How are sail away room assigned?

[snoozcroozr]

I was wondering how sail away rooms assigned?  Is age, latitude level or other factors taken into account?

 

I am asking because we are 4 people where everyone came to full agreement on a cruise relatively close to the sailing date.  We initially thought we would book oceanview and bid for something higher, since all balconies were sold out.  But a few days of Q&A and we noticed more catagories disappearing and price going up $50/day.  So we took the plunge on booking 2 sail away oceanview rooms, and that same evening, the whole ship was sold out so there wasn't even a chance to bid for an upgrade.

 

I thought if all the rooms are sold out, they could assign our sail away rooms pretty quick, but it still took a while, and when we got the room, it was the basic O8 room, which we expected (maybe not the connecting to adjacent room part), but the other 2 people got assigned an O1 room (family oceanview) a couple of days later on.  I would have thought its a first come basis (we booked our room before theirs), first assigned would be of better rooms, and we also are gold members while they are brand new cruisers.  So all these factors, we thought we should have ended up with the better room.  Their only factor is one of the cruiser in the other party is an oldie.  Unless it is truly random and they got the longer end of the stick.

[hladygirl]

I am platinum and booked an inside sailaway for the 1st time. Got the worst cabin ever. The farthest forward on deck eight on gem. It was horrible during rough seas. Met others that booked sailaway after me with no latitude status and they got great cabin assignments. Who knows???

[Liljo22]

I would think it would have to be random.  If there was a hierarchy why would the highest level book anything else if they would be guaranteed the better rooms.

[hladygirl]

True. The only reason I booked a sailaway is because it was last minute(4 days till sailing), great price and first solo cruise with no solo supplement.

Edited November 29, 2019 by hladygirl

[April42749]

I know how you feel...but it's probably entirely random.

 

It upsets me when people play $20 in the casino and then they get "free cruises" when I play $20 a minute and never got an offer.

[macandlucy]

Based on an extremely small sample (my experience vs. my new-to-NCL friends' experience, and CC posts), I think that the first time NCL time cruiser tends to get the better assignment.  (I've noticed that many companies court the new customer, offering all sorts of enticement goodies to the new, so this idea in business would not be an NCL-only one.) I think they give the new NCLer the best cabin they can with the aim to convert them to a repeat customer.  

 

If it's a previous customer vs. another previous customer, I have no guess about how they assign cabins. 

[Mike_DeA]

It's random, there are many stories on CC about this and there is no discernible pattern.

[Mike_DeA]

15 hours ago, April42749 said:

I know how you feel...but it's probably entirely random.

 

It upsets me when people play $20 in the casino and then they get "free cruises" when I play $20 a minute and never got an offer.

 

Unlikely that anyone playing that little in the casino gets free cruises, especially now that NCL has tighten up on the casino dept.

 

Do you call Casinos-At-Sea to inquire about what they will offer you?  It's good to have a few dates/ships in mind when calling?  They don't typically send out emails/mailers with offers so you need to call CAS.

 

Also, how many point do you typically accumulate?  I'm basing this on the assumption that you do use your card to allow them to track your play.

[April42749]

8 minutes ago, Mike_DeA said:

 

Unlikely that anyone playing that little in the casino gets free cruises, especially now that NCL has tighten up on the casino dept.

 

Do you call Casinos-At-Sea to inquire about what they will offer you?  It's good to have a few dates/ships in mind when calling?  They don't typically send out emails/mailers with offers so you need to call CAS.

 

Also, how many point do you typically accumulate?  I'm basing this on the assumption that you do use your card to allow them to track your play.

Thanks for the response.  I really meant that "casino comparison" as tongue-in-cheek.   And, I'm assuming these self-proclaimed low rollers who get these free cruises are telling the truth. 

[Love Blue]

2 hours ago, macandlucy said:

Based on an extremely small sample (my experience vs. my new-to-NCL friends' experience, and CC posts), I think that the first time NCL time cruiser tends to get the better assignment.  (I've noticed that many companies court the new customer, offering all sorts of enticement goodies to the new, so this idea in business would not be an NCL-only one.) I think they give the new NCLer the best cabin they can with the aim to convert them to a repeat customer.  

