Price Drops and OBC

[oceanxbreeze89]

Hi! I am currently booked on the Sky sailing on the 20th of this month. I went on to check to see approximately how booked the cruise is filled and noticed that the category that I booked under had a price drop. I immediately called NCL and they said that because I am 10 days out, I cannot receive a refund on the difference (price went from $499pp for the first 2 people to $449pp). So I then asked if I can get OBC. She said no because it is so close to sailing. She didn't have any rooms to upgrade me to either (I was upgraded already b/c I booked a GTY BX category so I wasn't interested in another upgrade). I told her that when sailing on Carnival, I can receive OBC up to 2 days before sailing without a problem and she was kind of nasty and said that "well we aren't them".

 

My question (after my above rant) is should I call again, to see if I can get another person and possibly ask for a supervisor or should I just let it be?

 

Thanks in advanced!

 

Helen

[Sheils65]

Well, you aren't entitled to any kind of refund, OBC, upgrade, etc. After final payment. I have heard of this happening on occasion but not the norm. Mentioning another cruise line and what they will do for you, I don't think will help your efforts.

 

Good luck!!

[Ilovesailing]

Like you say your 10 days away.

I say suck it up, go on your cruise and have a good time.

You were obviously happy with the price when you put your deposit down.

This can often happen on short cruises of 3/4 days where there is a lot of competition.

 

The cruise line is in the business to make make money as well and I'm sure you wouldn't have called the cruise line and offered to pay the differnce had there been an increase.

 

Sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too. Sorry.

[jame_g]

After final payment, they aren't obligated to give you anything. And many times they won't. If you call, sometimes you can get an upgrade, an upgrade at a reduced rate, or possibly an OBC. Although it seems OBC is becoming even less common lately. What I have seen recently is a couple folks stating they were given a credit toward a future cruise, but I don't think that's very common either.

 

Not so sure Carnival is so generous with OBCs and upgrades after final payment anymore. It seems that a year or so ago there were lots of complaints on the Carnival forum about this, but I really haven't paid attention recently.

[LifeNJ]

You are talking about a $100.00 but wit didn't you get an upgrade? I am sure that is worth the difference.

[SandyAtSea]

Carnival does give you OBC after final payment up to two days before the cruise but only if you booked Early Saver, which requires a non-refundable deposit.

 

I have been told by two NCL supervisors in the last week that if your fare drops $500 or more after final payment, they will give you the difference in future cruise payment. There are several posts from people who actually got this.

[oceanxbreeze89]

Thank you all for your input...I called them back again and spoke to someone who wasn't nasty to me and they said that because it is within penalty range of the booking, they unfortunately cannot do anything for me. But they did tell me that if I wasn't in penalty range, they could have possibly done something for OBC and/or future cruise credit.

 

I book on Early Saver on Carnival for that reason...the deposit is $250 and if you need to cancel, you get most of that deposit back. I know of people that have gotten about $500-$800 in OBC due to the different price drops by the time that they sail (or within 2 days of them sailing).

 

Thanks again for your help!

 

Helen