Would you do this upsell?

[Cruise4Real]

This is a really personal decision that others aren't going to be able to give you great advice on. Even as advertised right now to you the price you're being quoted is incredible compared to other people that are staying in the room at whatever the actual advertised rate is. If there are a lot of the 2 bedroom family villas left (and it sounds like there are), and you don't mind possibly losing out, it might also be beneficial to wait a little longer. How many days out from your cruise are you?

 

Fido, thanks for all your very useful info. We are 9 days out from our cruise starting April 19th, we got the email several days ago. I figure others probably got emailed or called around the same time, but it doesn't look like there's been much action. So that makes me think that they'll be flexible on price, especially as our current cabin should be very easy for them to move. You're so right that even the full upsell price still means we'd get the suite for *far* less than the 5 or 6 people who booked them normally, but of course we'd never have paid those kinds of prices to start with! And frankly not going to fork over the full two grand to move up, either!

 

Nice to hear about your move from a minisuite to a OS just 3 days out! I don't think the OS is really for sale on our cruise and while we would regret giving up our big aft balcony, we've talked about moving to the Haven Family Villa and we're up for that if we can get it for less than the upsell offer. If you wanted to be candid about the process, did you open with a lower offer than the upsell? How much back and forth was there and how easy was it to come to a mutually agreed upon price?

[sarajean]

Question: How do these "up sells happen"? Does NCL contact you or can you inquire abut them when your cruise gets closer? New to NCL first cruise in September. Are they kinda like the "upgrade" fairy?

[Cruise4Real]

You need to decide what you want from your vacation. Do you want to feel incredibly pampered by the ease of having a concierge, butler, etc and if so, what would you be willing to pay for that splurge.

 

We decided years ago that we would only cruise in suites - even if it meant that we could only cruise once a year and we have never regretted that decision. We tend to book Deck 10 AFT SF suites on Pearl, Dawn, Star, Jewel. The view from the balcony is outstanding!

 

We have a Haven suite booked next January on the Getaway and are looking forward to experiencing a megaship! Whatever you choose to do - you will have a great cruise.

 

Thanks Diva! We really do feel like we're in the catbird seat right now because we're pretty sure we would love our big aft balcony! At the same time if we decide to move, we'll have a great cabin plus the whole Haven experience too.

 

My guess is if you were in our shoes you'd take the upsell and at the price quoted! This would be our first time in a suite so I think we're being a little more tentative, thinking about offering maybe $500 per person to upgrade to the Family Villa.

[Cruise4Real]

Question: How do these "up sells happen"? Does NCL contact you or can you inquire abut them when your cruise gets closer? New to NCL first cruise in September. Are they kinda like the "upgrade" fairy?

 

I think the "upgrade fairy" is the one who does the upsells.

 

In our case we received an email from NCL several days ago with the offer outlined in my original post. But from reading about this here on Cruise Critic I've heard that others have received phone calls as well. It sounds like they usually contact you no sooner than a few weeks out -- in our case less than two weeks before we cruise. What I've heard is that you pretty much need them to contact you, that they're not interested in you calling them, but others suggest you can do that and cite good results. September though is probably too far off.

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Fido, thanks for all your very useful info. We are 9 days out from our cruise starting April 19th, we got the email several days ago. I figure others probably got emailed or called around the same time, but it doesn't look like there's been much action. So that makes me think that they'll be flexible on price, especially as our current cabin should be very easy for them to move. You're so right that even the full upsell price still means we'd get the suite for *far* less than the 5 or 6 people who booked them normally, but of course we'd never have paid those kinds of prices to start with! And frankly not going to fork over the full two grand to move up, either!

 

Nice to hear about your move from a minisuite to a OS just 3 days out! I don't think the OS is really for sale on our cruise and while we would regret giving up our big aft balcony, we've talked about moving to the Haven Family Villa and we're up for that if we can get it for less than the upsell offer. If you wanted to be candid about the process, did you open with a lower offer than the upsell? How much back and forth was there and how easy was it to come to a mutually agreed upon price?

