Requesting new cabin after boarding

[revamp]

Any experiences with Norwegian what their experiences have been waiting in line at the desk to ask for new cabin or upgrade?  I have never considered it before, but the ship is sailing at such a low capacity.

[marco]

When are you sailing?  If the ship is sailing  with a lot of empty cabins, particularly higher categories than you booked, they may contact you to "up sell" before sailing date.

[Herfnerd]

11 minutes ago, revamp said:

  I have never considered it before, but the ship is sailing at such a low capacity.

Just curious if you know that for sure.  It probably wouldn't hurt to ask at Guest Services once you board, but I would imagine that if they are like other cruise lines,  they sail full or very-nearly full.  Higher level cabins are usually "upsold" in the week or so prior to sailing, which then frees up some mid-level cabins to be "upsold." Once the upselling process is complete, the remaining cabins are usually filled by either last-minute purchases, or by travel agents  

[Kartgv]

Ships usually don't sail with too many unfilled cabins - unless you're maybe talking about a Bahamas or Caribbean cruise this week?    In that case, you may be able to negotiate an upgrade onboard.   

[CruiserBruce]

I am also curious how you know the capacity of the ship, as that is not common public knowledge. Looking at "available " cabins on booking sites tells you nothing about how many guarantee bookings there are, which means one booking can take a category of cabin from appearing wide open, to full in a click of a mouse.

 

Been cruising for decades, and on Cruise Critic for a pretty long time. We don't sail NCL, but nothing indicates to me that you can just walk on board and sweet talk your way into a much better cabin for pennies. I sure it is tried daily, but everything I hear is that if (and that is a huge "if") there is a higher level cabin available, they will be selling it for rack rate.

 

 

[BlueRiband]

6 hours ago, revamp said:

Any experiences with Norwegian what their experiences have been waiting in line at the desk to ask for new cabin or upgrade?  I have never considered it before, but the ship is sailing at such a low capacity.

Your chances for an upgrade after boarding are not good at all.  You might even see a sign noting that the ship is full even if it isn't.  Shipboard purser desks don't want to deal with it. 

 

Your best option might be to monitor fares.  (Although this is something not usually recommended once final payment has passed.)  If they go down ask NCL or your TA for an upgrade since the fare is now lower than what you paid.  It won't hurt to ask but they are under no obligation to upgrade.

[Elaine5715]

7 hours ago, revamp said:

Any experiences with Norwegian what their experiences have been waiting in line at the desk to ask for new cabin or upgrade?  I have never considered it before, but the ship is sailing at such a low capacity.

If you mean right now due to hurricane cancellations, I would say they don't change from normal practices of not allowing free upgrades to vacant staterooms.  If they did allow it, every cruiser would be lined up demanding to be moved to all the suites and balconies. 

[leaveitallbehind]

To add, even if you can upgrade on board the cruise lines will typically charge you the difference between what you paid for your stateroom and the last selling rate of the stateroom you are upgrading to.  Unless you have relatively high loyalty status with the cruise line they are not likely to move you to the higher category - say standard to suite - at no charge.  Those days are long gone in most cases.

[sparks1093]

As I understand it NCL uses a bidding process for potential upgrades and I doubt that they would stray from that. It can't hurt to ask I guess (although I personally wouldn't want to stand in a long line when the possibility for a "no" answer is so high).

[leaveitallbehind]

2 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

As I understand it NCL uses a bidding process for potential upgrades and I doubt that they would stray from that. It can't hurt to ask I guess (although I personally wouldn't want to stand in a long line when the possibility for a "no" answer is so high).

 

As does RCI and Celebrity - both in the weeks prior to departure.  On board upgrades are rare anymore.

Edited September 4, 2019 by leaveitallbehind