Another Price Drop After Final Payment Gripe

[SnorkelChick]

We have 2 cabins, balcony and inside, for the Escape on March 28.  This is our first time cruising with NCL.  I noticed a total price drop yesterday of $660.  Called my PCC.  He put me on hold for a while and then came back with $165 OBC, which is 25%, or an upgrade to a mini-suite for the balcony, or an upgrade for the inside to an oceanview.  I took the OBC.

[gmbhardy]

Looks like it helps to have a PCC go to bat for you.

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, gmbhardy said:

Looks like it helps to have a PCC go to bat for you.

Is your TA doing a lot for you, such as booking incentives and excellent service?  If so, are those booking incentives (every cruise, presumably) worth more than the occasional post final payment price drop upgrade vs OBC tradeoff? Is the TA noticing these price drops him/herself, or are you doing it yourself?   Does the TA provide good travel advice (or do you not need it at this point)?

 

I tend to book direct as I like to control my own booking and do not need or like having a middleman.  Nonetheless, if one has a really good TA, I doubt I would give them up over such an issue.  Maybe be certain the good agent really understands your priorities when price drops occur.  OTOH, I’d drop a bad or so-so agent in a heartbeat.

[kelib]

I booked a 13 day cruise in April less than a month ago. At the time the single supplement was at 150%, and the price was good. After being on a roll call I decided to check and found out that the price went down to no single supplement. I contacted my TA and she called right away. The difference was maybe $400. The offered me to buy the upgrade from interior to balcony for $500 which I declined, but then with my TA ended up getting $270 OBC. I already had $100 OBC from my TA so going in as a solo with that much OBC  is pretty sweet. (Never in my wildest dreams that I think I would get that much)
 

[kmchisholm]

We booked a 3 day cruise through a TA for the end of March in mid-Feb. Since then, prices have dropped so an ocean view is now the price we paid for an inside. I called once, got $30 onboard credit, called back today and received an upgrade plus additional “extra at sea”. 
 

Note, when I called I started the conversation with, I know I should expect no, but I’m going to ask. I give credit to the TA for calling Norwegian and asking and them for coming through. 
 

 

[Gracelyn]

On 2/23/2020 at 5:16 PM, EllieinNJ said:

Mine dropped $500 and my TA called and said I can only upgrade to a mini from my angled balcony.  I wanted to keep my cabin and asked for $125 OBC (25%).  Got it!  Maybe should have asked for more?

Hi...how do you find angled cabins?

thanks 

gracelyn

[EllieinNJ]

8 hours ago, Gracelyn said:

Hi...how do you find angled cabins?

thanks 

gracelyn

You have to look at the deck plans and see which balcony cabins bump out.  Then you have to see if any of them are available.  NCL only lists 15 cabins at a time so might have to call for availability.

[DandytheCop]

FYI, scheduled my July 12 Encore trip in August 2019. The price after Black Friday was almost $900 higher than when I put down my deposit, and that’s after the 30% off deal.  This morning 2/26/20 the price is now $160 LESS than what I got. I paid $1909 for a mid ship balcony category BA. Maybe the Virus outbreak is effecting the summer cruises. 

[Gracelyn]

14 hours ago, DandytheCop said:

FYI, scheduled my July 12 Encore trip in August 2019. The price after Black Friday was almost $900 higher than when I put down my deposit, and that’s after the 30% off deal.  This morning 2/26/20 the price is now $160 LESS than what I got. I paid $1909 for a mid ship balcony category BA. Maybe the Virus outbreak is effecting the summer cruises. 

Great! Will look for that next cruise. 

[walkenmishoos]

Booked 2 inside cabins last October for April  Europe sailing (platinum latitudes). Price has dropped approximately $2000 per cabin.  TA called NCL to inquire about upgrade/obc. NCL Australia response....NO.. Australian office obviously not as generous nor do they care about their customers....

[blueslily]

21 hours ago, DandytheCop said:

FYI, scheduled my July 12 Encore trip in August 2019. The price after Black Friday was almost $900 higher than when I put down my deposit, and that’s after the 30% off deal.  This morning 2/26/20 the price is now $160 LESS than what I got. I paid $1909 for a mid ship balcony category BA. Maybe the Virus outbreak is effecting the summer cruises. 

 

There was lots of chatter on here about Black Friday pricing, 30% off "sale", etc. Many prices were inflated quite a bit  in advance for those sales so they are not really good reference points. Then the prices did or did not reduce to make up for the inflation before the sales. Silly behavior, but works if people are not watching what's happening and really think they got a deal. So the later drops are not really related to the virus unless you are saying that your sailing is to an area of concern. Sorry, don't see your cruise destinations. For a July sailing, it's possible that the price will drop more. Itinerary a factor as well. 

[SAmome]

I once got $50 obc off of a 200 drop.  They told me they first had to look for upgrades, which there weren't an available that could be obtained (only 200 drop and the next level up was higher, we also had cabins next to each other that I don't think they could reproduce).  It could have changed and it could be there's no exact formula, but they made it sound like obc could be obtained with supervisor approval for 25% of the price drop IF there was no upgrade available.

[walkenmishoos]

Guess I'm just trying to ascertain why this policy differs outside of American and/or Northern hemisphere offices.  Would assume that what is good for the goose is good for the gander....but so far not to be.

[All-ready2cruise]

28 minutes ago, walkenmishoos said:

Guess I'm just trying to ascertain why this policy differs outside of American and/or Northern hemisphere offices.  Would assume that what is good for the goose is good for the gander....but so far not to be.

I wonder if you might get an answer on the Australian board. I think the differences you're referring to might be due to regulations set by your government. 

Anyway, here's the link to Australia board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/564-australia-new-zealand-cruisers/

Good luck. 

[smplybcause]

1 hour ago, walkenmishoos said:

Guess I'm just trying to ascertain why this policy differs outside of American and/or Northern hemisphere offices.  Would assume that what is good for the goose is good for the gander....but so far not to be.

 

I don't think those over UK can take advantage of the price drops like that either. I'm sure it has to have something to do with regulations and protections. ie I know the deposits in UK are non-refundable but they're refundable in the US. And over in the UK the free at sea works differently too. 

[justhappy]

I’m a TA and today called and got an OBC of 25% of the price drop on my May cruise.

I was also offered an upgrade to a large balcony mini suite,  we’re in a midship mini suite now, and turned it down as I like our current room location.

I also called today and got a client on a different May cruise an upgrade to a Family ocean view from an inside, as they preferred the upgrade over obc.

A good TA will alway keep an eye on prices to save their clients money or get an upgrade when they can.

[jskinsd]

Funny on how many recent price drop threads have popped up.  Doesn't anyone learn from all the other price drop gripes or just wait when it happens to them.