NCL drops prices dramatically after final payment date

[newmexicoNita]

15 hours ago, FLAHAM said:

 

Who has been on these boards for more than a day or two and does not fully understand that close-in sailings may (or may not) reduce prices to levels that do not apply to those past final payment?  This is pure whining.

thank you: we see this all the time; I think the OBC is very generous. What OP, did you expect? It is always good to remember when you  booked you were happy with the price. This is  one reason I rarely check pricing after final payment. Have you ever tried to get a cheaper air fare when the price drops? I do have to mention why do you think because you are top tear on any line this should make any difference? We have sailed NCL over 20 times, but would never think that should have much to do with getting special treatment. As for not sailing NCL again, I can understand your frustration but I can't quite understand, if you are normally satisfied with a product you would let this turn you to other lines only. What guarantee do you have another line would not do something similar? 

[Always Cruising]

To RedRover96 - the airlines will give you a voucher for the difference when a flight cost reduces significantly.  Usually there's a fee - American Airlines charged me only $100/person and I received two credit vouchers for $750 when a one way flight for 2 people came down $850/person.   I saw the difference; called AA and it was done in 5 minutes.

[Budget Queen]

16 minutes ago, Always Cruising said:

To RedRover96 - the airlines will give you a voucher for the difference when a flight cost reduces significantly.  Usually there's a fee - American Airlines charged me only $100/person and I received two credit vouchers for $750 when a one way flight for 2 people came down $850/person.   I saw the difference; called AA and it was done in 5 minutes.

How long ago?    With that kind of refund-  it was a high dollar flight to begin with.   Any status with the airline that you also used?    

[hawkman402]

17 hours ago, blcruising said:

Sorry this happened to you and I know how frustrating that can be. With NCL, you are often times better booking last minute if your travel schedule allows. Their pricing model is quite different than other cruise lines. They artificially inflate prices to levels where they can't sell out the ship, then drastically reduce prices in the penalty period. If you aren't able to book last minute and want a good deal, it is probably not a good idea to book with NCL. As more people figure out their scheme and have the same experience as you, early bookings at their inflated rates will decline, forcing them to adjust prices downward or sail with empty cabins. And as unhappy consumers share their negative experience, people will take their business to a different cruise line.

We just booked "last minute" for 3/31 on the Getaway.  Problem is the cost of last minute flight eats up all of the savings for those of us not in Florida.

[thetaro]

I booked Interior on Gem, and upgraded to Oceanview through upgrade. Price dropped last week before cruise, and balcony is now cheaper than my interior+upgrade price. so I called in and got an upgrade to Balcony.

Unfortunately, it's the price to pay to book early and not being flexible. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by thetaro

[david_sobe]

I had a LOL moment when the OP stated they would not sail NCL again but admits they sail often and platinum on other lines.  Hmmm, every cruise line has the same policy after final payment has been made.  I guess they wont be cruising anymore? Getting $400 OBC is actually a very nice gesture.

What kind of cruise or cabin drops $1000?   Haven suite?  Even a Haven suite usually does not drop that much.  I've seen $800 as the biggest price drop.

Edited March 8, 2019 by david_sobe

[Always Cruising]

To Budget Queen (sorry - I tried to quote your post, but can't figure how to do it!):  The flight was one way from US to NZ and it came down more than 50%.  The 2 travelers have no status with AA, and the change fee was somehow only $200 total.  Anyone can change a flight (it's cancelled and rebooked) with a $200 change fee for domestic flights.  So, as an example: if a flight comes down by $300 of so, a credit voucher good for one year is issued for the difference minus $200.  The voucher can be used by anyone that the recipient chooses. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by Always Cruising

[Georgie562]

I learned my lesson last year with NCL when after final payment they were offering Interior rooms on brand new NCL Bliss 14 day Panama Canal for as low as $599 (plus taxes and fees) when i paid almost 3 times that amount. Multiple phone calls to NCL about compensation and they could care less. Lesson learned, book after final payment or book another cruise line altogether.

Edited March 8, 2019 by Georgie562

[spanishguy1970]

1 hour ago, thetaro said:

I booked Interior on Gem, and upgraded to Oceanview through upgrade. Price dropped last week before cruise, and balcony is now cheaper than my interior+upgrade price. so I called in and got an upgrade to Balcony.

Unfortunately, it's the price to pay to book early and not being flexible. 

I have a similar situation. I have  a question for you, did NCL try to charge you more fees for upgrading to a balcony? I booked an inside guarantee on my coming cruise and after final payment the Balcony dropped to the point it was cheaper than my inside guarantee.  I  called my TA and she upgraded my stateroom  to a Balcony guarantee, but then she said NCL wanted to charge me fees for making the change, which quite frankly i kind of doubt that was the case and she wanted to make herself look good that she got me the upgrade for free...🤣

[newmexicoNita]

3 hours ago, Always Cruising said:

To RedRover96 - the airlines will give you a voucher for the difference when a flight cost reduces significantly.  Usually there's a fee - American Airlines charged me only $100/person and I received two credit vouchers for $750 when a one way flight for 2 people came down $850/person.   I saw the difference; called AA and it was done in 5 minutes.

not all airlines work that way and I do not believe AA always does. I am glad you were successful. Did this affect your seat assignment at all? 

