Last minute booking transfers

Hello Folks! I'm new to cruise critic and have my first ever cruise with my family coming up this December on the NCL Breakaway heading to the Bahamas for an 8 day cruise. I believe we got a pretty good deal, guests 3+4 sail free, unlimited drink package for guests 1+2, and 100 OBC included, but I've checked with several travel agents as CC suggests to see if there's something else we could squeeze in to our payments, extra perks etc. For a few weeks everyone said they couldn't do any better than the promos and prices we already have, but at the last minute, someone has offered 100 more in OBC with our package if we transfer our booking. This was all started yesterday kind of spur of the moment, and our last payment is due today. The last I heard from my agent was that our reservation is on hold until Monday to get the transfer resolved. I wanted to cover my bases however, so I called NCL's customer service number to confirm this after I received an email today reminding me of my final payment. The rep I talked to was very confrontational and suggested that our cruise may be canceled if we do not make our payment today, and further suggested that there was nothing a travel agent could possibly offer us on top of our existing package (we were mostly interested in the few perks we could get because of price drops), and that he should have known a last minute transfer wasn't possible. This is the first travel agent I've dealt with personally so I'm not sure what I should expect. I'm a bit torn now and I was hoping someone might have been down this road before and if there are any suggestions out there. Thanks in advance for all replies! I can't wait to sail and I don't want to gum up the works now!

You might want to check on the NCL forum to reach more people with experience with NCL booking rules:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

If your booking is with a travel agent now, and you want to switch to a different travel agent, my understanding is that your current travel agent has to approve of the switch, and can also impose a cancel/change fee that may be higher than any additional perks you might get.

Thanks, I'll have a look there too. We are booked with the cruise line now, we were trying to switch to a travel agent. I'm just not sure if we should make our final payment to the cruise line or wait it out.

Thanks, I'll have a look there too. We are booked with the cruise line now, we were trying to switch to a travel agent. I'm just not sure if we should make our final payment to the cruise line or wait it out.

Best to ask on the NCL forum for details on the rules.

I know that on Royal Caribbean, once final payment is made (even if it's before final payment date), we can no longer transfer the booking to a travel agent.

If you wanted to transfer to an agent from NCL you should have looked at the FAQ's on the Norwegian website https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/guest-reservation-transfer-faq

Here is the transfer form you need to fill out

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Reservation_Transfer_Form_072413.pdf

Q: Can I make a request to transfer my reservation to an agency if I’m within Final Payment Period but my reservation is not paid in Full?

 

A: No, transfer requests cannot be accommodated once you are in Final Payment Period.

 

Q: Can a reservation be transferred to my agency of choice?

 

A: Yes up to 60 days from creation.

 

 

Thanks, I'll have a look there too. We are booked with the cruise line now, we were trying to switch to a travel agent. I'm just not sure if we should make our final payment to the cruise line or wait it out.

Once you make Final Payment to the cruise line , no transfer to a TA possible .

I would make the payment to NCL immediately.

The measly $100 you might miss out on is nothing compared to the grief you will suffer if something goes toes up here.

Save the cruise reservation gymnastics for your second cruise when you are not up against final payment date.

What if you wait until Monday and the travel agent takes the day off....and you call to make final payment and NCL says "Sorry....we cancelled your booking and we are keeping your deposit"?

It happens.

Upon my fifth attempt at talking to reservation CSR I finally found someone who was helpful and intelligent, and tentatively everything worked out all right. I had my reservation cancelled and rebooked EXACTLY as I had it, deposit reapplied, same stateroom, same promos, same packages, and same OBC, but the final payment date is pushed back till 8/22/16. According to the FAQ, I can make that payment and still have 24 hours to have the booking transferred, but that gives me time to kick my TA in the booty and get his stuff straight. Depending on his response first thing Monday morning, as he has a few choice emails to read through, I may still consider freezing the transfer process and keeping my booking with NCL. I still need two hotel rooms booked for this trip, frugally done so, so I'll see where the chips fall. I'd like to thank everyone who replied here and I appreciate all the advise given, since I'm still a newbie. CHRISTMAS ON A BAHAMAS CRUISE IS STILL ON!!!

After my fifth attempt at talking to reservation CSR I finally found someone who was helpful and intelligent, and tentatively everything worked out all right. I had my reservation cancelled and rebooked EXACTLY as I had it, deposit reapplied, same stateroom, same promos, same packages, and same OBC, but the final payment date is pushed back till 8/22/16. According to the FAQ, I can make that payment and still have 24 hours to have the booking transferred, but that gives me time to kick my TA in the booty and get his stuff straight. Depending on his response first thing Monday morning, as he has a few choice emails to read through, I may still consider freezing the transfer process and keeping my booking with NCL. I still need two hotel rooms booked for this trip, frugally done so, so I'll see where the chips fall. I'd like to thank everyone who replied here and I appreciate all the advise given, since I'm still a newbie. CHRISTMAS ON A BAHAMAS CRUISE IS STILL ON!!!

OP: You just learned a $100 lesson. Just be happy it wasn't $1000.

to me, the most important thing is to make sure the final payment gets made (and whether you book thru the cruiseline or thru a ta, the cruise line is the one who gets the payment). After that, we don't worry about any little extras we can "squeeze" out from a ta. we don't even check the price changes. the only time I contacted the cruise line (we had booked thru them) about perks, the items were listed in the captain's circle quarterly (the Princess magazine for repeat customers) for holiday cruises, which we were on.