Likelihood of NOT getting an upsell offer...

[s01836162]

So I'm doing my second cruise through NCL in a few days. It's the Baltic cruise on the Star. I called a couple of weeks ago and asked if they had any ideas if I'd get offered an upsell. They guessed that it would be unlikely because the ship was almost full. Turns out I did get an offer (yay!) which I was happy to take (honeymoon, once in a lifetime and all that).

 

So, 2/2 of my cruises I was offered an upsell from balcony to suite (both pretty high demand cruises). I am wondering if anyone has a fairly good idea how often a cruiser is NOT offered an upsell when they originally booked a balcony? Is it probably a mostly successful strategy to always book balcony (which isn't bad) and be pretty confident you'll get an upsell offer to suite?

 

Side question; do higher cost category balconies get upsell offers before lower cost category balconies?

[darienill]

So you're 2 for 2? What ever you're doing, keep it up. I see a lot of the suites get sold out a lot so the chances of getting one must be slim.

I think the most common upgrade is the inside cabin people but I wouldn't take that chance myself. You would think your cruise history would play a part, but with only 2 cruises under your belt, I'm amazed.

I always book a cabin I can live with like a minimum balcony. Most of the time I get a mini midship so the only upgrade possible is a suite, and that has only happened once.

Keep up the good work.

[s01836162]

Interesting. FWIW, in both cases I hasn't booked the cheapest balcony. The first was on the Getaway last Thanksgiving and I had booked a large balcony room (which is shockingly only about 40-80 bucks more expensive than the normal balconies). The second was (as stated above) the Star this weekend and it was just a better located balcony (I wanted the right side of the ship since that would be the side facing land most of the time).

[roger001]

We're coming up on 20 ncl cruises and never had an offer. I just book what we want/like. Then as the cruise gets closer, I check prices. If something better then, I have on several occasions had my TA call and negotiate a different cabin. I've been fortunate to usually find very good deals and offers that we like initially.

[mom2tcdx2]

We were fortunate to get an upsell offer on our first NCL cruise, though it was a call I initiated myself.

 

Second cruise we booked an inside and remained with the inside.

 

Third cruise we booked on oceanview, were upgraded to a balcony at no cost. Though pretty sure this was due to work still being done on the Breakaway and the need for lower cabins for workers, etc. (This was the first TA sailing coming from Southampton).

 

Last cruise booked an oceanview and remained in the oceanview.

 

My upcoming breakaway cruise we booked a mini-suite, would love to be able to get a suite. However we have 4 to a cabin so that really limits what we are able to upgrade to. Though I do keep watching the prices, currently still way out of my price range, but I can always hope.

[s01836162]

We're coming up on 20 ncl cruises and never had an offer. I just book what we want/like. Then as the cruise gets closer, I check prices. If something better then, I have on several occasions had my TA call and negotiate a different cabin. I've been fortunate to usually find very good deals and offers that we like initially.

 

Wow, looks like I've gotten lucky. I will definitely appreciate the offers if I get them in the future. Very happy I took this one!

[4774Papa]

I think fewer Americans are going to Europe now and there may be more vacancies than you would expect.

[DMH15]

It seems everybody on CC who wants an upsell is getting one lately.

 

Only "losers" are those of us who book and pay for suites.

[s01836162]

It seems everybody on CC who wants an upsell is getting one lately.

 

Only "losers" are those of us who book and pay for suites.

 

I do feel a bit like I'm a stowaway in the nice part of the ship :). Doesn't matter, I'm going to enjoy it!

[darienill]

I do feel a bit like I'm a stowaway in the nice part of the ship :). Doesn't matter, I'm going to enjoy it!

 

You're on a roll, Maybe consider lottery tickets ??? LOL

[Ktuluorion]

It seems everybody on CC who wants an upsell is getting one lately.

 

Only "losers" are those of us who book and pay for suites.

 

I made a thread (somewhat) about this a couple months ago. I don't understand why NCL doesn't just lower the price of suites a little bit so that the demand matches the supply at that cost. Why offer upsells for $500 bucks when you might be able to fill them all upfront if you charge a 1.5k differential upfront from the mini suites or so.

 

The side effect of the current scenario is that people feel a little bilked paying full price knowing there are so many cheap upsells. I paid 4k a head for a penthouse suite in march, and I can't help but wonder if I could have just bought balconies at 1.5/head and upsold for 1k. Would have been half the price.