[Always Cruising]

It states on AA website that domestic change fee is $200.  International fees vary (could be up to $700).  Seats stayed the same and reservation number stayed the same.  I've received the vouchers often when my fare has come down by more than $200.  I would show the AA site explaining the change fee, but I'm "technologically impaired"

[thetaro]

19 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

I have a similar situation. I have  a question for you, did NCL try to charge you more fees for upgrading to a balcony? I booked an inside guarantee on my coming cruise and after final payment the Balcony dropped to the point it was cheaper than my inside guarantee.  I  called my TA and she upgraded my stateroom  to a Balcony guarantee, but then she said NCL wanted to charge me fees for making the change, which quite frankly i kind of doubt that was the case and she wanted to make herself look good that she got me the upgrade for free...🤣

 

I don't think I paid any fee. The balcony price was cheaper than my interior + bidding to upgrade to oceanview. I guess I would need to pay a higher DSC if I upgrade to a suite.

[spanishguy1970]

2 minutes ago, thetaro said:

 

I don't think I paid any fee. The balcony price was cheaper than my interior + bidding to upgrade to oceanview. I guess I would need to pay a higher DSC if I upgrade to a suite.

that's what i thought. Our Balcony was also cheaper than the inside guarantee we had by about 100 dollars that is why we asked to switch so we were surprised when our TA told us they wanted to charge us a fee for switching....hmmmmm...

[mjkacmom]

54 minutes ago, Georgie562 said:

I learned my lesson last year with NCL when after final payment they were offering Interior rooms on brand new NCL Bliss 14 day Panama Canal for as low as $599 (plus taxes and fees) when i paid almost 3 times that amount. Multiple phone calls to NCL about compensation and they could care less. Lesson learned, book after final payment or book another cruise line altogether.

What mainstream cruise line would give you compensation for price drops after final payment?

[Georgie562]

11 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

What mainstream cruise line would give you compensation for price drops after final payment?

Carnival, in form of onboard credit  😃

[david_sobe]

7 minutes ago, Georgie562 said:

Carnival, in form of onboard credit  😃

Is not that what happened here?  NCL is not obligated but usually allows an upgrade or OBC for small price drops.  I would be shocked if Carnival or another cruise line would give someone $2000 OBC.  No way.  I suppose they would do exactly what NCL did, give OBC in a small percent of the price drop.

I had a price drop of $800 and once got $275 OBC.  I was thrilled.

Edited March 8, 2019 by david_sobe

[cscurlock]

4 hours ago, hawkman402 said:

We just booked "last minute" for 3/31 on the Getaway.  Problem is the cost of last minute flight eats up all of the savings for those of us not in Florida.

That's one of the big reasons I live in Florida.   You can basically leave on a moments notice and get the best prices 2 weeks out usually.   Everything until then is just over inflated.

[sfaaa]

1 hour ago, Georgie562 said:

Carnival, in form of onboard credit  😃

Only if you book ES. 

[AdGuyMG]

58 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I would be shocked if Carnival or another cruise line would give someone $2000 OBC.  No way.

Provided the booking was made with Carnival's Early Saver promotion, they honor price drops with OBC equal to the amount of the price drops up until 48 hours before the sailing date.

 

They do not offer this price protection for bookings made with other promotions such as Past Passenger, Resident, Military or Senior.

[April42749]

Everyone talks about getting OBC if the price drops.  I had a cruise in Oct and of course the price dropped.  I asked the TA if I could get an OBC and he said "no" (and quoted the official policy).  I doubt he actually asked.  It wasn't really that much, but just annoying.

 

In any case, I wish they would observe their official rules because it isn't fair that one person gets xx%, someone else gets yy% and someone else gets 0%.

 

In general I book NCL "at the end" because I know how to play their game. Other lines...no problem booking in advance as I find their prices more stable.

[Budget Queen]

2 hours ago, cscurlock said:

That's one of the big reasons I live in Florida.   You can basically leave on a moments notice and get the best prices 2 weeks out usually.   Everything until then is just over inflated.

 

I cruise based on itinerary.   It would be mostly worthless for me to live in Florida.   :)    Definitely I want a lot more.     Are Florida residents,  repeat cruisers,   ever bored cruising the same limited places?   

[erdoran]

6 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I had a LOL moment when the OP stated they would not sail NCL again but admits they sail often and platinum on other lines.  Hmmm, every cruise line has the same policy after final payment has been made.  I guess they wont be cruising anymore? Getting $400 OBC is actually a very nice gesture.

What kind of cruise or cabin drops $1000?   Haven suite?  Even a Haven suite usually does not drop that much.  I've seen $800 as the biggest price drop.

Garden Villa on my sailing at its highest was over $13k, at 60 days out it was $10k -that’s over $3k price difference per person.

[sirenitas]

19 hours ago, WestfieldTraveler said:

Does NCL allow you to buy-up to better cabin category after final payment day if it is still more than what you paid?

Yes, but you lose any perks from the original offer. You get the current offer perks. 

 

Prices went down a few days ago for our cruise in April. One of our cabins went down so we got an upgrade but our 2nd cabin did not go down. I upgraded the 2nd cabin from OV to BA, paid the difference but lost the $60 OBC from when we first booked. 

[Joebucks]

Here's tonight's scandal of the century.

 

- Customer agrees to a purchase at a fixed price.

- Customer receives said product at said price

- Customer then believes they deserve a lower price because one became available after a certain time period

- Customer is not entitled to that price. Is given $400 beyond what was ever agreed to

- "Never returning again"

 

I like the question asked of would you agree to having the price raised if the new price was higher. You locked in your price. No, you are not entitled to only fluctuations that are convenient to you. Cruise lines would go out of business if the customers got their way.

[Nyc2tropics]

On 3/7/2019 at 7:20 PM, sfaaa said:

You made your own decision when to book your cruise and for how much, not NCL. Why are you blaming NCL for your own wrong call and misfortune?

 

On 3/7/2019 at 7:40 PM, FLAHAM said:

 

 

you are $400 ahead the game.  

You shouldn’t be punished for booking early. Bad customer service. And don’t tell me that’s how all the cruise lines work cause that doesn’t mean it’s right. I would be mad too