediately at the time of booking.  If not, then I still say that it's better to just wait until you get on the cruise and buy four cruise next certs instead.  They have less restrictions

[reeinaz]

22 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

Interesting question.....you can't get the cruise first until you book your cruise and you can't apply cruise first certs to already booked cruises.  So the question is will they let you buy the $250 cruise first and use it immediately at the time of booking.  If not, then I still say that it's better to just wait until you get on the cruise and buy four cruise next certs instead.  They have less restrictions

Purchasing the cruise first certificates has nothing to do with booking a cruise. It’s a separate transaction. 

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

 

 

[MoCruiseFan]

On 11/16/2021 at 5:48 PM, Acruzaholic said:

I hope someone @ NCL is reading our responses to this promo  (greatest deal ever -hahahaha) and know we are onto their deceptive advertising promos!!!!!!!!!!!!  

There is nothing at all deceptive about it.  For the two passengers you are paying EXACTLY what the ad says you will be paying. Actually for some people (solo cruisers) it is a BETTER deal to have the discount split 35%/35% since this allows they to participate in the discount.  Otherwise it makes no difference at all.

[grimaldi]

19 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

There is nothing at all deceptive about it.  For the two passengers you are paying EXACTLY what the ad says you will be paying. Actually for some people (solo cruisers) it is a BETTER deal to have the discount split 35%/35% since this allows they to participate in the discount.  Otherwise it makes no difference at all.

 

How exactly do you do the 35/35 split? Is that a call to an agent/rep, or is that automatically/theoretically applied to the Solo Cruiser Discount?

[wacruiselover]

Just a suggestion to try a mock booking on any existing cruises you have reserved. Today (Thanksgiving) the price of my balcony 4/30/22 sailing on the Bliss to Alaska went down about $200. I don't know how long this pricing is good for but it might make it possible to save some money for some of you. We have a 10% FCC, a CruiseFirst deposit, and some additional benefits from our TA that make it less of a savings for us, but it couldn't hurt to check.

[ALS1214]

I did a mock booking out of Boston for July under this huge promotion and the price was  about $1500 more expensive.  I have never said out of Boston  with a balcony for over $5000.   That is insane.  the prices have never been $2500 pp for a balcony. Highest I have every seen it iwas $1700pp 

Edited November 26, 2021 by ALS1214

[david_sobe]

Its fun to do a mock booking of an owners suite that costs $18,000 and see that you are saving $9000 at the bottom of the screen 😆

What a deal! 🤑

[Redduk]

So I'm new to all this but have some Chase UR saved up with the intention of booking a cruise on the new Prima ship.

 

Is there an article available to get me started in the right direction to make sure I'm getting the best deal on this? My plan was to book a balcony room, but reading through threads it looks like I may be better off trying to upgrade with a bid offer after booking???

 

Just need some help figuring this all out and am struggling finding articles or forum posts that make me feel like I know what I should know beforehand.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Redduk
Auto correct

[complawyer]

book the room you want, upgrade offers are not automatic, and not everyone will get one. 

 

i understand the prima isnt sailing until next summer, and even if you get a notice for a chance to upgrade, it wont be for a while before actual sailing.  

 

by the way ( and i have been slammed for this before) but we usually try and book a haven or a suite, and in my estimation, the prima cabins have all priced me out of the market,  even the club balcony cabins