Not All OBC Was Honored

[GirlWriter]

Hi all! I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up ... my family went on a 6-night cruise on the Pearl a couple of months ago, and had been promised 3 different OBC amounts ... one for the Amex promotion, one for booking a suite well in advance, and one as an NCL "we're sorry" because of a canceled / chartered cruise ... and had been assured (multiple times, by multiple NCL PCCs) that we could in fact have all 3 of these in combination.

 

I had printed off everything I had received that proved we had all 3 OBC and took that with me on the cruise, but NCL still would not honor all of it. Originally, they honored only the Amex OBC and had no notations anywhere in the shipboard system of any other possible OBC. When I went to the front desk and showed them my paperwork, they made a copy of it and then emailed Corporate to get a 'ruling,' which came back a day later as "sorry, you can't have any more OBC."

 

The following day, my concierge happened to ask me how everything was going, and I mentioned my disappointment at being shorted $400 OBC. He went to bat for us and got us an additional $100, which was very nice of him to do.

 

So, this is just a bit of a warning to everyone. Even with documentation showing all of the OBC you have been promised, you may not get all of it!

[MeHeartCruising]

Edited out.

[jdvmd]

Well what was the reasoning that your offers were not being honored?

[GirlWriter]

Thanks. Yes, we actually did have it in writing. In fact, prior to sailing, my PCC had double-checked with whatever department makes those decisions and, at their recommendation, had converted $400 of the OBC to "amenities" just to make sure there wasn't an issue, and sent me hard copies of the Amenities sheets. So I had that in writing on their letterhead, and it still was not honored.

 

I was not as upset about it as I would have been under different circumstances ... we had actually budgeted most of that OBC to be used for excursions in Grand Cayman and Jamaica, BUT, because we were rerouted (due to Hurricane Sandy) and ended up in Cozumel and Costa Maya and could not get any excursions we wanted in Costa Maya, we ended up not "needing" the extra OBC. I almost got all worked up about it while we were on the ship -- LOL! -- but decided to just let it go and not let it ruin my cruise and to be appreciative of getting any OBC at all.

 

:)

 

Next time, I will take care not to count on all of the OBC from a budgetary standpoint. If I get all of the promised OBC, I'll consider it as "extra" but won't be counting on it.

[Partyatsea]

Not 100% sure but I believe the 9 month suite early booking and AMEX suite OBC have always been non combinable.

[GirlWriter]

Well what was the reasoning that your offers were not being honored?

 

We weren't given any. The most frustrating aspect of the whole experience really was the apparent disconnect between the shipboard NCL group and the Corporate NCL group. The poor shipboard folks have to answer for a lot of decisions they get via email from Corporate, and they (the shipboard crew) don't seem to know any reasons for those decisions. All they could do was advise me to contact Corporate after we got home. (Which I didn't bother to do.)

[GirlWriter]

Not 100% sure but I believe the 9 month suite early booking and AMEX suite OBC have always been non combinable.

 

Yes, I'm assuming that was the case -- unfortunately, the two PCCs we dealt with during the planning phase did not know that and assured me otherwise, and one of them had double-checked with the appropriate department to make sure that what he was telling me was correct. All of them told me they were combinable.

[puddles99]

Did you have an "Amenities Confirmation" document showing everything in a single file or did you have several different documents? I had an issue on our last cruise but once I produced a single document showing all of the OBC amounts (AMEX + several gifted via Bon Voyage + a PCC Supervisor grant due to a price drop), the shipboard guest services folks were able to get everything straightened out. Bummer that you didn't get everything you expected!

[GirlWriter]

Did you have an "Amenities Confirmation" document showing everything in a single file or did you have several different documents? I had an issue on our last cruise but once I produced a single document showing all of the OBC amounts (AMEX + several gifted via Bon Voyage + a PCC Supervisor grant due to a price drop), the shipboard guest services folks were able to get everything straightened out. Bummer that you didn't get everything you expected!

 

It was sent to me as an Amenity Confirmation attachment consisting of 2 separate pages. The first page shows the "we're sorry we canceled / chartered your cruise" and the 9-month-advance suite offers as "On-Board Credit Certificates," and the second page shows our prepaid service charges and the AmEx "On-Board Credit Certificate" amount. Only the 2nd page was actually in the shipboard computer / account. They seemed to have no idea what that first page was for even after I showed it to them.

