Upsell

[CaribJoey]

Hi All,

Now that I have an aft suite deck 8 what is this upsell people talk about and what does it get you exactly ?

[janice4559]

NCL uses its upsell program to maximize each sailings revenue. About one to two weeks from sailing, they will go thru the process of filling their vacant top cabins/suites. Say a garden suite is empty two weeks out. They will contact those with garden villas to see if they want to "upsell" to the suite. This is offered at about a 50-80% reduction from the "normal" price difference from a villa to a suite. Once that's accomplished they will contact people with aft suites, say, to offer them the villa that they just opened up for again a significant discount. They will follow this process from top down untill they theoretically open an inside cabin.

 

Most wait for the "upsell fairy" (totally irritates me that people call it that) to call them or their TA to offer these upsells. I advise that people be proactive and call the upsell department themselves about a week or two out to inquire if upsells are available. There are those on these boards that dismiss this as a possiblility or caution that too much of that is a bad thing. If you search for upsell on this board, you will find many recent success stories of people that did, in fact, call the upsell department themselves with nothing but polite conversations and positive results.

[Don Haynes]

While I think its proper to call once for an upsell a couple of weeks before a cruise, many do take this action much too far calling everyday months before a cruise...

 

The last time when too many called and bothered the upsell department, which by the way isn't large, NCL imposed a don't call us, we'll call you policy... No one wants that policy to return...

 

Its been my luck in the past to get a free upgrade, not an upsell, just by waiting... If everyone called for an upsell, those free upgrades would disappear... That is why many of us frown on people calling for upsells... Let's not kill the upgrade fairy...

[janice4559]

While I think its proper to call once for an upsell a couple of weeks before a cruise, many do take this action much too far calling everyday months before a cruise...

 

The last time when too many called and bothered the upsell department, which by the way isn't large, NCL imposed a don't call us, we'll call you policy... No one wants that policy to return...

 

Its been my luck in the past to get a free upgrade, not an upsell, just by waiting... If everyone called for an upsell, those free upgrades would disappear... That is why many of us frown on people calling for upsells... Let's not kill the upgrade fairy...

 

A few questions for you. First, how do you you know that "many do take this action much too far calling everyday months before a cruise". I think that its a bit of an overstatement using the words many, everday and months.

 

Second, I don't think there have been any where near as many upgrades on sailings as there have been upsells. NCL's business model has been clear for years that they will maximize their revenue with upsells which mean there will be no upgrades available for most sailings.

 

Finally, those that discourage readers on this board from calling the upsell department make some astonishing claims that they have no factual basis for - like NCL imposing a "don't call us, we'll call you" policy. If you read several of the recent posts of people that have called and received upsells, they tell of people in the upsell department being very receptive to calls to include suggestions of a better time to call back. I'm not sure what people like you have as an agenda, but putting some of this mis-information out there suggests that you do have alterior motives.

 

And just for the record, it is intended that upsells kill upgrades - where have you been?

[beachchick]

A few questions for you. First, how do you you know that "many do take this action much too far calling everyday months before a cruise". I think that its a bit of an overstatement using the words many, everday and months.

 

Second, I don't think there have been any where near as many upgrades on sailings as there have been upsells. NCL's business model has been clear for years that they will maximize their revenue with upsells which mean there will be no upgrades available for most sailings.

 

Finally, those that discourage readers on this board from calling the upsell department make some astonishing claims that they have no factual basis for - like NCL imposing a "don't call us, we'll call you" policy. If you read several of the recent posts of people that have called and received upsells, they tell of people in the upsell department being very receptive to calls to include suggestions of a better time to call back. I'm not sure what people like you have as an agenda, but putting some of this mis-information out there suggests that you do have alterior motives.

 

And just for the record, it is intended that upsells kill upgrades - where have you been?

 

No, actually it's not even a little bit of an overstatement to say "many" or "every day" or "months" because there is history to it. Some of us know that there have been people who took it too far because we "were there" when it happened. This was a few years ago. There were frequent threads about how to basically "nag" NCL into an upsell. The phone number was posted nearly daily and members here would brag about how they booked lower category cabins and then started in with calling the tiny upsell department, sometimes daily, months before their cruise date. It is quite true that the volume of calls became overwhelming (and the revenue dept wasn't pleased at the number of upsells versus the number of regular fare suite bookings). For more than a year, the upsell dept stopped taking incoming calls. I have personal experience with that time and can tell you first-hand that it was true. In fact, that whole situation is a primary reason why we are not allowed to post the phone number on CC anymore.

 

I would not discourage anyone from calling once or twice in the time between final payment and the cruise date. Say, right after final and then again a few weeks before the cruise. That is miles away from what some savvy people did that caused the policy change. Now that they're not inundated all day, every day with calls, they are often accepting a reasonable number of incoming calls/requests again. That's great. The only warning I would give anyone is this: Don't let it get to the point where they change the policy back to "don't call us, we'll call you." Be reasonable and understand that it is a tiny department and there are a finite number of upsells.

 

I completely agree with you about the number of upsells versus the number of upgrades. Free upgrades haven't been common for a long time (as far as I know). Upsells give them extra revenue, so they make sense from a business perspective--As long as it doesn't devolve into "I'll book an inside cabin and then start calling the upsell dept to ask for a deal on a suite." That definitely can affect the overall bottom line.

 

beachchick

[janice4559]

No, actually it's not even a little bit of an overstatement to say "many" or "every day" or "months" because there is history to it. Some of us know that there have been people who took it too far because we "were there" when it happened. This was a few years ago. There were frequent threads about how to basically "nag" NCL into an upsell. The phone number was posted nearly daily and members here would brag about how they booked lower category cabins and then started in with calling the tiny upsell department, sometimes daily, months before their cruise date. It is quite true that the volume of calls became overwhelming (and the revenue dept wasn't pleased at the number of upsells versus the number of regular fare suite bookings). For more than a year, the upsell dept stopped taking incoming calls. I have personal experience with that time and can tell you first-hand that it was true. In fact, that whole situation is a primary reason why we are not allowed to post the phone number on CC anymore.

 

I would not discourage anyone from calling once or twice in the time between final payment and the cruise date. Say, right after final and then again a few weeks before the cruise. That is miles away from what some savvy people did that caused the policy change. Now that they're not inundated all day, every day with calls, they are often accepting a reasonable number of incoming calls/requests again. That's great. The only warning I would give anyone is this: Don't let it get to the point where they change the policy back to "don't call us, we'll call you." Be reasonable and understand that it is a tiny department and there are a finite number of upsells.

 

I completely agree with you about the number of upsells versus the number of upgrades. Free upgrades haven't been common for a long time (as far as I know). Upsells give them extra revenue, so they make sense from a business perspective--As long as it doesn't devolve into "I'll book an inside cabin and then start calling the upsell dept to ask for a deal on a suite." That definitely can affect the overall bottom line.

 

beachchick

 

I was reacting to his statement that implied this was still happening today. I know it happened in the past and I certainly would never approve of that practice.