karinad

Did you go through a travel agent or directly through NCL? So, the process for this to be done would be to book the inside with my agent, call WP to upgrade the inside to the outside and then call back my agent to buy the upgrade to balcony? With the agency I'm going to use it is only the balcony and higher that comes with paid gratuities and $150.OBC. I understand that when using points to upgrade that you only get the benefits of the original booking but if I pay to upgrade from outside to balcony would I get the benefits that go along with the balcony because I am paying for it? With my math I'd be saving $500. to do this process rather than cash the points out and put it towards the balcony. I'm hesitant since the cruise is only a little more than a month away. The availability seems to be all there for all categories using the next lower to the family category.

That's what I was wanting to do and another poster told me that it can't be done. I had called World points and asked them and they told me it can be done. If you read a few posts up you can see where I asked the question.

I had to come back to tell you about what I decided to do about my 30,000 points. The cruise I'm booking is a little over a month away. I have never booked a cruise this close to sailing. From what I'm seeing with the other NE/Ca. cruises they are not dropping in price. Instead of even taking a gamble and trying to use my points to upgrade I am just going to cash them in for a sure thing and not worry about having to cancel and lose points/money. I haven't asked any other agent about upgrading from inside to outside and then trying to see if NCL would let me pay to upgrade to a balcony from outside with cash. NCL should have something in black and white as to what's allowed like redepositing the points if needed to cancel. As any of us know that points are more precious than money. I have always used miles to book flights ever since we started travelling and the airlines have it written down if you can change or cancel a flight with miles. As one of the other posters has said not to trust what one person has told you.

Ok, yes, I'll ask NCL directly if they know anything about it. Thanks!

Yes, I do realize this with anything and wouldn't trust the answer unless everything was refundable. Do you mean to call my or a travel agent to ask them about it. I don't know that if once you put money down and it's in final payment, do they allow you 24 hours to cancel if things fall through?

Do you work for World Points or a travel agent or have you tried to do this? I'm only repeating what she answered me. The first girl I talked to handed me over to a specialist.

This is what I asked her: I'd use 30,000 points to upgrade from inside to outside. After I have the outside cabin and wanted to go to the balcony and I gave her an example. If the difference between the OS ($1100) and balcony is ($1200) she said I'd pay $100. 30,000 points plus $100.

I just talked to world points and Amanda told me that I can pay the difference from outside to balcony once I book with the points for the inside to the outside. I asked her if she knew of the availability of the balcony and she said I'd need the booking #.

I will let you know. If the cruise wasn't in final payment I would just go ahead and book it and then see what happens. I realize that no one would know unless they've done it and like you said, things change. Our points are worth more than money to all of us. Thank you for replying!

Who do you think I should call? I haven't booked the cruise yet but I'd need an answer before I put money on it. From what I understand I'd have to book the cruise with my travel agent(I don't have one I use all the time. I book with the one that has the best perks) and then call World Points to do the upgrade. Once I get the upgrade from Inside to Outside, who would I ask to see if I could pay to upgrade from outside to balcony? Since the cruise is in final payment I'd need to know before I do anything. Travel agent or World Points? Thank you!

I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask!

Thank you! It's the Escape I'm looking at. We definitely want a balcony! As the rates look now it wouldn't be worth using the 30000 to upgrade from OV to Balcony. I'll keep watching the rates and it might be worth just using the 30000 for a statement credit of $300. It's all a hit and miss game!

I did have the 60000 for a double meta but did not have a cruise to put it on. I went into my points to see how many points were expiring in June and July and cashed them in for a check worth $100. I still have more than 30000 points for a single upgrade. I now have a cruise in mind that works for my dates. There's a big difference in price from inside to outside so that could work for the single meta. If I wanted to upgrade once I was booked in the outside, can I pay the difference in price to upgrade to balcony? I hope that explains it better. From what others have answered, not really. I'd lose my 30000 points that I used for a single meta from inside to outside..

Thank you! I think my way sounds fairer. LOL!

Thank you! I know that I could book an outside and go up to a balcony for 30,000 but there's little difference in price from the outside to a balcony so it's not worth it to use 30,000 for it. There is a big difference in the inside to outside, for example: inside is $699. outside is $1169. balcony is $1269. If I used my 30,000 to upgrade inside to outside and then wanted to upgrade with cash from outside to balcony, can I do that?

I had to cash in some of my points a month ago so that I wouldn't lose them. I was at 60,000 and I'm not quite sure what there is now but it's enough for a single meta upgrade. At this point the cruise date that would work for us is at the end of Sept. The Inside cabin is a lot less than the outside but the balcony is only like $200 more than the Outside. Can I use the single meta to upgrade to the outside and then pay to upgrade from the outside to a balcony?

Thank you!!!!

That's great news! I've been looking at cruises on Princess, NCL and CCL Venezia for the Fall. I'm not sure what port the Venezia will go out of. Before I book one I have to call Trans-Bridge. It's so convenient and cheaper than parking and driving through NYC. Thank you for posting this!

10,000 points gave me back $100. In cash. On the World Points rewards site there's a calculator to see what the points are worth. You can also cash in for gift cards or obc.

So very sorry to offend anyone with an unfair question. I'll get off of here now and not take anyone's more of you time. I did look there before asking and some things aren't clear. Again, so sorry !

We used to get a good amount of free internet minutes. Did they cut that out? The benefit listed says Princess online. What does that include?

I'm looking at a New England/Canada cruise with Princess. We haven't sailed with them for about 14 years just because of price and itinerary. I think that we're Platinum Class. What benefits are there now? The benefits used to be the best out of all the cruise lines we sailed on, RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, DCL. I'd love to sail again with Princess. This cruise would be out of NY in October. Thank you!

I feel somewhat relieved. I just cashed in 10,000 points and it bought me two more months to see if a good deal comes up. I wasn't comfortable with any of the rates for the cruises that interested me. I might end up cashing in 20,000 more if something doesn't turn up. NCL Mastercard isn't my primary card card right now so I probably won't be adding to the points yet. At least getting the cash back was an option with it.

Thank you for the updated information!

I just reread this! Great advice! I hope others read it, too!