Caroian

Quick update: I spoke to NCL UK, who are still getting their heads around the policy themselves! I was able to cancel our shore excursion for a full refund (UK contract law applies, so they cannot wiggle out of it). However, had I left this in the booking, then that portion of the FCC would have been available to use against shore excursions on a new cruise. Cruise credit left over from the actual fare, however, apparently cannot be used in this way. So if we get a cheaper price for the new booking, we can't use the difference against other spends. Still not entirely clear though as the actual wording they read out was that FCC can be used against anything except on board credit. I'm happy to have had the refund though. If we don't use the last bit of FCC because the new cruise is cheaper I can accept that - after all, we were happy with the price we paid for this year and it's already a sunk cost.

The one thing NCL are definitely not doing - which I know some cruise lines are - is allowing transfers. So you do have to cancel the existing cruise and then wait a week for the credit to show up on your account before you can book again. I think this is shame as we do just want to transfer.

18 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I don't believe there is any way to get the cash deposit back if you pay before you receive the FCC.

 

If you pay a cash deposit you won't even need to apply the FCC to your new cruise, you could just leave it safe and sound in your account and just hold the cruise with the cash deposit. There is really no need to apply the FCC until you reach final payment, that way if you change your mind or something else happens you have more flexibility.

 

I have just noticed your other question is answered in the FAQ I posted above

 

What happens if there is a difference in cruise fare between the future cruise credit (FCC) issued and the future booking?

If the cruise fare for the new booking exceeds the FCC’s value, guests will be responsible for the difference. Alternatively, if the new cruise fare is lower than the FCC’s value, a new FCC will be issued for the remaining balance.

 

So I was wrong in post #7 above, any remainder of your FCC will be issued back to your account to use against a future cruise.

But only to use against a future cruise. The thing that is bothering me at the momet is that we'll get a refund for additional spends - such as shore excursion we had booked - as a cruise credit. I want to be able to use that against another shore excursion or other additional spend. Especially as we already have another (non-NCL) cruise booked next year and are unlikely to book another NCL cruise against which to apply to the credit within the available time frame. If it was originally for a shore excursion it should be able to go against another shore excursion! I'm hoping I'll be able to get a straight refund for the shore excursion - the terms at the time we booked it were very clear that a refund was possible, and that would be the simplest option.

I'm also not to sure about leaving that money "safe and sound" in my account. The coming months are going to be tough for the cruise industry and whilst I doubt NCL is close to going bust, if the worst were to happen and unspecified "credit" might prove difficult to get back. An actual booking made through an ABTA agent though would be protected (it was also originally paid by CC, so covered by Section 75)

I'll see what happens tomorrow!

Thank you for all your help. We have so many separate bits of this trip to change and cancel that my head is swimming with it all! I assume if we pay a cash deposit now on a new cruise that although the credit can then be applied to pay the full balance, we won't get back whatever cash deposit we pay. I should probably be patient, but losing the trip we've planed so carefully is gutting, and now we've got an alternative I want to make sure that we get that booked so we (hopefully) don't have to change plans again!

Thank you. That does seem to imply we can't cancel until tomorrow. It also says we have to wait 7 days for the credit to come through (via Latitudes? I assume we have automatically been assigned a number - this was to be our first NCL trip) which means we can't just move the booking. I think we might have to bite the bullet and a pay a cash deposit on the new cruise and just swallow the extra cost. I can only see cruise prices going up over the coming days, not down!

When you click on the link on that page to "More information" it just comes up with an error. And actually trying to make the cancellation just doesn't seem possible. I'm hoping it will be sorted tomorrow morning, but I'm also hoping in the meantime they don't push all the prices up! Anyone know if we paid the deposit on the new cruise in cash, could we still use the cruise credit (if we eventually get it) towards the new cruise, as this would at least lock in the current price!

Like others we've been considering our options for our upcoming cruise in April and as it is part of a much longer trip with much potential for much disruption, we have reached the difficult decision to delay.

