Booking early

[delta13]

How does NCL handle price drops after booking? Do they refund the difference or OBC if prior to final payment? How likely is the Epic to have price drops. I am looking to book about a year out.

[camz]

We usually tend to book a year or more out. NCL has a "EBR" rate, (Early Booking Rate) that you can get for booking when the cruise has been first offered and only a small percentage of the ship is full. Sometimes the "EBR" is a little less than a year if the quota of the ship is still not full. In any event, it is a great program. You get to lock in at this year's pricing. Almost always, you will see the fare increasing asthe sailing date approaches. You have the option of rebooking your cabin before final payment is made in the remote event that your cabin decreases in price. In addition, there are OBC's (On-board Credit promos) which you can watch the NCL website to take advantage of while you have your selected cabin on hold. It really is a win-win situation. You get the cabin you want and you can watch the pricing and OBC's as time gets closer. Of course, before final payment is made. Hope this information is of some help to you. :)

[Cubechick]

If you see a price drop before final payment is due, and the drop isn't a result of a "new bookings only" sale, they will honor the new price. They just adjust your amount due accordingly.

 

ETA regarding your Epic cruise...it depends entirely on the week you're looking at. Vacation weeks tend to trend upward. Also if you're booking a category with limited availabilty, those prices also tend to rise.

[spacepotatoes]

Be aware that if you take advantage of a price drop, the new arrangement may end up forfeiting whatever OBC you might have had with your original booking. Always double check before making the change.

 

After final payment, you can try your luck getting OBC or an upgrade, but nothing is guaranteed at that point.

[SeaShark]

Simply put, NCL doesn't honor price changes. HOWEVER...as long as it is before the "final payment date", you can cancel with no penalty, so NCL basically does a cancellation on your current cruise and then immediately rebooks you under the new rate. It looks like they do a price adjustment, but technically, its a cancel-rebook situation. That is why you would lose any special offers (OBC, etc) involved.

[dinoman]

I usually book early to secure a stateroom on the ship then watch out for any price drops or special promotions that I can take advantage of. As all the previous posters said, NCL just cancels your previous booking and builds a new one, upon your request, in order for you to get the most from, and in the process you may lost some of the time-specified or promotion-related benefits such as OBC or early booking credits (as in the new Latitude program). You can do as many times as you like before the final payment deadline.

[marelind]

How does one know if they are in the EBR timeframe?

[halos]

Personally, I have found when booking far out, that I get a great rate and I have never seen the price drop. (not that it can't happen)

We sometimes book cruises over two years out and normally we book that far out because the price is awesome.

This doesn't stop me from checking ;) But usually the price goes up (sometimes WAY up:eek: ) and I am thankful I booked far in advance :)

[camz]

How does one know if they are in the EBR timeframe?

 

Usually the EBR is offered when the cruise is first announced. Then it lasts until a certain percentage of the ship is full. That being said, it can vary somewhat. The key here is book as early as possible and always inquire about the EBR when booking your reservations. After you are booked, watch the NCL website weekly for promos and specials wherein OBCs are offered. You have until final payment to change your reservations as you deem fit. If you follow this advice you can save lots of money.

[dinoman]

Personally, I have found when booking far out, that I get a great rate and I have never seen the price drop. (not that it can't happen)

We sometimes book cruises over two years out and normally we book that far out because the price is awesome.

This doesn't stop me from checking ;) But usually the price goes up (sometimes WAY up:eek: ) and I am thankful I booked far in advance :)

 

I though so too but for twice I've taken advantages of a price drop (quite significantly, I must add) from NCL. For my first NCL cruise I booked a OV cabin with a OBC but I ended up in a Balcony cabin with almost the same if not less amount of money I originally paid for the OV. For my upcoming NCL cruise in 2012 I booked a Balcony cabin with a $50 OBC and 1 month later I spotted a $200 difference for a Balcony cabin in another category but on a higher deck, so I called them up and I ended up with $200 saving PLUS the $50 OBC!

 

I don't know much about other cruise lines but for NCL do check out their website regularly and perform a dummy booking to check if they offer better price for the cabin you booked or a better cabin for the price you paid. For certain cruises they tend to slash the prices closer to the embarkation dates.

[Leeroy-Jenkins]

How likely is the Epic to have price drops.

 

Varies.

[sparks1093]

Simply put, NCL doesn't honor price changes. HOWEVER...as long as it is before the "final payment date", you can cancel with no penalty, so NCL basically does a cancellation on your current cruise and then immediately rebooks you under the new rate. It looks like they do a price adjustment, but technically, its a cancel-rebook situation. That is why you would lose any special offers (OBC, etc) involved.

 

Yep.