Warning: NCL Shareholder benefit change

[gmbhardy]

On 11/2/2018 at 11:20 AM, nj_flyer said:

 

1.Singles paying without single supplement only get half now
2. Can not combine offers (special pricing or perks) with the shareholder OBC
So now unless you pay full fare you cannot claim benefit

Was told by the resolution desk and refereed to the below document

Read restrictions

http://www.nclhltdinvestor.com/static-files/23c8691e-2da7-4595-b132-a6ad137cf7f6

Fake news! I also applied for my benefit yesterday for a cruise on the Bliss in January and received notification today that my application has been approved. My booking includes another $100 OBC from NCL and two “free at sea” perks. There must be some other reason for the OP being hassled over the benefit.

[peg013]

Because of this thread, I applied for the shareholder OBC yesterday for our Alaska cruise next June 2019. I used Worldpoints to upgrade from a B3 to a B1 and have the UBP and SDP-3 from the Free at Sea promo. I got my new amenity confirmation today with our Shareholder OBC added. Hopefully it was just someone at NCL that read the "new" description and is spreading misinformation. 

[jaja]

Just to add another "success" story...I applied last week for stock OBC..sailing solo via CAS.  Already received confirmation of OBC.

[Notnewtoit]

Yup as Vince posted it probably doesn't work with free, employee rate fares etc... but continues to work as it always did with Free at Sea etc. I write this as I stare at 100 free Dollars sitting in my OB account alongside my other perks. 

[Heather1972]

Put in my shareholder request Friday for my upcoming cruise. I noticed people from this thread had put in for their OBC after me and already had it applied to their account. =(   So, I put in for it again last night. I got my $100 OBC at noon today - solo with a free cruise through CAS.

[fshagan]

Thanks everyone for the updates! It looks like NCL isn't really enforcing the ever-present offers for dining and drinking plans as special rates that prohibit the shareholder benefit.

[newmexicoNita]

21 hours ago, Notnewtoit said:

Yup as Vince posted it probably doesn't work with free, employee rate fares etc... but continues to work as it always did with Free at Sea etc. I write this as I stare at 100 free Dollars sitting in my OB account alongside my other perks. 

I think from reading what some of you have posted the problem lies with a simple misunderstanding of the wording. I have thought this all the way along. 

 

fshagan: No,  I don't think it has anything to do with not enforcing the change, I think it has to do with someone misunderstanding the policy. I did ask my TA about this yesterday: of course they don't know all changes, ut she said she never heard of this. She did say, share holder benefits often do not apply to special rates given to TR, Aline employees or other industry employees. 

[esm54687]

Based on this thread, I also jumped and sent in my shareholder info for a May 2019 CAS cruise and received confirmation that the $100 OBC has been posted to my account

[cocod08]

I received the shareholder benefit on my account and it did not affect my cruise perks. 

[Newleno]

On 11/2/2018 at 1:39 PM, schildiams said:

I literally almost just bought stock since prices dropped this week. Thanks for the heads up!

Interesting wording of the document, one thing is clear obc cannot be used for service charges, bummer big bummer, big bummer.  I dont see anything in the document about discounted travel agencies not being involved in the program, does anyone else?  The big issue I see is this documentation must be provided 15 days out, we rarely book that far in advance

Edited November 12, 2018 by Newleno

[tallyho8]

Maybe, just maybe, the OBC can not be used for service charges. So on my last cruise where I had over $500 in OBC, I just went to the casino and cashed out $300 of my OBC that I had not used and only had to pay a $9 fee for doing so. It was definitely still worth it to me.

[disneykins]

We have been looking at buying the stock in the next few months. I don't like stocks that don't pay a dividend but we see the obc as a kind of dividend. We usually cruise NCL twice a year so $200 obc on a $50 stock is about a 4% return. Not bad and hopefully the stock will grow over the long term.

Now I'm not sure. If the obc is taken away, then there is less reason to buy the stock. We always use Sailaway rates (someone called them cheapo rates, lol) so we don't get perks anyway.

Tony

[nj_flyer]

On 11/6/2018 at 3:11 PM, gmbhardy said:

Fake news! I also applied for my benefit yesterday for a cruise on the Bliss in January and received notification today that my application has been approved. My booking includes another $100 OBC from NCL and two “free at sea” perks. There must be some other reason for the OP being hassled over the benefit.

fake news from their website really ..look it up yourself, maybe they aren't following there own new rules 

[newmexicoNita]

8 hours ago, nj_flyer said:

fake news from their website really ..look it up yourself, maybe they aren't following there own new rules 

Yes, look it up and try to understand what it really says: The wording may be a little hard to follow, but it doesn't refer to people on Free at Sea packages. It is referring to people who are on special pricing allow to TA, Airline employees etc: 

To those who mention the OBC can not be used for gratuities, of course not: the OBC is not something the company actually gives you like cash, it is not real money. Like someone suggested just go to the casino and use it for gambling, but don't really gamble. 

[eiloo]

If you have booked through a TA that provided you with some OBC, would the shareholder benefit still be added?  This isn't an employee or special rate.  i.e. if I didn't book through the TA, I would've booked through NCL without the OBC bonus from the TA.

