Check Your Reservation Carefully if You're Entitled to an Upgrade

[njhorseman]

If you're booking a cruise that entitles you to a free upgrade, you should check your reservation with NCL to be sure you get the cabin you are expecting.

 

Last night I booked the Gem for 2/20/10 through a travel agency, using their Internet booking engine. We decided to book a balcony cabin rather than our usual suite or mini suite, and took advantage of a free upgrade from category BD to BA. The travel agency site confirmed I was booked in the stern BA cabin of my choice (decided to see how the stern cabins are, since so many people here like them) and gave me my NCL booking number. I immediately signed on to my NCL account, and my reservation was already listed, and as soon as I completed the registration information, my edocs were listed as ready for printing. However, when I looked carefully at the information, I realized that NCL had me booked into a different cabin...a category BD. As this was about 10 pm last night, the travel agency was closed, so I had to wait until today to call them in order to resolve the problem.

 

This morning, when I finally was able to speak to someone at the agency (I won't go into how many times I was bounced to voice mail until I got someone to pick up their phone. :mad:), I was advised that NCL had a booking system glitch, and the agency had several customers with similar problems. (For all I know the glitch was in the agency's system, not NCL's, but that's neither here nor there.) They promised to have a supervisor attempt to straighten out the problem with NCL.

 

To make a long story short, when I signed on to my NCL account about two hours later, NCL had upgraded my booking to the cabin I selected, so the problem did get resolved. Fortunately, no one else had booked the cabin between last night and late this morning. Of course I'm still waiting for a call back from the agency telling me my problem has been resolved. I won't hold my breath.:rolleyes:

 

In any event, I strongly advise anyone who has booked a cabin through an agency expecting an upgrade to check their NCL reservation record as soon as possible after booking.

[*Wink*]

Good thing you checked! It's so easy to "assume" they'll get it right.

[njhorseman]

It always helps to be obsessive-complusive and have an uncontrollable urge to print one's edocs 18 seconds after booking a cruise.:D

 

Seriously, having once owned a travel agency, I know that things can go wrong all too easily.

[Kancruze]

Very good advice!! Thanks for the reminder. You know what they say about us who ''assume''. lol And it's so true.

Glad you got it straightened out and have a good cruise.

[daisy-mae]

It could well be a glitch on the NCL system.

 

Something similar happened to us when we booked directly through NCL last November.

 

I selected the cabin, made my payment, received a confirmation, then noticed that the cabin number was not the same one that I had requested. I made a quick call to NCL and spoke to one of their agents who was able to rectify the problem; however, she did make it clear that it was an online booking problem, and gave me the number of their internet department for future reference.

[kenteecruisin]

If you're booking a cruise that entitles you to a free upgrade, you should check your reservation with NCL to be sure you get the cabin you are expecting.

 

Last night I booked the Gem for 2/20/10 through a travel agency, using their Internet booking engine. We decided to book a balcony cabin rather than our usual suite or mini suite, and took advantage of a free upgrade from category BD to BA. The travel agency site confirmed I was booked in the stern BA cabin of my choice (decided to see how the stern cabins are, since so many people here like them) and gave me my NCL booking number. I immediately signed on to my NCL account, and my reservation was already listed, and as soon as I completed the registration information, my edocs were listed as ready for printing. However, when I looked carefully at the information, I realized that NCL had me booked into a different cabin...a category BD. As this was about 10 pm last night, the travel agency was closed, so I had to wait until today to call them in order to resolve the problem.

 

This morning, when I finally was able to speak to someone at the agency (I won't go into how many times I was bounced to voice mail until I got someone to pick up their phone. :mad:), I was advised that NCL had a booking system glitch, and the agency had several customers with similar problems. (For all I know the glitch was in the agency's system, not NCL's, but that's neither here nor there.) They promised to have a supervisor attempt to straighten out the problem with NCL.

 

To make a long story short, when I signed on to my NCL account about two hours later, NCL had upgraded my booking to the cabin I selected, so the problem did get resolved. Fortunately, no one else had booked the cabin between last night and late this morning. Of course I'm still waiting for a call back from the agency telling me my problem has been resolved. I won't hold my breath.:rolleyes:

 

In any event, I strongly advise anyone who has booked a cabin through an agency expecting an upgrade to check their NCL reservation record as soon as possible after booking.

 

 

Come join our roll call!!

[halos]

Thanks for the heads-up!! :)

[newmexicoNita]

Good advise, always check, glitches do happen, companies make mistakes. and always ask for a receipt or an invoice...

 

Nita

[Hockey19]

Another proof that it is often best to deal with a human TA rather than a web site. I am all about savings but I am also all about having a personal advocate for any issue. All your efforts to resolve your problems would have beenthe obligation of a TA with a vested interest in your satisfaction rather than you doing everything.

[njhorseman]

Another proof that it is often best to deal with a human TA rather than a web site. I am all about savings but I am also all about having a personal advocate for any issue. All your efforts to resolve your problems would have beenthe obligation of a TA with a vested interest in your satisfaction rather than you doing everything.

 

 

I am dealing with a human TA. I made the booking through their Internet engine because I decided to do it after business hours. It was the human TA who intervened on my behalf with NCL.

 

Just to update my original post, my cynical remark about not wanting to hold my breath waiting for the TA to call me back was not warranted. I did get a call from her this afternoon telling me the problem had been resolved (although by that time I already knew it had been taken care of).

[iheartbda]

Come join our roll call!!

Are you SURE you want an obsessive-complusive person on your roll call?:eek:

 

JK....horse is AOK.:)

[njhorseman]

Are you SURE you want an obsessive-complusive person on your roll call?:eek:

 

JK....horse is AOK.:)

 

Of course if an obsessive-compulsive had won a prize at the Latitudes party of a free bag of laundry, they surely would have taken advantage of it, rather than doing what someone I know did. :D:cool:

[newmexicoNita]

Another proof that it is often best to deal with a human TA rather than a web site. I am all about savings but I am also all about having a personal advocate for any issue. All your efforts to resolve your problems would have beenthe obligation of a TA with a vested interest in your satisfaction rather than you doing everything.

 

I agree. I have a little problem with all this on line stuff. I have to admit, I do sometimes book our hotels that way, but I do think dealing with a human is the better way.

 

Nita

[iheartbda]

Of course if an obsessive-compulsive had won a prize at the Latitudes party of a free bag of laundry, they surely would have taken advantage of it, rather than doing what someone I know did. :D:cool:

Hey, I wasn't so dumb.....I sold it on eBay for a nice price.:p

 

Not really, it's packed away with all my saved cruise stuff. I suppose I could use it on another cruise since there was nothing ship specific about it or even a date on it. I still think winning was "rigged" since I was on a B2B.;)

[debnjoe1438]

It always helps to be obsessive-complusive and have an uncontrollable urge to print one's edocs 18 seconds after booking a cruise.:D

 

 

AMEN