[cookmg40]

Not 100% sure but I believe the 9 month suite early booking and AMEX suite OBC have always been non combinable.

 

I recently booked a suite on Breakaway using the Amex promotion and was also confirmed to have the 9 month suite early booking OBC. I will have to reconfirm this.

[MM9953]

I recently booked a suite on Breakaway using the Amex promotion and was also confirmed to have the 9 month suite early booking OBC. I will have to reconfirm this.

 

Depending on how you were booked, you can have both. NCL recently changed how they give out the $300 9 month suite early booking OBC. The whole $300 is now given to the 1st guest listed on the reservation. The 2nd guest can then use the American Express OBC promo for $150 (half of the $300 AMEX total for the cabin). The 1st guest can not use both together. This gives you $450 OBC.

 

If you throw in the DASH promo we just had, that's an additional $75 OBC for the 1st guest. It can not be used with the AMEX promo so the 2nd guest won't be able to use it (but the AMEX is $150 so that's better). So you could have $525 OBC if you recently booked when all of these promos were available.

 

And if you are part of a group, that's additional OBC of usually $75 (depending on which cruise). That's a grand total of $600 OBC.

 

I recently booked three suites on the Dawn for my family and we have $600 OBC for each suite as I described above. If you have questions, please email me at mseljan@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to help with your OBC questions.

[cookmg40]

Depending on how you were booked, you can have both. NCL recently changed how they give out the $300 9 month suite early booking OBC. The whole $300 is now given to the 1st guest listed on the reservation. The 2nd guest can then use the American Express OBC promo for $150 (half of the $300 AMEX total for the cabin). The 1st guest can not use both together. This gives you $450 OBC.

 

If you throw in the DASH promo we just had, that's an additional $75 OBC for the 1st guest. It can not be used with the AMEX promo so the 2nd guest won't be able to use it (but the AMEX is $150 so that's better). So you could have $525 OBC if you recently booked when all of these promos were available.

 

And if you are part of a group, that's additional OBC of usually $75 (depending on which cruise). That's a grand total of $600 OBC.

 

I recently booked three suites on the Dawn for my family and we have $600 OBC for each suite as I described above. If you have questions, please email me at mseljan@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to help with your OBC questions.

 

 

Yes, I did come up with $525 OBC but the agent could not explain why! Thanks for the clarification!

[Love my butler]

A good rule of thumb. If two significant OBC's are offered, they are rarely combinable.

[david_sobe]

It was sent to me as an Amenity Confirmation attachment consisting of 2 separate pages. The first page shows the "we're sorry we canceled / chartered your cruise" and the 9-month-advance suite offers as "On-Board Credit Certificates," and the second page shows our prepaid service charges and the AmEx "On-Board Credit Certificate" amount. Only the 2nd page was actually in the shipboard computer / account. They seemed to have no idea what that first page was for even after I showed it to them.

Ouch

This is exactly what my PCC told me yesterday. I got $180 more OBC and already had the American Express $500. I did not see the $180 added to my account and they told me it was in the amenities section.

Why would they give you OBC and you cant use it?

That is really horrible and not right!

[camz]

We were aboard the Star in October and I had various OBC's that added up to be $280, all of which were honored. I brought my written confirmation onboard with me as well for evidence. Very sorry the OP did not get the OBCs promised. I would have been upset as well. However, I would not let it go, as I would definately be writing corporate a nice letter.

[dutchess43]

I had OBC totaling 850.00 for my Oct sailing some of it was put on amenity but I did receive it all. My breakdown was 500.00 Amex, 150.00 going from bronze to silver, 100.00 HSN promo, 100.00 from TA along with a bottle of wine. I would of been very upset if I did not receive my OBC. I constantly checked with NCL before sailing as well as my TA I also brought along all of my documentation just in case.

[GirlWriter]

Ouch

This is exactly what my PCC told me yesterday. I got $180 more OBC and already had the American Express $500. I did not see the $180 added to my account and they told me it was in the amenities section.

Why would they give you OBC and you cant use it?

That is really horrible and not right!

