Significant Price Reduction

[girltwinsmom]

We have two cabins booked for June 2 on NCL to Alaska. I noticed on the site that there is a HUGE price reduction now on the same category of cabins we have. For one cabin it's a $1,300 difference. We are first time cruisers and I am very bummed. Do we have any options? We have made final payment and went through a travel agent.

[Love my butler]

Call your TA and hope they will go to bat for you. NCL may give you some OBC, but are not obligated.

[jdvmd]

We have two cabins booked for June 2 on NCL to Alaska. I noticed on the site that there is a HUGE price reduction now on the same category of cabins we have. For one cabin it's a $1,300 difference. We are first time cruisers and I am very bummed. Do we have any options? We have made final payment and went through a travel agent.

I am sure you are past final payment but NCL does not owe you anything. It sucks but that is the way it is. All a matter of supply and demand and they want to sail with full ships and will reduce the cost very close to sailing.

You might want to see if your travel agent can get you an upgrade on both cabins but again they do not have to do anything.

[girltwinsmom]

Thanks for your help! I will contact my travel agent and hopefully she can get us an upgrade.

[djmess]

Thanks for your help! I will contact my travel agent and hopefully she can get us an upgrade.

 

Definitely talk with you TA and have them call NCL. I'm doing an Alaska in May and prices have also dropped on our sailing. Many on the roll call have called their TA's or PCCs if booked directly with NCL and have been upgraded to higher categories. Good Luck.

[mmbcater]

We were upgraded from a balcony to a MA mini suite! Call your TA...

[roger001]

Don't let the thought of it affect your cruise. It frequently happens to all of us. After the final payment date on a cruise, frequently prices will drop.....but not always. It will depend on how full the ship has been booked at that point. And...just as often prices remain the same or increase. There's no way to predict. If you book early, you can more comfortably schedule your travel arraignments and get a cabin type and location of your choice, and maybe cheaper air fare. (In a way, it's like scheduling an NCL sponsored tour instead of an independent operator tour. You will pay more, but you know exactly what you are getting, with guarantees). Or, if your schedule permits, you can wait to book until much closer to sailing time. However, on many cruises you will then find yourself with higher prices for the cabins, or cabins in a location you don't want, or no cabins at all. I book early, monitor prices until final payment getting a lower price if that happens, but after final payment just realize that I may see some prices last minute posted that I sure wish I could have gotten. As others have mentioned, there's a chance you might be able to get a room upgrade. However, if not, you're not alone in this boat......uh...price boat that is. It's just the way the cruise industry prices to insure a full ship when it sails. When you booked, you thought you were going to get a great cruise for what you paid. And that hasn't changed. Start saving up for your next cruise. This one will not be your last. Very addictive.

[Starry Eyes]

Call your TA and try to upgrade to a better cabin if prices on better cabins dropped, too.

 

Also, for a family cruise you might check the price of a two bedroom suite for 4...If that price is close to what you paid, maybe, just maybe, you can get your TA to get NCL to let you pay to upgrade to the suite. Probably a long shot, but suites on NCL are so wonderful I'd give it a look.

[elaine5]

you can probably upgrade, but think of it this way, if you are flexible in case your cruise of choice is sold out, or the only rooms left are not so good locations, and you are OK with last minute airfare, then booking after final payment can get great deals. however, most of us don't want to risk that, so we book earlier, knowing there will be significant discounts on non-sold out cruise.

For us, b/c we need a balcony room with larger capacity (4 persons), we can't even get the price drops when they are 6 months out--as our cabin category for 4 persons is sold out.

[roger001]

Here's an example of the other way the price change can go...a price increase that is. We booked a mini suite on the Sun several months ago for a Nov. '13, 10 day cruise. I just checked that cruise today. The price for our room, for the two of us, has increased $1300. And there is only one mini remaining available. So you don't ever really know what will happen between booking and cruise time.