Question about paid upgrades

[bccanadamom]

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide...

I am looking at booking on the Jewel in November - we definitely want a balcony.

Wondering about booking a window view right now (the price gap is almost $600 for the 3 of us in a balcony vs window).

I've read lots about paid upgrades and wonder how NCL handles them - is it correct that if I book the window view with the 2 promos - and then the spread between the balcony and window view cost comes down I can pay the difference for the balcony and keep the 2 promos?

I know I can also book & then cancel and rebook - but I believe I lose the promo then?

With the a'la carte it's harder to put a value to the dining plan - I'm thinking it's now worth more than the original $25/pp the rate used to be? Looking at the menu prices it looks like probably that promo should be valued more like $35-$40pp now when evaluating costs?

Thanks again for any help - I've always just booked and paid for the room we wanted but it's a fairly big cost for the balcony and I figure the cost will come down - just not sure if it's still applicable for a paid upgrade if the perks are not the same?

[GORDONCHICK]

You didn't mention if you were going to book direct or through a TA. I know if you book direct, it depends on your PCC. I don't think there's great consistency on this. We upgraded from an inside to a balcony for a cruise last May and lost the OBC we had from NCL, but gained UDP. What we paid for the upgrade was less than the UDP would have cost if we had paid for it, so it was a huge win for us. We have a great TA who will fight/work for us.

 

Usually, the line is that you lose what you booked under but I've heard reports of that not always being the case. You would then have to determine if the upgrade itself would outweigh what you were losing.

[bccanadamom]

thanks for the advice - I think if we risk losing the perks we'll probably just book the balcony straight off - I am going to book direct this time, last time I found going the TA a bit of a hassle.