 

No problem. This was the process for us. About 10-12 days out (can't remember exact) we got an upsell email that offered OS/DOS for $3,000 more a person, some of the mid range suites for $2,000 a person, and the basic suite for $1,000 a person. That was well outside our price ranges for the given rooms so I didn't do anything. I did however pay attention to the inventory by doing mock bookings and it looked like nothing was really moving. A few days later we got another email halving the prices, $1500 for dos/os, $1,000 for mid range suites, and $600 for the penthouse suite. I called at that point and tried to negotiate for an aft penthouse suite (which was available and had a large balcony). The advertised price was $600 per person more on that upsell email for that one. The lady at upsell was very nice and went to speak to her supervisor but said there wasn't anything better they could do at that time. I couldn't justify spending the $600 more per person since the room wasn't actually in the haven, and I really didn't want to spend that much more per person so as not to break the bank, so I decided to wait a little longer. Then the room sold out and I figured, oh well I'm still going to have a blast on my minisuite with large balcony. Then we got a third upsell email (at this point all that was left was one DOS, one OS, and a ton of the 2 bedroom family villas, I don't think those sell that well). This time it was something like $750 or $600 for the 2 bedroom family villa, and $1k for the os/dos. I called again (3 days out) and the lady was very nice. I asked about the owners suite, since it had a large balcony, and she said it was $1,000 a person, I told her what our budget could afford and asked if she would accept that. She checked with her boss and they accepted it. Everyone throughout the process was extremely nice, and I didn't feel like I was pestering them by calling them more than once, I think that calling is probably better than emailing.

 

Edit: It wasn't like a back and forth negotiation at all though, I truthfully told her what I could afford to do and she accepted it.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Fido Chuckwagon

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Question: How do these "up sells happen"? Does NCL contact you or can you inquire abut them when your cruise gets closer? New to NCL first cruise in September. Are they kinda like the "upgrade" fairy?

 

I've been on multiple NCL cruises and only had it happen once, for our upcoming cruise. They contacted us via email. I don't think anybody really knows what criteria they use on figuring out who to send the offers to.

[Cruise4Real]

No problem. This was the process for us. About 10-12 days out (can't remember exact) we got an upsell email that offered OS/DOS for $3,000 more a person, some of the mid range suites for $2,000 a person, and the basic suite for $1,000 a person. That was well outside our price ranges for the given rooms so I didn't do anything. I did however pay attention to the inventory by doing mock bookings and it looked like nothing was really moving. A few days later we got another email halving the prices, $1500 for dos/os, $1,000 for mid range suites, and $600 for the penthouse suite. I called at that point and tried to negotiate for an aft penthouse suite (which was available and had a large balcony). The advertised price was $600 per person more on that upsell email for that one. The lady at upsell was very nice and went to speak to her supervisor but said there wasn't anything better they could do at that time. I couldn't justify spending the $600 more per person since the room wasn't actually in the haven, and I really didn't want to spend that much more per person so as not to break the bank, so I decided to wait a little longer. Then the room sold out and I figured, oh well I'm still going to have a blast on my minisuite with large balcony. Then we got a third upsell email (at this point all that was left was one DOS, one OS, and a ton of the 2 bedroom family villas, I don't think those sell that well). This time it was something like $750 or $600 for the 2 bedroom family villa, and $1k for the os/dos. I called again (3 days out) and the lady was very nice. I asked about the owners suite, since it had a large balcony, and she said it was $1,000 a person, I told her what our budget could afford and asked if she would accept that. She checked with her boss and they accepted it. Everyone throughout the process was extremely nice, and I didn't feel like I was pestering them by calling them more than once, I think that calling is probably better than emailing.

 

Wow thank you so much Fido! That's all very very helpful.

 

Drat. Just checked my email, nothing new from NCL. :) But it sounds like we're in a pretty similar situation to yours, which is to say a lot of "inventory" but little movement. Like you said in the earlier post there may be benefits to waiting and letting things ripen. At least until I see those Family Villas start to go!

[jmele999]

Dear OP- In terms of a percentage, what kind of discount is NCL offering for the upsell. You can add up what you already paid per person for the cabin and how much more NCL is asking for the upsell and compared that to the price to the price of the cabin on NCL.com

 

We took an upsell last year from our aft penthouse to the Owner's suite on the Jewel. We paid an additional $1000 per person for the upgrade. I tried to negotiate, but they told us that that was the best they can do. I think that the upsell price is based on how much you initially paid for your cabin.

[jmele999]

I just checked your sailing and there is a $1900 difference between the Haven Penthouse and the 2-bedroom Villa per person. Wow, that is a big difference. And they still have 12 2-bedroom villas available. I think that you should give NCL a call and offer what you can pay. Considering that they have so many 2-bedrooms available, I think that they may be willing to take your offer.

