Small price drop

[momsince96]

I am a nurse and took off a few days in April just in case we found a cruise that was fairly cheap that weekend. I called to ask how our CruiseNext Lite certificates worked and the rep did a sort of mock booking and we ended up booking.  Before I coughed up the credit card number and committed, I said that we watch cruises pretty often and notice that the prices tend to drop the closer to the date we get and maybe we'd want to wait.  We were doing a sailaway balcony (and using two CN Lite certs) and he said that category might sell out.  It wasn't high pressure at all, but it was pressure, and it went from "maybe we'll use those 5 days I took off to cruise" to a booking.  Not that I am complaining, but.... 

 

(I do take responsibility because ultimately I initiated the call and paid for the cruise.)

 

But now I'm looking and if we'd only waited until today - one day later! - we'd be paying $60 (total) less!  I know that's not significant but it's still $60!  That would practically pay for dining upgrades!!  Should I call and ask for the difference?  Wait to see if it drops further and try to get an upgrade?  Or?  

 

I guess I am being petty, but I am also a little irritated because I feel like I should have waited and was talked into NOT waiting.  

[dianalo325]

Hi, I booked a Western Mediterranean cruise for May a couple of weeks back.  Like you, the price dropped $75 in one week.  Not a deal-breaker, but I was annoyed and wished I had waited.  I called my online travel agent and they reached out to NCL on my behalf....all I got out of it was $20 onboard credit, but I guess that's better than nothing.  Pays for a couple of drinks!  I think it's definitely worth asking if there's anything they can do.  I'm going to stop checking the prices on that cruise, though, because my guess is it will keep dropping closer to cruise date -- and that will make me crazy!  

[ColinIllinois]

I would definitely call.  It used to be NCL had a 24 hour price drop guarantee.  Not sure if they still have it, perhaps someone else can chime in.

[mdsgu]

I think they will work with you.  We are a couple of months past final payment, but I checked the price of our Med cruise this May.  It had dropped about $600.  They didn't give us the difference, but they did add $175 OBC to our booking.  Better than nothing!

[allyfrizzle]

9 hours ago, momsince96 said:

I called to ask how our CruiseNext Lite certificates

What's a CruiseNext Lite certificate?

[mdsgu]

Just now, allyfrizzle said:

What's a CruiseNext Lite certificate?

Just fewer calories!  😀

[momsince96]

55 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

What's a CruiseNext Lite certificate?

On the Sun and Sky, you can purchase $100 CN certs for $50 - they only work on Sun and Sky though. And you can double them on balcony+ bookings, which is what we did.

Thanks for the replies!  It can't hurt to call, I guess.  I know when we qualified for a free upgrade due to a price drop we were told that it would be our only chance to "cash in", so to speak.  So I am worried that if I call for "only" a $60 decrease and it drops again, I'll have made a mistake.  

[rmurray847]

1 hour ago, momsince96 said:

 

Thanks for the replies!  It can't hurt to call, I guess.  I know when we qualified for a free upgrade due to a price drop we were told that it would be our only chance to "cash in", so to speak.  So I am worried that if I call for "only" a $60 decrease and it drops again, I'll have made a mistake.  

Yes, they do tell you that.  But it can never hurt to call.  They may do a little something for you, just to keep you happy.  And yes, one can drive oneself insane over the price...book what price you're comfortable with.  Then after that, if there's a drop, and you are able to get some small concession, it's a WIN!  Our TA last year has probably 12 price drops after we booked.  (And that was just 90 days out.)  Lots of volatility.  I got a few concessions (modest OBC and a cabin  upgrade)...but I really just had to be happy with the rate we had paid (which I thought was pretty good on a per day basis), and we looked at the other stuff as a bonus.

[stormynow]

NCL let u use 2 cruiselites for balcony in April.  They always tell me have to book 6 mons in advance to use 2.

[luv2kroooz]

47 minutes ago, stormynow said:

NCL let u use 2 cruiselites for balcony in April.  They always tell me have to book 6 mons in advance to use 2.

That is the general rule. Current promo going on that allows 2 to be used within 6 months if booked by April 30, 2019.

DOUBLEUP!
Use up to 2 CruiseNext deposits when you book a Balcony or higher category at least 6 months prior to sailing. This promotion is applicable to open sailings of 6 days or longer. For a limited time only, this promotion is also applicable to all open 6 day or longer voyages within 6 months of sailing when booked by April 30, 2019.

[momsince96]

29 minutes ago, blcruising said:

That is the general rule. Current promo going on that allows 2 to be used within 6 months if booked by April 30, 2019.

DOUBLEUP!
Use up to 2 CruiseNext deposits when you book a Balcony or higher category at least 6 months prior to sailing. This promotion is applicable to open sailings of 6 days or longer. For a limited time only, this promotion is also applicable to all open 6 day or longer voyages within 6 months of sailing when booked by April 30, 2019.

We were told on the Sky in December that they were eliminating the 6 month rule for doubling up.  We are still a little confused about all the rules, and we rarely (okay never) book 6 months+ out so we specifically asked about that rule and were told that the CN double-up is now balcony+, no time constraints.