Erroneous, and Deceptive Billing Practices by NCL.

[AFRH-G]

I strongly encourage anyone who has cruised NCL and hascopies of their folios (especially throughout the cruise) to review them.

 

Erroneous billing:

I recently completed a seven day cruise on the NCL Getaway.I had several non-refundable onboard credits as part of my benefit packages.There were restrictions on how each category of these credits could be used. Ichecked my folio at least once a day. My folio was showing my credits appliedin a way I thought was not correct. I was assured several times that “thesystem is automatic and applies charges and credits correctly.” I have five consecutive folios that I canshow are in error. Each showed my non-refundable onboard credits as having beenapplied (correctly I was assured each time). On the last night of the cruiseand the final billing (with NO additional charges or changes made to myaccount) my folio showed a majority of my non-refundable onboard credit asUNUSED and lost (amount added to my final bill). On board staff assured theywould correct – but did not.

 

When I disputed the bill with NCL Customer Relations I gotthe standard canned response – Unused Non-Refundable Onboard Credit cannot beapplied, sorry for any misinformation or inconvenience, and an offer forNon-Refundable Onboard Credit to be used on a future cruise (taken within thenext 12 months).

 

NCL would not even respond to the evidence that the folios Ireceived were incorrect. One Onboard Credit Desk staff member first said therewas a ‘glitch’ in the system. He was quickly interrupted by another staffmember who said – “There cannot be a glitch in the system. If there were, itwould affect many more passengers, and their folios would also be incorrect.This would be a major IT problem.” DUH! I can prove there are billing errors –and there is a MAJOR IT problem!

 

 

Shore Excursion Discount for Latitude Members:

While the NCL staff keeps spouting how all charges andcredits are automatic – this is NOT true for Latitude Shore Excursion Discounts(and possibly other Latitude discounts – not sure since I did not use any otherdiscounts).

Latitude members Silver level and higher receive a 10% (ormore) discount on Shore Excursions. Even though you use you cabin card (whichshows your Latitude level), your Latitude level is in the system, and the ShoreExcursion Desk staff use your card and can see you level – the discount is notautomatic – you MUST ask for it!

 

Casino Convenience Fee (Service Charge) Waived:

Casinos at Sea members who are at a certain level or higherhave their Casino Service Charge (fee for charging money to their cabin fromthe slot machines) removed. This benefit is only for those who are currently ata qualifying level. It you achieve the level during that cruise the benefitwould not go into effect until your next cruise. SO, it is known the minute youstart playing if you qualify for the benefit or not, and if so, the chargescould be removed instantly from your folio. However, NCL chooses to wait untilthe last night/morning of the cruise to remove these charges. (Up until thatpoint you folio may show other credits as having been used – when they wereused against these fees.) This increases the odds that when the fees areremoved – the credits that had been used against them become UNUSED and lost(there is no change/reduction in your final bill).

 

It is known and accepted that cruise lines are trying tofind more and more ways to make/save money. But I believe that the abovepractices are clearly deceptive and that their system does have ‘glitches’(possibly deliberate – since they seem to refuse to admit or investigate) andis in need of a major audit.

 

Check your past folios, and monitor your folio daily on anyfuture NCL cruises. Keep the print outs – as NCL said they could not recreateany of the date/time folios I had been given throughout my cruise.

[triptolemus]

I'll never understand how people seem to have so much trouble managing their own folio. I have never had any of these problems. In fact, quite the opposite... NCL has gone out of their way to make adjustments that were in my favor.

 

I wonder about your OBC... was that provided by NCL, or a TA? OBC is applied to the account as a whole, and not really applied to any single transaction in particular, excluding ineligible transactions, of course (DSC).

 

I dunno... it just doesn't seem like a folio should cause you so much frustration and commotion. But whatever, stuff happens, I guess.

[hawkeyetlse]

It sounds like you already knew going into the cruise that your non-refundable OBC could not be used for the daily service charge or at the casino. Right? Then, during your cruise, your primary on-board expenses were the DSC and casino. At the end of the cruise, your non-refundable OBC was, in fact, not applied to cover these charges, consistently with everything you already knew.

 

I get it, the front desk people gave you misinformation, and you were tempted to believe them. You knew you needed to spend this OBC on something other than the DSC and the casino, but it sounded so good, what they were telling you. It sounded so good, you asked them to say it five times, and in the end you just had to see for yourself if it could really be true. It wasn't.

