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My upgrade story (sorry, kinda long)

Pacclady

By Pacclady,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Pacclady

Pacclady

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I just have to share my upgrade story. The final step just happened literally an hour ago and I’m still bouncing up and down in my chair.

 

Over a year ago, my husband and I booked a cruise with another couple. I was pregnant at the time of booking and we knew we should be conservative with the budget so we booked an inside cabin (our friends booked the balcony cabin directly across from us). We are on the Norwegian Pearl, departing Miami on April 11th and this will be my husband and my 5th cruise on NCL. We sailed in an inside room the first time but had been only balcony since then. I was nervous about going back to an inside room and was afraid I was going to be miserable, missing the wonderful balcony. But I really wanted to cruise and decided we would survive.

 

Back in late February (after we have made final payment), I noticed that the price of our cabin level (mid-ship inside on deck 10) had dropped $50 per person. Now I completely understand that NCL is under no obligation to offer us anything at all. We agreed to the price we paid and were not going to make a fuss about it. But this was first time using a travel agent and I figured why not use her expertise and ask her if there’s anything NCL is willing offer. They offered an upgrade to an obstructed view on deck 8. We were not interested in that (we really wanted to stay on the same deck as our friends) and said thanks but no thanks and went back to looking forward to our cruise.

 

Two weeks later, the price dropped again (I want to note that only the inside and oceanview rooms were dropping, balconies and up were staying the same or increasing). It was now $100 less per person. Again, if I had booked it myself, I probably would have done nothing. But since we had this travel agent, I again said “why not?” We were fully ready to get nothing and would have been perfectly happy with it and were not demanding anything. This time, NCL offered us a $65 onboard credit. We took that happily and again went back to looking forward to the cruise.

 

I had never been under any impression that they would offer us an upgrade to a balcony cabin. Of course I had been hoping that maybe it could happen, but the prices of the balconies were still way above what we paid. NCL isn’t stupid and isn’t going to give us an upgrade that high. We were thrilled with onboard credit and never really expected anything more. Heck, we didn’t even expect that. Again, we understood NCL didn’t have to offer anything.

 

And then yesterday, I looked again. I had promised my husband I would stop looking at the prices but I couldn’t help myself. And there it was. A GTY balcony was now less than we paid! And a B2 Family balcony was only $50 more per person than what we paid. But only those two categories. All the other balconies were still way above our rate (like double). I have no idea why the family balcony was so cheap but there it was. My husband was against the risk of a GTY, mostly because we really wanted to stay on deck 10. Again, I annoyed our poor TA and told her we’d happily pay $100 for an upgrade to a balcony. And she obliged by calling. At first, she was told no but she didn’t give up. (I did not ask her to be so persistent, she just kept insisting on trying again.) And then just an hour ago, it happened. Not only did NCL agree to up us to a B2 on deck 10, they did it FOR NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! We just went from an inside to a balcony FOR FREE! Granted, the balcony is near the bow of the ship and it right next to the elevator bank but who cares?!?! WE ARE IN A BALCONY CABIN! We are about 20 doors down from our friends who are still basking in their mid-ship balcony (which has gone up 50% in price since we booked).

 

I cannot believe any of this happened! I know we would have been fine in our inside cabin and had a wonderful time. We always have a wonderful time on NCL. But this just has made it so much more awesome! We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow and are more than thrilled! We haven’t even left yet and this is already an amazing vacation!:D

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sixesandeights

sixesandeights

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We just went from an inside to a balcony FOR FREE! Granted, the balcony is near the bow of the ship and it right next to the elevator bank but who cares?!?!

 

I just got back from an Epic cruise with a Mini-suite RIGHT by the stairs and elevators. We LOVED it. Never heard a single noise from them, and it was SO SO SO convenient. We are now booked on the Getaway in Sept and I picked the Mini as close to the elevator as possible. Dont let that trouble you at all. Nothing worse then having to walk a long way down those long narrow hallways to get to your room. It also makes running back to the room a cinch. Enjoy and congrats on the upgrade!!

 

6&8

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meatball_nyc

meatball_nyc

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Good for you guys!

It is very convenient to be right near the stairs.

 

Enjoy your balcony and have a great cruise.

 

Come back and post all about it :)

 

This actually happened to us on our first Carnival cruise. They never called us and we never called them, because we just didn't know any better. Ended up going from an OV to a balcony after final payment, I checked our room # on the deck plans and was like...um now we are in a BA.

 

WOOHOO

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

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tel2

tel2

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I am always perplexed when some folks seem to shy away from cabins near the elevators. While my first preference always is a cabin facing aft, they are hard to come by unless you book far in advance. My next choice, ALWAYS, and especially on the larger ships, is a cabin near the elevators. I have never in scores of cruises been disturbed by noise, and we find it extremely convenient to be close to the elevators. On one of our Breakaway cruises, our friends wanted to be "away from the noise" and booked a balcony all the way in the front of the ship. We, on the other hand, looked at the fact that there were only two sets of elevators, and chose one of a angled balcony cabins literally right at the elevator. Not only did we have a larger balcony, but it was so easy to run back to the room for something we forgot, etc. ANd it was perfectly quiet. Our friends complained all week about how far their cabin was from the elevator....

 

Terry

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OriginalFlamingo

OriginalFlamingo

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Congrats! I also upgraded just today. We are on a May cruise on the Breakaway, and had booked a lower-grade oceanview cabin, which upgraded to a forward-facing large picture window oceanview, and we were happy about it. I had a question today about a show that I was pre-booking, so I called. While I had the NCL representative on the phone, I simply asked about the price-drop (about $250 pp since booking), telling her that I felt bad even asking, but since I had her on the phone...she said, "There's no harm asking!!", and after consultation with her manager, she told me that they could offer us a mid-ship mini-suite with balcony for no additional cost. I snapped that right up, happily! This is only our third cruise - the first two were 9 and 10 years ago, travelling with 4 people (us and teens) in an oceanview both times. We have never had a balcony, so we are pretty excited!:D:eek::D

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CruisingCoral

CruisingCoral

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Congrats! I hope that happens to me on my Alaska Cruise this summer on the Coral Princess! I booked the lowest category interior for really cheap months ago as a guarantee cabin so I'm hoping we get lucky with a balcony!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Redheel Girl

Redheel Girl

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What a wonderful upgrade. One Cruise NCL called my TA and up-selled me from a Mini Suite to a two Bedroom Suite and a few days before I was to leave thirty minutes on my last day at work and NCL called my TA and up-Selled me to the Owners Suite. What a Cabin! And I know how high you are flying. Have a great Cruise!

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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This is awesome and I can only imagine how happy you are. I love to hear stories like this. I have only managed to get a free upgrade from an interior to an "obstructed" ocean view, which really wasn't too obstructed. :) I managed to score my first balcony a few months ago for just $200 more than our cheapest interior cabin. I was happy.

 

btw, I WANT you TA. :D LOL. I have yet to find a TA that works for ME. I do all the leg work, the calling, the researching, the begging. Sigh.

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Pacclady

Pacclady

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Thanks, all! I will post a review as soon as I return from our BALCONY CABIN!!! (It's been 4 days and I'm still deliriously excited. Sometimes, in the middle of a conversation with my hubby, I'll just blurt out "We have a balcony!" and do a dance.)

 

We leave in 10 days!!!!

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