Getting Fares Reduced

[foodsvcmgr]

Let’s say I book now for 2025, a year from now the fares are reduced, still many months from final payment.

What is anyone’s recent experience calling NCL to lower the fare for their reservation?

Is it cheerfully accommodated or do they make you cancel and rebook?

Edited April 19, 2023 by foodsvcmgr

[schmoopie17]

It's very easy to get the lower fare before final payment. Just call whoever made your reservation and ask to get the lower fare. Have done it many times...sometimes more than once on the same cruise.

[shof515]

I have done it many times. if you book directly with Norwegian, call at odd hours like late at night  to reduce the amount time you need to spend on hold 

 

they adjust the price, booking date never changes

[hallux]

This applies for US customers, it seems customers in other countries incur fees when calling for a price drop.

[CaptainBazz]

I have never had an issue with refunds prior to final payment. In fact on my last cruise the price dropped $2k after final payment so my DW called and lo and behold they gave us a FCC for the same amount. I was quite shocked at how easily they did it.

[eileeshb]

17 minutes ago, hallux said:

This applies for US customers, it seems customers in other countries incur fees when calling for a price drop.

I know the t&cs that apply for me, which should be the same across the EU, officially we can’t cancel without forfeiting the deposit and if you try for a price drop there’s a good chance they will treat it like a cancel and rebook. It seems to depend on who answers the phone when you make the call. I got lucky once when I cancelled a booking as I wanted to switch to a different itinerary and they just moved the deposit across to the new booking but that was pre covid,

[RocketMan275]

56 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Let’s say I book now for 2025, a year from now the fares are reduced, still many months from final payment.

What is anyone’s recent experience calling NCL to lower the fare for their reservation?

Is it cheerfully accommodated or do they make you cancel and rebook?

 

6 minutes ago, CaptainBazz said:

I have never had an issue with refunds prior to final payment. In fact on my last cruise the price dropped $2k after final payment so my DW called and lo and behold they gave us a FCC for the same amount. I was quite shocked at how easily they did it.

I've received multiple reductions in my cruise fare.

I use a TA.  Periodically, I check the NCL website and when I see a reduction, I email my TA describing the reduction.  Usually, I receive a revised booking confirmation withing a few hours showing the new pricing.  Easy, Easy.

I did have one reduction after final payment.  TA handled this as well.  But, be advised, NCL will only allow one reduction after final payment.  This happened on a Breakaway cruise.  You will not get a reduction on that cruise, but you will receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) that can be applied to another cruise.  This FCC will only become available after I completed the Breakaway cruise.  I emailed my TA about a month after the Breakaway cruise and the FCC was applied to another cruise that afternoon. These credits will be available for one year to book and sail, upon completion of your current sailing on Debarkation Day.  They are only eligible for use on sailings for 6 days or longer.

BTW, I actually received two FCC.  One was for my and one for my wife.  NCL divided the FCC into two equal parts.

This really is very easy.

You should be commended for asking about this since the majority of cruisers have no idea that they can get price reductions.  

[evanskl4]

I noticed a reduction in fare a couple of weeks ago and called NCL. They immediately adjusted the fare and sent me a new itinerary with the correct price. It took less than 5 minutes.

[julig22]

2 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Is it cheerfully accommodated or do they make you cancel and rebook?

It's technically a rebook (transparent to you) in that your price and any perks/promos are modified.  But you retain your reservation information, booking date and payment information.

 

Note - you can also move a reservation in the same way if you want to change to a different date for example.  So you don't have to wait for refunds etc.  And in some cases, the booking date does become important with respect to price increases for DSC, meal plans, etc.

 

[eileeshb]

49 minutes ago, julig22 said:

It's technically a rebook (transparent to you) in that your price and any perks/promos are modified.  But you retain your reservation information, booking date and payment information.

 

Note - you can also move a reservation in the same way if you want to change to a different date for example.  So you don't have to wait for refunds etc.  And in some cases, the booking date does become important with respect to price increases for DSC, meal plans, etc.

 

there’s been at least 2 increases on DSC charges and some changes to FAS on my next cruise since I originally made the booking.

FAS:(for a studio guest booked January 2022 v’s now)

250mins free WiFi has gone down to 150mins

2 Specialty dining credits has gone down to 1

$50 excursion credit gone from 1 per port to 1 per excursion

 

Without making any changes to my booking somehow I’m getting the improvement on the excursion credit without losing the higher benefit on WiFi and SDP. 
But when I applied another cruise next voucher last week I noticed my base fare has gone up over €100 yet if I were to book right now it would be €200 cheaper than my original base price. I haven’t yet reached out to NCL about the discrepancy as my final payment date is in September so I have plenty of time. 

[julig22]

35 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

there’s been at least 2 increases on DSC charges and some changes to FAS on my next cruise since I originally made the booking.

FAS:(for a studio guest booked January 2022 v’s now)

250mins free WiFi has gone down to 150mins

2 Specialty dining credits has gone down to 1

$50 excursion credit gone from 1 per port to 1 per excursion

 

Without making any changes to my booking somehow I’m getting the improvement on the excursion credit without losing the higher benefit on WiFi and SDP. 
But when I applied another cruise next voucher last week I noticed my base fare has gone up over €100 yet if I were to book right now it would be €200 cheaper than my original base price. I haven’t yet reached out to NCL about the discrepancy as my final payment date is in September so I have plenty of time. 

Sorry, my comments were with respect to US bookings. I believe there maybe penalties for changing reservations in your case.  I have no idea how CN vouchers affect your bookings, they don't have any effect, other than as a payment, in the US, so can't say why your price may have changed.

