Gem - 10/15 NYC To San Juan upgrade question

Hi all,

My first time ever cruising on NCL and my wife and I are both very excited!

We booked several months ago and took advantage of the UBP and extra two sail free.

We decided to take both of our fathers as they've never cruised and quite frankly would never take a vacation on their own.

In concept, this theory was great we would all have a great time but my wife and I also just recently had our 6th child (first together, Brady bunch style!) And are now thinking sharing an inside cabin with two other adults my be quite cramped and limit our relaxation and privacy.

I was wondering how soon we may get a upgrade call and what you think would be our best option and if it was possible to purchase another inside cabin while on the cruise for them?

Open for any advice, we're looking to make this a great vacation as we both need it and unfortunately are on a fairly tight budget, thank you all in advance!

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Hello! We'll be on your sailing as well. Come find us on the roll call board!

What kind of room do you have for the four of you right now? If you think you might want some extra space I would consider getting a second room now. Once on board you won't be able to purchase an extra room.

The rooms are cramped, especially for four people. I would look on the internet for some videos of cabin tours and make a determination on if you think the four of you can manage. Good questions to ask yourselves are, how well would you all live together? Would all four of you be comfortable together in that small of a space (showering, using the bathroom, changing, sleeping, etc.)? How much time do you plan to spend in your cabin? How well do your fathers get along with each other?

Then weigh those answers against the cost. If you get a second cabin it may cost more money but you end up having more space (and you could choose a different offer instead of the Sail Free). However, if you're only bringing your fathers because of the Sail Free offer then the point might be moot. And if you get a second cabin for your fathers, then they would get UBP too (the UBP will only be given to the first two people in the cabin).

I wouldn't bank on getting an upgrade/upsell call. If it happens, that's great but you should always book what you're happy with and never expect more. If a call does occur it's usually within two weeks of sailing, so there is still quite some time left.

It looks like inside cabins are sold out for this 10/15 sailing. My guess is because it's not a routine sailing it is selling faster than most weekly repeat itineraries would. The cheapest room available at the moment is an Oceanview but keep looking for one to become available if there is a cancellation or one becomes available for some reason!

Is this a surprise for your fathers? If not, can you bring up the idea to them and see what they think? Daddy knows best, right ;)

Thank you for your detailed reply! Unfortunately, I figured getting another cabin while on board wasn't really an option. My wife and I are bringing our dad's because of the promo as it will significantly cheaper. Guess, I'll just hold my breath lol

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OP, welcome to CC. Have you joined the Roll Call for your sailing, it is pretty active http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2145352

I would suggest keeping your eyes on those Oceanview staterooms, it is a little roomier and should make it a little more comfortable for 4 adults to share, given your budget constrains and with 2 mature parents coming along. One of the key challenge is how to allocate the berth or beddings, as it will likely be a pullman bed that drop from the wall and a trestle/riser bed. One of you will need to climb up nightly for the upper bed to sleep.

Depending on what you've paid for the Inside with the promotion, it might not cost "too much" or even get an almost "free" upgrade, a little natural light - even if it's a large/round porthole view plus the extra 15 to 20 S.F. space would help. Obstructed Oceanview guarantees (OV GTY) sometimes don't cost much more than Insides, keep your eyes on those while looking for Upsell. Being a one-way Repo sailing, odds are that the ship might not sell out completely & if you are willing to take the chance, wait until a week or 2 before sailing and try to negotiate an Upsell - meanwhile, keep a watch on pricing changes.

Thanks for the help! How would I initiate an upgrade discussion?

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Oceanview Guarantee rooms aren't eligible for the Feel Free promotion so you wouldn't be able to upgrade to that without losing your perks. In order to keep your UBP and Extra Sail Free you'd need an Obstructed Oceanview Cabin or above. Right now an Obstructed Oceanview is $899 each for the first two guests on our sailing. Look at your invoice and see what you paid for the first two guests. The difference in price will be what you need to pay for the upgrade, most likely.

How did you book your cruise? If you booked directly with NCL you can call them back and ask them what the price for an upgrade to an Oceanview cabin would be. If you booked through a travel agency, then you will need to go through them to do this.

One interesting thing: there are wonderful Accessibility cabins that are Obstructed Oceanviews that would be MUCH roomier for four of you. I had one once on a sister ship with 4 people and it was great! If one is available you can grab that, but do know that if someone who needs an accessible cabin books you can get moved somewhere else. But they would only move you to a cabin in the same category or above. Worth a shot if the price is right!

Tried the customer service line, representative placed me on hold for close to thirty minutes just to tell me there are no accessibility rooms or inside, ocean view available at all. I could upgrade to a balcony b2 or mini suite for 1200. More. Seems like this may be a rough vacation! Father does have a bad knee as he had a knee replacement and father in law is 70 and not so mobile. The Pullman bed should be interesting our my wife and I may be sleeping separately!

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Don't give up, and it's beyond final payment cutoff without penalty - just last week, I was looking at the sailing and still good availability. At this moment, it appeared even the balconies are sold out ... almost hard to believe that practically everything is gone in days. It's the slower Fall, non-peak season even though it's a one-way repo from NYC - unless there's a last minute charter and/or a block of rooms got set aside, maybe a TA is holding them or might be NCL themselves, pulling tricks or what not.

Don't be surprised if the inventory return "magically" all of a sudden and prices changing again, as it get closer - maybe by early to mid September, 4 to 6 weeks out. An oceanview would yield a little more functional space for all 4 of you, but the standard balcony for 4 can be just as tight with the bed from the ceiling plus the (slightly shorter) sofa bed extended for sleeping.

Here's what the typical bedding setup looked like - for sleeping purposes. During the day, there are many public places to relax & sit back, there's no need to stay in the room most of the time, except to change, freshen up, take a cat nap, etc. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/13194887585_5364c56ef3_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5510/11985379774_30c022d15d_b.jpg

It's cozy to sleep 3 across, but it is possible so that only 1 of you need to climb up to the pullman against the wall - and both older gentlemen will not have to climb into their bed & worry about getting down.

It's possible to configure an inverted U shape bed setup to provide more space to sit around the edges of the lower bedding.

The asking price for the upgrade is not, IMHO, worth $1,200 to gain that extra space. Just wait it out and keep checking on availability & pricing.

I'm able to find an oceanview for 4 online. Try calling back and saying you see a room available. Sometimes all it takes is the right employee to put in the extra effort. Don't give up!

EDITED TO SAY: Just looked again and they are all sold out! Just yesterday I was looking to change my cabin number and looked online to find at least 15 cabins in my category available to change to. In one night all remaining OV and BA cabins were taken!

I too wonder why this sailing is so popular. It was included in the latest CAS offer for complimentary staterooms but I don't think that many people would have booked to warrant all insides, oceanviews, and balconies being sold out 2 months before. I hope it's not a charter!

Thank you all for your insight and help! I'm going to keep plugging away with them lol

I think my wife will kill me if we need to sleep the across, or separately for the week lol

The pictures do help a lot. I didn't really understand the difference with the mini and balcony to be honest lol

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