Can't Figure Out the NCL Upgrade Process

[Bluewake]

We received an offer to bid for a balcony upgrade on our upcoming NCL Pearl cruise.  We made a moderate bid but have heard nothing.  On our roll call, there are posts from happy passengers saying they have been upgraded to a balcony and the amount they claim to have offered is less than we bid.  We experienced something like this two years ago when friends with whom we were traveling (and who had not sailed NCL before) were given a huge upgrade and our bid was not accepted.  And, on this same Pearl cruise, two members of our group (also first time on NCL) received a better upgrade  (from an inside to an oceanview on a higher deck, full  window) than we did in compensation for a significant price drop.  Maybe I am just unlucky...which is why I don't go near the casino!  But, this is becoming frustrating.  You would think that having taken multiple NCL cruises would count for something but apparently it does not. Okay, end of rant....

[dcipjr]

When's your cruise? In my experience, I'm 2 for 2 with my bids, but they've always been processed the week before the sail date.

[Starry Eyes]

Two separate ways to upgrade:

 

Bidding..NCL does not have to explain their reasons for accepting bids.  It is a blind process and you may never know why.  That is frustrating. Are you bidding for a balcony from an inside cabin or from an ocean view cabin?  Were the people on your roll call in the same exact category of cabin? NCL may have needed that specific category to sell.  Heck, they could have even needed to empty cabins in a certain area of the ship for some reason (maintenance or such, who knows). 

 

Upgrades for price drops are a different animal.  You (or your travel agent if you have one) must note the price drop yourselves, call in and negotiate an arrangement.  Evidently, the newbies were able to do this.  Let’s both be happy for them.   Have prices dropped on your category, too?  Have they dropped on categories above yours?  If so, maybe you can get something, too.  Be careful, though, after final payment, there is typically only one “free” goodwill adjustment per reservation, so use it wisely!  Sometimes it might make sense to pay a just few dollars to upgrade yourself to a higher category (if that’s the way prices work out) and keep that potential freebie for possible later use.  At least think look at the numbers before you make the call and make an educated decision.  If you are in a different category from The newbies and the price of your category&higher has not dropped, there’s not anything to be done.

[marktwothousand]

Will I still get the chance to bid if I went through a travel agent? I booked Wednesday and I've heard nothing about upgrades. I currently have two inside GTYs, one with drinks, one sailaway. NCL Joy.

[dcipjr]

13 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Will I still get the chance to bid if I went through a travel agent?

 

This depends on your travel agent. Some have opted out of the Upgrade Advantage program.

 

It typically takes 2 days after booking for the upgrade screens to appear in MyNCL. Log in to your account, click on your reservation, and see if one of the Messages in the Message Center is "Let's Get You Upgraded".

[Starry Eyes]

32 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Will I still get the chance to bid if I went through a travel agent? I booked Wednesday and I've heard nothing about upgrades. I currently have two inside GTYs, one with drinks, one sailaway. NCL Joy.

Maybe, as noted above about TA  participation and typical 2 day minimum delay.  Additionally, you’d need to tell us date of cruise for us to guess if bidding invitations are being issued yet,

[macandlucy]

I've had a similar experience with non-bidding upgrades.  Twice booked the same category (which had gone to GTY status) with new to NCL cruisers. Both times, despite booking the same category, the new to NCLers got an upgrade from the category we paid for and we got the category we paid for. 

 

I think they may favour new people, trying to get them to feel good about NCL. With us, they feel they have us and don't have to try so hard.  Loyalty is rewarded via the Latitudes program.  And the new cruiser seems to be the one everyone is trying to acquire. 

[marktwothousand]

October 27, 12 Day Joy.

 

Just called Costco and pleaded with them to try and get NCL to re-assign me any other inside guarantee than deck 5 and they wouldn't budge. Costco made 2-3 calls to NCL on my behalf but they would not budge.