 

Yes, the DSC has changed and that is one reason to keep notice of the booking date.

The excursion credit has been per excursion for a number of years - I know that I got multiple excursions/port clear back in 2019 (I thought they'd made a mistake at the time). But they have changed the verbage to clarify how it works.

 

If you request a price adjustment now it will most likely affect both the dining credits and wifi minutes.

[CaptainBazz]

4 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

You should be commended for asking about this since the majority of cruisers have no idea that they can get price reductions.  

Thanks...but I said we will never get a refund so forget about it...my DW took it upon herself to call and she got the refund...so she can be my TA in future 😜.  Yes it was for a future cruise and we already have it applied.  

[Brian V]

The one thing to be really aware of...as a reprice is treated as a cancelation and rebooking, you will get the extras / offers in effect at the time of the rebooking.

 

Our Med cruise was like that, substantial price drop just before final payment, asked for a reprice and had to choose - keep $800 in my pocket or get double extra latitude points?

 

We saved the $800 🙂

 

Not sure how it would work if you did an upgrade, ie: you booked a balcony but now a club balcony is cheaper than what you booked. Still a cancel / rebook or not? Going to talk to my PCC later this week and find out 🙂

Edited April 19, 2023 by Brian V
typo

[don't-use-real-name]

If your booking is done through a TA - do the change of fare through the TA - this unless

your pumpkin chariot is about to run out of time limits at the stroke of midnight and you

are unable to hail your TA for the change.

 

Always come back and check on your reservation for money saving changes and perhaps

additional perks bennies bonuses - Don't be afraid of the Cancel & Rebook penalties !

After FINAL PAYMENT you are pretty much committed to the T & C.

 

Be savvy and know how to save money - the cruise fares may be in flux - be there to

capture that moment !

[hallux]

2 hours ago, Brian V said:

Not sure how it would work if you did an upgrade, ie: you booked a balcony but now a club balcony is cheaper than what you booked. Still a cancel / rebook or not?

I believe the upgrade has to be at least $1 more than your current booking.

[julig22]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

I believe the upgrade has to be at least $1 more than your current booking.

Depends on if it's an upgrade after final payment or a price adjustment prior to final payment.  The gist of the statement you replied to seems to be referring to pricing before final payment.

Prior to final payment, you can basically do anything you want with your reservation, simply because you can always cancel and rebook at that point so there would be no reason for NCL to deny any changes you want to make (US bookings).

The $1 more refers to a courtesy upgrade after final payment.

[NW Pacific]

Have had no problem with getting a price reduction before final payment, but the last time I did, it was with the Caveat, this is a onetime reduction!  If you accept it, any further price reductions that come along will not be honored.  Have no idea if that still holds true.  this was a cruise booked over a year in advance.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, NW Pacific said:

Have had no problem with getting a price reduction before final payment, but the last time I did, it was with the Caveat, this is a onetime reduction!  If you accept it, any further price reductions that come along will not be honored.  Have no idea if that still holds true.  this was a cruise booked over a year in advance.

Unless this is something brand new, what you were told is absolutely false.  Are you working with a TA that doesn't want to bother?

 

Here's the thing - in the US you have the ability to cancel your cruise without penalty at any time prior to final payment.  If the price goes down, you have the option of cancelling and then rebooking, as many times as you wish.  So why in the world would they tell you it's a one-time deal?

The one-time price adjustment (or paid upgrade) applies after final payment.

[NW Pacific]

This was from years ago, now it seems you have to cancel and then rebook to a get a reduction.  At that time you called, asked for the lower price, you got it, no rebooking involved.  Realize times have changed.   All done with a call to NCL direct.  This was maybe 4 years ago.  But dating myself many years ago I could call multiple times and got a lower amount each time a cruise dropped in price, no rebooking, would just get a revised statement with the lower price before final payment.  Times have changed for sure.  It was a  no hassle about rebooking and losing the room you wanted not available.

[Jerseygich]

Never had an issue. Our last cruise we repriced 3 times, twice in one week and got FCC when the fare dropped again after final payment.

[sarahwalker2007]

I just text my NCL rep when I notice a price drop, she does all the work and then sends me new confirmations with the new pricing. Have done it 4 times since I booked in  early January for a fall cruise. Have 3 cabins booked and in total have reduced our total fare by about $3200.

[schmoopie17]

12 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Have had no problem with getting a price reduction before final payment, but the last time I did, it was with the Caveat, this is a onetime reduction!  If you accept it, any further price reductions that come along will not be honored.  Have no idea if that still holds true.  this was a cruise booked over a year in advance.

Not sure who told you that because we had a couple of price reductions before final payment on our  November TA and got the new price both times. Then, after it dropped again following final payment (by $1,200) we called our PCC and he was able to get us the reduction as a FCC...which we used on the Prima in January. However, THAT was a one-time only transaction and had to be approved by the muckity-mucks at NCL. Our PCC told us we should get an answer within a week of the request and we actually got approved two days after our request.

[sebas030]

But I think if you used a CruiseNext promo they will take the "bonus" amount off and apply only the amount really paid for the CN voucher.

 

Right ?

[hallux]

1 hour ago, sebas030 said:

But I think if you used a CruiseNext promo they will take the "bonus" amount off and apply only the amount really paid for the CN voucher.

 

Right ?

I'm not sure I understand.

[sebas030]

9 minutes ago, hallux said:

I'm not sure I understand.

 

I bought a CN voucher for $250 and got $250 in bonus for NCL for a total of $500. When I booked my cruise $500 was deducted from the total cruise price.

 

I think if I ask NCL later for a fare reduction the will cancel and rebook at the new lowest price but I will also loose the $250 bonus that NCL gave me.