 

I hope you accepted their offer of OBC for your next cruise, that's more than most other people would get in your situation. And if you take that cruise, for pete's sake, spend the OBC on something for yourself or for your family. It cannot be used for the DSC or at the casino.

[casofilia]

Shore Excursion Discount for Latitude Members:

While the NCL staff keeps spouting how all charges andcredits are automatic – this is NOT true for Latitude Shore Excursion Discounts(and possibly other Latitude discounts – not sure since I did not use any otherdiscounts).

Latitude members Silver level and higher receive a 10% (ormore) discount on Shore Excursions. Even though you use you cabin card (whichshows your Latitude level), your Latitude level is in the system, and the ShoreExcursion Desk staff use your card and can see you level – the discount is notautomatic – you MUST ask for it!

You have to ask IF you booked the shorex BEFORE the change in Latitude Rewards took place in Feb. If you booked after it is automatic.

[Bostonjetset]

Is there a certain OBC that cannot be used for the daily grats? Or is it that NO OBC can be used for these charges?

I haven't been on NCL in several years [in part because of ridiculous policies like this that they have introduced under the tenure of Mr. Del Rio] but will be sailing with them to Cuba in October so it is of interest to me.

 

Every other line I've sailed lets you use OBC towards the grats [from Carnival to Cunard] so this surprised me when I read it.

[casofilia]

Is there a certain OBC that cannot be used for the daily grats? Or is it that NO OBC can be used for these charges? You cannot use NON-REFUNDABLE (Gift) OBC but you can use Refundable (bought) OBC

I haven't been on NCL in several years [in part because of ridiculous policies like this that they have introduced under the tenure of Mr. Del Rio] but will be sailing with them to Cuba in October so it is of interest to me.

 

Every other line I've sailed lets you use OBC towards the grats [from Carnival to Cunard] so this surprised me when I read it.

 

HTH

Mike

[Bostonjetset]

HTH

Mike

So the $50 OBC we got from NCL for the Havana Nights promo cannot be used? Ours is a short 4-night trip and a minimal amount of OBC so it's not a big deal in my case but I can see why some, like the OP, would be upset. It seems every time I log on the NCL boards, there is another example of policies that are certainly corporate-friendly but very UNfriendly to passengers. Charging grats on the "free" drink packages, OBC can't be used towards grats, extra tariff restaurants moving to a la carte, no bringing water on board, charge for room services, etc etc etc. It makes my head spin.

 

 

How I wish Holland America Line called at Cuba but alas I will be on the Sky and make the best of it.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

As Mike said, you CAN use refundable OBC for the DSC. I've done it and had no issues whatsoever.

 

I don't understand exactly what the OP is complaining about, but from what I've seen it's clear what you can and cannot use your nonrefundable OBC for. I don't believe these are practices of NCL--it sounds like there was either an error(s) on the OP's folio or a misunderstanding. But, to call it "deceptive billing practices" seems like an overreaction to me (but, again, I'm not really sure what the OP is talking about anyway. LOL. It's just not very clear).

[grandmarnnurse]

I did not have any problem using my OBC on my NCL cruise on the Getaway last January. I actually left the ship with only a$75 on my account! Best one yet! [emoji41]

 

 

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[hawkeyetlse]

This is how your account looks in iConcierge if you have non-refundable OBC and charges that cannot be paid using this OBC:

 

 

In other words, it lists your current folio balance and your current non-refundable OBC balance separately. So it's easy to see how much you still have to use up.

 

I don't know how it looks if you ask for a paper printout at guest services, since it has been years since I have needed to do that.

[casofilia]

To explain for the OP.

The two lots of Service Charges have been taken from the Cash Payment

The two drinks from the Non-Refundable OBC.

[BirdTravels]

So the $50 OBC we got from NCL for the Havana Nights promo cannot be used? Ours is a short 4-night trip and a minimal amount of OBC so it's not a big deal in my case but I can see why some, like the OP, would be upset. It seems every time I log on the NCL boards, there is another example of policies that are certainly corporate-friendly but very UNfriendly to passengers. Charging grats on the "free" drink packages, OBC can't be used towards grats, extra tariff restaurants moving to a la carte, no bringing water on board, charge for room services, etc etc etc. It makes my head spin.How I wish Holland America Line called at Cuba but alas I will be on the Sky and make the best of it.