We booked through an agent here in the UK and contacted them today and they were very helpful, however ultimately couldn't process through "Peace of Mind". We also had an issue that they couldn't deal with the one shore excursion we'd booked plus the fact that the cruise we're transferring to is slightly cheaper than the one we're cancelling, so we'd have left over credit if it did go through and they did not know if that could only be used against another cruise or used again for shore excursions etc. So I rang Norwegian here in the UK and although the agent I spoke to was helpful, he basically said that "Peace of Mind" hasn't actually been launched  (thought it was from today?) and they were having meetings and trying to finalise. He told me to expect information on their website this afternoon (it's now 6.45pm here). All information about "Peace of Mind" has now vanished for the UK website (it' goes to a 404 error). Anyone any idea what's going on? Having had a decent quote for a different cruise I'm now concerned the prices will shoot up. I also have no idea how having prebooked extras given as cruise credit works when these were booked through NCL and the cruise through and agent - and that is the question neither agent nor NCL could help with!

Just now, pete14 said:

Just a reminder that on occasions P&O have not pointed out that multi socket plugs should not be used because of fire risk and presumably USB may be considered in the same way. They will almost certainly tell you not to leave items charging unless you are in the cabin keeping an eye on them (so not asleep), also because of the risk of causing a fire. If you do leave them unattended, your steward should remove the plug if he/she notices it whilst servicing your cabin. May cause some inconvenience but better safe than sorry (for all passengers).

 That is true of all cruise lines, not just P&O. In fact many multi-way plug adaptors (e.g 4-way extension leads) are not allowed at all by many cruise lines because they are easy to overload. However the fire risk from a good quality multi-port USB charger (Anker, Syncwire etc) is firstly very low, and secondly really no greater than that caused by plugging each device into a seperate plug to be charged - in fact arguably lower as there is only the once charger device plus all the cables at risk, rather than all the cables and multiple plugs. The  biggest advantage of a multiport charger is that  people are able to get everything charged at once and thus far more likely to adhere to the cruise industry rule of no devices left plugged in unattended in staterooms. 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Downy Wrinkle Releaser yet! (Although I'm also surprised it comes up so much in relation to cruising and not general travel - I guess that is because cruising traditionally involves more formal wear!) It does really work to banish creases though!

Multi-USB plugs too. The only thing we have with a traditional plug is my hair straighteners. Everything else charges via USB, so we use a 10 port charger.

Thank you both. I'll probably try to clarify regarding dining, but as no seems completely sure about how allocation of dining rooms will work, I'll probably wait until after she starts sailing. We don't go until 2021, so plenty of time!

I've seen a reference on a couple of threads to people "linking" bookings together. We're sailing on Iona next year with my in-laws and as we have separate cabins have 2 separate booking references. Is there some way to link these together, and if so is there any particular benefit to doing so? I know as it stands that if we wanted to book shore excursions through P&O we'd have to do that seperately, so wonder if linking might allow a single booking. 

I've not cruised with P&O since 2007, so a lot has changed!

Related to this... we actually get of the Getaway on the 12th. We have a flight booked at 12 (not as tight as the original poster, but still tight on time) and were wondering if there is any advantage to booking a transfer through NCL? How easy is it to get a taxi after disembarking? We're planning on self-disembarking as we never travel with more than we can carry.

Thank you. Sounds like it may be one of those things that is not explicitly allowed, but doesn't cause an issue. To be honest, I'm unsure how they'd know who was drinking this drinks, and given that we're talking a few sodas, it's not really going to be a loss maker for them! 

He won't be bothered about getting a drink himself, or using a card - we struggle to get him to use a Magic Band at Disney! And at 8, the only times he won't be with us are when he's in the kids' club!

We're cruising on the Getaway this spring. I've cruised before, but not for some time, and this will be the first cruise for my husband and 8 year old son.

As one of our "free perks" at booking, we got the premium drinks package for the adults. We've just been looking at options for our son and can't really figure out how it works. The booking conditions state that everyone in a single cabin must have the same drinks package (makes sense) but obviously this cannot apply to a child. We can't see what is to stop us ordering soft drinks for him through our package but I'm guessing this not specifically allowed? Is it just an "honour" thing that you don't do this? We looked at booking the kids soda package for him (he doesn't usually drink soda - I'm a dentist! - but we're happy to allow it for a holiday). However this option is not available to book for him, so does this in fact mean that he is expected to share our adult packages? If we end up paying out of pocket for some drinks for him, can anyone point me to the costs for basic soft drinks e.g soda and juice? Any guidance from experienced NCL cruisers would be great!

Happy New Year!