Summer cruises to Bahamas on the Jewel

[cruzin007]

Hi everyone. New to NCL and have a couple of questions.

 

I have a cruise booked for July for a family of 4. My final payment date came and I'm done paying. I booked my cruise at the end of January. From the time I booked up through April, I kept checking NCL's site to see if there was a price reduction so I can get it before I made my fiinal payment in May. At that point, the rates kept going up and especially the rate for the 3rd, 4th person and so on.

 

In April I was considering changing the date of my cruise. I didn't realize that they had a cruise leaving right on my birthday and I thought that would be a nice way to spend my birthday, but I couldn't find anything for 4 people.

 

Since April, all of the summer dates in July and August on the Jewel to the Bahamas you couldn't book a cruise for either 3 or 4 people on NCL's website. They have loads of rooms for 2 people. I know that summer is a big cruising time out of New York and especially that kids are out of school.

 

I was just curious so I tried Travelocity and Expedia, and they both had cruises for July and August to the Bahamas on the Jewl for 4 people. I was really just checking the rates at the time and the rate for the 3rd person kept going up.

 

Now that my final payment was made, NCL had their summer sale, but the special rates weren't for the summer Bahamas cruise on the Jewel out of New York. They reduced the price for the 3rd or 4th person on the Bermuda cruise out of New York during the summer, but not the Bahamas.

 

I've read a couple of postings on this site, that even though a person has made final payment, you could try and see if NCL would give you an upgrade. So I went on NCL's site and notice that the beginning rates on balconies and suites during the summer have gone down. There are still no rooms available for 3 or 4 on NCL's website. NCL has also lowered the rate for the 3rd or 4th person by $200.00.

 

Why wouild NCL keep lowering the rate of the 3rd or 4th person if they don't have any rooms available on any of their summer cruises to the Bahamas on the Jewel. I checked Travelocity, and you can find rooms for 3 people in all categories on their site and that is how I found out that the 3rd, 4th person rate has gone down.

 

The rate for the 1st & 2nd person in a mini suite is not that much over what I paid for a balcony for the 1st and 2nd person, but the rate for the 3rd and 4th person is still higher than what I paid booking my cruise in January.

 

Do outside travel agencies usually have multi person rooms (such as for 3 people) when NCL for months doesn't? Does NCL usually hold back on rooms? Will NCL continue to lower the rates up until the time of the cruise?

 

If NCL was going to offer an upsell, when do they normally do this? Does NCL usually lower the prices for summer cruises even if there are no rooms available - such as for 3 or 4 people? Do they normally continue to lower the rate for the 3rd and 4th person when they know that there are no rooms available to book for 3 or 4 people during the summer/

 

FOR THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE DUE TO MAKE THEIR FINAL PAYMENT IN JUNE, CHECK TO SEE IF THE RATE HAS GONE DOWN COMPARED TO WHAT YOU PAID.

 

I keep checking just to see if the suite rates would drop low enough compared to what I paid for a balancy.

 

Thanks for any info

[OceanDreams]

My suggestion to you is to CALL NCL directly and ask them for an upgrade or onboard credit for the difference.The site is good for some things .... but not for the above.

 

Good luck!

 

OceanDreams

[m2dd's]

Since this is our first time with NCL I can tell you our expierence with trying to book a cabin for 4 with 2 adults and 2 kids 6,9.

 

First we were booked on a disney crusie for october but when we on board DCL in april we got a great price on an April 11th 2011 cruise which would require us to take our kids out of school. Since we couldn't take them out in october and april we decided to cancel the october cruise and go on one this summer.

We weren't really picky with our dates as long as they were between mid june through mid august. Our first choice would have been Disney but they only have short sailings in the summer and we wanted a full 7 days(our last cruise was 3 nights and not enough) We decided to go with NCL only because they have Nick on board so we knew it would be a kid friendly cruise(I hope)

I started looking at prices for the summer mid May on NCL website and could not find anything available that would let me book a family of 4

(2A ,2C). When I did find some cabins that would allow me to book 4 on expedia and travelocity there was no price difference between the 3rd and 4th passenger. So I called NCL directly and was told that even though they have cabins that sleep 4 open they can't placed all 4 in a cabin due to the nuber of lifeboats and regulations. So if we booked with another site(travelocity or expedia) we could sleep for in a cabin but we would pay full price for all 4 passengers.

So instead we booked two cabins in a GTY cat. for the same price as we could book with an outside agency.We knew that there was a possability that we would be seperated on different ends of the ship but we were told when we booked that they would link our ressie together and if we were assigned cabins far away they would see if they could move us closer together.

We really wanted to sail in July but the rates mid May were still high since we had to pay full price for our kids(which we really hadn't ever done before). So we found a great deal on the June 12th sailing(I should say what we thought was a great price) so we booked our sailing with only 25 days before sailing(so we paid in full) Well with my luck within 48 hrs of booking our crusie the price per person dropped 100$:eek:(400 $ for my entire family) Since I was in my time frame of getting the best price guarantee that NCL offers I submitted my claim on line and was declined. After talking with several NCL personel. They finally refunded our 400$.

Than the next wk they had an OV price listed for the same price as we paid for our inside cabins. I called and they gladly(without hesitation) upgraded our cabins to OV.(which is what most lines do or some even offer OBC).

Well we got our cabin assignments(10 days before our sailing) and my DH and my cabin were put as far as you could be away from each other) I was able to call and after some room searching they were able to assign us cabins next door to us even if they are 100% obstructed views(as least were together). So far within 21 of booking the whole expierence had been a nightmare for DH and I. Maybe our standards are set to high with other crusie lines(Disney and RCCL)but we haven't even left for our crusie yet and we will never sail NCL again.

I know that maybe we sound like snobs but we have always been able to get either obc or room upgrades after our PIF date if there has been a price drop.

Hope this helps you out:) Sorry it got so long;)

BTW- our cruise has dropped another 100$ per person(400$ again) but I don't think at this point there is anything that NCL can do for us:(

HTH

[Bobbye]

The industry is changing. RCCL also now does not honor rate drops, just upgrades if available, after final payment. So it's not just NCL.