[BirdTravels]

15 minutes ago, eiloo said:

If you have booked through a TA that provided you with some OBC, would the shareholder benefit still be added?  This isn't an employee or special rate.  i.e. if I didn't book through the TA, I would've booked through NCL without the OBC bonus from the TA.

No problem in any case. Just submit your request and you will be given the Shareholder OBC. 

[eiloo]

2 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

No problem in any case. Just submit your request and you will be given the Shareholder OBC. 

Thank you Bird!

[luv2kroooz]

On 11/2/2018 at 10:20 AM, nj_flyer said:

 

1.Singles paying without single supplement only get half now

Booked Epic on Jan 9 three days prior to sailing. Solo sail away rate, no supplement. My OBC was reduced to $50. I am recovering the additional $50 via reduction to DSC. It is unfortunate to impact hard working crew, but it is the only option. I will continue to employ this until NCL either increases the benefit back to $100 or requires a single traveler to make 50, not 100, share investment as the benefit is intended to reward stock ownership.

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Booked Epic on Jan 9 three days prior to sailing. Solo sail away rate, no supplement. My OBC was reduced to $50. I am recovering the additional $50 via reduction to DSC. It is unfortunate to impact hard working crew, but it is the only option. I will continue to employ this until NCL either increases the benefit back to $100 or requires a single traveler to make 50, not 100, share investment as the benefit is intended to reward stock ownership.

So, you are taking from the crew because you are not getting a freebie. Best not to cruise. 

[BirdTravels]

14 hours ago, eiloo said:

Thank you Bird!

We have sailed on all kinds of fares and always gotten the full shareholder OBC. 

[luv2kroooz]

26 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

So, you are taking from the crew because you are not getting a freebie. Best not to cruise. 

Correct. I have reached my limit with NCL.  Increased service charges, increased dining fees, increased drink prices, reduced OBC....i don't  find value here anymore. My rationale is that reducing service charge could lead to unhappy crew which could hurt service which could hurt NCL brand via unhappy customers. I am cancelling the cruise next certificate I bought a few days ago so once I use up the remaining one I have on file, it will be a non-issue.  I agree with your last statement, best not to cruise NCL. Time to look for something different.

 

 

[peg013]

2 hours ago, blcruising said:

Correct. I have reached my limit with NCL.  Increased service charges, increased dining fees, increased drink prices, reduced OBC....i don't  find value here anymore. My rationale is that reducing service charge could lead to unhappy crew which could hurt service which could hurt NCL brand via unhappy customers. I am cancelling the cruise next certificate I bought a few days ago so once I use up the remaining one I have on file, it will be a non-issue.  I agree with your last statement, best not to cruise NCL. Time to look for something different.

 

 

 

How many days is your cruise? I only got $50 on the Sky but it didn't have anything to do with solo or not. Less days, less OBC.

 

[luv2kroooz]

11 days, Western Caribbean, epic.

[newmexicoNita]

18 hours ago, blcruising said:

Correct. I have reached my limit with NCL.  Increased service charges, increased dining fees, increased drink prices, reduced OBC....i don't  find value here anymore. My rationale is that reducing service charge could lead to unhappy crew which could hurt service which could hurt NCL brand via unhappy customers. I am cancelling the cruise next certificate I bought a few days ago so once I use up the remaining one I have on file, it will be a non-issue.  I agree with your last statement, best not to cruise NCL. Time to look for something different.

 

 

you lost me somewhere; what reduced OBC? I do not think they have changed this one bit and people who are saying certain packages will result in non use of the share holders credit have been given poor advise. We have been on all types of packages and never lost our $100. As for cruising NCL or any other line, remember there will always be chancges and yes, if you don't like them go somewhere else. I don't think you will be missed much. 

[luv2kroooz]

1 hour ago, newmexicoNita said:

you lost me somewhere; what reduced OBC? I do not think they have changed this one bit and people who are saying certain packages will result in non use of the share holders credit have been given poor advise. We have been on all types of packages and never lost our $100. As for cruising NCL or any other line, remember there will always be chancges and yes, if you don't like them go somewhere else. I don't think you will be missed much. 

Yes, you got lost somewhere. I will try to help you. In prior 15 or so cruises, I received a 100 shareholder OBC for seven to 14 day cruises for making an investment of 100 shares of NCL stock. Didn't matter if I had other guests in my cabin or if I was sailing alone and paying a zero supplement. Over the last few months, at times, I have  been receiving 50 OBC when paying a zero supplement. It is random. Example back to back on getaway in September, paying zero supplement both weeks. First week 100 OBC, second week 50 OBC. Pearl 14 day November , solo zero supplement, received 100. Epic Jan 2019, zero supplement solo, 50 OBC. See how inconsistent this is. 

 

For sure, I am looking for better value alternatives at sea and land based. Regarding. NCL mussing me, I don't know. They seem to dump cabins frequently which implies excess inventory and they are always ready to sell me a last minute cabin...

Edited January 21, 2019 by blcruising