$28 upgrade

[nycteacher]

I just wanted to share some good news. I've noticed that the price of my upcoming Mediterranean cruise on the Gem has dropped significantly since final payment. I also noticed that with the upgrade advantage program, they were offering me the chance to bid and move from an inside cabin to a balcony for a minimum of $100pp.  For the heck of it, I gave NCL a call today to price out how much it would be just to pay for the upgrade to a balcony.   Lo and behold, I went from an inside stateroom to a balcony stateroom for $28. I've since cancelled my upgrade bid.  :-) Morning coffee will taste much better now out on the Gem!

[BirdTravels]

Great deal! Congratulations!

[ChiefMateJRK]

28 minutes ago, nycteacher said:

 For the heck of it, I gave NCL a call today to price out how much it would be just to pay for the upgrade to a balcony.   Lo and behold, I went from an inside stateroom to a balcony stateroom for $28. I've since cancelled my upgrade bid.  🙂 Morning coffee will taste much better now out on the Gem!

You really didn't need to call NCL to find that out.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

15 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

You really didn't need to call NCL to find that out.

Would they really be able to make a change without calling NCL since it was already AFTER the final payment?

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Old Fart Cruisers

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

Would they really be able to make a chance without calling NCL since it was already AFTER the final payment?

What is "make a chance?"  Many of us routinely execute mock bookings after final payment to determine if there is an opportunity to upgrade.  I once upgraded from an inside to an Ocean View for $1.53.

[Taishartrueblood]

6 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What is "make a chance?"  Many of us routinely execute mock bookings after final payment to determine if there is an opportunity to upgrade.  I once upgraded from an inside to an Ocean View for $1.53.

 

<clap>?

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

Would they really be able to make a change without calling NCL since it was already AFTER the final payment?

 

 

 

The point was that you didn’t need to phone NCL to find that you could get that upgrade. You need to phone to do it but you can arm yourself with the knowledge of your options before calling.

 

On your original point, there are loads of these opportunities on European cruises at the moment. We recently upgraded from a balcony to aft Penthouse for about £200. We couldn’t upgrade to lesser suites as they were now cheaper than we originally booked the balcony for.

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What is "make a chance?"

Okay, I read it again and now assume that you meant to say "make a change."  To that point, yes, if there is a good upgrade you will need to call them to execute the reprice.  However, you can find out if there is an opportunity by just executing a mock on-line booking.  That's the right play here.

[nycteacher]

I was just looking to share a bit of good news. Cheers  🍻

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 minutes ago, nycteacher said:

I was just looking to share a bit of good news. Cheers  🍻

Yes.  That's great.  But, it's also great to help others to understand the easiest way to experience the "good" as well.  😎

[KeithJenner]

20 minutes ago, nycteacher said:

I was just looking to share a bit of good news. Cheers  🍻

Yes, and I think lots of people have missed out on these deals on European cruises so it’s good to point it out. I think I and ChiefMateJRK were just trying to point out how it could be easier for people to spot the deals.

[KeithJenner]

39 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

Would they really be able to make a change without calling NCL since it was already AFTER the final payment?

 

 

 

Sorry, I replied to your last post as if you were the OP, but looking again you were just commenting. Just wanted to acknowledge my mistake.

[TrumpyNor]

8 hours ago, nycteacher said:

I just wanted to share some good news. I've noticed that the price of my upcoming Mediterranean cruise on the Gem has dropped significantly since final payment. I also noticed that with the upgrade advantage program, they were offering me the chance to bid and move from an inside cabin to a balcony for a minimum of $100pp.  For the heck of it, I gave NCL a call today to price out how much it would be just to pay for the upgrade to a balcony.   Lo and behold, I went from an inside stateroom to a balcony stateroom for $28. I've since cancelled my upgrade bid.  🙂 Morning coffee will taste much better now out on the Gem!

I scored a similar deal for our upcoming 10 days cruise on the Escape - purchased a "regular" upgrade from an inside cabin to club balcony cabin and paid only $150 per person (total $300) in difference. If I wanted to purchase an upgrade to a regular balcony cabin at the same time for the same cruise, then the difference I would have to pay was a total of $3000 (yes, 3 thousand!). Not logic but the "living proof" of the prices truely being a product of offers and demands - and many club balcony cabins on that particular cruise available, and not many regular balcony cabins available.

[ChiefMateJRK]

7 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

I scored a similar deal for our upcoming 10 days cruise on the Escape - purchased a "regular" upgrade from an inside cabin to club balcony cabin and paid only $150 per person (total $300) in difference

That's the beauty of being able to be happy in an inside (I'm happy anywhere on the ship).  You can book the cheap room and then just sit back and watch the fares.  If they go up, you're good to go.  If they drop like a rock (sometimes they do), you can upgrade for pennies on the dollar.  I like a balcony as much as the next cruiser, but I like a balcony even better when I'm paying just a few dollars more than an inside.

[spanishguy1970]

something similar happened to us. We booked our cruise last year in an Ocean view stateroom on the Norwegian Escape in November. Back in May, the Balcony guarantee became $250 dollars cheaper than what we had paid for the Ocean view, so we took the deal. Is after final payment now and the cruise price went down again.

[rbxlady]

On 7/16/2022 at 8:34 PM, nycteacher said:

I just wanted to share some good news. I've noticed that the price of my upcoming Mediterranean cruise on the Gem has dropped significantly since final payment. I also noticed that with the upgrade advantage program, they were offering me the chance to bid and move from an inside cabin to a balcony for a minimum of $100pp.  For the heck of it, I gave NCL a call today to price out how much it would be just to pay for the upgrade to a balcony.   Lo and behold, I went from an inside stateroom to a balcony stateroom for $28. I've since cancelled my upgrade bid.  🙂 Morning coffee will taste much better now out on the Gem!

We are currently bidding into the Haven, and the cost for us to upgrade to the suite we would prefer (based on today's mock booking) is about $1000 lower than 2x the max bid. Now we did not bid the maximum, but point being that it is not always wise to leave a standing bid!

 

I am going to keep checking pricing as we get closer to see if upgrading is better than hoping our bid is accepted. $28 is amazing, though! Congratulations on finding such a great deal, and enjoy your cruise!

[Cruiser1862]

Congratulations!  I love hearing reading these positive posts. 
I booked an Oceanview because the balcony for 2 of us was additional $2000. I can go on another cruise for that. I keep checking but no change yet. Fingers crossed eventually it will

[RumRunner2021]

We're booked on a ten day cruise this fall.  We booked a BA (regular) balcony just after final payment date and have watched the prices drop like a rock.  Today they hit a new low and I pulled the trigger.  BA balcony to B1 aft balcony for $134.58 total (not pp).  I'm happy! 😎  (that's currently about $800 pp additional for new bookings)