 

I booked an Inside GTY class "ID" and I understand Guarantee to mean you would get assigned to any room within the ID class or higher. I am FINE with not having a specific room, but I do expect to get at least the quality I paid for. Most cabins in the ID class were deck 9 and above and I ended up getting assigned to an IC CABIN ON DECK 5 under the theatre. I am furious, because I don't feel I'm getting at least what I paid for. I don't know how NCL considers a deck 5 IC better than a deck 9-12 ID cabin.😡

 

Again, I realize GTY doesn't promise anything great but I understood it to mean I get AT LEAST the quality I paid for, and I don't feel I have. I've never truly been dissastisfied with NCL until now, silver level cruiser here.

 

What are my other options?

- pay for an upgrade

- can I rebook my ID cabin to another inside category other than ID and see if I get reassigned? (Apply what I paid to a new booking)

- plead in person for a change of my inside room...but should I do this at the pier or on board, and I am guessing I should be really early to the pier to even try this, right?

 

I'm thinking the best shot I have is "plead in person" to be placed in any other inside cabin, if I complain that the cabin is under the theatre and I am sensitive to the noise because I sleep odd hours.

Edited October 4, 2019 by marktwothousand

[smplybcause]

5 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

October 27, 12 Day Joy.

 

Just called Costco and pleaded with them to try and get NCL to re-assign me any other inside guarantee than deck 5 and they wouldn't budge. Costco made 2-3 calls to NCL on my behalf but they would not budge.

 

I booked an Inside GTY class "ID" and I understand Guarantee to mean you would get assigned to any room within the ID class or higher. I am FINE with not having a specific room, but I do expect to get at least the quality I paid for. Most cabins in the ID class were deck 9 and above and I ended up getting assigned to an IC CABIN ON DECK 5 under the theatre. I am furious, because I don't feel I'm getting at least what I paid for. I don't know how NCL considers a deck 5 IC better than a deck 9-12 ID cabin.😡

 

Again, I realize GTY doesn't promise anything great but I understood it to mean I get AT LEAST the quality I paid for, and I don't feel I have. I've never truly been dissastisfied with NCL until now, silver level cruiser here.

 

What are my other options?

- pay for an upgrade

- can I rebook my ID cabin to another inside category other than ID and see if I get reassigned? (Apply what I paid to a new booking)

- plead in person for a change of my inside room...but should I do this at the pier or on board, and I am guessing I should be really early to the pier to even try this, right?

 

I'm thinking the best shot I have is "plead in person" to be placed in any other inside cabin, if I complain that the cabin is under the theatre and I am sensitive to the noise because I sleep odd hours.

 

Costco does not participate in the bid program. NCL will not change a GTY booked room after it's assigned. IC is a higher category than ID - so you got upgraded even though you don't think so. It's based on NCL standards not yours. 

 

The best shot you have is paying for an upgrade. They don't have to move you once on board, and they might not have a room to move you to. 

[DinaS]

9 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

October 27, 12 Day Joy.

 

Just called Costco and pleaded with them to try and get NCL to re-assign me any other inside guarantee than deck 5 and they wouldn't budge. Costco made 2-3 calls to NCL on my behalf but they would not budge.

 

I booked an Inside GTY class "ID" and I understand Guarantee to mean you would get assigned to any room within the ID class or higher. I am FINE with not having a specific room, but I do expect to get at least the quality I paid for. Most cabins in the ID class were deck 9 and above and I ended up getting assigned to an IC CABIN ON DECK 5 under the theatre. I am furious, because I don't feel I'm getting at least what I paid for. I don't know how NCL considers a deck 5 IC better than a deck 9-12 ID cabin.😡

 

Again, I realize GTY doesn't promise anything great but I understood it to mean I get AT LEAST the quality I paid for, and I don't feel I have. I've never truly been dissastisfied with NCL until now, silver level cruiser here.

 

What are my other options?

- pay for an upgrade

- can I rebook my ID cabin to another inside category other than ID and see if I get reassigned? (Apply what I paid to a new booking)

- plead in person for a change of my inside room...but should I do this at the pier or on board, and I am guessing I should be really early to the pier to even try this, right?

