New limits to cruise repricing?

[BermudaBound2014]

Uggh- sorry for all those typos. My auto correct is drunk. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Typically you are looking at a complimentary upgrade or obc.

That's nice that you received a complimentary upgrade.  Most of us have had to pay the difference in this scenario.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

It is highly unlikely that triple points would  ever equate to $1,000 cash, even if it moves you to the highest level. IMO Go for the cash. Regardless, you don’t have to make the change. Call and find out the new terms before approving the switch.  

Exactly.  Nobody in their right mind would forgo $1000 cash for triple points on a cruise.  All the points get you are a couple of free meals and a free bag of laundry.  I could easily wait another cruise or three for those.  "Status" is meaningless.   (disclaimer: I did just turn platinum).

[BermudaBound2014]

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That's nice that you received a complimentary upgrade.  Most of us have had to pay the difference in this scenario.

are you saying you actually paid to upgrade on the October Alaska cruise? They were giving those cabins away at the last minute. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

8 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

are you saying you actually paid to upgrade on the October Alaska cruise? They were giving those cabins away at the last minute. 

Absolutely.  I called NCL twice and paid the difference.  Your's is the first report I've ever read of them just giving the upgrade for free.  Good for you!  Certainly, others will now chime in with similar reports.  😎

[julig22]

15 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Absolutely.  I called NCL twice and paid the difference.  Your's is the first report I've ever read of them just giving the upgrade for free.  Good for you!  Certainly, others will now chime in with similar reports.  😎

I got a free upgrade, balcony to aft studio - but that was 2 years ago, my last cruise before  covid.  Current policy started in early August from what my PCC told me.

[BermudaBound2014]

My upgrades were also pre covid. Right now I think the upgrades are flowing because capacity is so low. There are exceptional last minute deals to be had which is always a sign the ship isn’t selling well.

 

90% of the time i book after final payment to take advantage of the lowest rates but there have been several times we booked early (going with others, Europe, etc…). On each of those occasions I was given a “free” upgrade because the price dropped so much that the balcony i upgraded to was now actually cheaper than the cabin I originally booked. Since the October balconies for Alaska were selling less for $400 pp, I (incorrectly) figured they just  upgraded you. This can obviously change if you are upgrading to haven like. Regardless, I shouldn’t have assumed, sorry.
 

I have also read where people just pay the price difference (pre covid). Example, book an ocean-view for $500, and balconies go on sale for $600 so the guest pays $100. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

On each of those occasions I was given a “free” upgrade because the price dropped so much that the balcony i upgraded to was now actually cheaper than the cabin I originally booked. Since the October balconies for Alaska were selling less for $400 pp, I (incorrectly) figured they just  upgraded you.

When the prices first dropped, I upgraded from an inside to an Ocean View for $1.55.  A week or so later, prices dropped again and I paid around a hundred bucks to upgrade again to a balcony.   Both were very quick phone calls to NCL reservations.  Reservation number, promos, etc. were unaffected.  The only real "hassle" was that I had to print labels with our new cabin number to place over the old numbers on our nice NCL luggage tags.

[JennKach]

I called two weeks ago to get a price adjustment (I am months away from final payment) and the representative told me they are only doing a "courtesy adjustment" once.  I guess that means if I want another one I'll have to cancel and rebook.  He made it sound like it was a policy they would only do it once.  Different day, different person, may get a different answer.

[julig22]

1 minute ago, JennKach said:

I called two weeks ago to get a price adjustment (I am months away from final payment) and the representative told me they are only doing a "courtesy adjustment" once.  I guess that means if I want another one I'll have to cancel and rebook.  He made it sound like it was a policy they would only do it once.  Different day, different person, may get a different answer.

Technically it's always a cancel/rebook if prior to final payment.  But they will normally just move the reservation #.  But you also forfeit/gain any promos that you might have had if they are different.  The policy you were quoted has to do with adjustments made after final payment.  However, I almost always cover myself by doing a mock booking with the new pricing first so if something does go wrong I can just take a different cabin for the better price - but then I'm not usually married to any specific stateroom.

[jumbojem96]

So I just received this email from TA:

 

Thank you for trusting us to make your travel arrangements. We know you have been eagerly awaiting your cruise vacation and we hope you are staying healthy and safe during this time. We are reaching out regarding Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) response to your previous your price drop inquiry.

Upon review of your request, Norwegian Cruise Line are unfortunately, unable to provide any offer for a future cruise credit.

Please note that as today's promotions are not comparable with your booked promotions (this is not true for this TA), your reservation is ineligible for any consideration.

Thank you for your attention, and we wishing you safe and happy travels!

 

Basically, you paid the price, we got your money, it is what it is. No OBC, no FCC. 😞

[julig22]

10 minutes ago, jumbojem96 said:

So I just received this email from TA:

 

Thank you for trusting us to make your travel arrangements. We know you have been eagerly awaiting your cruise vacation and we hope you are staying healthy and safe during this time. We are reaching out regarding Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) response to your previous your price drop inquiry.

Upon review of your request, Norwegian Cruise Line are unfortunately, unable to provide any offer for a future cruise credit.

Please note that as today's promotions are not comparable with your booked promotions (this is not true for this TA), your reservation is ineligible for any consideration.

Thank you for your attention, and we wishing you safe and happy travels!

 

Basically, you paid the price, we got your money, it is what it is. No OBC, no FCC. 😞

Just a guess but when you booked, the promos included free airfare.  That offer no longer exists for your cruise, as promo airfare isn't available within 90 days of sailing.

Did you take the airfare offer?  I was given a similar response when I asked for an upgrade for a cruise I took in October - but I did take the airfare offer.

