Oddly Specific CAS/TR Upgrade Question

So it seems over the past few days, there has been a proliferation of threads on the NCL board about upgrades close to sailing. This got me thinking about a random, and I hope not too confusing, question. When you book a comp cabin through a Total Rewards voucher, or maybe even a discounted cabin through CAS, is it ever possible to book a better upgrade for cheaper as the cruise gets closer?

For example, using a TR voucher, my BF and I got a price of just over $1500 for the two of us for a balcony upgrade on a 7 night Bahamas cruise this summer, and a PH suite would be a little over $3000. If we book the balcony now, is there any chance that calling closer to the sail date would yield a reduced upgrade cost for a suite (obviously if they aren't sold out), or is it always a standard rate for casino guests no matter what? I will be happy with a balcony...I guess reading all of those threads about people scoring great suite upgrades lately just got me dreaming :)

So it seems over the past few days, there has been a proliferation of threads on the NCL board about upgrades close to sailing. This got me thinking about a random, and I hope not too confusing, question. When you book a comp cabin through a Total Rewards voucher, or maybe even a discounted cabin through CAS, is it ever possible to book a better upgrade for cheaper as the cruise gets closer?

 

 

 

For example using a TR voucher, my BF and I got a price of just over $1500 for the two of us for a balcony upgrade on a 7 night Bahamas cruise this summer, and a PH suite would be a little over $3000. If we book the balcony now, is there any chance that calling closer to the sail date would yield a reduced upgrade cost for a suite (obviously if they aren't sold out), or is it always a standard rate for casino guests no matter what? I will be happy with a balcony...I guess reading all of those threads about people scoring great suite upgrades lately just got me dreaming :)

I also received a voucher but from the Taj in Atlantic city for an inside comp cabin with the addition of paying port fees and taxes. We upgraded to a balcony bringing our total for our 7 night cruise on the breakaway to $1310.00 for 2 of us. My niece then decided to join us and her fare was for $690.00 for a grand total of $2,000 for 3 of us on a BB balcony cabin. 2 weeks ago I saw prices drop for our march 23 cruise and jumped on the $180 upgrade price for the 3 of us for a spa balcony. This made great sense to us because we were planning on purchasing the spa passes which would have been $600 for the 3 of us hence saving us $420. So our total price after upgrading ourselves twice is $2,180.00. I do a mock booking to see what we are saving without the voucher at this point and it is approximately $500. When we first booked the savings was even more because the prices were higher. Mind you the upgrade to the spa balcony was well after final payment. But I can still dream of them calling me with an amazing upsell haven suite. We can on,y dream lol

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Well, that's a very good deal! I am glad to know that it is possible to still upgrade again later if we get lucky. Who knows...maybe you'll get a magic phone call right before you sail ;) Enjoy your cruise!

Hello. Yes, you can get last minute upgrades for small or no cost using a tr voucher. I've done it several times. Had a tr voucher for a balcony. Paid the small difference for an aft mini. About 4 weeks before cruise, suite prices dropped. I called and they upgraded be t an S F. aft. penthouse on the pearl for 150. each. For our April 9 day of the gem, lmy tr voucher was for a balcony. I originally booked the balcony. In December, prices dropped on the aft balcony, and I called and was upgraded to a aft balcony for free. A few weeks ago the prices dropped again materially. I called and they upgraded me to an aft mini suite for free.

Terry

Thanks so much for that info, Terry! I guess I will check prices as our sail date gets closer and/or just call and ask. Maybe we'll get a deal!

I'm sure there is no upgrades for us looks like our cruise is completely sold out at this .10 more days and counting

I was able to upgrade from a CAS comp balcony to an owners suite for free when the price dropped, this was for a December 2013 cruise on the Gem.

I was able to upgrade from a CAS comp balcony to an owners suite for free when the price dropped, this was for a December 2013 cruise on the Gem.

Wow! That's wonderful! Did you call up to ask for that? And how long before the cruise was that? I am pretty sure that the ship will be sold out, as we're sailing in the summer, but I will still keep an eye on the prices.

We left the ship with a letter offering 20% off our next cruise. When we called to book, the Ocean Players Club rep gave us a free inside cabin, but it had to be Riveria deck in the bow. We booked a second cabin for our teenagers at the regular fare.

A few days later, we were allowed to pay a small fee ($80) to move the free cabin to midship/upper deck. No charge to move the second cabin, since we stayed within the same category.

As prices came down, called to see if we could pay the difference and make both OV or Balcony... were told that since the free offer booking deadline had passed, we couldn't make any more changes for that cabin. Got the same answer from our PVP and the OPC rep.

So, if you're using a voucher, pay attention to the deadlines.