sulala

Can you pay to upgrade into two different cabins?

You can call ncl to get an answer.

10 hours ago, Chesneygirl said:

I'm in the US and our offers have always come with the colorful slider. 

We always use a TA…maybe its a way to distinguish between a TA and NCL reservation. 

We always book in USA thru NCL so it is not a TA thing.  I am  intrigued by this now!

4 hours ago, Dany6 said:

So I have what may be a dumb question, but... How do you know if your bid is poor, good,  etc? I read somewhere that it changes color as you move the slider, but mine stays blue no matter what I bid

That is so odd, so I looked into other posts and found where someone showed their bid page and it did only have blue!  I snapped screenshots of what I normally see, which has different colors along with the category (poor, fair, etc.). I have no idea why some are blue...anyone else have an idea?

2 hours ago, CruiseFuse said:

We are 47 days out.  After getting to speak with someone on Friday, I was told.... Air should be booked by June 24; edocs available by June 30; specialty dining reservations....on hold? since our fully paid reservation is still being ‘migrated’ into the new system.    Not the best scenario for our first cruise with NCL but not the worst either.   I hope there’s only business class air available when they finally book us.   And, I guess we will see what restaurant magic the concierge can do once we are on board.    Still happy to be cruising no matter what.

Really appreciate your optimism, it helped give me a better perspective.  I am thinking of emailing the Pre Concierge to request meal times, but not sure that they have any better access than our PCC or ourselves have at this point. This computer system merge/update cannot go on forever, can it?  Hoping it is resolved soon!

2 hours ago, CruiseFuse said:

We are 47 days out.  After getting to speak with someone on Friday, I was told.... Air should be booked by June 24; edocs available by June 30; specialty dining reservations....on hold? since our fully paid reservation is still being ‘migrated’ into the new system.    Not the best scenario for our first cruise with NCL but not the worst either.   I hope there’s only business class air available when they finally book us.   And, I guess we will see what restaurant magic the concierge can do once we are on board.    Still happy to be cruising no matter what.

On 6/8/2019 at 2:54 PM, amygutman said:

🙌

Agree...we are not "of age" to start cruising Viking, and the luxury cruise lines are way too formal for us - so the Haven suits us perfectly. RCL's suites may have a genie, but they don't have a separate pool - which is the best perk especially while 75% of the cruises are either hogging deck chairs or freezing in their cabins while we are enjoying the warm enclosed deck. 

 

That being said - we are trying the MSC Seaview's Yacht Club next year for Barcelona - 1/2 the price of the Epic for the same date / sailing, and apparently a very similar though "Europeanized" version of the Haven. 

 

Oy...the Haven is Heaven. 

Amy

We are interested in doing the same thing next year!  MSC Barcelona so thanks for the tip!

On 6/5/2019 at 2:08 PM, gizfish said:

The biggest hidden expense of the Haven is that once you have traveled like that, you will be spoiled for life and paying for it forever ; )

Absolutely a problem moving on after Haven.  We really were sold when our first (and only) upsell was for the Garden Villa!  We’ve only done Haven 2 BRs since.  There is just something about the Haven that we don’t want to live without.

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

If you did the direct upgrade after final payment, you typically only get the perks you already had booked. As for an opportunity to bid via Upgrade Advantage, you should get that as well, though it may take up to 48 hours for the system to register your new room type and offer you the correct upgrade categories.

I did not realize this was usually the case.  I asked to upgrade to a suite after final payment and our PCC sent me an invoice where we would lose all our prior perks, including the air perk where they would now charge the excess reduced fare.  Made it cost prohibitive to do it.  Instead, we bid a fair bid at almost retail and got to keep our original perks when we won the upgrade.  This PCC has cost us other losses based on her information.  I was already thinking of changing PCCs and this new info may have tipped the bucket.  Thanks for any insight.

On 5/3/2019 at 7:48 AM, jaja said:

One more try....anyone have info on the DAWN !  Thanks!

As of 5/1/19

Roel Gonzales.      Concierge

Alain Magnier.       Gen Mgr

Luz.   Cruise Director

Vo.  Asst Cruise Director

Capt. Holmqvist.     Captain

6 hours ago, Chris_2448 said:

Escape 5/12 to Bermuda. Booked in the SPA Mini (M9). I had two bids in, one for Haven SPA Suite (H9) $1210 PP (3 cabins available as of last night) and the other Haven PH (H5) $910 PP (8 cabins available as of last night).

I checked my upgrade page this morning and the H5 was "Processing" and the H9 was "Expired".