 

I'm thinking the best shot I have is "plead in person" to be placed in any other inside cabin, if I complain that the cabin is under the theatre and I am sensitive to the noise because I sleep odd hours.

 

It really is a matter of understanding that a guarantee cabin really does mean that category or higher.  If you did not want an IC cabin on Deck 5, then booking a guarantee ID cabin is not a good idea.  When they say you could end up in that category or higher, anywhere on the ship - they mean it.

 

Are you already past final payment?  If not, then simply rebook your cabin to something that would make you happy.  If you are past final payment, you may be able to upgrade (by paying) to a higher category.  

It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that would ever get an opportunity to switch cabins when you get to the pier.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by DinaS

[Two Wheels Only]

21 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Again, I realize GTY doesn't promise anything great but I understood it to mean I get AT LEAST the quality I paid for, and I don't feel I have.

 

It isn't "quality", it's category. You booked a guarantee knowing that it could be your chosen category or higher. You got a higher category.

 

NCL wants to fill the ship as much as possible. Those who can select their stateroom will pay more than those who cannot. By booking a guarantee, you get what nobody else wanted. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it isn't.

 

If NCL moved you, what should happen to the next unfortunate soul who gets assigned to your old stateroom?

 

 

 

 

[esm54687]

23 minutes ago, DinaS said:

 

It really is a matter of understanding that a guarantee cabin really does mean that category or higher.  If you did not want an IC cabin on Deck 5, then booking a guarantee ID cabin is not a good idea.  When they say you could end up in that category or higher, anywhere on the ship - they mean it.

 

Are you already past final payment?  If not, then simply rebook your cabin to something that would make you happy.  If you are past final payment, you may be able to upgrade (by paying) to a higher category.  

It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that would ever get an opportunity to switch cabins when you get to the pier.

 

 

The very first sentence tells you his sail date...... that will answer your question about final payment date.

[DinaS]

5 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

The very first sentence tells you his sail date...... that will answer your question about final payment date.

 

Not sure how I missed that 🙂

 

His only option may be to pay for an upgrade now.

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by DinaS

[marktwothousand]

40 minutes ago, DinaS said:

It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that would ever get an opportunity to switch cabins when you get to the pier.

I've seen it happen a few times to savvy Cruise Critic people. They had one or another issue with their cabin and got moved. I don't recall anyone being upgraded - and I'm not asking for that - but I seem to remember customers with issues being able to be re-assigned.

 

Question is, does it happen at customer relations on board or at the pier?

[ColeThornton]

5 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I've seen it happen a few times to savvy Cruise Critic people. They had one or another issue with their cabin and got moved. I don't recall anyone being upgraded - and I'm not asking for that - but I seem to remember customers with issues being able to be re-assigned.

 

Question is, does it happen at customer relations on board or at the pier?

 

That has occurred in cases of things like plumbing issues, etc.   They won't move you because you are unhappy with your GTY.    They won't do it at the pier and most likely at customer services they will have the "no rooms available" sign out.

[dcipjr]

17 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

That has occurred in cases of things like plumbing issues, etc.   They won't move you because you are unhappy with your GTY.    They won't do it at the pier and most likely at customer services they will have the "no rooms available" sign out.

 

Bingo, moving people is generally done in case of plumbing or mechanical issues. It wouldn't be fair to ask for a reassignment if there's nothing wrong with your room, besides it being in a noisy location—some rooms are.

 

I do sympathize; one time I booked an obstructed ocean view GTY on the Dawn; these are generally on Deck 8 midship, with full windows, that are partially obscured by a lifeboat. I got my cabin assignment: it was a porthole cabin all the way forward, and under the theater. 

 

I was disappointed, but they wouldn't move me, and it's the risk you take booking a GTY. In the end, it worked out fine, the theater noise was minimal and didn't disrupt our sleep one bit.

 

Category IDs are selling for $499 on your sailing. You won't be able to upgrade to a sailaway, and Costco doesn't participate in the Upgrade Advantage program, so your options would be an oceanview at $649 or a balcony at $849.

