Pre-Paying DSC & OBC - Need Real Info!

[Robkat]

This is definitely a question for NCL experts and, perhaps more importantly, those of you who have cruised recently.

 

We've got an upcoming cruise on the Bliss, which was booked before the increased DSC's were announced.  We have $100 OBC also.

I called NCL customer service to ask whether it would be possible to pre-pay our DSC, and use our OBC to do that.  Of course, we'd then pay the balance on our credit card.

 

The CSR said no, as NCL OBC was never used to pay for the DSC's.  

So, I asked, if we couldn't use the OBC to pre-pay, wouldn't it still be applied to our  DSC's on the ship.  And she said no, that on NCL, OBC was never applied towards DSC.

 

Being the skeptic that I am, but realizing that perhaps I'm forgetting what happened the last time we sailed NCL (or maybe we didn't have OBC that time), I felt like I needed to get this confirmed by CC.

I can understand that perhaps NCL OBC can't be used to pre-pay, but this is news that, once onboard and the OBC is on our account, that it doesn't get applied to our DSC!  

Can you tell me if this is correct info?

Thanks.

 

[KeithJenner]

If the OBC is non refundable then no, it can't be used to pay the DSC, even onboard.

 

If it is refundable then it can be used.

 

You don't state where it came from, but if it was a promo from NCL then it will be non refundable, and the rep was correct.

 

They were certainly correct in that no OBC can be used to prepay anything before you have boarded.

Edited March 28, 2019 by KeithJenner

[delaware32]

The OBC that is non refundable cannot be used to pay the DSC . Only if you have refundable OBC can it be applied to DSC . The OBC that is promotional eg. as when you book with NCL and it's part of the booking prom. is non refundable .

[PJDH4]

What about shore excursion credit?  If I understand correctly, the $50 per port credit that we chose as a promo will be applied as OBC after the completion of our excursion. (I have already booked excursions online and so paid full price.)  Can I use that to pay the DSC?

[hallux]

10 hours ago, PJDH4 said:

What about shore excursion credit?  If I understand correctly, the $50 per port credit that we chose as a promo will be applied as OBC after the completion of our excursion. (I have already booked excursions online and so paid full price.)  Can I use that to pay the DSC?

 

Well,

12 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

You don't state where it came from, but if it was a promo from NCL then it will be non refundable, and the rep was correct.

would seem to indicate it would be non-refundable OBC..

[njhorseman]

11 hours ago, PJDH4 said:

What about shore excursion credit?  If I understand correctly, the $50 per port credit that we chose as a promo will be applied as OBC after the completion of our excursion. (I have already booked excursions online and so paid full price.)  Can I use that to pay the DSC?

No you can't use it for DSC. It can only be used for what it says it's for...Shore Excursions. If you don't use it on shore excursions you lose it.

Edited March 29, 2019 by njhorseman

[cruiserssandr]

14 hours ago, PJDH4 said:

What about shore excursion credit?  If I understand correctly, the $50 per port credit that we chose as a promo will be applied as OBC after the completion of our excursion. (I have already booked excursions online and so paid full price.)  Can I use that to pay the DSC?

You are supposed to call to book excursions if you have the $50 excursion credit. You will be charged on the first day of the cruise. After you complete the excursion the $50 credit is applied.  If you have any OBC this can then be used towards payment of your excursions.

[hallux]

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

It can only be used for what it says it's for...Shore Excursions. If you don't use it on shore excursions you lose it.

I believe the "shore excursion credit" in question is the promo NCL is offering where you get $50 per cabin OBC for each port in which you go on an NCL excursion.  It's not really credit towards the excursion, it's credit because of the excursion.  Yes, if you book the excursion on-board then it will help pay for the excursion.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, hallux said:

I believe the "shore excursion credit" in question is the promo NCL is offering where you get $50 per cabin OBC for each port in which you go on an NCL excursion.  It's not really credit towards the excursion, it's credit because of the excursion.  Yes, if you book the excursion on-board then it will help pay for the excursion.

I know exactly what it is, and I've used it on a number of cruises.  

 

What is "It's not really credit towards the excursion" supposed to mean, because that is exactly what it is.

 

No, you don't have to book on board to get the credit. You call the shore excursion desk  in advance of your cruise and they will book your excursions for you without your having to pay in advance. The excursions will then be charged to your on board account and the $50 per port credit will appear on your on board account statement for every port in which you've booked a shore excursion.

Edited March 29, 2019 by njhorseman

[esm54687]

22 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

I know exactly what it is, and I've used it on a number of cruises.  

 

What is "It's not really credit towards the excursion" supposed to mean, because that is exactly what it is.

 

No, you don't have to book on board to get the credit. You call the shore excursion desk  in advance of your cruise and they will book your excursions for you without your having to pay in advance. The excursions will then be charged to your on board account and the $50 per port credit will appear on your on board account statement for every port in which you've booked a shore excursion.