Edited April 10, 2015 by jmele999

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Wow thank you so much Fido! That's all very very helpful.

 

Drat. Just checked my email, nothing new from NCL. :) But it sounds like we're in a pretty similar situation to yours, which is to say a lot of "inventory" but little movement. Like you said in the earlier post there may be benefits to waiting and letting things ripen. At least until I see those Family Villas start to go!

 

I agree. Also, remember it can't hurt to call now, if they can't come down on the price or accept what you are willing to pay you can still wait and call again later. Like I said, everyone I spoke to in that department was really nice.

[Cruise4Real]

Well, I called but they weren't willing to alter the email upsell price, so for now we'll just have to put up with our aft Large balcony cabin (could be worse!). However the nice person I spoke with confirmed what Fido said, that this wasn't our only bite at the apple and that if the cabins don't sell at the price in the original upsell email, they may very well send out another email with lower prices -- she said this is pretty standard behavior for them. So, I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait to see what develops.

[spanishguy1970]

Are they going to include ...

 

NORWEGIAN'S

FREESTYLE CHOICE JUST IN!

 

1. FREE BEVERAGE PACKAGE

2. FREE DINING PACKAGE

3. FREE GRATUITIES

4. FREE SHORE EXCURSION CREDIT - NEW!

 

PLUS - FAMILY AND FRIENDS SAIL FREE

Book a Suite or The Haven and get all four offers for FREE!

 

 

...if you upgrade?

 

I totally agree this is the only way i would have done it. We have been in a large aft balcony and we loved it. My answer to you is this, how bad do you want the Haven experience? and whether you think that offer will come up again in a future cruise. Have a great cruise...

Edited April 10, 2015 by qtaromar1970

[elizamar]

Well, I called but they weren't willing to alter the email upsell price, so for now we'll just have to put up with our aft Large balcony cabin (could be worse!). However the nice person I spoke with confirmed what Fido said, that this wasn't our only bite at the apple and that if the cabins don't sell at the price in the original upsell email, they may very well send out another email with lower prices -- she said this is pretty standard behavior for them. So, I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait to see what develops.

 

 

Can I ask: how did you originally book your cruise? We booked online and called the general line a few times for some changes. We have a spa minisuite on Apr 25th but hope to get an offer for spa haven, but not sure if they would email without a "PCC"

[lgdesign]

No problem. This was the process for us. About 10-12 days out (can't remember exact) we got an upsell email that offered OS/DOS for $3,000 more a person, some of the mid range suites for $2,000 a person, and the basic suite for $1,000 a person. That was well outside our price ranges for the given rooms so I didn't do anything. I did however pay attention to the inventory by doing mock bookings and it looked like nothing was really moving. A few days later we got another email halving the prices, $1500 for dos/os, $1,000 for mid range suites, and $600 for the penthouse suite. I called at that point and tried to negotiate for an aft penthouse suite (which was available and had a large balcony). The advertised price was $600 per person more on that upsell email for that one. The lady at upsell was very nice and went to speak to her supervisor but said there wasn't anything better they could do at that time. I couldn't justify spending the $600 more per person since the room wasn't actually in the haven, and I really didn't want to spend that much more per person so as not to break the bank, so I decided to wait a little longer. Then the room sold out and I figured, oh well I'm still going to have a blast on my minisuite with large balcony. Then we got a third upsell email (at this point all that was left was one DOS, one OS, and a ton of the 2 bedroom family villas, I don't think those sell that well). This time it was something like $750 or $600 for the 2 bedroom family villa, and $1k for the os/dos. I called again (3 days out) and the lady was very nice. I asked about the owners suite, since it had a large balcony, and she said it was $1,000 a person, I told her what our budget could afford and asked if she would accept that. She checked with her boss and they accepted it. Everyone throughout the process was extremely nice, and I didn't feel like I was pestering them by calling them more than once, I think that calling is probably better than emailing.

 

Edit: It wasn't like a back and forth negotiation at all though, I truthfully told her what I could afford to do and she accepted it.

 

Who specifically did you call at NCL regarding the upsell? Thanks for sharing everything that happened... it's very helpful (and fascinating) to hear how it all happens.

Edited April 11, 2015 by lgdesign

[conandrob240]

Call back and ask for a supervisor and negotiate. They'll come down on their offer but the reps you call aren't autorized to accept any less. Only a supervisor can.

Edited April 12, 2015 by conandrob240