Although now I have to pay $400 for 2 SPA passes, I save a total of $200 in getting the H5.

This will be out first Haven experience.

Congratulations on the Haven.  It is an awesome experience!  Be sure to look at the CC threads on Haven so you have an idea of what to expect.  Butlers, Concierge, Priority,...Oh My!  Enjoy!

Thanks for your information.  It will help us plan as we get closer to the day.  Can’t wait to be onboard!

13 minutes ago, Grumpy Husband said:

Well most cabs just cruise around Mallory and you should be able to have any business call one for you, and it should not take long to get one to the airport. Hope you have plenty of time in case of traffic.

Thank you.  The video of the trip from the pier is helpful. Our ship says it will be in Key West from 9 am - 6pm so we thought we would have plenty of time.  If you think otherwise, I would appreciate input.

3 hours ago, Grumpy Husband said:

Rental car??? Why a car fo a few hours?

We have friends who stayin Marathon and we got a really good deal with points on a rental.  Plus, I really want to drive on the overseas highway.  We will be back in the fall for another cruise and will be able to do more then.  I would like to know if cabs are visible around Mallory Square or other transportation.  Thank you for any info.

On 9/11/2018 at 8:08 PM, Grumpy Husband said:

You are very welcome, and I also enjoy research and gaining knowledge.

I see we will be arriving at Outer Mole pier, take the trolley 5-15 minutes to Mallory Square, or three blocks from it.  Where will taxis be located so we can get to the airport for our car rental?  Thanks for any info!

1 hour ago, GINNY L said:

We have eleven cabins booked in different categories.  My husband and I have an Aft cabin which is more expensive then some of the suite cabins for the Alaskan cruise.  My son has one of the cheaper balconies that I paid about $1200 less a person.  For the bidding process for the Haven Aft Cabin, I thought since we paid more for our Aft cabin the price will be lower for the starting bid for this Haven Aft.  Well that was not the case.  For our cabin and my son's cabin both of our starting bids for that Haven Aft cabin was $750 pp.  I just don't get how this could be fair and what they really based it on.

I agree it’s frustrating that it doesn’t seem to take into account that an Aft Balcony costs way more than a regular one.  I recently questioned why the minimum bids are similar for a 4 day, 7 day, and 11 day cruise (all with same starting room BA).  How is it the algorithm calculates one is willing to bid, for example, $300 for a PH for 11 days and $300 for 4 days!  I found it seems better bargains are to be had on longer cruises than short ones.  Lesson learned.  I think as long as we book what we are happy with keeping and bid only what we are willing, we can be grateful for information from each other.  Thank you for sharing your experience.  Enjoy the amazing views from your Aft Balcony!

On 4/12/2019 at 6:13 PM, IRMO12HD said:

 

 

Would love to hear what happened with your flights . . . Was it a redeye?

 

I'm nervous about things that seem to be too good to be true -- we're in the process of booking a cruise on Bliss in April 2020 (Panama Canal NYC - Seattle), and the rate for the free air seems impossible: $49.50 per person for a flight from Seattle to NYC the day before the cruise departs.  Is such a thing possible?  Of course, I guess it may end up being a redeye -- probably will -- but still, I'd appreciate thoughts or input from anyone who has used the Free Air . . .

On 1/29/2019 at 9:30 PM, Jskorick said:

I booked the free airfare from phx to New Orleans. Got my original flight info and it was an overnight flight with a stopover in CHICAGO! Why we would fly from phx to Chicago to New Orleans is beyond me. Ended up booking a hotel room the might before through ncl. 340 total and got a much better fight option included. Just my experience

————————————————————————————————————————————

Found this update on another thread and yes, they did have an overnight flight, much to my dismay.  But it looks like they rectified it with staying over the night before, for a cost.  Coming in a day before is what we are doing for our Panama Canal cruise from Miami in November.  Our May cruise from Miami has same day flights so we are hoping everything works out and we make it on the ship on time since our flights are later than we hoped coming in.  We still plan to try a same day flight change, for a fee, through the airline in hopes of arriving to cruise port earlier.  I’ll post the outcome either way.

3 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I don't follow your logic.  A flight can be nonstop and still be a red eye, and you can be booked on a red eye in regular economy.  These things are not mutually exclusive.    

 

If the OP did not request a deviation to arrive a day early, and her flight departs on the 30th for a cruise the next day, it is almost certainly a red eye flight.