However, if someone chooses to pay in full online (as the person who asked the question did....) then the $50 Shore Excursion credit is applied to the stateroom account and NOT refunded to the original method of payment that was used online...... so, that non-refundable OBC can be used for items but not DSC.

 

I have done this numerous times as I like to book and pay all NCL specific items to my NCL credit card to increase my rewards and then turn around and convert the rewards to OBC

[njhorseman]

47 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

However, if someone chooses to pay in full online (as the person who asked the question did....) then the $50 Shore Excursion credit is applied to the stateroom account and NOT refunded to the original method of payment that was used online...... so, that non-refundable OBC can be used for items but not DSC.

 

I have done this numerous times as I like to book and pay all NCL specific items to my NCL credit card to increase my rewards and then turn around and convert the rewards to OBC

Except you're failing to recognize that  what you're doing...converting the shore excursion credit to regular OBC only works if you actually book shore excursions. 

If you don't book shore excursions by one method or another you are not going to get that $50 per port credit, so regardless of how the credit looks on your account statement it gets applied if and only if you book shore excursions, so it's still the credit for shore excursions even if that's not how it's eventually worded on your account statement.

Edited March 29, 2019 by njhorseman

[esm54687]

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

Except you're failing to recognize that  what you're doing...converting the shore excursion credit to regular OBC only works if you actually book shore excursions. 

If you don't book shore excursions by one method or another you are not going to get that $50 per port credit, so regardless of how the credit looks on your account statement it gets applied if and only if you book shore excursions, so it's still the credit for shore excursions even if that's not how it's eventually worded on your account statement.

You're failing to actually read what I wrote 1) "to pay in full online" and 2) "I have done this numerous times as I like to book and pay all NCL specific items" where we are talking specifically about booking excursions and completing the excursion ... not bottled water packages, not romantic packages, not dinner shows.....    as you stated to others I will repeat to you "I know exactly what it is"

[njhorseman]

2 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

You're failing to actually read what I wrote 1) "to pay in full online" and 2) "I have done this numerous times as I like to book and pay all NCL specific items" where we are talking specifically about booking excursions and completing the excursion ... not bottled water packages, not romantic packages, not dinner shows.....    as you stated to others I will repeat to you "I know exactly what it is"

They are still "NCL specific items" whether you pay for them on board or pay NCL in advance for them on the website. Your credit card gets charged by NCL either way.  I can't understand what additional benefit you think you're getting. 

[esm54687]

6 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

They are still "NCL specific items" whether you pay for them on board or pay NCL in advance for them on the website. Your credit card gets charged by NCL either way.  I can't understand what additional benefit you think you're getting. 

If you pre purchase everything and the charges get processed then you can convert the rewards to some OBC for the current trip you are on .......   I only use the NCL credit card for NCL specific items because of the bonus earned.   It also allows me to get off the ship with zero balance so I am not paying for a vacation 3 months after I return.  I use other types of reward credit cards that are much more valuable in my everyday life.  The NCL credit card is pretty much only good for OBC.......    using your method of reserving and not pre paying would decrease the excursion by $50 however still leave me with an excursion balance on my stateroom account.  Pretty straight forward

[PJDH4]

So I just called NCL and asked them my question.  I was told that since I already paid in full online for my shore excursions, that the $50 per port credit that I am entitled to will be refunded to my account as OBC after each excursion and any money that was not used at the end of the cruise would then be refunded to my credit card.  I also specifically asked about using that money towards the DSC and was told that I could as it is considered refundable credit.

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

If you pre purchase everything and the charges get processed then you can convert the rewards to some OBC for the current trip you are on .......   I only use the NCL credit card for NCL specific items because of the bonus earned.   It also allows me to get off the ship with zero balance so I am not paying for a vacation 3 months after I return.  I use other types of reward credit cards that are much more valuable in my everyday life.  The NCL credit card is pretty much only good for OBC.......    using your method of reserving and not pre paying would decrease the excursion by $50 however still leave me with an excursion balance on my stateroom account.  Pretty straight forward

Well I usually have enough OBC  from my travel agent that I don't have any meaningful balance at the end of the cruise anyway so what you're doing is of little or no use to me. 

 

In any event if you are a regular NCL customer you can just carry over any NCL credit card OBC you get from paying your on board account to your next cruise and use it there so you're still getting it, you're just carrying it forward.

 

 Still paying for you vacation three months after you return? No. The due date of the bill would run from slightly less than one month to just under two depending on where your on board account bill hit your credit card billing cycle. 

 

And by paying in advance you're losing the investment income you could earn. Not a lot of money for any one charge but look at it cumulatively over your lifetime for everything you buy and it's real money. If you're able to maintain a continuous float of $10,000 over 50 years while earning say, 4% simple interest, it's $20,000 in your pocket. 

