Likelihood of NOT getting an upsell offer...

[4774Papa]

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.

 

We have been upgraded to a suite only once. That was on Celebrity Millennium last year.

 

The suite room was very large and bathroom had double sinks, a tub and separate shower. The balcony was extra large. We benefited by dining in the new Luminae dining room (just for suite guests).

 

One problem was that we had met some nice people on the cruise and they were not in suites, so dining with them made it a choice to forego the wonderful Luminae for the MDR.

 

That was not a huge problem, but in general, we agreed that we would NEVER pay for a suite outright and only take an upsell if the cost was modest.

 

We paid $800 total for that upsell for a two week cruise. That would be the very top of our ceiling for an upsell.

 

If we had more than two persons in the room, that would change our decision somewhat. Still, we just didn't think the suite life was that special.

[newmexicoNita]

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.

 

My experience exactly: we have had our TA negotiate a better location but cruising over 20 years on NCL and over 20 cruises and never offered an upgrade or upsell. I certainly am not complaining though. It seems to be just at random.

[CamaCama]

My experience exactly: we have had our TA negotiate a better location but cruising over 20 years on NCL and over 20 cruises and never offered an upgrade or upsell. I certainly am not complaining though. It seems to be just at random.

 

Yea but now you can call the upsell number and ask for one! :)

[anonmom]

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.

 

What are the suite perks that you do get? We got 2 upsell offers on our first cruise, but at $500pp, with 3 of us in the room (KSF) we would have been almost doubling our cruise fare (originally $1600 or so, not including taxes and fees). All of the suites obviously are nicer/bigger than the balcony rooms, but until you get into the multi-bedroom "garden villas" and such, they aren't that impressive, compared to an average hotel room, for instance.

[jimsig]

What are the suite perks that you do get? We got 2 upsell offers on our first cruise, but at $500pp, with 3 of us in the room (KSF) we would have been almost doubling our cruise fare (originally $1600 or so, not including taxes and fees). All of the suites obviously are nicer/bigger than the balcony rooms, but until you get into the multi-bedroom "garden villas" and such, they aren't that impressive, compared to an average hotel room, for instance.

 

 

When doing an upsell to a suite you keep any perks you got when booking (dining, UBP, shore ex, Wi-Fi etc.) but do not gain any booking perks. So if you choose dining and UBP you do not gain Wi-Fi and shore excursions. You also keep any OBC.

 

You do get all the other suite amenities such as priority check in, Butler & concierge service etc. Basically the stuff listed under Exclusive Amenities for the ships listed at the bottom of that page

https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/cruise-accommodations/cruise-suites-and-penthouses

 

I only had to pay the upsell fee for the first 2 people in our room

Edited June 23, 2016 by jimsig

[jimsig]

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.

 

I didn't receive any offers and called yesterday and upgraded from a mini-suite MB to a Family Suite SC for this Sunday on the Pearl. I tried to negotiate and she told me that as new prices had just come out the day before they could not lower them at that time. So it seems like you can negotiate and it might depend on when the upsell prices came out and when they may next change. It seemed like it was a common question they get asked as she did not seem put off by it and finished up bay saying she was sorry.

 

From what I have read here I believe when you upsell you don't loose any points but if you do an upgrade I believe you.

[Starflyr3]

From what I have read here I believe when you upsell you don't loose any points but if you do an upgrade I believe you.

 

Upgrade is different than upsell, and it did reset my booking date when I upgraded from OX to SE on our Pearl cruise. On the flip side, now we have all 4

perks

[jewelmick]

What are the suite perks that you do get? We got 2 upsell offers on our first cruise, but at $500pp, with 3 of us in the room (KSF) we would have been almost doubling our cruise fare (originally $1600 or so, not including taxes and fees). All of the suites obviously are nicer/bigger than the balcony rooms, but until you get into the multi-bedroom "garden villas" and such, they aren't that impressive, compared to an average hotel room, for instance.

 

The upsell price is for the first two people only...so would have been $1000, still a lot. It depends on what suite you are talking about.

 

I got an up-sell from BA to H2 for $500pp, so $1000 for three of us. We are going from just over to 200 Sq.ft. to 850 Sq.ft. If you compute price per sq.ft. per person, this is a STEAL!

[tinkr2]

We were in a haven spa on Getaway and am now booked in an Escape inside cabin. I booked the escape cruise really long time ago bc it was so cheap and I got 3 perks,internet, UBP, 4SDP. I have not sailed in an inside in quite some time. I very much want to upgrade to a haven or at least a balcony. has anyone heard of upgrades from an inside to a haven? I am sailing in September which is a slow season.

[4774Papa]

As I understand it final payment date has passed. I'll keep my eye on pricing. The base price for a balcony is close to the price for an inside and ocean views are sold out.

 

It is too early for upsells.

Edited June 23, 2016 by 4774Papa
typo

[jimsig]

As I understand it final payment date has passed. I'll keep my eye on pricing. The base price for a balcony is close to the price for an inside and ocean views are sold out.

