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I just received a complimentary upgrade from mid-ship to aft balcony!

RoobyDoo

By RoobyDoo,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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RoobyDoo

RoobyDoo

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I’m booked on the Breakaway for a late May sailing, in a mid-ship balcony (BA). I made final payment in mid-January. My paid cruise fare is $1479pp, and the current fare is $1229 for a BA balcony. I was considering calling NCL at a later date, to see if they might give me some modest OBC due to the $250 price drop, as that has been suggested on these boards.

 

But I called today for a different purpose. I was curious to see if I could get a cabin upgrade from mid-ship balcony to aft balcony, if I paid the difference between the current prices of those two cabins. BA balcony is now $1229, aft balcony is $1349, so the fare difference is $120. I asked this question of the NCL rep, then she put me on hold while she discussed with a supervisor. After several minutes, she replied that they would offer me a complimentary upgrade to an aft balcony! I went silent for a few seconds because I wasn’t expecting this response. I figured they would either say no, or maybe they’d take this opportunity to offer me a small amount of OBC as compensation for the fare decrease.

 

So I guess you could say I made an unofficial “bid” of $120 to upgrade from mid-ship to aft balcony, and they accepted my “bid” for free. Of course, not really “free”, since Ithe fare I have paid is still more than a current aft balcony would cost. But I am happy to have received the aft balcony upgrade instead of OBC!

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lescas

lescas

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I bid for upgrades on Getaway and got it, 70 pp for window from inside. Tried all three categories, but glad I got at least one step up. This was at 48 hr window exactly. We sail tomorrow, March 31st! Of course after I printed out the luggage tags 🙂

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KermitClin

KermitClin

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On 3/29/2019 at 5:47 PM, RoobyDoo said:

I’m booked on the Breakaway for a late May sailing, in a mid-ship balcony (BA).

 

If you don't mind sharing, which sailing are you on? I'm also sailing on the Breakaway in late May and tried to purchase an upgrade last week. The upgrade would have been about $40pp more than what I originally paid compared to the current pricing (Oceanview to a BD Balcony). Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky as you and NCL offered $480 for the two of us to upgrade to the balcony, which we didn't accept. If we're on the same sailing as you, I'm thinking it might be worth asking them again. lol

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havenfan

havenfan

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20 minutes ago, KermitClin said:

 

If you don't mind sharing, which sailing are you on? I'm also sailing on the Breakaway in late May and tried to purchase an upgrade last week. The upgrade would have been about $40pp more than what I originally paid compared to the current pricing (Oceanview to a BD Balcony). Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky as you and NCL offered $480 for the two of us to upgrade to the balcony, which we didn't accept. If we're on the same sailing as you, I'm thinking it might be worth asking them again. lol

 

I know that, technically, NCL doesn't have to let you upgrade yourself after final payment by paying the difference between the current price and your original price, but I thought they pretty much always allowed it anyway.  Has anyone else been denied when they tried this?

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RoobyDoo

RoobyDoo

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19 hours ago, KermitClin said:

 

If you don't mind sharing, which sailing are you on? I'm also sailing on the Breakaway in late May and tried to purchase an upgrade last week. The upgrade would have been about $40pp more than what I originally paid compared to the current pricing (Oceanview to a BD Balcony). Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky as you and NCL offered $480 for the two of us to upgrade to the balcony, which we didn't accept. If we're on the same sailing as you, I'm thinking it might be worth asking them again. lol

 

I'm on the May 26th cruise out of Miami ("7 Day Western Caribbean"). Our situations are a little bit different though. I was asking for an upgrade within the same stateroom type, i.e., Balcony (from mid-ship to aft), while you are trying to upgrade to a different type (OV to Balcony).  Maybe that's why they're not being as generous with your case. Can't hurt to keep trying. I'm sure it must also depend on whichever rep handles your call, if it's not your PCC. (My original PCC who booked me no longer works there, so I was dealing with a random rep in this instance). Enjoy your cruise!

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KermitClin

KermitClin

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6 minutes ago, RoobyDoo said:

 

I'm on the May 26th cruise out of Miami ("7 Day Western Caribbean"). Our situations are a little bit different though. I was asking for an upgrade within the same stateroom type, i.e., Balcony (from mid-ship to aft), while you are trying to upgrade to a different type (OV to Balcony).  Maybe that's why they're not being as generous with your case. Can't hurt to keep trying. I'm sure it must also depend on whichever rep handles your call, if it's not your PCC. (My original PCC who booked me no longer works there, so I was dealing with a random rep in this instance). Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks! We're also on different cruises, so I'm guessing that's the biggest factor. A few years ago, I upgraded from and Inside to a Balcony after final payment was due and we only had to pay the difference. I was rather surprised when they came back with a much higher offer. Our TA was the one requesting the upgrade for us (as she was last time too) and she said she talked to the supervisor and also tried to talk to the supervisor's supervisor, but they stuck firm on their upgrade offer. No biggie though, it was worth trying and we still have plenty of time left to try again if we want to. Regardless of which cabin we're in, we're thrilled to be on a cruise! Hope you have a great time on yours too!

