Does this sound "off" to you (re: upsell)?

[Mooder]

Wow ,I never knew they would tell you no.. I have always thought I can just upgrade later to a better room if the price was right. And on this cruise, I was able to not only get a better OBC-450 from online TA, but a 500.00 OBC from NCL! THanks for the information.. I will be more careful with the cabin I orginally want to begin with from now on. This must have been a hard to fill up ship.

 

"If the price is right" is the operative phrase. The OP wanted a discount. They can always say no to a discount.

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head. People should ALWAYS book a cabin they will be happy with - never assume you will get an upgrade unless you are willing to pay full price. If it happens, that's great, but not necessary.

[newmexicoNita]

I am sooo confused. Are you all talking about calling to upgrade your room, at the price advertised at NCL at the time you call? Or are you all trying to get a better than advertised price? I should make it clear I upgraded at the price that NCL was advertising at the time.. but much lower than the price would be orginally at the start of the cruise. I think I may have messed up in my advice to others. I'm sorrry!

 

If all the OP wants is to get the price that is now listed, of course it makes no sense, but I think she/he is looking for a deal and it probably isn't going to happen.

 

Nita

[Mooder]

We just ran into a similar situation as the OP describes. We booked a guarantee cabin about a year out from sailing at a fabulous price. Many months later our cabin was finally assigned and we were not particularly thrilled with the size or location so we asked our Travel Agent (we have used this agency for our last four or five cruises) to look into a couple category upgrade and how much that would cost. NCL had already nixed us using our one category upgrade certificate at booking time and had instead given us a small OBC. Our agent got back to us with a price which was ridiculously high in light of what we had paid initially for our cabin! We only wanted a category upgrade but NCL wanted us to pay almost the full rack price difference just to upgrade! We were disappointed. What is the point in booking almost a full year ahead of time and getting a great savings only to have it all taken away when we asked to upgrade? In the future we will just wait to book until last minute if at all possible, but that does not work out so well for European cruises where there needs to be lots of advance planning. Just acouple years ago we upgraded quite easily at a fraction of the cost NCL is now asking, so perhaps this is a newer trend because too many folks have been doing this very thing?

 

I'm confused. Why would you expect to get an ugrade at the same kind of discount you received a guaranty cabin monthsi in advance? I never assume I'll get an upgrade. I always book a cabin I'll be happy with. Otherwise, it is like waiting to buy something and assuming the price will come down. It might, it might not, or it might be sold out.

[Kdiamond55]

You know what, I called NCL directly, instead of going through my agent, asked the same questions, got a nicer person, and she gave me the room for a slight discount and some OBC. As I said before, I wasn't looking for a "freebie" but I was looking for some good customer service and someone who was willing to work with me a little. I felt given the situation of being 3 days out I deserve honestly! (My agent was making me seem like a fool telling me no suites were available when it was CLEAR they were not to mention the ship has TONS of available rooms still)

 

So, either some agents hold out for more money (?) or they just don't give a care.

 

In the end, persistance got me my upgrade!! I couldn't be happier.

[Mooder]

You know what, I called NCL directly, instead of going through my agent, asked the same questions, got a nicer person, and she gave me the room for a slight discount and some OBC. As I said before, I wasn't looking for a "freebie" but I was looking for some good customer service and someone who was willing to work with me a little. I felt given the situation of being 3 days out I deserve honestly! (My agent was making me seem like a fool telling me no suites were available when it was CLEAR they were not to mention the ship has TONS of available rooms still)

 

So, either some agents hold out for more money (?) or they just don't give a care.

 

In the end, persistance got me my upgrade!! I couldn't be happier.

 

That's great! Enjoy! I agree with you that there is no excuse for treating a customer with disrespect.

[stanmoto98]

Yes, through NCL directly.

 

I have thought that too, but that absolutely makes NO sense. I mean, wouldn't they rather make the people truly looking for an upgrade happy? You know, return customer and all that?

 

Update: He emailed me saying "If it is still available on Thursday I will ask a supervisor what they can do to discount it". (The day before sailing????)

 

WTH? :confused:

 

1) So he finally admitted it is still available (originally he argued this fact with me several times)

 

and 2) He can't offer any discount? Nothing, really? Even $100 or something? I'm not cheap, but the price difference to upgrade is as much as I paid for my BA. Seems a little steep 4 days out.

 

I guess sailing with a company 8 times in less than 3 years doesn't mean much anymore! LOL I'm not sweating it, I could care less, but it would have been cool. Guess it wasn't meant to be.

The cabin may show up NCL's website but there may have been a courtesy hold on it. That would account for the discrepancy. And what you are asking for is a Category change, not an Upsell. Passengers looking to move up in category after they've made their initial booking will be expected to pay the difference between their initial booking price and the going rate for the category they are looking to move into. You cannot call NCL looking for an Upsell.