Your last NCL cruise was long, long before FDR came to power. You complain about grats on a drinks package, but you are on the sky where all of the drinks are free,,,, not sure what you are complaining about. I think that you're just saying stuff to say stuff.

[EllieinNJ]

On my last cruise I had a small $25 non refundable OBC. I downloaded and played $5 to five different machines and only was charged the 75 cents fee.

[NCLfamily]

So the $50 OBC we got from NCL for the Havana Nights promo cannot be used? Ours is a short 4-night trip and a minimal amount of OBC so it's not a big deal in my case but I can see why some, like the OP, would be upset. It seems every time I log on the NCL boards, there is another example of policies that are certainly corporate-friendly but very UNfriendly to passengers. Charging grats on the "free" drink packages, OBC can't be used towards grats, extra tariff restaurants moving to a la carte, no bringing water on board, charge for room services, etc etc etc. It makes my head spin.

 

 

 

 

 

How I wish Holland America Line called at Cuba but alas I will be on the Sky and make the best of it.

 

 

The third person this week to claim they are cruising with NCL because they have no other option. You do, cruise elsewhere. 'Make the best of it' - I'm sure you'll struggle through.

 

 

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[Maraprince]

The new shore excursion discounts for your level are not automatic if you purchase a tour before boarding. I had to call the Shore Excursion department within 5 minutes of selecting my shore excursions on line to cancel my tours because of this problem. Instead, we reserved the tours with payment to be made on board. And I was advised to check if my Latitude discount is applied to my account. The system is not perfect. We also non-refundable OBC and will need to monitor our account to be sure it is applied correctly once on board.

 

MARAPRINCE

[Bostonjetset]

Your last NCL cruise was long, long before FDR came to power. You complain about grats on a drinks package, but you are on the sky where all of the drinks are free,,,, not sure what you are complaining about. I think that you're just saying stuff to say stuff.

You are right my last time on NCL [2013] was before FDR and his new changes are part of the reason I've not been back until now. I also realize that drinks are included on the Sky but I was just using the grats on the UBP as another example [with the others I mentioned] of NCL nickle & diming passengers more than most [all?] other lines, at least that I've sailed. Also, the grats on the Sky are a couple dollars more per person per night than all other NCL ships so in effect they are charging for them on the "free" drinks.

 

The main gist of my post was that I can understand where the OP is coming from in regards to his complaint. Sure, it may be in NCL's fine print and the info was available before booking by checking online however if he is used to sailing ANY other line it may not have even crossed his mind that comped OBC cannot be used for grats. NCL is the ONLY line [at least that I know of and certainly that I've sailed] where the OBC they give you cannot be used for daily service charges. HAL allows it, Cunard allows it, Carnival allows it, Princess allows it, and RCCL allows it. I'm sure you can see where it can be confusing to those who don't regularly sail NCL to be confused...NCL is the odd one out here and in many other areas having to do with financial transactions.

 

The third person this week to claim they are cruising with NCL because they have no other option. You do, cruise elsewhere. 'Make the best of it' - I'm sure you'll struggle through.

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I never said I was being forced to sail NCL nor that I had "no other option". However, short cruises to Cuba are still a relatively new thing and basically the only options are NCL, Carnival and Royal. NCL is the only one that fits into my schedule this year. If HAL [my preferred line] or Cunard or Princess sailed there I would have gone with them, but they don't. Also, the friend I'm going with loves NCL and only sails with them so he sort of overrode me. Anyway, Cuba is the point of this trip, not the ship nor line so I'm sure I'll have a lovely time. But, that doesn't mean I can't express frustration with some of NCL's policies.

[AFRH-G]

It sounds like you already knew going into the cruise that your non-refundable OBC could not be used for the daily service charge or at the casino. Right? Then, during your cruise, your primary on-board expenses were the DSC and casino. At the end of the cruise, your non-refundable OBC was, in fact, not applied to cover these charges, consistently with everything you already knew.

 

I get it, the front desk people gave you misinformation, and you were tempted to believe them. You knew you needed to spend this OBC on something other than the DSC and the casino, but it sounded so good, what they were telling you. It sounded so good, you asked them to say it five times, and in the end you just had to see for yourself if it could really be true. It wasn't.

 

I hope you accepted their offer of OBC for your next cruise, that's more than most other people would get in your situation. And if you take that cruise, for pete's sake, spend the OBC on something for yourself or for your family. It cannot be used for the DSC or at the casino.

