missed upgrade fairy

[dlon]

Sooo sad. Upgrade fairy called and I missed it by 30 minutes. We have a forward penthouse suite booked and could have had an owners suite for a total of 600.00 for 2!!! We had only paid 1600+taxes with a 300.00 onboard credit so it would have been a great deal. They did offer a courtyard suite for the same price but we are traveling with 13 people so we wanted to be near them.

[JMHAM1]

awww maaannn!

[OC SeaPA]

Did you book through NCL or through a TA? Have you heard if your chances are better for upgrades through TA or NCL? Did you contact anyone to see if upgrades are available? When are you sailing? How are out does the upgrade fairy call?

[beachchick]

Did you book through NCL or through a TA? Have you heard if your chances are better for upgrades through TA or NCL? Did you contact anyone to see if upgrades are available? When are you sailing? How are out does the upgrade fairy call?

 

Just to let you know that this kind of upgrade is usually called (and is considered) an upsell. An upsell is when NCL contacts a passenger to offer a higher category at a discount, often substantial. An upgrade usually means either (1) the cruise line upgraded a cabin free--this is very rare and is not something you can call and request--or (2) a passenger contacts their TA or NCL, depending on how they booked, and asks the cost to upgrade to a higher category, which would be at the then current rate rather than a discount. Obviously, there are no upsell calls for sold out ships or when all the higher categories are booked.

 

If cabins are available, the upsell department usually has a list of cabins that would be good to upsell. For example, if you're in a desirable location (fully aft, for example) or popular category (balcony perhaps), then they might offer a higher category at a discount so they can resell your original cabin. It used to be that passengers could contact the upsell department, but currently they do not accept incoming calls. It's a tiny department and people "in the know" were inundating them with contast requests for cheap upsells. It got to be a real problem when savvy cruisers were booking categories much lower than they wanted and then starting in with the "How about a cheap upsell?" calls months in advance of their cruise date.

 

As far as chances of an upsell call, there really is no difference whether you book through a TA or directly. However, they would contact your TA, who would then need to contact you, and would then get back to NCL. If that happens quickly, it can be fine. But there is no "Let me get back to you with a decision tomorrow" option. You really do need to decide right away if an upsell offer is good for you. What we do is book the category and cabin we are happy with, consider the possibility of an upsell call later, and decide which categories might interestus and how much we can/will pay for them. If we don't get "the call" (most people don't), we're still happy; if we get the call, but it's too much or not what we want, no problem; if we get the call and it works for us, we can say "Yes, please" immediately. We've only had an upsell on one cruise, but it was sure nice.

 

Poor dlon only missed a call by 30 minutes and was too late. Oh well, it's not as if that forward penthouse is below the waterline or something.;)

 

beachchick

[dlon]

We booked through Norwegian and we are sailing on Sunday.I am still thrilled with our cabin as we have never had s suite on Norwegian but having 2 balconies would have been soil suite.

Dlon

[NeilD]

I have my cell phone as my primary contact for NCL....We were at Disney World earlier this year and sure enough, 5 days before the cruise we got the upsell call. You are not always home and they don't wait too long for you to get back to them....

[OC SeaPA]

thanks. I am happy with my balcony, but if they offered... I will check the contact number- that is good advice.