Pricing of tickets ???

[bianks]

Hey guys 

 

has anyone had their cruise tickets decrease in price and NCL honour the new pricing? 
 

is it suspicious that when I log in to check the price on the cruise we have booked, the whole ship is SOLD OUT 

  but when I look it up from my smart phone, tickets are available ? 

[hallux]

Getting price adjustments likely varies by region.

 

Something to consider - as days tick by closer to the departure the availability of some perks goes away, the big one being the BOGO airfare.  As those drop off the price would go down. 

 

At least in the US you can do a "cancel and re-book" to get the lower price, as long as it's before final payment AND you accept any changes to perks received.  After final payment I've heard of some folks getting a portion of the fare difference back as OBC to spend on the cruise.

[Sailing12Away]

It all depends on how far out you are. As Hallux said above, if you're before final payment date you have a lot more options. If you're after, not so much. Your best bet if you're after final payment date is to request a free room upgrade (oceanview to balcony; balcony to club). The last time I had spoken to NCL about this (pre-Covid times) I think you were only given 25% of the price difference as an OBC to use for your trip. So even if the price dropped 2K, it's still not a great amount coming back to you - and you can only request it once. So if the price dropped 2K today and you took the deal, then a month later it dropped another 2K, you get nothing for that second drop.

 

Our next trip leaves in a week, prices have been plummeting to the point I was considering upgrading my folks into the Haven. They're in a family club balcony now, to book a forward facing Haven penthouse is just 2K more than what they paid for that club balcony many many months earlier. This is a 10 day cruise, so an extra $100/day/person to get pampered.

 

But the fact that nearly every single type of Haven room is still available means they have a good shot of winning an upgrade bid, so getting into Haven at their bid price will be better than paying 2K outright.

 

We're booked in a Haven family villa, and the price on that is now about 2K less than what we paid. Not worth it to me to try and get the extra few hundred as OBC. So generally speaking, book what you want and hope for the best to move up since there's not really any going back.

[graphicguy]

And, if the fare drop is large, while they won’t refund the difference, they will offer that amount as a FCC.

[MotownVoice]

28 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

And, if the fare drop is large, while they won’t refund the difference, they will offer that amount as a FCC.

I did this with Princess once and they sent the difference directly to my credit card.

Just depends on the cruise line, and since this is the Norwegian thread .... yadda yadda I get it.

Still worth mentioning that just looking at other cruise lines with better policies opens up even more doors if you're concerned about such things as price drops.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, MotownVoice said:

I did this with Princess once and they sent the difference directly to my credit card.

Just depends on the cruise line, and since this is the Norwegian thread .... yadda yadda I get it.

Still worth mentioning that just looking at other cruise lines with better policies opens up even more doors if you're concerned about such things as price drops.

Not a fan of Princess, but I get your drift.

 

Celebrity gave me nearly $2,500 in OBC for a huge price drop about this time last year.

[MotownVoice]

32 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Celebrity gave me nearly $2,500 in OBC for a huge price drop about this time last year.

 

...which if you did not use by the end of the cruise, I presume, you would have had credited back to your credit card.

 

 

[The Shrike]

A few years back my PCC called me and told me the fare on a cruise we were booked on for a few months out had dropped by about 20%.  He said he'd re-booked it for me and all the FAS stuff remained the same.  He was calling to let me know so I wouldn't be surprised when I got the new invoice.

Damn, he was a good PCC.  He's since moved on.

[graphicguy]

3 hours ago, MotownVoice said:

 

...which if you did not use by the end of the cruise, I presume, you would have had credited back to your credit card.

 

 

If it's refundable. Or,  as mentioned, you could cancel and rebook at the lower fare.

Edited August 30, 2022 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

3 hours ago, The Shrike said:

A few years back my PCC called me and told me the fare on a cruise we were booked on for a few months out had dropped by about 20%.  He said he'd re-booked it for me and all the FAS stuff remained the same.  He was calling to let me know so I wouldn't be surprised when I got the new invoice.

Damn, he was a good PCC.  He's since moved on.

My TA is good about that, too.  She works for a big discount online agency.  But, she always lets me know if there's a price drop or what particular perks are going on with my cruise.

 

She also throws me some of her commission as a fare rebate to me.

 

Been using her for years, and have booked many cruises with her.  She was appreciative for me sticking with her during the COVID shutdown.  Her agency kept her on and paid her.  But, she was one of the few they kept on payroll.  Same with her customers...not all of them stuck around.  She's been very grateful to those of us who stuck with her.

[bianks]

hey guys sorry what is OBC and FCC? :D 

[The Shrike]

1 hour ago, bianks said:

hey guys sorry what is OBC and FCC? 😄

OBC = Onboard Credit.  This is money credited to your ship account to be spent while on the ship.  An example:  we went to the Latitudes desk on a sailing last month to ask about the behind-the-scenes tour.  Due to Schmovid, they were not doing the tours.  Instead, they gave us $50 OBC.

FCC = Future Cruise Credit.  Money credited to your NCL account for a future cruise.  An example:  we had a big, last minute (as in, we were already at the pier) change in itinerary for that sailing last month.  As way of apology, NCL gave us a FCC of 30% of the cost of the cabin we'd booked, good for any sailing through 31 Dec 2023.