 

I'd probably just tough it out.

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

October 27, 12 Day Joy.

 

Just called Costco and pleaded with them to try and get NCL to re-assign me any other inside guarantee than deck 5 and they wouldn't budge. Costco made 2-3 calls to NCL on my behalf but they would not budge.

 

I booked an Inside GTY class "ID" and I understand Guarantee to mean you would get assigned to any room within the ID class or higher. I am FINE with not having a specific room, but I do expect to get at least the quality I paid for. Most cabins in the ID class were deck 9 and above and I ended up getting assigned to an IC CABIN ON DECK 5 under the theatre. I am furious, because I don't feel I'm getting at least what I paid for. I don't know how NCL considers a deck 5 IC better than a deck 9-12 ID cabin.😡

 

Again, I realize GTY doesn't promise anything great but I understood it to mean I get AT LEAST the quality I paid for, and I don't feel I have. I've never truly been dissastisfied with NCL until now, silver level cruiser here.

 

What are my other options?

- pay for an upgrade

- can I rebook my ID cabin to another inside category other than ID and see if I get reassigned? (Apply what I paid to a new booking)

- plead in person for a change of my inside room...but should I do this at the pier or on board, and I am guessing I should be really early to the pier to even try this, right?

 

I'm thinking the best shot I have is "plead in person" to be placed in any other inside cabin, if I complain that the cabin is under the theatre and I am sensitive to the noise because I sleep odd hours.

Gty’s are a gamble.  You can get any cabin in your stated category or any “higher” category.  Your were assigned within that parameter, so you got what you paid for.  I know you do not like your cabin assignment.  But if you had come to cc before booking and asked, we’d have told you this was a very, very real chance.  Do not count on pleading your case later.  Good chance all cabins will be sold out, and if there is not an actual defect (like a non repairable plumbing leak), you are not likely to be moved on embarkation day.  If you really do not want to sail in that cabin, suck it up and buy an upgrade soon.  It looks like they have IA cabins on your sailing...how much more are they now than you paid for your ID gty?  It sounds from others as if you won’t be getting a bid invite do to your TA choice; bidding might result in another cabin assignment you did not like anyway.

 

Gty and bid cabins are best for flexible souls who can be happy in any cabin.if one  cares what deck, or cares if one is near or far from certain venues, or if one is noise sensitive, or if one gets sea sick near stern/aft, etc then really one might’ve be better off picking their own cabin.  DH and I have learned that we can be very flexible, so often go with gty.

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, macandlucy said:

I've had a similar experience with non-bidding upgrades.  Twice booked the same category (which had gone to GTY status) with new to NCL cruisers. Both times, despite booking the same category, the new to NCLers got an upgrade from the category we paid for and we got the category we paid for. 

 

I think they may favour new people, trying to get them to feel good about NCL. With us, they feel they have us and don't have to try so hard.  Loyalty is rewarded via the Latitudes program.  And the new cruiser seems to be the one everyone is trying to acquire. 

Loyalty status does not seem to factor into gty assignment algorithm at all.  I think it was luck of the draw that the newbies got better cabins than you.  

 

I am Platinum Plus; nevertheless I say it would not be fair for a loyal cruiser to get an advantage or a newbie in gty cabin assignment.  It is not listed as a locality benefit.  We all pay the same price for gty.  We all take the same gamble that we will get a good, fair, or just basic cabin assignment.  If a newbie gets lucky when I do not, good for her.  It was not my turn.  Maybe I’ll be lucky another time.  Just my point of view.

[macandlucy]

Actually, I don't think there's an algorithm per se when it comes to guarantee assignments, I think it's more like someone at NCL assigns the cabins (as opposed to the computer program that allegedly does with the bid-for-upgrades option. 

 

You may be right, it may be luck of the draw, and I may just be unlucky so far.  I think there's more to it though. Also, just my opinion.

