lock it in rate?

[valandemmy]

So this is our first VV cruise.  My wife purchased the lock it in rate, not realizing it was a limited view room.  The website says it is a non-refundable rate, which is fine...I don't want a refund, I just want to be able to upgrade - PAY MORE MONEY...however, when I call, VV is telling me because of my cabin type, that I can not do that.  I am not asking for a discounted upgrade..I am more than willing to pay the difference...but they seem like I am asking for the impossible.

 

Anyone have any idea if this is a thing or did I just get ahold of the wrong CSR?

[valandemmy]

Got it taken care of.  I spoke to a supervisor who also tried to say there was no way they would be able to make any changes.  When I insisted that the website does not say anything about changes unless a room has been assigned..she was nice enough to say let me try and see if we can do it.  a 600 hundred bucks later....I have a room with a view. 

[cantgetin]

Oh my!  Lock it in rates do not qualify for the many perks of a regular sea terrace booking, so I'm hoping that the $600 added some perks.  An alternative would have been bidding on an upgrade or crossing fingers for a free upgrade (which actually happens quite often from lock it in rates).  But the best is to buy what you want from the beginning and use a good agent when you book.

[jon81uk]

6 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Oh my!  Lock it in rates do not qualify for the many perks of a regular sea terrace booking, so I'm hoping that the $600 added some perks.  An alternative would have been bidding on an upgrade or crossing fingers for a free upgrade (which actually happens quite often from lock it in rates).  But the best is to buy what you want from the beginning and use a good agent when you book.

what perks do you miss out on with lock it in other than the ability to cancel and make changes? Once on the ship it makes no difference whether you did pay in full, lock it in or paid later. 
 

Also with lock it in you might not get limited view, if the ship isn’t booked up there is the chance of getting a “free” upgrade or once the room is assigned you can bid for an upgrade like normal too. 
we’ve saved over £600-700 I think going for lock it in, so if we pay a small amount in a bid upgrade it’s still a great deal.

Once flights are booked I’m not going to cancel the cruise anyway as the flights as non-refundable too!

[mazz1]

i'm on a med cruise later this year and have booked the same lock it in rate, i do have the $600 bar tab as it was part of the booking promotion and also got a status match with deep blue extras to add another $100 bar tab and yes i have checked i will get all of the deep blue extras 😄 

 

my plan is to wait and see the room assigned and then if i'm not keen see about bidding for upgrade, calling to see what they can do if i pay more and finally if all else fails check for a upgrade at the port terminal 

[Lustate]

3 minutes ago, mazz1 said:

my plan is to wait and see the room assigned and then if i'm not keen see about bidding for upgrade, calling to see what they can do if i pay more and finally if all else fails check for a upgrade at the port terminal 

 

Thats our plan too. We are due to go on a voyage in next couple weeks, still no cabin allocated, but fingers crossed will come any day. We cannot apply for an upgrade until a cabin is allocated so its going to be a lot of close calls. 

[mazz1]

5 minutes ago, Lustate said:

 

Thats our plan too. We are due to go on a voyage in next couple weeks, still no cabin allocated, but fingers crossed will come any day. We cannot apply for an upgrade until a cabin is allocated so its going to be a lot of close calls. 

 

you will have to come back and let me know how you got on 😉

[valandemmy]

24 minutes ago, mazz1 said:

my plan is to wait and see the room assigned and then if i'm not keen see about bidding for upgrade, calling to see what they can do if i pay more and finally if all else fails check for a upgrade at the port terminal 

  

I was considering that, but the more I read I started to get worried.  The website says they may not assign room until the day you board to ship. 

[mazz1]

1 minute ago, valandemmy said:

  

I was considering that, but the more I read I started to get worried.  The website says they may not assign room until the day you board to ship. 

i will take my chances but that is good to know, thank you 

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, valandemmy said:

  

I was considering that, but the more I read I started to get worried.  The website says they may not assign room until the day you board to ship. 

It is not typically the day you board, but is often a few days or a week before embarkation.  There is a desk at the terminal where you can purchase an upgrade at that time is any are available; I don't know if this desk can be used to switch rooms within a category.  If there is a problem with your cabin, it can be changed by Sailor Services on board.  Again, I don't know if they will do this just for preference on embarkation day.  

[gsutiger2]

I've been on VV site for the past few weeks pricing sailings. I have yet to see a Lock it In rate. Do these normally appear for last minute sailings or when sailings are newly released?

 

If you need to cancel, can your reservation and payments be moved to another sailing?

[cantgetin]

• I just checked 3 random sailings and all had lock it in rates. You don't see these till you go to the "select cabin" part of the web site.  They typically show up on most VV sailings.  I think the terms are the same as most other VV bookings except that you can't apply MNVV to them and they normally don't include the perks of other bookings.  That's why you need to price it both ways--it can sometimes be less cash to book with MNVV in a Sea Terrace than regular price in a Lock It In and the perks are extras,,.but you need to check each sailing you are interested in.
  
  Do double check the policy with a Gold Tier travel agent to be sure.

[gsutiger2]

OK, thanks. I should of added that I have only been looking at 7 day non-caribbean cruises. Wanted to see if there is truly a deep discount with these rates. 

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, gsutiger2 said:

OK, thanks. I should have added that I have only been looking at 7 day non-caribbean cruises. Wanted to see if there is truly a deep discount with these rates. 

There has been in the past, we used lock it in last year for both Athens and Barcelona, however the availability seems to be hit and miss.