confused about NCL free offers

[picantel]

I was looking at maybe booking the getaway next week but their free offers make no sense.

 

1)Interior guarantee cabin no free perks- $599 person

 

2)Interior cabin with free offer like specialty dining- $749 person. The problem is they pick the room for you like option 1. If the specialty dining is free then why are they charging $150 more a person with the same room category. Am I missing something?

[Goldconnection]

Sorry to say you are not missing anything. Oh don't forget there will also be a service charge of about $31 added to that free specialty dining option.

[Carolina Girl 99]

2)Interior cabin with free offer like specialty dining- $749 person. The problem is they pick the room for you like option 1. If the specialty dining is free then why are they charging $150 more a person with the same room category. Am I missing something?

 

Option 2 allowing you to pick 1 perk is not a guarantee category and you CAN pick your own room. The guarantee option in any category (inside, ocean view, balcony, etc) will always be cheaper since the cruiseline gets to assign your room, hence you will not get any of the free perks.

 

Sorry to say you are not missing anything. Oh don't forget there will also be a service charge of about $31 added to that free specialty dining option.

 

The service charge on specialty dining for a 7 night cruise is $12.42 pp

[kjquilts]

The problem is that since cruise is a week away many of the stateroom categories are sold out. The $599 pp category IX does not allow you to choose any perk and you cannot choose the stateroom. The next available category IF at $749 pp is basically sold out so although you can pick a promo perk you can't choose a stateroom because there aren't any left to choose from. You are guaranteed at least a category IF, could get that if a cabin becomes available or you could get anything above that category. The promo service charge for specialty dining is $12.42 pp for the week, for Ultimate Beverage Package it is $99.54 pp for the week. There is no promo service charge for the shore excursion or internet package perks if you elect one of those choices.

 

If you aren't wanting the Ultimate Beverage Package as your promo if I were you I'd book the Inside IX guarantee at $599 pp or the Oceanview OX category at $699 pp plus fees/taxes. The UBP is the best value promo perk if you enjoy a couple drinks a day and if that's the case you don't want to chose an "X" category. You can purchase a 3 meal Specialty Dining package for $81.42 which includes the gratuity.

 

We really loved our Getaway cruise !

[sfaaa]

I was looking at maybe booking the getaway next week but their free offers make no sense.

 

1)Interior guarantee cabin no free perks- $599 person

 

2)Interior cabin with free offer like specialty dining- $749 person. The problem is they pick the room for you like option 1. If the specialty dining is free then why are they charging $150 more a person with the same room category. Am I missing something?

 

You do tip on top of the meal price when you go out to a nice hotel restaurant on land, don't you? It's a similar concept on NCL ship.

[Crusin6]

Book the $599

 

 

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[Goldconnection]

Option 2 allowing you to pick 1 perk is not a guarantee category and you CAN pick your own room. The guarantee option in any category (inside, ocean view, balcony, etc) will always be cheaper since the cruiseline gets to assign your room, hence you will not get any of the free perks.

 

 

 

The service charge on specialty dining for a 7 night cruise is $12.42 pp

I stand corrected. I was basing the $30 charge on my up coming b2b (20 days total).

[hawkeyetlse]

Option 2 allowing you to pick 1 perk is not a guarantee category and you CAN pick your own room. The guarantee option in any category (inside, ocean view, balcony, etc) will always be cheaper since the cruiseline gets to assign your room, hence you will not get any of the free perks.

That may be how it works on some other cruise lines, but not on NCL. As kjquilts explained, just about any category (not just the "X" categories) can be offered on a guarantee basis, if for whatever reason there are no specific cabins available to be picked, but they still want to sell that category. You don't always get a cheaper price for letting them assign your room; the fare is determined by lots of different factors.

 

Sometimes IX is not the cheapest inside category. For example the fare for IF or IC can fall below the fare for IX, but you still get a perk with IC or IF, and nothing with IX. So make sure to look at all the prices, and monitor the entire category if you're watching for price drops.

 

 

In the OP's case I agree that it makes no sense to take option 2.

[kjquilts]

Price drop this morning on the OX oceanview guarantee category - no perks. $649 cruise fare pp plus $157.46 pp port fees/taxes for total of $1,612.92 for two for the week. Looks like they've lowered the single supplement for this cruise because the total for a single is $1,130.96 for this category. LOL I love Oregon but it "hurts" to see last minute pricing on cruises out of Florida.

[ray98]

As above...the base GTY category has no perks and is normally the lowest price, you can be assigned anywhere in an inside cabin. The other categories are normally choose your room but can also be GTY as supply dwindles, if they move to GTY status they will be for a specific class inside or better when one comes available. If you aren't looking for the UBP then you are better booking the IX unless you are opposed to IC or ID cabins.

Edited March 13, 2017 by ray98

[sanger727]

As sailing gets closer, choosing a room always costs more than a guarantee... because plenty of people don't want to risk being in an desirable location or need rooms close together. So yes, you are paying a bit extra for the 'free' perk, but mostly are paying extra to pick you room (try booking a perk free cruise on carnival or royal and will see the same pricing trends). If the perk and choosing the room has little to no value to you, then choose the guarantee.

 

Personally I like to pick my room, so would pay the extra $150 pp just for that.

 

 

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[ray98]

As sailing gets closer, choosing a room always costs more than a guarantee... because plenty of people don't want to risk being in an desirable location or need rooms close together. So yes, you are paying a bit extra for the 'free' perk, but mostly are paying extra to pick you room (try booking a perk free cruise on carnival or royal and will see the same pricing trends). If the perk and choosing the room has little to no value to you, then choose the guarantee.

 

Personally I like to pick my room, so would pay the extra $150 pp just for that.

 

 

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....both are guarantees. There is no select your room option at this point.

[Carolina Girl 99]

The problem is that since cruise is a week away many of the stateroom categories are sold out. The $599 pp category IX does not allow you to choose any perk and you cannot choose the stateroom. The next available category IF at $749 pp is basically sold out so although you can pick a promo perk you can't choose a stateroom because there aren't any left to choose from. You are guaranteed at least a category IF, could get that if a cabin becomes available or you could get anything above that category. The promo service charge for specialty dining is $12.42 pp for the week, for Ultimate Beverage Package it is $99.54 pp for the week. There is no promo service charge for the shore excursion or internet package perks if you elect one of those choices.

We really loved our Getaway cruise !

 

That may be how it works on some other cruise lines, but not on NCL. As kjquilts explained, just about any category (not just the "X" categories) can be offered on a guarantee basis, if for whatever reason there are no specific cabins available to be picked, but they still want to sell that category. You don't always get a cheaper price for letting them assign your room; the fare is determined by lots of different factors.

 

Sometimes IX is not the cheapest inside category. For example the fare for IF or IC can fall below the fare for IX, but you still get a perk with IC or IF, and nothing with IX. So make sure to look at all the prices, and monitor the entire category if you're watching for price drops.

 

 

In the OP's case I agree that it makes no sense to take option 2.

 

 

Thanks kj and hawkeyetlse- I totally forgot about normal categories going guarantee as supply dwindles. The time change and posting at 2am sometimes plays tricks on the brain ;)