 

But, I will point out that the idea of giving preference to loyal cruisers is not exactly something NCL never does  I mean they flat out give you a category upgrade when you book on board. And that is giving something more to a repeat cruiser -- the same person booking from home is certainly not guaranteed an upgrade like the on board booker is.  Clearly, they do not think it's unfair to upgrade a repeat cruiser over a new cruiser, since they do it every day on their ships.

[esm54687]

3 hours ago, DinaS said:

 

Not sure how I missed that 🙂

 

His only option may be to pay for an upgrade now.

 

you mean pay for an additional upgrade since the OP was already upgraded from his booking of an "ID" to an "IC"..... 

 

I've come to realize that people are so anxious to reply to a thread that they skim read a post hoping to reply before someone else does and that's where people actually miss the very answer they ask for clarification..... not saying that happened to you but there's a pattern on this board of it. 

[DinaS]

3 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

you mean pay for an additional upgrade since the OP was already upgraded from his booking of an "ID" to an "IC"..... 

 

I've come to realize that people are so anxious to reply to a thread that they skim read a post hoping to reply before someone else does and that's where people actually miss the very answer they ask for clarification..... not saying that happened to you but there's a pattern on this board of it. 

 

Wow.  I simply missed something and I admitted that I missed something.  Care to continue with your beating of a dead horse?

 

Yes - his only real option is to PAY for an actual upgrade.  His cabin assignment, while it may have been a technical upgrade, was not a paid upgrade.

 

I hope that is clear enough now.

 

[ddlb]

4 hours ago, smplybcause said:

Again, I realize GTY doesn't promise anything great but I understood it to mean I get AT LEAST the quality I paid for, and I don't feel I have. I've never truly been dissastisfied with NCL until now, silver level cruiser here

 I booked an obstructed Oceanview cabin 0F that said it was on deck eight or better. I was assigned a port hole ocean view on deck 4 across from the morgue or something. It was a “better cabin” than the OF because it was mid ship. Eventually I just paid to upgrade to a balcony. But I understand exactly how you feel.  This was on the Jewel.

[smplybcause]

1 hour ago, macandlucy said:

Actually, I don't think there's an algorithm per se when it comes to guarantee assignments, I think it's more like someone at NCL assigns the cabins (as opposed to the computer program that allegedly does with the bid-for-upgrades option. 

 

You may be right, it may be luck of the draw, and I may just be unlucky so far.  I think there's more to it though. Also, just my opinion.

 

But, I will point out that the idea of giving preference to loyal cruisers is not exactly something NCL never does  I mean they flat out give you a category upgrade when you book on board. And that is giving something more to a repeat cruiser -- the same person booking from home is certainly not guaranteed an upgrade like the on board booker is.  Clearly, they do not think it's unfair to upgrade a repeat cruiser over a new cruiser, since they do it every day on their ships.

 

It's outsourced to a third party. Royal Caribbean uses the same company. There might be a human involved, but it's not a NCL employee. 

[Starry Eyes]

13 hours ago, macandlucy said:

Actually, I don't think there's an algorithm per se when it comes to guarantee assignments, I think it's more like someone at NCL assigns the cabins (as opposed to the computer program that allegedly does with the bid-for-upgrades option. 

 

You may be right, it may be luck of the draw, and I may just be unlucky so far.  I think there's more to it though. Also, just my opinion.

 

But, I will point out that the idea of giving preference to loyal cruisers is not exactly something NCL never does  I mean they flat out give you a category upgrade when you book on board. And that is giving something more to a repeat cruiser -- the same person booking from home is certainly not guaranteed an upgrade like the on board booker is.  Clearly, they do not think it's unfair to upgrade a repeat cruiser over a new cruiser, since they do it every day on their ships.

Well, I do not work for NCL, nor do I program their computers.  But it is a large enough business and cares about efficiency and error rates.  A computer assignment system would be faster with a lower error rate than a human.  And I think there is an algorithm; they tell the computer (or the human if you insist it is a human) which categories of cabin to pull from, in which order and when to do it.  Maybe they are favoring newbies.  It is possible.  Trouble is that most newbies do not know anything about gty assignments, have never had a bad cabin assignment, so do not really appreciate a good assignment.  Newbies just have a cabin assignment unless somebody in the know tells them the good v bad.

