Wow... a shocker! New promo for 50% discount actually lowered my next two cruises.

[cruiseat50]

I had looked last night (Ok, around 2am) to see if my nearest cruise next March had gone down any because I had booked through CAS and the agent told me I was just a little too short to get a comped cabin.  He said that it needed to be at $699 or lower to get an inside cabin comp so I was stoked when I saw it was $699 last night which is only $41 less than what it was when I booked.  When I called him today he said he still couldn't give it to me as that was the sail away price and it needed to be a cabin that was able to be booked.  I really don't remember him saying that before but I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

We booked both of these with the 40% promo and the new promo is 50% which I have never seen before (I know it may have been done before but I had never seen it). 

 

Anyway, the cruise price for March 2023 on the Gem actually did drop it by $190 so he sent me a change in the price.  Final payment is on the 10th and I doubt it will go down again but will wait and see.  Now, the best news is that we also had a cruise booked for March 2024 to go from Sydney Australia to the South Pacific dropped by $ 5,659!🤑  I was shocked as like most I figured that they normally raise the prices before they give you a better discount on the new promo but in this case it worked for me!  Happy camper... no HAPPY CRUISER HERE!!💦🚢

 

Wishing you all the best of luck as well!

[j603]

Boy, this makes me want see about my cruise.

[vacation44]

Three out of four of our booked cruises went down with this new promotion.   The one that did not, did not because we booked it aboard our last cruise.

[ChiefMateJRK]

Nine out of nine of my booked cruised before final payment dropped.  Contrary to popular belief, NCL does sometimes offer meaningful promos.

[ontheweb]

I had the opposite experience. When a new brochure came and it said 50% off, I e-mailed our TA. I had a feeling the price would be about the same as they probably raised the fare before the new percentage off.

 

I just received his e-mail back. It went UP SUBSTANTIALLY. (His words.) (Until I saw this thread, I was going to start one of my own telling of the large increase.)

 

It was the Prima for next summer which we had booked last year. It makes me think the ship is selling well which has had them raise prices.

[ChiefMateJRK]

39 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I had the opposite experience. When a new brochure came and it said 50% off, I e-mailed our TA. I had a feeling the price would be about the same as they probably raised the fare before the new percentage off.

 

I just received his e-mail back. It went UP SUBSTANTIALLY. (His words.) (Until I saw this thread, I was going to start one of my own telling of the large increase.)

 

It was the Prima for next summer which we had booked last year. It makes me think the ship is selling well which has had them raise prices.

Did you check the full history on CruisePlum?  You might reach some different conclusions.

[nhtravels]

2 (out of 3) cruises for 2023. went down in price with this sale for us.  The Epic (passed final payment) has gone down $1100 pp and CAS has requested a FCC for the difference.  Our Joy sailing to Bermuda had a roughly $250 pp drop.  But our December cruise on the Encore has steadily been climbing since we booked that one.

[CWMixer]

10 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I had the opposite experience. When a new brochure came and it said 50% off, I e-mailed our TA. I had a feeling the price would be about the same as they probably raised the fare before the new percentage off.

 

I just received his e-mail back. It went UP SUBSTANTIALLY. (His words.) (Until I saw this thread, I was going to start one of my own telling of the large increase.)

 

It was the Prima for next summer which we had booked last year. It makes me think the ship is selling well which has had them raise prices.

We had a similar case with the current '50%' sale.

When this sale came out on 11/01, a cruise we were watching dropped 15%: we booked it on the 1st.

Two days later, with the same '50%' sale in place, the price is back up to where it was before 11/01.

[julig22]

Lowered mine big time.  Repriced onboard so got a room upgrade as well. Saved over $1100 on that one. But it looks like they messed up another one, with minor savings and somehow lost the room upgrade I already had so will have to have my pcc check on that.

[julig22]

Keep in mind that when they do a % "sale" it can affect your ability to get FCC later, as the promos won't match. Had that happen when they went fro 35% to 40%

[MichiganFisherman]

11 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Nine out of nine of my booked cruised before final payment dropped.  Contrary to popular belief, NCL does sometimes offer meaningful promos.

So prices went from ridiculously high to just super high on NCL? That's called price grooming getting people to think a sale on a ultra high priced cruise is now a deal. 

[Lakesregion]

Is there a process whereby, instead of requesting a FCC as I do not have any time to use one, I can get a cabin upgrade.

?

 

The  currentJan 20th Getaway price  for a solo balcony is less than what I paid in full for an inside cabin.

