Will I Lose Cabin if Cancel and Immediately Re-book With New Promos?

[cyndepet]

I just called NCL to try and rebook my August 2017 cruise to take advantage of the new promo with pre-paid gratuities. I just booked it last week with the shore excursion credit which we probably wouldn't use.

 

The rep told me I would lose my cabin because it would go back into inventory and take about 15 minutes before it was available again. And once it became available, someone else might be able to get it.

 

Here's the rub - I booked an H8 on Escape, which is Deluxe Haven Spa Suite. There is only one cabin like this - it has it's own category :-). It's really, really difficult to get one of these cabins unless you book in advance and are flexible on dates. I don't want to lose this cabin for this date.

 

So, is what the rep told me correct? Has anybody else had a similar situation, and how did you work it out?

[Kaptivate]

My PCC told me the same thing when I booked my cruise last week. I think the only way I would chance it is if it was a super amazing promo that would save a lot of money.

 

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[mom2tcdx2]

I am a bit surprised they can't just reprice it with the new promo. Pretty much every cruise line has been able to do that. I have even had NCL do it in the past. They call it cancelling and rebooking, but generally they just reprice the booking.

[Two Wheels Only]

Do not risk losing that H8.

[JB_Scott1981]

I called NCL to change our booking. We had booked with 3rd guest free and shore credits. We decided we were not going to use the shore credits and decided to bite the bullet and pay for the 18% gratuity on the drink package (9 day cruise so it adds up). They did not give me any problem at all. It took her maybe a min or two to make the change. Logged into my account on line and showed everything correct right away.

 

My guess--they were getting more money from us instead of losing money so of course they were willing to help. In your case I bet they CAN do they same thing but they don't WANT to because they are losing money.

[Annmeat]

I changed our Getaway three times, from large balcony to H7 to H6, then changed the freebies on the H6 twice. I retained the same booking number and did not lose the H6( and it was a specific suite we wanted)when we changed freebies. Ask for a supervisor, they will not have to release it.

 

Just be persistent .

 

Good luck!

[Até]

I am before final payment and called today to change from internet to paid gratuities. My newish-to-me "senior" PCC told me it would be handled as a cancel and re-book and since my category is now only available as a GTY I would lose the room and be assigned another. I told her that would be unacceptable as I specifically booked that room and do not do guarantee. Since it made a $250+ difference in the price and I have been unhappy with recent policy changes anyway I told her to go ahead and cancel, but if I couldn't get the same room not to re-book me. After some time she came back and said her supervisor gave special permission to make the change without kicking the room back into the available pool, but it was not the normal procedure. I think they do give more grief if it is a change in your favor. However, I did lose the latitudes bonus points which are now not offered on my cruise.

[NLH Arizona]

I changed mine over and knocked off the shore excursion credit and added the gratuities, no change in cabin (didn't even bring it up) and I got the confirmation and everything is the same except free gratuities replaced shore excursion credit. It only took about a minute to do.

[casofilia]

Are the commenters here looking at two different situations.

 

Did the OP intend to change the "perks" because different perks were being offered for new bookings? If so he/she had to cancel and rebook.

Many people were saying they were changing the "perk" that was still on offer for their original booking. Even if you have upgraded and the "perks" had not changed then no need to cancel/rebook.

[hawkeyetlse]

15 minutes is almost certainly an exaggeration and they're just trying to scare you into keeping your (less advantageous) booking. I don't think NCL has a sophisticated waitlist system that would automatically and instantaneously reallocate your room to someone waiting for your category. (Wait for others to confirm or contradict this.) So if you call early (right when they open on the East Coast) I think you have a very good chance of being able to get your cabin right back.

[NLH Arizona]

Are the commenters here looking at two different situations.

 

Did the OP intend to change the "perks" because different perks were being offered for new bookings? If so he/she had to cancel and rebook.

Many people were saying they were changing the "perk" that was still on offer for their original booking. Even if you have upgraded and the "perks" had not changed then no need to cancel/rebook.

I changed my reservation because the new perks were different. My original booking had UBP, SDP, Internet and shore excursion credit. I changed my booking to reflect the new perks UBP, SDP, Internet and free gratuities. There were no other changes, I kept the same cabin and it took a minute.

[andymattmom]

We are in an H6 next May. We had all the previous promos but since we knew in at least one port we wouldn't use the credit we decided to rebook today. Like others I called (my PCC was out of the office today so I talked to someone else). It took a couple minutes and it was all fixed. I have a confirmation showing changes.

[Diane123boys]

they are saying i need to pay the new price now .. they wont just change it

[Diane123boys]

ok never mind .. its all good no change in price

[MrsPhoenix91]

ok never mind .. its all good no change in price

 

Did you receive an email confirmation with the desired changes?