Edited August 31, 2022 by The Shrike

[ziggyuk]

On 8/30/2022 at 8:51 AM, bianks said:

Hey guys 

 

has anyone had their cruise tickets decrease in price and NCL honour the new pricing? 
 

is it suspicious that when I log in to check the price on the cruise we have booked, the whole ship is SOLD OUT 

  but when I look it up from my smart phone, tickets are available ? 

 

I think you have the same situation in Australia as we do in the UK, in that if you rebook you lose your deposit which is not the case in the US, correct me if I am wrong.
The only time I ever did a cancel and rebook (the saving exceeded the deposit) covid hit an the cruise was cancelled so I lost my deposit during the rebooking for no reason 😱

What works well in the UK and therefore potentially for you is to ask for an upgrade price after full payment, as long as the upgrade costs more you only pay the difference even if it's a tiny amount, if the upgrade is less than the original price you have to pay cancellation fees so it's unlikely worth it. Just make sue the upgrade costs more than the original ticket.

As an example, in April in the Med I called my PCC to see what he could do and he offered me an upgrade from an inside to Balcony for £10pp which we jumped at as we had a $130pp bid in place. Just be warned when you upgrade you move to the current offers, for us the free at sea was the same but we lost our double points which meant we did not make the next status which was a annoying as we did not realise until afterwards.

If you booked direct on the website or phone I would advice you to get a PCC (personal Cruise Consultant), a good one can be worth their weight in gold as you have a single point of contact and they deal with things for you by email or phone call, I have a great PCC.
You might already have a PCC, check your marketing emails, if you have a PCC it will have their number and email near the top of the email. If you don't have a PCC you can call and request one, if you used a travel agent they will also take care of things for you.

Here is an example of mine:

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by ziggyuk

[Sailing12Away]

22 hours ago, graphicguy said:

And, if the fare drop is large, while they won’t refund the difference, they will offer that amount as a FCC.

With NCL they only offer a percentage of the difference back to you if you are after final payment date. You will never see the full amount returned. We had over a 2K price drop in our balcony room and when I called them they only offered us $200 OBC. Instead, we moved into a 2 bedroom Haven room for a total price of $2,000 for a 10 night cruise.

 

So if you're looking to upgrade your cabin, you'll get that price difference in full (in theory) to use towards an upgraded room, but you won't get it back refunded as cash. 

[Trimone]

4 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I think you have the same situation in Australia as we do in the UK, in that if you rebook you lose your deposit which is not the case in the US, correct me if I am wrong.
The only time I ever did a cancel and rebook (the saving exceeded the deposit) covid hit an the cruise was cancelled so I lost my deposit during the rebooking for no reason 😱

What works well in the UK and therefore potentially for you is to ask for an upgrade price after full payment, as long as the upgrade costs more you only pay the difference even if it's a tiny amount, if the upgrade is less than the original price you have to pay cancellation fees so it's unlikely worth it. Just make sue the upgrade costs more than the original ticket.

As an example, in April in the Med I called my PCC to see what he could do and he offered me an upgrade from an inside to Balcony for £10pp which we jumped at as we had a $130pp bid in place. Just be warned when you upgrade you move to the current offers, for us the free at sea was the same but we lost our double points which meant we did not make the next status which was a annoying as we did not realise until afterwards.

If you booked direct on the website or phone I would advice you to get a PCC (personal Cruise Consultant), a good one can be worth their weight in gold as you have a single point of contact and they deal with things for you by email or phone call, I have a great PCC.
You might already have a PCC, check your marketing emails, if you have a PCC it will have their number and email near the top of the email. If you don't have a PCC you can call and request one, if you used a travel agent they will also take care of things for you.

Here is an example of mine:

 

 

 

 

So much to understand Tim hand *****

[rbxlady]

I booked our October cruise in March. The price dropped over $600 with the Memorial Day sale, so I called and asked if they would honor the price drop, and they did. They were able to do this because final payment wasn't due until later in June, and they lowered the amount I would owe at final payment.

 

After upgrade bidding opened, I checked the Haven vs my bids obsessively, and two weeks ago I paid to upgrade. I had to make full payment then and there. The next day the fare dropped $600 exactly, and they offered it as FCC. I got an e-mail yesterday confirming this (they split it between me and my husband, not sure how that would have worked if I were sailing with another adult I don't share finances with but footing the bill), but it won't show up in my account until we complete the October cruise.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

With NCL they only offer a percentage of the difference back to you if you are after final payment date. You will never see the full amount returned. We had over a 2K price drop in our balcony room and when I called them they only offered us $200 OBC. Instead, we moved into a 2 bedroom Haven room for a total price of $2,000 for a 10 night cruise.

 

So if you're looking to upgrade your cabin, you'll get that price difference in full (in theory) to use towards an upgraded room, but you won't get it back refunded as cash. 

May be dependent on the circumstances?  Dunno.  I had a $400 price drop on my last NCL cruise this past July, after final payment.  They gave me the entire price reduction as an FCC.  Good for one year (July 2023).