False advertising by NCL, Free Balcony upgrades All ships - All Destinations

[che5904]

[quote name='Cruzaholic41']Two things - One, just because all large companies do it, that makes it any less aggravating? Misleading is misleading and I don't care who all does it. This thread is about NCL doing it.

Second, people are upset because they fell for it? Well, duh! Of course they are, and rightfully so.[/quote]

Well I guess we all choices in life and my choice is to face reality, realize this is done and try to not allow myself to be duped by some very well paid, overly creative, advertising agencies.

But seriously if it was the idea of the OP to hurt NCL with starting this thread, they succeeded in possibly helping them. I never received an email or postcard or anything that told me of this promotion. When this thread was posted, I went to the website to see what it was all about. Voila another potential customer in the door. And as posters like yourself come back and keep this thread alive, more potential customers will go to the site to see what it's all about and possibly book while there because they see something else that catches their attention. Sometimes negative feedback can be just as helpful as positive.

[redlef]

[quote name='che5904'] . . . And as posters like yourself come back and keep this thread alive, more potential customers will go to the site to see what it's all about and possibly book while there because they see something else that catches their attention. Sometimes negative feedback can be just as helpful as positive.[/QUOTE]

Or as they say in politics, bad press is better than no press?

Funny, since I've booked my cruise (a month ago), we've gotten at least 4 postcards from NCL informing us of their upcoming promotions (my DW and I each have our own Latitudes accounts, so lots of mail comes in doubles - somebody could save some printing and mailing costs if they learned to sort their mailing list and delete duplicate addresses.)

Maybe I should say I've NOTICED 4 postcards - we get so much junkmail that most of it goes into the recycle box with the most cursory of glances. I haven't the slightest idea what they're promoting. I couldn't care what the card says because I don't believe it anyhow.

Then there's the ten or fifteen emails I receive every week from various on-line travel agents. Who has time to look at all that junk? Hey, everybody can't be "giving away" cruises or there'd be no money to keep those cruise ships on the water.

As far as posters coming back and keeping the thread alive - hey this is what I do at work when I'm waiting for embarkation. I'm interacting with the cruise community. Not the same as being on vacation, maybe not even a distant second, but still gets me in the cruise mood. So what if I want to place [B][I]another [/I][/B]comment on [B][I]another[/I][/B] :rolleyes: thread about tipping, smuggling, chair hogging, the maitre'd looking at me cross-eyed or my soup being too cold? The only threads I find totally uninteresting are the ones about the cruise directors, so I don't read them. No harm for the others who enjoy discussing them (although you folks should get a life).:D

[excitedidiot]

I've been reading this board for a few days now. My question is, why is everyone so quick to jump to the defense of a multi-billion dollar cruise operator? They do shady stuff just like every other cruise operator. I guess it's the nature of the business, but they don't need your encouragement.

[lb0103]

We just booked our first NCL cruise, we have been on a lot of other lines but not NCL and we wanted to try them.

When I talked to my TA after much research online, I asked, "what's this about a free upgrade?" She replied that you have to book the highest cat in say an inside to get the lowest price oceanview. I told her they were the same price and she meekly said yeah, but that is what they are offering. So we booked a cabin in the cat we wanted to pay for and let it go. No need to argue with her because it is what it is.

[che5904]

[quote name='lb0103']We just booked our first NCL cruise, we have been on a lot of other lines but not NCL and we wanted to try them.

When I talked to my TA after much research online, I asked, "what's this about a free upgrade?" She replied that you have to book the highest cat in say an inside to get the lowest price oceanview. I told her they were the same price and she meekly said yeah, but that is what they are offering. So we booked a cabin in the cat we wanted to pay for and let it go. No need to argue with her because it is what it is.[/quote]

Yes they are the same price for the promotion, not normally. Thats how you tell which one belongs to the promotion (besides the colored arrow). During the promotion those 2 prices are suppose to match.

OK for those that will argue this and I know as others have said that they upped the oceanview in my case a slight amount, someone else apparently the full amount for this promotion but this is to simplify the explanation for this poster in the example below.

Example
selected oceanview is $799, they bring the eligible balcony price down to match the selected oceanview price to $799. That is why these 2 prices are the same. Hope this at least clarifies what this promotion is suppose to be.

It is a balcony for an oceanview price.

[willysgrandma]

They are the same price because you are getting a free upgrade, so you will book the OV at the inside cabin price. That how the free upgrades work. Or you will book a certain, say, oceanview category and see three different o/v categories at the same price. So you can upgrade to a higher o/v for the price of a lower category.

When there are no free upgrades, you would see a different price for every category within a cabin type.

[quote name='lb0103']?" She replied that you have to book the highest cat in say an inside to get the lowest price oceanview. I told her they were the same price and she meekly said yeah, but that is what they are offering. So we booked a cabin in the cat we wanted to pay for and let it go. No need to argue with her because it is what it is.[/quote]

[Aquahound]

[quote name='che5904']
Example
selected oceanview is $799, they bring the eligible balcony price down to match the selected oceanview price to $799. That is why these 2 prices are the same. Hope this at least clarifies what this promotion is suppose to be.

It is a balcony for an oceanview price.[/quote]

That's not what they did on my booking. When I booked my upcoming Dawn cruise, this promotion did not exist. The balcony prices are exactly the same today as they were back in July when I booked. When this promotion came out, they raised the price of the most expensive OV, the family OV, to match the price of the lowest priced balcony.

[che5904]

[quote name='Aquahound']That's not what they did on my booking. When I booked my upcoming Dawn cruise, this promotion did not exist. The balcony prices are exactly the same today as they were back in July when I booked. When this promotion came out, they raised the price of the most expensive OV, the family OV, to match the price of the lowest priced balcony.[/quote]

Perhaps then you should have read my ENTIRE post where I explained that this was only an example to simplify the explanation. See my quote below. I already stated that some oceanviews in some sailings were just brought up to the balcony price according to other posters.

"OK for those that will argue this and I know as others have said [B]that they upped the oceanview in my case a slight amount, someone else apparently the full amount[/B] for this promotion but this is to simplify the explanation for this poster in the example below."

[Aquahound]

[quote name='che5904']Perhaps then you should have read my ENTIRE post where I explained that this was only an example to simplify the explanation. See my quote below. I already stated that some oceanviews in some sailings were just brought up to the balcony price according to other posters.

"OK for those that will argue this and I know as others have said [B]that they upped the oceanview in my case a slight amount, someone else apparently the full amount[/B] for this promotion but this is to simplify the explanation for this poster in the example below."[/quote]

Yes, che5904, I did read your ENTIRE post. :rolleyes: Relax. I was simply stating my experience.