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bjtravelnews

bjtravelnews

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On 4/1/2019 at 12:30 PM, KermitClin said:

Thanks! We're also on different cruises, so I'm guessing that's the biggest factor. A few years ago, I upgraded from and Inside to a Balcony after final payment was due and we only had to pay the difference. I was rather surprised when they came back with a much higher offer. Our TA was the one requesting the upgrade for us (as she was last time too) and she said she talked to the supervisor and also tried to talk to the supervisor's supervisor, but they stuck firm on their upgrade offer. No biggie though, it was worth trying and we still have plenty of time left to try again if we want to. Regardless of which cabin we're in, we're thrilled to be on a cruise! Hope you have a great time on yours too!

I think whether they accept your offer or not may be dependent on how many unbooked rooms they have in the category you are requesting and how close you are to sailing.

 

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KermitClin

KermitClin

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2 minutes ago, bjtravelnews said:

I think whether they accept your offer or not may be dependent on how many unbooked rooms they have in the category you are requesting and how close you are to sailing.

 

We didn't make them an offer, just requested how much it would cost to upgrade to a new cabin now. I've since learned that the reason why NCL's offer to upgrade was so high was because it included taxes we didn't have to pay as part of a promo they were running last April when we originally booked. That promo saved us about $400!

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alreadypacked

alreadypacked

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3 hours ago, KermitClin said:

We didn't make them an offer, just requested how much it would cost to upgrade to a new cabin now. I've since learned that the reason why NCL's offer to upgrade was so high was because it included taxes we didn't have to pay as part of a promo they were running last April when we originally booked. That promo saved us about $400!

 

We recently upgraded our OV cabin to a mini suite with no problem just by paying the difference in fare (which was under $200).

 

I simply checked the published price for the new room we wanted via the NCL website, called my vacation planner, told them the room number we wanted, and paid for it. We would never go through their Upgrade Advantage system because we like to pick our specific room number.

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KermitClin

KermitClin

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9 minutes ago, alreadypacked said:

 

We recently upgraded our OV cabin to a mini suite with no problem just by paying the difference in fare (which was under $200).

This is exactly what we were trying to do too, and what I've done in the past. However, this time the difference in fare also includes the taxes that we didn't have to pay with the original booking because of the TAXDAY promo that gave us free taxes and port fees. Upgrading our cabin would make us lose that promo and therefore have to pay all applicable taxes and port fees.

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alreadypacked

alreadypacked

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4 minutes ago, KermitClin said:

This is exactly what we were trying to do too, and what I've done in the past. However, this time the difference in fare also includes the taxes that we didn't have to pay with the original booking because of the TAXDAY promo that gave us free taxes and port fees. Upgrading our cabin would make us lose that promo and therefore have to pay all applicable taxes and port fees.

 

I see what you're saying.

 

Yes, we lost $110 OBC, but the new promo gave us $100 OBC, so only a $10 loss there. And yes, the taxes went up a little, as did the gratuities on the beverage and dining promos, but even with that, the upgrade was less than $200.

 

Just depends on the various factors of the particular sailing...

 

Sorry it didn't work out for you; maybe keep checking. You never know.

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KermitClin

KermitClin

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Just now, alreadypacked said:

Sorry it didn't work out for you; maybe keep checking. You never know.

 

Thanks, yeah I'm keeping an eye on the prices, but they'd have to drop a ridiculous amount to make up for the taxes that we didn't have to pay. I highly doubt they'll drop that low. I'd be great if they did, but I'll still be perfectly happy with my current cabin if they don't. 😊

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myjillian

myjillian

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On 3/29/2019 at 7:47 PM, RoobyDoo said:

I’m booked on the Breakaway for a late May sailing, in a mid-ship balcony (BA). I made final payment in mid-January. My paid cruise fare is $1479pp, and the current fare is $1229 for a BA balcony. I was considering calling NCL at a later date, to see if they might give me some modest OBC due to the $250 price drop, as that has been suggested on these boards.

 

But I called today for a different purpose. I was curious to see if I could get a cabin upgrade from mid-ship balcony to aft balcony, if I paid the difference between the current prices of those two cabins. BA balcony is now $1229, aft balcony is $1349, so the fare difference is $120. I asked this question of the NCL rep, then she put me on hold while she discussed with a supervisor. After several minutes, she replied that they would offer me a complimentary upgrade to an aft balcony! I went silent for a few seconds because I wasn’t expecting this response. I figured they would either say no, or maybe they’d take this opportunity to offer me a small amount of OBC as compensation for the fare decrease.

 

So I guess you could say I made an unofficial “bid” of $120 to upgrade from mid-ship to aft balcony, and they accepted my “bid” for free. Of course, not really “free”, since Ithe fare I have paid is still more than a current aft balcony would cost. But I am happy to have received the aft balcony upgrade instead of OBC!

WONDERFUL.....😍😎😁

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