[mscloyd]

I booked in January 2022 for a March 2023 cruise. Between January and May 2022 I found 7 price reductions! Each time was between $100‐$200 per cabin (we have 2 cabins). This promo is still higher.  Guess it depends on when you booked. My final payment coming up soon but I will keep watching...

[Nilbog]

4 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Is there a process whereby, instead of requesting a FCC as I do not have any time to use one, I can get a cabin upgrade?

 

Call them up and ask the question.  What's the worst they can say, no?  If you never ask the question, the answer is always no.

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, MichiganFisherman said:

So prices went from ridiculously high to just super high on NCL? That's called price grooming getting people to think a sale on a ultra high priced cruise is now a deal. 

I was happy with my original prices and ready, willing and able to pay them.  The drops are just a bonus.  Why so negative?  Cruising is all about FUN! 😎 (well, for most of us....)

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Is there a process whereby, instead of requesting a FCC as I do not have any time to use one, I can get a cabin upgrade.

?

 

The  currentJan 20th Getaway price  for a solo balcony is less than what I paid in full for an inside cabin.

Generally, the new room has to cost more than the original.  Check the price for club balcony and even aft balcony.

[CanadaGuyEh]

19 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Cruising is all about FUN! 😎 (well, for most of us....)

For me it is - I paid - if my PCC gets me a better deal okay - otherwise - I was happy at the price when I booked it - I agreed to pay that amount 😃   I sail on the Getaway Nov 8 - I am sure many can buy right now at a lower price but I wanted to do the cruise and now I will.

[whitneypb85]

Mine went up almost $1000! Happy for those that got a better deal though! 🙂 

[ChiefMateJRK]

18 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Nine out of nine of my booked cruised before final payment dropped.  Contrary to popular belief, NCL does sometimes offer meaningful promos.

Just a pre-emptive strike/post.  After four days, all of the new lower prices have "stuck" on these nine cruises.  Others have reported boomerang pricing, with the new prices going higher than the originals to negate the 40% > 50% change.  I do see a sprinkling of price hikes, but not on the cruises that I have booked.  CruisePlum is our friend.  😎

[SplashOfWater]

Lower price on one cruise and paid for an upgrade on another. The upgrade had dropped $500 with the sale.

[CanadaGuyEh]

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

CruisePlum is our friend

You had 9 that went down - did you contact NCL and get the lower prices or you have a PCC does it?   And NCL honors CluisePlum  - you say you saw it there and they say okay?   I have many cruises booked with NCL but am just starting - only my second cruise next week - Did Alaska in early October on the Jewel.

[mcmomny]

Both of my cruises went up!

But I had already gotten the 10% extra savings a few months ago so I'm happy!

[ChiefMateJRK]

22 minutes ago, CanadaGuyEh said:

You had 9 that went down - did you contact NCL and get the lower prices or you have a PCC does it?   And NCL honors CluisePlum  - you say you saw it there and they say okay?   I have many cruises booked with NCL but am just starting - only my second cruise next week - Did Alaska in early October on the Jewel.

CruisePlum is not a travel agent, which is why I "think" it's okay to mention here.  If not, my apologies to the mods.  It's just a price tracker, but not always real time.  To answer your question; I saw the 50% sale and immediately started doing mock bookings on NCL.com.  After identifying the first four price drops, I dialed NCL and started the short wait.  In the meantime, I repriced two more.  They were quick and efficient.  After that, I continued to mock new bookings and identify the new final prices.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  I probably called three or four times to get them all done (it was more than my nine, as I was also taking care of DD's bookings).  Got cut off twice.  May have been my crappy cell reception, maybe NCL.  But none of that matters.  After about an hour of "work," our family savings exceeded 2 grand.  We'll likely sail all but one of these (there are a pair to cover schedule contingencies next summer).  All of the price drops showed up on Cruise Plum in a day or two.  It is a really nice tool for el cheapos like me.

Edited November 5, 2022 by ChiefMateJRK

[SplashOfWater]

I typically keep an eye out for price drops up until final payment. I will call NCL to have the price adjusted on my reservation. After final payment, I focus more on price drops related to any submitted upgrade bids. If the category comes down enough I'll pay for the upgrade outright. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, whitneypb85 said:

Mine went up almost $1000! Happy for those that got a better deal though! 🙂 

Ours went up even more than that. I have a feeling we got a very good initial rate on the Prima 2 years out because our TA had reserved a block of cabins.