 

[BermudaBound2014]

41 minutes ago, jumbojem96 said:

SBasically, you paid the price, we got your money, it is what it is. No OBC, no FCC. 😞

 

After final payment this is not atypical. Cruise lines wait until final payment to figure out how many people they will actually have onboard (lots of cancellations occur prior to final payment). Once they have this number they heavily discount the remaining cabins to lure last minute guests until the ship is full. If they continued price adjustments the entire ship would be sailing for closeout pricing. 

[jumbojem96]

30 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Just a guess but when you booked, the promos included free airfare.  That offer no longer exists for your cruise, as promo airfare isn't available within 90 days of sailing.

Did you take the airfare offer?  I was given a similar response when I asked for an upgrade for a cruise I took in October - but I did take the airfare offer.

 

 

I don't think it had the airfare promo going on, but it did have free prepaid gratuities that I took advantage of. This promo they're still running right now. If they added on the airfare promo afterwards though, that might be the change they're referring to!

 

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

After final payment this is not atypical. Cruise lines wait until final payment to figure out how many people they will actually have onboard (lots of cancellations occur prior to final payment). Once they have this number they heavily discount the remaining cabins to lure last minute guests until the ship is full. If they continued price adjustments the entire ship would be sailing for closeout pricing. 

 

I guess I better get used to it!

[julig22]

4 minutes ago, jumbojem96 said:

 

I don't think it had the airfare promo going on, but it did have free prepaid gratuities that I took advantage of. This promo they're still running right now. If they added on the airfare promo afterwards though, that might be the change they're referring to!

Prepaid gratuities is not a NCL promo (at least not in the US) - that must be something that your TA is tacking on, so wouldn't have anything to do with what NCL does.

The free airfare promo (either BOGO or 2nd guest flies free) has been running for quite some time, so unless you booked your cruise a few years back, it was probably an option when you booked.

[BermudaBound2014]

 

59 minutes ago, jumbojem96 said:

I guess I better get used to it!

 

I'm sorry you are disappointed. Basically what I tell all my friends is after you make final payment don't revisit pricing unless you are prepared to be disappointed. Right now this advice is a little off because ships are sailing with low occupancy so NCL has more wiggle room, but after final payment you are at the mercy of NCL.

[Corporatezombievacay]

So very frustrating when the price drops by $3K. NCL said they would email me a form. Has anyone ever seen or heard of such form?  Any success?

[The Traveling Man]

On 11/28/2021 at 2:35 PM, julig22 said:

Typically if you get fcc it cannot be applied to the same cruise.

Correct.  The "F" is for "future."

[The Traveling Man]

On 11/29/2021 at 1:03 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

I have also read where people just pay the price difference (pre covid). Example, book an ocean-view for $500, and balconies go on sale for $600 so the guest pays $100. 

We have done that several times.  Twice we went from Balcony to Haven for less than $25 pp per day.

[dad son team]

I'm going to try for an upgrade on my 1/14 cruise.  final payment was 11/15, and it ticked me off because they wouldn't reprice since it was less than 61 days.  It was only a few dollars, but it's the principal and would have been good customer service.  Anyway, it has since dropped again, and I think I can get a balcony for what I paid for an inside, and I can upgrade my son's balcony to something better.  Let's see where this goes

[ISLABONITA]

Is there a link to NCL repricing policies?

[julig22]

16 minutes ago, ISLABONITA said:

Is there a link to NCL repricing policies?

Any repricing after final payment is done as a courtesy and never guaranteed, so no.  Since last August, per my PCC, the promo benefits have to be the same which means if you took the bogo airfare you wouldn't qualify (when FP was 60 days) since that promo falls off at 90 days.  With the change back to 120 days, that may be different now.

Otherwise, you might get 50% fcc if the difference is significant or you can get an upgrade if it costs more than what you paid.

Before FP you can always cancel without penalty (US anyway) so no policy needed - you just need to call and they will make any changes.  Your perks may also change, good or bad.

[ISLABONITA]

29 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Any repricing after final payment is done as a courtesy and never guaranteed, so no.  Since last August, per my PCC, the promo benefits have to be the same which means if you took the bogo airfare you wouldn't qualify (when FP was 60 days) since that promo falls off at 90 days.  With the change back to 120 days, that may be different now.

Otherwise, you might get 50% fcc if the difference is significant or you can get an upgrade if it costs more than what you paid.

Before FP you can always cancel without penalty (US anyway) so no policy needed - you just need to call and they will make any changes.  Your perks may also change, good or bad.

I am working through a TA , my cruise is in 32 days, wanted to upgrade, cannot refare, with today's pricing it would only be about $300 , because NCL will not do  the refare my price is $533 for a balcony.... no other OBC or FCC mentioned. I am waiting to see what cabins are available, not using NCL airfare either. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by ISLABONITA

[lixogab]

2 hours ago, ISLABONITA said:

I am working through a TA , my cruise is in 32 days, wanted to upgrade, cannot refare, with today's pricing it would only be about $300 , because NCL will not do  the refare my price is $533 for a balcony.... no other OBC or FCC mentioned. I am waiting to see what cabins are available, not using NCL airfare either. 

So, basically, you are willing to pay $300 which is the difference between the current balcony price and what you paid for a lower category but NCL denies. Is my understanding correct?

[ISLABONITA]

1 hour ago, lixogab said:

So, basically, you are willing to pay $300 which is the difference between the current balcony price and what you paid for a lower category but NCL denies. Is my understanding correct?

Not a lower category, an upgrade to a balcony.