 

One port stop was the new NCL owned port of Harvest Cayes. When I saw that the Cabin key card could be used for purchases on shore - I went back aboard to inquire if my any my credits would apply to purchases made on Harvest Caye. The desk called Finance and they said that - The Casino Credit would apply to purchases on Harvest Caye but Gift Shop Credit would not. I made several purchase on Harvest Caye. They showed as having the Casino Credit applied towards them on four statements. On the last night of the cruise the Casino Credit was showing it was not applied to those purchases and was lost and those purchases were then added to my final bill.

[AFRH-G]

The new shore excursion discounts for your level are not automatic if you purchase a tour before boarding. I had to call the Shore Excursion department within 5 minutes of selecting my shore excursions on line to cancel my tours because of this problem. Instead, we reserved the tours with payment to be made on board. And I was advised to check if my Latitude discount is applied to my account. The system is not perfect. We also non-refundable OBC and will need to monitor our account to be sure it is applied correctly once on board.

 

MARAPRINCE

 

I purchased the excursions the first day of the cruise (had been Silver/Gold for some time). When I realized that the credit had not been given I went to the Service Desk. They are the ones that told me the discount was not automatic and that I had to go back to the Shore Excursion Desk to request it be applied.

[MCAT48]

Any of the OBC that I have either received from TA or NCL or I Had pre purchased has always been shown to be taken off first and then after that is reached It shows what is owed.

 

 

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[riclop]

Yes they are known for that.

[Love.II.Cruise]

The new shore excursion discounts for your level are not automatic if you purchase a tour before boarding. I had to call the Shore Excursion department within 5 minutes of selecting my shore excursions on line to cancel my tours because of this problem. Instead, we reserved the tours with payment to be made on board. And I was advised to check if my Latitude discount is applied to my account. The system is not perfect. We also non-refundable OBC and will need to monitor our account to be sure it is applied correctly once on board.

 

MARAPRINCE

 

I'm hoping we can do the same with the thermal suites - we are in the Haven.

[fshagan]

You are right my last time on NCL [2013] was before FDR and his new changes are part of the reason I've not been back until now. I also realize that drinks are included on the Sky but I was just using the grats on the UBP as another example [with the others I mentioned] of NCL nickle & diming passengers more than most [all?] other lines, at least that I've sailed. .

 

I'm no fan of the new management, but when you sailed in 2013 you could not use non-refundable OBC for the daily service charges. We first sailed NCL in March, 2010, long before FDR, and I believe even back then we could not use our non-refundable OBC for the daily service charges. We were surprised because at that time both Disney and Princess allowed any OBC to be used for the daily service charges. If it was changed after 2010, it was well before Kevin Sheehan left and FDR came on board.

[hawkeyetlse]

One port stop was the new NCL owned port of Harvest Cayes. When I saw that the Cabin key card could be used for purchases on shore - I went back aboard to inquire if my any my credits would apply to purchases made on Harvest Caye. The desk called Finance and they said that - The Casino Credit would apply to purchases on Harvest Caye but Gift Shop Credit would not. I made several purchase on Harvest Caye. They showed as having the Casino Credit applied towards them on four statements. On the last night of the cruise the Casino Credit was showing it was not applied to those purchases and was lost and those purchases were then added to my final bill.

Thank you for the follow-up. I still find it a little puzzling why you ask if you could use your Casino Credit anywhere other than the casino. While they should not have told you that you could, and your provisional statements should have not shown it being applied, in the end if your non-casino purchases on Harvest Caye were not considered to be casino charges, that doesn't seem too scandalous to me…

 

That said, you have legitimate complaints about the misinformation and lack of transparency (I would hesitate to elevate any of this to the level of deliberate deception), and I think NCL has offered you appropriate compensation for that, in the form of more OBC for your next cruise.

[newbe dave]

First post from this person. I suggest that no one ever take a complaint seriously from someone making their first post to Cruise Critic. Especially, AFTER a cruise. NEVER.

 

First posts that are questions or thank yous or anything else are great. But to join such a valuable research tool for the sole purpose of complaining is an action that should not be encouraged. Please, use this forum for research to enhance your trip by posting your questions (after searching) and your positive comments first.

[grancayman]

I think he is talking about the onboard credit that you get from the casino for your tier level. Because I'm sapphire I get 200 obc that can be used anywhere on the ship except ,ironically, the casino.

 

 

 

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