 

NCL remains in "sales mode" until the last couple of days before any sailing. So they will not discount any available cabins on the off chance that a new booking will take the available cabins. What NCL will do in the days leading up to a sailing is do a complete inventory of available cabins and call individuals with existing bookings and see if they would like an Upsell into a higher category. What this does is free up the less expensive categories that will possible sell more easily at the last minute. Thus getting more passengers on board to generate more revenue.

[stanmoto98]

...and she gave me the room for a slight discount and some OBC.

 

In the end, persistance got me my upgrade!! I couldn't be happier.

I would bet that the ability to offer the discount wasn't available in your initial inquiries and only became available today.

 

As I noted above, NCL stays in full sales mode until the last possible minute.

 

Glad your persistent paid off and you got the upgrade you were looking for at price that was satisfactory!!

[Kdiamond55]

NCL remains in "sales mode" until the last couple of days before any sailing. So they will not discount any available cabins on the off chance that a new booking will take the available cabins. What NCL will do in the days leading up to a sailing is do a complete inventory of available cabins and call individuals with existing bookings and see if they would like an Upsell into a higher category. What this does is free up the less expensive categories that will possible sell more easily at the last minute. Thus getting more passengers on board to generate more revenue.

 

I agree with you there. I was looking to "upgrade" and pay at least some of the difference (the actual going rate difference was almost the same as I paid for my whole cruise) but my issue was he wasn't responding at all to my request. Never the matter, I found an agent who worked with me. So there are some bad eggs but you'd think someone you've booked 8 cruises with would be more helpful ya know? And being 3 days out, I felt it was a reasonable request. I wasn't trying to finagle a freebie, I'm definitely not that type. I just felt like I was being played a fool and lied to. You know, that "slimy salesman" tactic. I didn't like that feeling.

 

:) Thank you everyone for your advice and stories...it is good to get everyone's thoughts on these things.

[Alliea]

If all the OP wants is to get the price that is now listed, of course it makes no sense, but I think she/he is looking for a deal and it probably isn't going to happen.

 

Nita

Ohh ok.. I never asked for a discount.. I just took the then advertised price NCL had for that room. Sorry to give out wrong advice.

[stanmoto98]

Kdiamond... I edited my first post. See my comment about the possibility of a courtesy hold being placed on the cabin. It would would continue to show up as available on the website. This could account for the discrepancy between what you were seeing and what the TA you were initially talking to was seeing.

[Kdiamond55]

Kdiamond... I edited my first post. See my comment about the possibility of a courtesy hold being placed on the cabin. It would would continue to show up as available on the website. This could account for the discrepancy between what you were seeing and what the TA you were initially talking to was seeing.

 

I hear ya on that...intitally I thought that too, but I went back and forth for hours with him...seemed "to me" he just wasn't checking and was hushing me (knowing he wasn't going to help me with any kind of discount anyway). The other agent actually put me on hold, checked and verified with a supervisor, and came back with an answer. To me, that showed she put forth effort and therefore good customer service. Maybe my years as a customer service specialist myself I kinda expect that. :)

[trojangirl90066]

OP.. I don't believe the TA is playing a game with you.. No matter what you are willing to pay for the AB, more money means more commission. What I do think is NCL does not usually give discounts on people who inquire about an upsell. They do, just not very often.. At least that is what I have read here on the boards. Any upsell we have gotten we were contacted by NCL not the other way around. I really do believe you are being told exactly what your TA is being told. I can't think of any reason your TA wouldn't want more commission.

 

I called the upsell dept before my Mexican Riviera sailing and got a discounted price moving from a BA balcony to and AD suite. I think I paid less than 1/2 what the original price was.

[newmexicoNita]

Ohh ok.. I never asked for a discount.. I just took the then advertised price NCL had for that room. Sorry to give out wrong advice.

 

oh I understood what you were saying. I was agreeing with you. You didn't ask for anything and you were willing to pay the going rate. As for the OP, I am still confused. I do not understand how she was able to call directly when she had an agent. This is against any cruise line policy. If the cruiser has an agent all inquiries have to go through the agency. Oh well, she said she got what she wanted so I guess that is the end of the story.

 

Nita

[jdvmd]

oh I understood what you were saying. I was agreeing with you. You didn't ask for anything and you were willing to pay the going rate. As for the OP, I am still confused. I do not understand how she was able to call directly when she had an agent. This is against any cruise line policy. If the cruiser has an agent all inquiries have to go through the agency. Oh well, she said she got what she wanted so I guess that is the end of the story.

 

Nita

 

The OP booked through NCL as referenced in post #8.

[newmexicoNita]

The OP booked through NCL as referenced in post #8.

 

ok, you are right, I had misread what she originally said cause it got confusing. Doesn't take much to confuse me I guess. LOL