Can you upgrade without bidding?

[Takoyaki]

Looking to book a sort of last minute (3 weeks out) cruise, plan to go either way but prefer a balcony. Have the money now for an ocean view but pending a few things may be able to afford the balcony. Is it possible to book through my PCC then if everything goes through just pay the difference in room prices or are upgrades only bidding? If they are bid only is 3 weeks out too late to get an offer to bid?

 

TIA

[julig22]

Maybe. At this point, you might not be looking at further price reductions, so since it's a true upgrade at the prevailing rate, it might be possible.  Best bet is to ask your PCC - they are the one that would be doing the work and should know the policy.  Someone did mention once that you can't change anything within 2 weeks but I'd take that with a grain of salt.

If you book something now, you would probably get an upgrade bid offer within 24 hours.

[complawyer]

i may be mistaken, but i believe if you book now and the cruise is only 3 weeks away, you cant pay the difference. ncl will consider it a cancellation charge you a cancellation fee and you'd have to pay whatever the going rate is for the cabin you now want.  remember not everyone gets an upgrade offer.

 

you would be much better off and (imho) just booking the cabin you really want pays to be safe! 

[julig22]

1 minute ago, complawyer said:

i may be mistaken, but i believe if you book now and the cruise is only 3 weeks away, you cant pay the difference. ncl will consider it a cancellation charge you a cancellation fee and you'd have to pay whatever the going rate is for the cabin you now want.  remember not everyone gets an upgrade offer.

 

you would be much better off and (imho) just booking the cabin you really want pays to be safe! 

NCL does allow a paid upgrade after final payment under certain conditions - they've tightened their policies and it's a one-time deal.  Done it several times pre-covid, couldn't do it recently because my booking wasn't eligible.  But I'm not aware of any timelines for doing so.

 

[Takoyaki]

Thanks everyone! 

Bit the bullet and bought the balcony just to be safe and get that view

[thedarklord]

We're sailing in about 3 1/2 weeks, and upgraded from an interior to a club balcony yesterday. Our PCC couldn't match the price I was seeing online, so I called the call centre and they were able to upgrade us with no problems at the expected price.
We couldn't go from interior to standard balcony, because the cost would've been the same (triggering the cancel/rebook process), but because the club balcony was £80'ish more expensive, that was enough to allow the upgrade to proceed
The lowest cost on the bidding process was £80 each I think, so that would've been at least £160, with no guarantees.

Edited March 23, 2022 by thedarklord

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 hours ago, julig22 said:

NCL does allow a paid upgrade after final payment under certain conditions - they've tightened their policies and it's a one-time deal.  Done it several times pre-covid, couldn't do it recently because my booking wasn't eligible.  But I'm not aware of any timelines for doing so.

 

Just a data point.  I was able to upgrade an October 2021 cruise twice.  Once, 24 days prior to sail date and again 21 days prior to sail date.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just a data point.  I was able to upgrade an October 2021 cruise twice.  Once, 24 days prior to sail date and again 21 days prior to sail date.

Good to know - it makes sense, as long as you are offering more money.  I usually have the bogo airfare so no upgrades after FP on those.

[mrshorsy]

Just thought I share my experience. We are sailing on the Gem next week 30th March, our cruise was paid in full just after Christmas and we were in a 2 Bed family room.

I wasn't aware of the bidding system (maybe because we booked through a Travel Agent) so I asked my TA to enquire about an upgrade about 3 weeks ago to move to the 2 Bed Haven.

Not only was she able to sort this out but we also received a £708 refund as the holiday was cheaper than when we originally booked it !

[karmamule]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just a data point.  I was able to upgrade an October 2021 cruise twice.  Once, 24 days prior to sail date and again 21 days prior to sail date.

 

Same here. We were in a Haven 2 Bedroom w/large balcony and had bid on Owner's Suite. I saw the actual price had dropped to almost the same as my bid so called my PCC but she wasn't able to match it. A few days later I just called the general line and they were able to match it and I paid the difference and canceled my bid. I was fully paid before any of this happened and the two calls were around 70 days out from the cruise at the time.

[julig22]

3 minutes ago, karmamule said:

 

Same here. We were in a Haven 2 Bedroom w/large balcony and had bid on Owner's Suite. I saw the actual price had dropped to almost the same as my bid so called my PCC but she wasn't able to match it. A few days later I just called the general line and they were able to match it and I paid the difference and canceled my bid. I was fully paid before any of this happened and the two calls were around 70 days out from the cruise at the time.

When did this happen? Cruises through April 2022 had a 60 day cancellation policy.  I did notice they were sending out bid options after payment but before the actual final payment date.

[karmamule]

4 minutes ago, julig22 said:

When did this happen? Cruises through April 2022 had a 60 day cancellation policy.  I did notice they were sending out bid options after payment but before the actual final payment date.

 

Just checked my e-mails and I had received the invitation to bid on upgrading 101 days before my cruise. I did the direct update 81 days before my cruise. (My cruise is in early May on the Joy)

Edited March 23, 2022 by karmamule

[coastcat]

7 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just a data point.  I was able to upgrade an October 2021 cruise twice.  Once, 24 days prior to sail date and again 21 days prior to sail date.

 

Same here. I went from a Studio to balcony to club balcony.

 

I've bid on an upgrade for my next cruise, which was unexpected because IIRC NCL doesn't do Upgrade Advantage on Studio cabins. But they offered this time! A BF is now priced below what I paid for the Studio so that's a no-go for a direct payment upgrade, and moving to a BB would cost the same as a bid. If my obsessive monitoring of pricing continues, hopefully I can cancel the bid and pick a cabin. The thought of getting stuck all the way forward on an Alaska cruise out of Seattle... ain't enough Bonine in the world to get me through that first night.

 

 

[CozGurl]

Can you get an upgrade once boarded? 

[ajs922]

I have upgraded several times after final payment. They will let you upgrade as long as your willing to pay the cost. Money talks.

[Named-Tawny]

2 hours ago, CozGurl said:

Can you get an upgrade once boarded? 

In theory, maybe.  In practice, no.

I've yet to hear of a cruise that doesn't have the 'all cabins are booked for this cruise and upgrades are unavailable' sign at the front desk.

[Lookn4Sun]

I've bid on an upgrade (same sailing at coastcat, actually), put in an admittedly low bid.

 

I did call to see if I could upgrade without bidding, and ended up finding out the current price (e.g., when the agent did a reprice) of the package I have is about $600 more than what I pad; I sent an email to the address she told me, hoping to get 50% of that as a FCC. I actually thought it would be quite a bit higher, but it is what it is.

 

As others have said, it seems I cannot upgrade because of my air reservations, but at least this would help offset the cost of my bid (should it get accepted).