Booking via UK vs USA

There seems to be such a discrepancy between the booking terms between the two. Ive never really looked at the USA terms as such, because i dont book via there but from the little Ive gleaned from reading posts on here you guys seem to get a much bettter deal than us.

On all cruiselines not just NCL. I suppose before Brexit it might have been worthwhile trying to book via a US TA but with the £ dropping like a stone its not worth it.

So my question is this, Ive just had to change cruise dates from 19th Aug to 9th Aug, completely my own fault so nothing I can claim on insurance for and the admin charges to do so have cost me £75pp total of £450.

What would it have cost you?

For bookings through US office (direct or through a TA) there are no charges for changes/cancellations before final payment - you can even cancel and NCL will refund your deposit completely (some TAs have their own cancellation fees though).

I have booked all the cruises we've taken through US because of the much better terms.

If you have in mind cacelation cost only, you are right to book in the US.

But esp fir NCL

Have a look into the German promotions. Its all incl. And additionally about 400 bucks cheaper than the US TA - my case Escape 26th....

Bad thing ive booked in the US...and was very surprised to pay extra tip on free packages....

As loyal X cruiser we are used to have free for free....

Yep, US customers can cancel, change dates, change rooms, etc. for no fee (other than repricing to current prices) prior to final payment. But I understand that we have different policies ref DSC and bev/dining gratuities. Think some European bookings don't pay gratuities at all? And possibly they have the ability to remove DSC on the ship where we don't. I've also read something about UK bookings having more protections, but not really sure where that would come in. If NCL went bankrupt, I'd imagine I could do a chargeback on my charge card and/or there would be a class action lawsuit to recover lost payments. Other than that, we certainly have no recourse if NCL makes any changes at all other than what they are gracious to offer as compensation. I don't know it's different for UK customers?

If you have in mind cacelation cost only, you are right to book in the US.

But esp fir NCL

Have a look into the German promotions. Its all incl. And additionally about 400 bucks cheaper than the US TA - my case Escape 26th....

Sometimes prices in European offices do work out cheaper than US prices, but in my experience that has not been the case usually for our bookings - and cancellation fees are not the only differences, all in all we just feel that all T&C in US suit better for us (flexibility etc). Of course one needs to be diligent when booking if the price is the only matter to consider.

If you have in mind cacelation cost only, you are right to book in the US.

But esp fir NCL

Have a look into the German promotions. Its all incl. And additionally about 400 bucks cheaper than the US TA - my case Escape 26th....

 

Bad thing ive booked in the US...and was very surprised to pay extra tip on free packages....

As loyal X cruiser we are used to have free for free....

Ive tried to look on the german site, the browser must recognise im looking from the UK though so just takes me to UK site.

It could possibly work out cheaper for me to cancel and lose my deposit of £600 and rebook via the german site than pay the admin charge.

Have you any idea how I can bypass to look at the german price?

I book via the UK site for a number of reasons. When I have looked at pricing vs the US site there hasn't been much difference once I take everything into account.

I help to get around the cancellation issue by always booking using future cruise credits. As these effectively cost about £100 and act as a full credit then you are protected against losing the sort of amounts that the OP is talking about (obviously multiple rooms makes a difference).

Price is therefore the only real attraction of going to the US office. The gratuity on the UBP promo and the exchange rate mean that it is very unlikely to be worth it for a while.

I book via the UK site for a number of reasons. When I have looked at pricing vs the US site there hasn't been much difference once I take everything into account.

 

I help to get around the cancellation issue by always booking using future cruise credits. As these effectively cost about £100 and act as a full credit then you are protected against losing the sort of amounts that the OP is talking about (obviously multiple rooms makes a difference).

 

Price is therefore the only real attraction of going to the US office. The gratuity on the UBP promo and the exchange rate mean that it is very unlikely to be worth it for a while.

Thanks Keith, i think the cruise Ive switched from is the one with that you're on. Daughter gets her GCSE results 24th Aug which she was aware and fine with but after visiting college this week shes having a panic in case she doesnt get her grades and needs to he available to sort it out, so its just not worth the stress.

Ive seen elsewhere that UK cruisers having the UBP dont pay the 18% grat but I cant find it in the T&C, can you confirm if this is true? That would kind of lessen the blow of the £450 charge.

Yes, we don't pay the 18% on the promo UBP and SDP. We donpay if you buy it.