[s01836162]

I made a thread (somewhat) about this a couple months ago. I don't understand why NCL doesn't just lower the price of suites a little bit so that the demand matches the supply at that cost. Why offer upsells for $500 bucks when you might be able to fill them all upfront if you charge a 1.5k differential upfront from the mini suites or so.

 

The side effect of the current scenario is that people feel a little bilked paying full price knowing there are so many cheap upsells. I paid 4k a head for a penthouse suite in march, and I can't help but wonder if I could have just bought balconies at 1.5/head and upsold for 1k. Would have been half the price.

 

We can speculate with some made-up but reasonable numbers.

 

Let's say that full price for a suite is $4000/person and upsell price is $2000/person. Let's say the alternative is sell all suites at the lower price of $3000/person.

 

Let's say that there are 20 suites on every ship (I'm sure this isn't accurate, but it illustrates the point).

 

Let's say they they typically book 80% of suites at full price at current price points.

 

Old method is (16 suites * 2 people) * 4000 + (4 suites * 2 people) * 2000 = 128000 + 16000 = 144000.

 

New method is (20 suites * 2 people) * 3000 = 120000.

 

And new method isn't guaranteed to book at 20 suites which probably would require upsells anyway. I think, basically, upsells are probably more profitable than pure lowered price point and can't really be avoided. All you can do is try to minimize them.

[jm485]

It seems everybody on CC who wants an upsell is getting one lately.

 

Only "losers" are those of us who book and pay for suites.

 

IDK about that. We're in an SF on the Gem in September and paid whatever the rate was at the time I booked. Hasn't changed since then, most of the cabins are gone.

 

We only have 1 "real" vacation a year -- we both have outside jobs, and with having to budget days off from work to take care of household things, family events, etc., it just works out that way. We don't want to gamble that we'd have a room that isn't what we want just to lower the cost, if the "full" price is in the budget.

 

Everyone has a different approach to how they treat their vacations. If we could take 2 or 3 vacations a year, maybe we'd feel differently about it. But I certainly don't feel like a "loser" for paying more for something than someone else did. If I feel the price I paid is worth it to me, then all is well and congrats to those who were willing to take a chance and were rewarded with a lower price.

 

FWIW -- I would likely say "no thanks" to just about any upsell offer we might get for Haven. Those side balconies are TINY! Would much rather have the big aft balcony than be in the Haven.

 

To OP: I wonder if the upsell offers relate to a need for the cabin you were booked into. From NCL's perspective -- if they can upsell you, that frees up a cabin to upsell someone from an inside or OV. Just a thought.

[s01836162]

IDK about that. We're in an SF on the Gem in September and paid whatever the rate was at the time I booked. Hasn't changed since then, most of the cabins are gone.

 

We only have 1 "real" vacation a year -- we both have outside jobs, and with having to budget days off from work to take care of household things, family events, etc., it just works out that way. We don't want to gamble that we'd have a room that isn't what we want just to lower the cost, if the "full" price is in the budget.

 

Everyone has a different approach to how they treat their vacations. If we could take 2 or 3 vacations a year, maybe we'd feel differently about it. But I certainly don't feel like a "loser" for paying more for something than someone else did. If I feel the price I paid is worth it to me, then all is well and congrats to those who were willing to take a chance and were rewarded with a lower price.

 

FWIW -- I would likely say "no thanks" to just about any upsell offer we might get for Haven. Those side balconies are TINY! Would much rather have the big aft balcony than be in the Haven.

 

To OP: I wonder if the upsell offers relate to a need for the cabin you were booked into. From NCL's perspective -- if they can upsell you, that frees up a cabin to upsell someone from an inside or OV. Just a thought.

 

Yeah. I completely get those who are bummed that the person in the suite next to them paid thousands of dollars less. However, that first person was guaranteed a suite, and probably was able to get the precise room they wanted. You are paying for the peace of mind of having the room you want and first (or at least early) pick of exact room number.

 

When the company has the two rules of "maximize revenue for rooms" and "never sail with empty rooms", I think it's unavoidable that you'll end up with upsells and, therefore, people who feel they overpaid, unfortunately.

Edited June 22, 2016 by s01836162

[Ktuluorion]

We can speculate with some made-up but reasonable numbers.

 

Let's say that full price for a suite is $4000/person and upsell price is $2000/person. Let's say the alternative is sell all suites at the lower price of $3000/person.

 

Let's say that there are 20 suites on every ship (I'm sure this isn't accurate, but it illustrates the point).

 

Let's say they they typically book 80% of suites at full price at current price points.