 

Yes, it really was not right ... I can understand if certain promos are not combinable, but I still think that once company reps tell you it is combinable and give you written proof that you indeed have the OBC, it should be honored.

 

In any event, I hope you have a different experience in that respect than we did, David! :)

[weltek]

Yes, it really was not right ... I can understand if certain promos are not combinable, but I still think that once company reps tell you it is combinable and give you written proof that you indeed have the OBC, it should be honored.

 

In any event, I hope you have a different experience in that respect than we did, David! :)

 

I agree this is a real problem. If NCL honors it during booking, it should be accepted. They clearly have some work to do on their promo codes. It's not like it was something you knew was clearly wrong (like a glitch that was offering a $99 fare for a 9 day cruise) and someone eventually caught it. It was reasonable for you to assume those were combinable.

 

I don't always think "the customer is always right," but in this case, that would've been the best response from NCL. Make the customer happy by honoring what appears to be well documented, then fix their problem behind closed doors.

[jonbgd]

150.00 going from bronze to silver, .

 

Does NCL still do this??? We just made silver

[jdvmd]

Does NCL still do this??? We just made silver

 

 

No, when NCL changed the Latitudes program on Dec. 5, 2011, this perk went away. After that date, some reported getting the OBC credit when you moved to a new tier but believe it was because they had a cruise already booked.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

OP, that's just not right what happened to you, but you have a great attitude about it. Are you going to write corporate a letter or email?

[jonbgd]

No, when NCL changed the Latitudes program on Dec. 5, 2011, this perk went away. After that date, some reported getting the OBC credit when you moved to a new tier but believe it was because they had a cruise already booked.

Oh well I thought I found more OBC... Another $150 would help on the TA:D

[GirlWriter]

OP, that's just not right what happened to you, but you have a great attitude about it. Are you going to write corporate a letter or email?

 

I wrote it up and turned it in while onboard the ship, at the same time that I submitted the "atta boy" (or whatever they're called) cards for our steward and concierge. On the concierge's card, I also mentioned it again, in the context of explaining that the concierge went to bat for us to get us $100 of the $400 additional OBC we were promised.

[david_sobe]

Yes, it really was not right ... I can understand if certain promos are not combinable, but I still think that once company reps tell you it is combinable and give you written proof that you indeed have the OBC, it should be honored.

 

In any event, I hope you have a different experience in that respect than we did, David! :)

Your post had me worried since I just learned yesterday that I got $180 OBC from a $800price drop for my upcoming cruise. I contacted my PCC today and she told me that my newly added OBC is combinable with the American Express offer. The OBC was placed in the ammenities section of the cruise (now if I could ever find where that is :) )

 

It is a real shame that your cancellation of a cruise OBC was not able to be used with the American Express offer. That is totally riduculous. That would be one reason you think the offers could be combined. NCL should not give you OBC without telling you can or cant use the other OBC.

 

Hope your efforts do NOT fall on deaf ears at NCL

[sstrong]

Let me begin by stating that I have not thoroughly read all of the replies here so I may be overlooking additional details that recast the original post in a new light.

 

With that said: If a cruise line promised me a certain amount of OBC in writing before the cruise and then reneged on it, I would simply send the documentation to my credit card company and dispute the cost of the cruise. Regardless of why they now say you're entitled to less or who is to blame for the "mistake" (which sounds like a mistake on their end, not yours), if you were promised $X you're entitled to $X. Offering you less after you've booked the cruise is essentially a retroactive increase of the fare you agreed to pay. It's no different than if the cruise line quoted you a fare of $Y and, when you boarded the ship, informed you the fare had gone up and you were required to pay more. Most credit card companies are very good about resolving problems with unscrupulous merchants such as this. I would probably also report the cruise line to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's office of Consumer Protection in the state where the cruise departed from.

 

I understand there can be confusion over how OBC applies but any internal confusion on the cruise line's part is irrelevant. If someone from the cruise line promised you something, that's what you're entitled. If you got it in writing, all the better. Send it along to your credit card company and I suspect the cruise line will be hard pressed to explain why they should be entitled to retroactively change the terms to which you agreed. If they don't have a good explanation, your credit card company should refuse to honor an appropriate portion of the transaction and refund the amount back to you.