I've booked about 6 cruises with them and never paid anything. The website has changed recently and it looks like some of the T&Cs are now incorrect (they seem to have tried to make them generic which means some that show apply to the US).

I will just say that I haven't booked anything for a few months, so wouldn't know personally if they have changed things. However I'm sure we would have heard something on here is they were now charging for new bookings.

In case you are interested, I myy look up german price, just give stateroom ship and date you are lookimg for....

There seems to be such a discrepancy between the booking terms between the two. Ive never really looked at the USA terms as such, because i dont book via there but from the little Ive gleaned from reading posts on here you guys seem to get a much bettter deal than us.

 

On all cruiselines not just NCL. I suppose before Brexit it might have been worthwhile trying to book via a US TA but with the £ dropping like a stone its not worth it.

 

So my question is this, Ive just had to change cruise dates from 19th Aug to 9th Aug, completely my own fault so nothing I can claim on insurance for and the admin charges to do so have cost me £75pp total of £450.

 

What would it have cost you?

Did you book through a travel agency or directly with NCL?

Did you book through a travel agency or directly with NCL?

Via a TA

In case you are interested, I myy look up german price, just give stateroom ship and date you are lookimg for....

9th Aug 17 2 Family Inside cabins 4 people in one and 2 in the other.

Thank you

Via a TA

There's your problem.

It's the agency charging you rebooking fees, not NCL. I would demand they give them back. If whoever you speak to says no, speak to a supervisor above them. Keep hammering them until they give in because they aren't out any money as a result of the change, but instead they are profiteering from your misfortune.

9th Aug 17 2 Family Inside cabins 4 people in one and 2 in the other.

 

Thank you

4 pax stateroom 4656 Eur

2 pax stateroom 2798 Eur

130 bonus off per stateroom

Price is all incl.

There's your problem.

 

It's the agency charging you rebooking fees, not NCL. I would demand they give them back. If whoever you speak to says no, speak to a supervisor above them. Keep hammering them until they give in because they aren't out any money as a result of the change, but instead they are profiteering from your misfortune.

You're half right, as a result of your post I rang NCL and asked as if I was a new customer. They confirmed if the new booking cost less than the original booking which it does, then a charge of £35pp would be added, so the TA has added £40pp as well.

The customer service dept of the TA isnt open until Mon so I will give them a call then.

4 pax stateroom 4656 Eur

2 pax stateroom 2798 Eur

 

130 bonus off per stateroom

Price is all incl.

Thank you

If you use a VPN (pointing to a German location), you can browse and the sites will think you're in Germany.

I use a package called PureVPN , but there are tons of free ones out there.

You're half right, as a result of your post I rang NCL and asked as if I was a new customer. They confirmed if the new booking cost less than the original booking which it does, then a charge of £35pp would be added, so the TA has added £40pp as well.

 

The customer service dept of the TA isnt open until Mon so I will give them a call then.

That doesn't make sense. At least in the US you can completely cancel a cruise without any penalties whatsoever up to 75 days from your cruise.

That means you can completely cancel and rebook for the new dates. For some reason, though, instead of cancelling and rebooking, they merely changed the dates and somehow incurred a change fee which doesn't make sense to me this far out.

That doesn't make sense. At least in the US...

That is the whole point of this thread. OP has booked through UK and the rules applied to US do not apply. Hence the rest of your post is irrelevant regarding to OP's booking.

That is the whole point of this thread. OP has booked through UK and the rules applied to US do not apply. Hence the rest of your post is irrelevant regarding to OP's booking.

Not taking NO for an answer is never irrelevant. You might be surprised what you can get if you doth protest too much.

It doesn't cost anything to be persistent and try to get a concession. That's a lot of money for such a minor change.

Not taking NO for an answer is never irrelevant. You might be surprised what you can get if you doth protest too much.

 

It doesn't cost anything to be persistent and try to get a concession. That's a lot of money for such a minor change.

Oh, you're one of those.

Oh, you're one of those.

You damn right I am. And I almost always get my way.

Not if you booked in the U.K. you wouldn't. TA or no. NCL totally inflexible about changes and cancellations.

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Not if you booked in the U.K. you wouldn't. TA or no. NCL totally inflexible about changes and cancellations.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I have found they will allow you to move a deposit to another date with no charge (but only if your going to something more expensive)

TBH even before sterling sunk down I always found US prices dearer once you added all the non included Grats and Taxes on packages back on- it was very swings and roundabouts - Now its totally pointless.