 

If it's a previous customer vs. another previous customer, I have no guess about how they assign cabins. 

Agree.  Your theory may also apply to upgrade bids, which we have never had any success with! 

[Starry Eyes]

In my experience, it is random.  You both got at least what you paid for, and it does not sound like either one got assigned the worst OV cabin on the ship, so really you all should be smiling.  Age and latitudes status likely do not matter, at least not as far as I can tell after plenty of bookings. They just got a bit luckier this time.  Sometimes booking a bit later MAY get a better assignment, as lower categories may have already been assigned to others, but that is only sometimes.  Be happy for them.

[Venus4NU]

In regards to free cruise comps with the casino.  I am one who gets them all the time.  Nearly every other cruise I go on is a free comp cruise.  I pay the taxes and an ad fee.  I booked one on Wednesday on the Breakaway selling in February.  We paid $324 per person for an inside room.  Got assigned the worst room possible BUT I just got the chance to bid for an upgrade so I did that and hope to get moved to an ocean view or balcany.  I am hitting about 50/50 on past cruises when bidding.  Always get notified about 2 to 3 days before selling.

 

Regarding the comp cruises.  I budge $20 a day for the casino.  IF I win I keep playing.  Sometimes playing for 10 minutes and other times 3 or 4 hours.  Mostly in the 10 minute area.  The free offers always comes through Harrah's.  We have 3 Harrah properties near us and we visit them MAYBE once a year but I have their players card.  I get a post card in the mail about once a year to go swipe my card and pick up my free cruise.  And, when I book a free cruise I ALWAYS get the unlimited drinks in the casino with it.  We are not big drinkers - maybe one or two a day so I don't buy the drink package - I will just slip in the casino order a dink and tip the bartender good.

[ray98]

Random.

[snoozcroozr]

I am at least glad that the better room went with the first time cruisers that came with us.  But I completely overlooked on how much of a sea leg that we have acquired that the rough sailing that we went out with made them both sick and then drowsy when they dosed up in medication as a precaution, while even though we felt the movement, it did not affect us at all.

[BirdTravels]

17 hours ago, snoozcroozr said:

I am at least glad that the better room went with the first time cruisers that came with us.  But I completely overlooked on how much of a sea leg that we have acquired that the rough sailing that we went out with made them both sick and then drowsy when they dosed up in medication as a precaution, while even though we felt the movement, it did not affect us at all.

If location on the ship is important, then book a class where you can pick your room. There are countless thread on how people hate the room they were assigned. But it saved them $50 pp. 

[HEATH3913]

I booked my first Norwegian cruise, sail away inside on Escape. I was assigned IB on the 12th deck middle of the ship. It seems like a decent random pick.

Edited December 14, 2019 by HEATH3913

[bob brown]

I wonder how it works...

Obviously, NCL’s software recognizes which cabins are more desirable to most people...they are priced and categorized accordingly.  When you book, once you choose a category, they automatically suggest the “best available” within that category.

 

I agree that it is a matter of luck when last minute booker’s get a nice cabin, most likely because of a last minute cancellation, or someone that previously held that cabin was awarded an upgrade...

[lamchops]

I’ve been on 5 sail away bookings and they are randomly selected. We’ve had rooms assigned anywhere from 30-90 days out. Some cabins were fantastic but none were horrible. On my upcoming New Zealand cruise I did a mock booking for a sail away Oceanview to check pricing and it offered me a cabin. The obstructed view cabin did not have a tender obstructing the view but had a short life boat which only obstructs the view of the water. I went and booked it through my CPC. No perks but saved $800 and got to choose my cabin. There never seems to be any rhythm or reasoning to what NCL does sometimes.

[snoozcroozr]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

If location on the ship is important, then book a class where you can pick your room. There are countless thread on how people hate the room they were assigned. But it saved them $50 pp. 

They completely ran out of balcony so I booked a oceanview.  Since they are all pretty much on the 5th floor on the Bliss and don't have the tiny portholes of the Gem class ships, these rooms are all pretty much the same to me, so being able to select my own room and have 2 free at sea (which I don't want given I buy my own dining and wine package) for a much higher cost makes no sense to me.