 

It is too early for upsells.

 

Some have reported getting upsells as far as 30 days out. Have not heard of anyone getting an upsell further out then that.

[BirdTravels]

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.

 

Were your suites all upsells (3 for 3)?

[kollegekreed]

I've been on ten and never been offered one. Also don't want one, so I guess it doesn't matter...

[tggs726]

Has anyone been able to get through to the upsell department yesterday or today? I tried calling around 3 pm EST yesterday and again just now. I was with the "on hold" music and advertisements for about 20 minutes each time and gave up. any previous time I called I got through with in a minute or two. I'm hoping they haven't stopped taking incoming calls...

 

-Matt

[tinkr2]

I had the opposite experience, every time i called upset ,it took at least 30 minutes on hold, but just hang in here... I got through eventually.

[jewelmick]

Some have reported getting upsells as far as 30 days out. Have not heard of anyone getting an upsell further out then that.

 

I called the first time 6 weeks out, was told (very nicely) to call back the end of the week as nothing was released yet. I had to work that Thur and Fri so didn't get a chance to call until Monday.

 

When I called, all the H4 suites were sold out...but, she offered the H2. I booked the last one. If I had waited it would have been gone. SO, it really just depends on how the cabins are selling for that particular cruise. Keep an eye on the dates and don't hesitate to call, and don't wait.

 

Some people freak out when others seem to get something they don't. But, how many people REALLY spend the time doing the research? Not many. I know people at work who just take someones suggestion for a vacation (coworker or TA) book it and show up. It blows my mind that people are will hand over that kind of cash and not do any research.

 

I wonder what the numbers are of people who book a cruise compared to the number who even check out CC before hand?

[tggs726]

 

I wonder what the numbers are of people who book a cruise compared to the number who even check out CC before hand?

 

I've heard CC accounts for about 1% of the cruise population.

 

-Matt

[kbd0627]

I've heard CC accounts for about 1% of the cruise population.

 

-Matt

 

Hi Matt,

Some that have CC accounts come back after years because they booked a cruise. I see you've been a very busy cruiser since our Legend cruise in 07. Kids are adults now and they wanted to cruise again after years of land vacations.

Kevin

[txagfan]

Well...one things for sure this post has been seen by 2,000 people so chances are lower every time one of these posts are made. [emoji23]

 

There are no sure things so book cabin you want and are willing to pay for.

[tggs726]

Hi Matt,

Some that have CC accounts come back after years because they booked a cruise. I see you've been a very busy cruiser since our Legend cruise in 07. Kids are adults now and they wanted to cruise again after years of land vacations.

Kevin

 

Hey Kevin!

 

Its been quite some time since that Legend cruise but that one always sticks out in my mind because of the GREAT roll call we had!

 

A lot has changed since then! I'm married and have two kids(3 year old daughter and 1 year old son).

 

Glad to see you are back at it.

 

I run a Facebook Cruise group called Cruise Life if you are interested in joining. If you can find it yourself you can just request to join. There may be a number of groups with similar names. If you can't find it you can search for me on Facebook via my email matt7261@yahoo.com

 

Great to hear from you.

 

-Matt

 

PS Sorry to hijack this thread!

[zqvol]

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?

 

You are the exception. The vast majority of people do not get upsell offers. It may seem like they do because they brag about them on CC, but since CC represents less than 1% of all cruisers you can see that most never see such offers.

[mafig]

I have a theory, just a theory.

 

I think if you got a "good deal" on your balcony because of booking through a high volume TA or whatever that you will NOT get an upsell offer.

 

I think the upsells are offered first to those who paid more for their rooms. And usually that is those who have booked directly with the cruise line.

Edited June 25, 2016 by mafig

[anonmom]

I have a theory, just a theory.

 

I think if you got a "good deal" on your balcony because of booking through a high volume TA or whatever that you will NOT get an upsell offer.

 

I think the upsells are offered first to those who paid more for their rooms. And usually that is those who have booked directly with the cruise line.

 

I haven't had any luck getting better deals with online TAs. I called a couple before booking my Getaway cruise for January, and they hag the same exact prices as booking direct, except there was a small booking fee added, maybe $30 or so. They were offering more OBC, but it was non-refundable, so not worth it unless you were planning to spend extra money onboard, and we aren't.

[CruiserRob]

I have a theory, just a theory.

 

I think if you got a "good deal" on your balcony because of booking through a high volume TA or whatever that you will NOT get an upsell offer.

 

I think the upsells are offered first to those who paid more for their rooms. And usually that is those who have booked directly with the cruise line.

I booked with a high volume TA and called for an upsell. I went from an inside to a midship balcony - that's all I wanted. I suspect it was just vacated by someone upselling to a higher category.

 

Robert

[tggs726]

Just to try to avoid some confusion here, upsell and upgrade are not the same thing, they seem to be universally used on these boards a lot.

 

-Matt