Has NCL website changed - forced to take "recommended cabin" in a category or pay more to choose?

[podgeandrodge]

36 minutes ago, tokidoki said:

I am not given the choice to select another cabin, that’s the issue?   

No, the "issue" was that if you selected another cabin, the presentation screen suggested that doing so would incur extra charges.  But it appears that if you stay in the same cabin bracket, those extra charges don't get added. 

 

Edit: sorry, saw your previous post earlier, I don't know why you can't find other BB cabins when other sites have them available.  But it now looks like NCL isn't using cabin letters like BA etc anymore - or perhaps that's me getting it wrong again.

Edited May 27, 2022 by podgeandrodge

[Sailing12Away]

22 hours ago, podgeandrodge said:

But it now looks like NCL isn't using cabin letters like BA etc anymore - or perhaps that's me getting it wrong again.

That was going to be my question - in the past it was easy to see that you were changing categories within a type of cabin. Now, not so much. I only see the cabin category letter designation when I actually book and get my confirmation.

 

Has anyone found where that is hidden?

[mking8288]

5 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

That ... my question - in the past it was easy to see that you were changing categories within a type of cabin. Now, not so much. ... Has anyone found where that is hidden?

It's a subtle change in place since earlier this year, we've noticed it - it's a calculated move to upsell, and if you aren't careful, end up booking something a lot more than you had in mind.  

 

For example, when looking for another balcony vs. the recommended, "best available" as offered with a cabin # - gotta go back, a few extra clicks - before other balconies are shown - AND - it could well include large balcony and even AFT balcony, usually priced much higher.  

 

Our workaround, is to open the "regular" deck plan for the specific NCL ship on a split screen or another tablet, iPad, or smartphone, etc. while doing the mock booking - giving us better overview of location & what's nearby, etc. 

 

The good thing, advantage, about this - we can also see a lot more than 15 available cabins in these categories ... for a better idea of inventory & occupancy at that moment.  It is, surely, more work on our part.  By default, all the Free At Seas are included and the calculated NCL-affiliated travel/trip insurance protection also come up quickly, for "our" convenience, of course 😄😳🤔

[ps23014]

I had the same problem and this seems to be a glitch in the european NCL webpage. I tried using VPN software to login into the U.S. page and it works fine there. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

On the US site, you can no longer choose a category within a specific room type.  The price differences are reflecting category upgrades (i.e. from BB to BA).