[Susandt]

Is it just gratuities on the cabin? I think ours is 18.80 per person(2) per day(7)

 

 

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[sanger727]

Is it just gratuities on the cabin? I think ours is 18.80 per person(2) per day(7)

 

 

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I don't think anyone pays $18.80 pp per day for Dsc

Edited August 15, 2016 by sanger727

[NLH Arizona]

Is it just gratuities on the cabin? I think ours is 18.80 per person(2) per day(7)

 

 

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It is for the Daily Service Charge (NCL's marketing department calls the DSC gratuities for brevity's sake, at least that is what they say):

 

How much are the service charges:

• $13.50 USD per person per day for guests staying in Studio, Inside, Oceanview, Balcony and Mini-Suite categories

• $15.50 USD per person per day for guests staying in Suite and The Haven categories

• Guests sailing to Hawaii will be charged an additional 4.275% Pre Paid Service Charge GET Tax

[BirdTravels]

I don't think anyone pays $18.80 pp per day for Dsc

 

It covers the daily service charge for the first two people in the cabin.

[AdGuyMG]

I called NCL to change our booking. We had booked with 3rd guest free and shore credits. We decided we were not going to use the shore credits and decided to bite the bullet and pay for the 18% gratuity on the drink package (9 day cruise so it adds up). They did not give me any problem at all. It took her maybe a min or two to make the change. Logged into my account on line and showed everything correct right away.

 

My guess--they were getting more money from us instead of losing money so of course they were willing to help. In your case I bet they CAN do they same thing but they don't WANT to because they are losing money.

 

I don't see that the OP claimed that the rep did not want to make the change. The OP was being correctly advised by the rep of what happens to cabin inventory when it's a cancellation/rebook and that there is a remote possibility that the cabin could be snagged by someone else in that short time frame.

[cyndepet]

I don't see that the OP claimed that the rep did not want to make the change. The OP was being correctly advised by the rep of what happens to cabin inventory when it's a cancellation/rebook and that there is a remote possibility that the cabin could be snagged by someone else in that short time frame.

 

This is correct. The rep said she could do whatever I asked her to do, but this was the procedure she had to follow and it was possible I would lose my cabin. I wanted to take advantage of the DSC, which for us would be $217, vs. $150 in 3 ports worth of excursion credits (Tortola, Nassau and St Thomas) of which we might book 1 excursion for $50. So it's really a benefit to us of $167.

 

I may try to call again tomorrow and talk to someone different :-)

[Até]

Changing promos between those that were offered when the cruise was booked seems to be no problem at all. If you are changing to a different promo from what was offered when you booked it is treated as a cancel and re-book. The re-book falls under the current offerings in all ways, including current price. There seems to be no problems and little chance of losing the cabin as long as there are same category cabins still available. GTY or sold out categories evidently create a problem. Getting permission to not have the cabin temporarily put back into the available pool took a supervisor approval.

[Diane123boys]

Did you receive an email confirmation with the desired changes?

 

 

Yes I did :) I always wait for email confirmation before I hang up.. Just to let you all be aware this DOES still apply for the first 2 in the cabin as always.. so if you are sailing KSF promo be aware just an FYI that the gentleman I spoke to reminded me of before we hung up..

[mscdivina2016]

I just called NCL to try and rebook my August 2017 cruise to take advantage of the new promo with pre-paid gratuities. I just booked it last week with the shore excursion credit which we probably wouldn't use.

 

The rep told me I would lose my cabin because it would go back into inventory and take about 15 minutes before it was available again. And once it became available, someone else might be able to get it.

 

Here's the rub - I booked an H8 on Escape, which is Deluxe Haven Spa Suite. There is only one cabin like this - it has it's own category :-). It's really, really difficult to get one of these cabins unless you book in advance and are flexible on dates. I don't want to lose this cabin for this date.

 

So, is what the rep told me correct? Has anybody else had a similar situation, and how did you work it out?

 

I did loose my room when I redid my booking yesterday. I also was using some NCL MasterCard points so the total time on the phone was an hour. When we got to cabin selection, what I had was gone.

[pcakes122]

ALWAYS stay on the phone with your PCC until receive your new confirmation when doing these types of changes so that you can verify you still have your same cabin number. I called yesterday to update all my future bookings and on TWO of the five that I changed when I received my confirm my cabin had CHANGED. (same category, different cabin.) I had to call back again to get my original cabins back.

 

What was explained to me is that with the "cancel & rebook" the system DOES take the cabin back and it could take UP TO 15 MINUTES for it to reappear for reassignment. So sometimes you hang up and the PCC makes a note to check for the cabin in a bit - and then forgets or gets distracted. Honest mistake, but not good for you if you need a specific cabin number.

 

I know to always wait for the confirmation, but yesterday I was in a hurry and didn't check my confirms until about an hour later - thank goodness I did!