 

Old method is (16 suites * 2 people) * 4000 + (4 suites * 2 people) * 2000 = 128000 + 16000 = 144000.

 

New method is (20 suites * 2 people) * 3000 = 120000.

 

And new method isn't guaranteed to book at 20 suites which probably would require upsells anyway. I think, basically, upsells are probably more profitable than pure lowered price point and can't really be avoided. All you can do is try to minimize them.

 

From what I can see, I doubt they are selling 80% of suites at full price. I just did a quick search for cruises for this month, and see suites available on every sailing except for one.

 

For a 7/2 sailing, I see 10 H4, 2 H5, and 1 H7 rooms all available. I'm sure for a cruise next week they are already upselling as well.

 

I'm not sure what the optimal price is, but i'm certain that there is a number where they will be close to 100% occupied at a higher than upsell rate.

 

Also, like I said above, I'm concerned that the long term effect of the current pricing might have a negative effect down the road (people see that they are getting a "bad deal" and book lower cabins in the future, driving down the amount of full price haven bookings in the future.)

[mafig]

Do people have better luck with upsells if they book themselves or through a TA?

[s01836162]

Speaking only for myself, I book directly with ncl.com and I'm 2/2 for upsell offers.

[davesgirl51]

So I'm doing my second cruise through NCL in a few days. It's the Baltic cruise on the Star. I called a couple of weeks ago and asked if they had any ideas if I'd get offered an upsell. They guessed that it would be unlikely because the ship was almost full. Turns out I did get an offer (yay!) which I was happy to take (honeymoon, once in a lifetime and all that).

 

So, 2/2 of my cruises I was offered an upsell from balcony to suite (both pretty high demand cruises). I am wondering if anyone has a fairly good idea how often a cruiser is NOT offered an upsell when they originally booked a balcony? Is it probably a mostly successful strategy to always book balcony (which isn't bad) and be pretty confident you'll get an upsell offer to suite?

 

Side question; do higher cost category balconies get upsell offers before lower cost category balconies?

 

I have cruised over 55 cruises with NCL and NEVER gotten an upsell !

[The Merrill]

We are booked Sept. 10 sailing mid-ship aft balcony. I have been watching the price and it has gone down by $125 thus far. Of course we're about 80 days out at this point. How does the whole upsell thing work? Does NCL call or email you with the offer? Can you negotiate a better price? We booked through a TA for this cruise if that matters. Do you loose anything if you decide to take the offer? Just wondering .. :) and maybe dreaming a little bit lol

[darienill]

We are booked Sept. 10 sailing mid-ship aft balcony. I have been watching the price and it has gone down by $125 thus far. Of course we're about 80 days out at this point. How does the whole upsell thing work? Does NCL call or email you with the offer? Can you negotiate a better price? We booked through a TA for this cruise if that matters. Do you loose anything if you decide to take the offer? Just wondering .. :) and maybe dreaming a little bit lol

 

If you used a TA they will call them. If you booked direct they will call you.

[Mr and Mrs C]

Anyone can ask for an upsell, just call the upsell number.

[Mr and Mrs C]

Upsell department

1-800-625-4309

[s01836162]

We are booked Sept. 10 sailing mid-ship aft balcony. I have been watching the price and it has gone down by $125 thus far. Of course we're about 80 days out at this point. How does the whole upsell thing work? Does NCL call or email you with the offer? Can you negotiate a better price? We booked through a TA for this cruise if that matters. Do you loose anything if you decide to take the offer? Just wondering .. :) and maybe dreaming a little bit lol

 

For me, the offers came as emails. I never received a call. We got the offers around 2 weeks out.

 

I have read on here you can negotiate. I didn't bother trying. I doubt the upsell agent will get all angry at your for negotiating and rescind the offer, so probably no harm trying.

 

I don't think you can lose anything. MAYBE you could lose the 9 months early Latitude points, but my booking date didn't change, so I don't think you would.

 

Note that when you upsell to a suite, you get the suite perks, but you do not get all 4 of the special offers that full price suite people typically get.

[Ktuluorion]

Apologies, double post and can't find a way to delete.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Ktuluorion

[CamaCama]

Anyone can ask for an upsell, just call the upsell number.

 

Yup doesn't matter if you booked through TA or NCL directly... just call the number Mr and Mrs C posted above. They will give you an offer and if you take it you just give them your CC info to pay for the upgrade. Don't wait for them to call you!!! Calling 14 days out or less is your best bet.