Are There Quirks in Pricing When Upgrading Through NCL (not bid) after Final Payment Date?

[itsnotjustme]

We are considering an upgrade on an upcoming cruise, but NCL is calculating a price increase different that I expect - about $400 higher.  We are working through a TA, so info from NCL is 2nd hand, but my TA is very good.

 

Numbers below are for example, not actual figures:

 

Payment for current cabin: $4,000 (include fare, port fees/taxes, FAS gratuities, military discount)

Mock Upgrade Booking Price:  $6,000

Expected Increase: $2,000

Quoted Increase: $2,400

 

We have the 10% military discount on our existing cabin, in the mock booking, and NCL says that is included in the upgrade price also.

NCL indicated booked/paid excursions might be affecting the upgrade price - not sure how.  We are Platinum and receive 10% off.  That 10% totals about $120 - not enough to account for the delta.

 

I have asked the TA to check the base fare only to remove all the other possible sources of difference from the equation.  Standing by for that answer..... My thinking is everything else is fixed and a matter of book keeping.as long as the base fare is correct anything else can be (should be??) fixable.

 

Has anyone experienced similar issues?  Any ideas where the extra $400 could be coming from?

 

 

[ggTexasGal]

4 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

Has anyone experienced similar issues?  Any ideas where the extra $400 could be coming from?

You did not state the number of days, room category, nor, if you have pre-paid DSC.

Possibly the answer lies within those categories.

[Figg1437]

We had this same issue.  We would see a great deal online calculate the difference and call… they always had a much higher cost.  They said that the free at sea gratuity had gone up since our booking.  They also said the site wasn’t taking into account the increased air that is now higher and the increased insurance for the more expensive vacation.  I never did understand because I was adding all those things into my mock booking.  Bottom line, they wanted what they wanted for the upgrade and we had to pay it or not upgrade.   We were after final payment so cancel and rebook not an option.   After a few weeks of watching prices and calling we finally just did it- but the $ difference was never what we expected. 

[3OfDiamonds]

To put it mildly, yes; I got a quote on a suite upgrade of $3500 (from OV) and the agent herself I had time to think it over, so I did, and the promotion was equivalent (second passenger free the first call, 50% off all cruises the second) *and* the PP price on the website was maybe $50-100 higher (so $100-200) the second time I called (5 days later).  The agent during the second call (I decided to YOLO and just go for it) quoted OVER $5,000 for the same exact upgrade and was dismissive of my assertions about the lower quote, and really disinterested in trying to find out what happened.  Tried filling out the customer support form on the NCL website and had another person, a “Customer Support Specialist” whose real specialty was doing precisely f**k-all to help *and* make it clear I knew that.  Exasperated with that nonsense I eventually called back and found a nice *and* helpful agent who found a club balcony for a good price.  Like one would think the people helping you spend money to book a nice fun thing like a cruise would be, well, nice and enjoyable and helpful?  APPARENTLY NOT 🙃🤬🤷‍♂️

Edited March 12, 2023 by 3OfDiamonds

[itsnotjustme]

5 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

You did not state the number of days, room category, nor, if you have pre-paid DSC.

Possibly the answer lies within those categories.

The cruise is 16 days, but I don't understand how that is relevant.

 

The upgrade is from a balcony to a suite.  Again, not sure how that is relevant.

 

We have pre-paid gratuities (DSC) from the travel agent, so while the gratuities change for a suite, they are not part of the price we already paid or what we are being quoted.

[NJLVW]

25 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

The cruise is 16 days, but I don't understand how that is relevant.

 

The upgrade is from a balcony to a suite.  Again, not sure how that is relevant.

 

We have pre-paid gratuities (DSC) from the travel agent, so while the gratuities change for a suite, they are not part of the price we already paid or what we are being quoted.

Do you have the insurance added to your original booking? Going from a balcony to a suite the insurance is quite a bit more as well. Are you before or after final payment? 

[eileeshb]

24 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

The cruise is 16 days, but I don't understand how that is relevant.

 

The upgrade is from a balcony to a suite.  Again, not sure how that is relevant.

 

We have pre-paid gratuities (DSC) from the travel agent, so while the gratuities change for a suite, they are not part of the price we already paid or what we are being quoted.

The daily gratuities are probably higher on a suite, also depending on your original booking date the gratuities could also have changed. E.g. the daily gratuities charge for my next cruise have increased twice since I booked and the FAS benefits have shrunk which is why I haven’t seriously looked at upgrading. 
however, if a bid for upgrade is offered I would consider that as I’d retain all my FAS promo benefits and avoid the increased gratuities.

[LloydJr]

Having prepaid excursions can cause confusion.  You mock pricing won't include them, but when you call they will quote you a price including your prepaid excursions.  You can put your mock booking on courtesy hold and you'll receive an invoice with the full details to compare against your previous invoice.  Having a TA in the middle may complicate things.

[itsnotjustme]

5 minutes ago, NJLVW said:

Do you have the insurance added to your original booking? Going from a balcony to a suite the insurance is quite a bit more as well. Are you before or after final payment? 

I have third party travel insurance, so not a factor. We are after final payment date.

 

I understand the DSC is higher in a suite, but the DSC are not part of the original price I paid and are not part of the upgrade quote.

 

As fares have gone down as we approach sail date, a direct upgrade is now (or should be) cheaper than an upper end upgrade bid.

 

 

[itsnotjustme]

3 minutes ago, LloydJr said:

Having prepaid excursions can cause confusion. 

That is part of what we are trying to get to the bottom of.....

[Homosassa]

3 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

 

 

As fares have gone down as we approach sail date, a direct upgrade is now (or should be) cheaper than an upper end upgrade bid.

 

 

The fares may be lower now but what were the fares for the cabin you wish to upgrade to at the time you booked your original cabin?

 

The low fares you see closer to sailing usually have the caveat that they are for new bookings only. Your request to upgrade may be based on the fare of the cabin without a "new booking" or what it would have been at the time you booked.

[itsnotjustme]

51 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The fares may be lower now but what were the fares for the cabin you wish to upgrade to at the time you booked your original cabin?

When we booked, they were far higher.  More than $,1000 per person higher.  The fare of our own cabin also dropped prior to final payment date.  We rebooked twice getting to a total for two of over $1,800 lower than our original booking price.  Our base fare (without port fees/taxes/FAS gratuities) is no less than $100 per person per day.  One thing is we did not use the BOGO air, as that would have precluded the rebookings.

 

56 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The low fares you see closer to sailing usually have the caveat that they are for new bookings only.

Perhaps.  No mention of that by the TA though.

 

58 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Your request to upgrade may be based on the fare of the cabin without a "new booking" or what it would have been at the time you booked.

The new quote is well below what the suite was at the time we booked.  Had it been that price we would have booked it in the first place.

  

Thanks to everyone for their inputs.

 

We also have upgrade bids in play.  If nothing works out we will be happy in our balcony, specially at under $100 per person per day.  But I am at a point in life - late working career - where the time off is much harder to come by than the money.  I cannot just take the savings and put it toward another cruise because I still work full time and can only take so much time off per year.