 

Ah, one of the advertised benefits of booking on board in category upgrade.  That is an incentive to book with NCL on the spot (so you don’t even look have a chance at other lines or other vacation options). It is  a selling tactic and a totally different matter.  

 

Certainly NCL could make gty assignment preference a loyalty benefit, but so far they have not listed it; I do not know of any cruiseline that has.  It might be difficult though, as people book and are assigned at different times under different market conditions.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Starry Eyes

[macandlucy]

The Upgrade Advantage, bid-for-an-upgrade is new (ish), and is indeed done by an outside company.

 

The "assign a cabin that's gone to GTY status" (nothing to do with bidding) is not new, and people have been assigned cabins long before computers became a part of our daily lives. Since there was initially no computer to make the cabin assignment, some human had to be doing it.  The Upgrade Advantage program, I believe, is separate from this regular "assign a GTY" function that had to be done by an NCL employee because there really weren't computers to do it from the start.

 

Other things make me think a human is doing it: The inconsistency in when the assignments are done, and to whom they are given.  When a sailing is still months away from final payment, but the category you want to book is in GTY status, in my limited experience, requests for deck or side of ship are taken and usually (actually in my and my friends' experience, always) granted.

 

I agree with you that the on board category upgrade is a sales tool and booking incentive. I'm just saying that the general idea of giving something to one and not the other is not something NCL would be opposed to in some sort of "fairness" sense, (since you mentioned that it would be unfair to give something to the "olds" at the expense of the "news").

 

It's my guess that the "olds" are rewarded for their loyalty (book on board now, get an upgrade sales incentive) and the "news" are similarly enticed, where possible, with a bonus category upgrade when they make their first booking.  They get a little bonus for their first booking and feel positive about NCL, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will book again. Another sales incentive.  I think you raise a fair point about the likelihood of a new cruiser  not understanding that they got an upgrade: if they do it entirely on their own, they may or may not. But even today, most cruises are still booked via a travel agent, and the TA will know and I assume would tell their client.

 

A free category upgrade is not a part of the Latitudes program, that's true.  But I don't think it's true that other lines don't reward their repeat customers with upgrades. They may not be part of their loyalty programs, but I'm sure I've seen free category upgrades from other lines when making a booking (they give you a change to enter your loyalty number when booking, and sometimes you get a lower price or free category upgrade because of it). NCL doesn't ask for your loyalty number when you are making an online booking.  NCL doesn't do it, but that doesn't mean that there's no precedent for it industry-wide.

 

55 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

And I think there is an algorithm; they tell the computer (or the human if you insist it is a human) which categories of cabin to pull from, in which order and when to do it.

 

Okay, so let's say it is a computer that's making the assignments -- someone had to program it, right? they had, as you point out, to decide which variables to take into account and which ones to give priority over, which operations to perform in which order. "If A, then B", etc.  As me again in 20 years, but for now, us humans are still making those decisions. And all I'm saying is *I think* someone, somewhere has decided to give the newbs the upgrade over the olds.  It does not, in my admittedly very limited experience, seem like a random distribution of upgrades between old and brand new NCL cruisers when booking GTY categories (again nothing to do with Upgrade Advantage bidding).  If it were just random assignment within category would they even need a fancy algorithm to assign empty cabins? Just next booking, next open cabin in the queue.  I sense an overall lack of randomness, a human inconsistency vibe to the whole thing.

 

Complicating matters, I think many people confuse or conflate the Upgrade Advantage program with GTY assignments and with booking a GTY category, so when we here at CC discuss the reports of cabin assignments and when and how and to whom they were given, we may not even be talking about the same thing.

 

Having said all that, it's just a guess on my part. I don't know if it's true or not and I'm not even saying it's a bad business model if it is true, (after all, on our first booking with NCL, we were upgraded, and here I am, now a Platinum NCLer) just saying it's what I see when I look at everything.