I agree it is possible but am optimistic that this is not the case.  No logic implied, just stating what I have read about the air perk in hopes it is not going to be a red eye.  Really hope the OP will keep us updated on the status so we can figure out what the dates mean. 😊

2 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

Not sure how everyone is finding these free airfares; any cruises I have priced either don't offer it or do but then the base price goes up a lot.  Maybe it's because we are not in a major market, or just not choosing cruises that have 'free' air.

Yes, our air choices were never free, starting at $99 for one cruise, $149 for another and $399 for another.  We opted not to use the $399 since I could find it cheaper without having to drive 3 hours to DFW, instead flying from our local airport. Soon after booking the $149 trip from our hometown they took our airport off the list of cities saying it had reached capacity, but lots of seats and flights were available for all airlines.  It is still removed so I don’t know if it will ever come back as a choice.

I was not clear on my thoughts on trying to change flight under same day or Standby with the airline, not NCL.  Yes, you can pay the $50pp for deviation for NCL to add days before/after cruise.  I read on NcL you can call the air department to request specific flights but it will incur a fee.  I may try that for our next cruise air perk this fall to see how much that costs.  It may be cheaper than the airline charge of $75pp for same day option only.  Sorry for the confusion!

Our Nov 22 cruise showed deviation for Nov 20-21 so I called my PCC and mentioned we chose to fly in the 21st, not the 20th.  She contacted the air department and they corrected the date.  Hoping this is the case for your flight and it’s not a red eye. I would check into it with the Air department.   From what I’ve read on forums, a red eye would be out of the ordinary as the Air details state they try for non or one stops if possible and not Basic Economy, but Regular Economy.  We just got our flight info for a May cruise and it’s nonstop 9am American Airlines from DFW.

We just got our air information from NCL today, 48 days out and thanks to all your posts were able to choose our seats through the Record Locator.  And, yes they were regular economy tickets, not basic, and non-stop from Dfw to Mia.  We did notice that they chose a flight that was later than others and apparently costs more.  Would like to have been on earlier flight so we could board for lunch and think the 2:00 pier arrival is cutting it close.  We may see about paying $75 to change for an earlier same day flight.

On 11/14/2018 at 10:53 AM, Lineaway said:

I too called NCL interested in the free air to NOLA as Air out of Seattle was in the 600+ range for just the bad flights..  I always fly in at least a day or two early so I asked.  Nothing was mentioned about a 50pp air deviation but they told me I could if I booked a room through them.  She told me it would be about 190 pp per nt. plus 299 for air as Seattle wasn't on the Free list.  Made it not such a great deal.   

 

BTW I called last week not today like the last post stated.  Things may have changed. My guess is, different reps give different answers. 

 

Our Cruise Consultant stated we could deviate up to a few days before and/or after the cruise dates with the $50 pp fee.  She also mentioned the transfers and hotel would be from the airport.  Only when I stated we would want to say close to cruise port did she say I could opt out of their hotel and the transfers to the pier.  Opted out of return transfers since we want to take excursion on the last day. Hoping it all works like she said...

On 2/24/2019 at 4:38 PM, sulala said:

We have sailed on 7 and 11 day cruises and are soon booking a 5 day.  Does the bid minimum and range change for a 5 day?  We saw a difference in the 7-11 day so wondered if the various lengths make any difference in the bid ranges.

Thanks for any info!

So I think I got my answer...bids starting a bit lower for the 4-day than for longer cruises; however, some of the starting bids are More than booking directly!  I’ve seen this noted on other posts here and there.  Other than the Free at Sea perks changing, it would benefit me to book it directly and get the suite/haven benefits and perks.

Here is a breakdown of the minimum bid amounts.  Last night they had a price drop for MS and below so MId MS is same as Balcony was.

4 day Bahama cruise to move from Original Balcony BB to each category

Cabin.              min bid listed Per person          

Mini suite.       $50.                       

Family ste.      $200.                     

Aft PH.             $300

PH Large Bal. $300

Fam ste w/bal $400

2BR w/bal.      $600

OS.w( 2 bal.   $1000

DOS.                  $750

GV.                  $2250

At these minimums, I will  not be submitting any bids and will just keep my balcony.  I don’t know if they would offer me a MS and it not affect my original perks, but I may call to see.

Just the first two, making it a good deal!  Number 7 on the following link. 

https://www.ncl.com/es/en/content/upgrade-advantage-faq

We have sailed on 7 and 11 day cruises and are soon booking a 5 day.  Does the bid minimum and range change for a 5 day?  We saw a difference in the 7-11 day so wondered if the various lengths make any difference in the bid ranges.

Thanks for any info!