[zqvol]

On 3/28/2019 at 5:11 PM, Robkat said:

This is definitely a question for NCL experts and, perhaps more importantly, those of you who have cruised recently.

 

We've got an upcoming cruise on the Bliss, which was booked before the increased DSC's were announced.  We have $100 OBC also.

I called NCL customer service to ask whether it would be possible to pre-pay our DSC, and use our OBC to do that.  Of course, we'd then pay the balance on our credit card.

 

The CSR said no, as NCL OBC was never used to pay for the DSC's.  

So, I asked, if we couldn't use the OBC to pre-pay, wouldn't it still be applied to our  DSC's on the ship.  And she said no, that on NCL, OBC was never applied towards DSC.

 

Being the skeptic that I am, but realizing that perhaps I'm forgetting what happened the last time we sailed NCL (or maybe we didn't have OBC that time), I felt like I needed to get this confirmed by CC.

I can understand that perhaps NCL OBC can't be used to pre-pay, but this is news that, once onboard and the OBC is on our account, that it doesn't get applied to our DSC!  

Can you tell me if this is correct info?

Thanks.

 

OBC from NCL may not be used for the DSC, nor is it refundable. If the OBC is refundable, then it can be used for OBC.

[zqvol]

On 3/28/2019 at 7:42 PM, PJDH4 said:

What about shore excursion credit?  If I understand correctly, the $50 per port credit that we chose as a promo will be applied as OBC after the completion of our excursion. (I have already booked excursions online and so paid full price.)  Can I use that to pay the DSC?

 

You can't use that either because it is from NCL, and is no refundable.

[cruiserssandr]

30 minutes ago, zqvol said:

 

You can't use that either because it is from NCL, and is no refundable.

The $50 excursion credit just reduces the cost of the excursion.  Really isn't OBC.

[esm54687]

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Well I usually have enough OBC  from my travel agent that I don't have any meaningful balance at the end of the cruise anyway so what you're doing is of little or no use to me. 

 

In any event if you are a regular NCL customer you can just carry over any NCL credit card OBC you get from paying your on board account to your next cruise and use it there so you're still getting it, you're just carrying it forward.

 

 Still paying for you vacation three months after you return? No. The due date of the bill would run from slightly less than one month to just under two depending on where your on board account bill hit your credit card billing cycle. 

 

And by paying in advance you're losing the investment income you could earn. Not a lot of money for any one charge but look at it cumulatively over your lifetime for everything you buy and it's real money. If you're able to maintain a continuous float of $10,000 over 50 years while earning say, 4% simple interest, it's $20,000 in your pocket. 

don't flatter yourself..... not one word of my reply was meant to be meaningful or useful to you.  Happy Cruising. 

[Robkat]

Thank you to those of you who answered my question.

Appreciate it.  

[BirdTravels]

20 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Except you're failing to recognize that  what you're doing...converting the shore excursion credit to regular OBC only works if you actually book shore excursions. 

If you don't book shore excursions by one method or another you are not going to get that $50 per port credit, so regardless of how the credit looks on your account statement it gets applied if and only if you book shore excursions, so it's still the credit for shore excursions even if that's not how it's eventually worded on your account statement.

It would be refunded via check several months after your cruise. 

[don't-use-real-name]

To muddy this up a bit:

 

That $50 SX credit is applied ONLY AFTER you take the booked excursion

and applied to your On Board Account in the form of a credit and not OBC.

While On Board you can use any OBC to book an excursion.

Shore Excursion gets cancelled - no $50 credit - but the original form of payment

gets credited.

Don't forget that past guests get an additional discount on SX  AFTER the cruise.

 

OBC means On Board Credit and means you must be On Board to use it.

 

2 types of OBC - refundable which you have purchased and can be used for anything.

 

- NON refundable which normally is a package given to you by NCL or your TA this

can be used to purchase (pay) for anything EXCEPT the DSC.

That DSC can be paid in advance and at a discount sometimes but must be paid before

closing your account and disembarking the ship.

Payment can be in almost any form EXCEPT NON-refundable OBC.

Have a dispute about service the DSC can be reduced as appropriate by filling out the

forms or procedure at the Guest Services desk.

 

Think of non-refundable OBC as a gift to you by NCL payment to purchase - Shore Excursions -

Gifts - Duty Free - Specialty Dining - Beverage Packages - that surcharge of Top End liquors -

Coffee Specialties - Specialty Cakes - Room Service - Spas Hair styling - Show admissions -

Photo shop - Internet time - partial/full payment of Cruise Next certificates - pay additional tips to the crew.

 

BUT NOT the DSC - because that would be like NCL paying and tipping their own crew which

NCL already has a payroll for that and that is a closed discussion off limits.

 

Stir three times and shake gently applying with liberal interpretation of the merits of the OBC system !

Why doesn't NCL just adjust and lower or raise fares to exclude the need or use of OBC in all aspects of cruising.

Pay for the extras on your own - pre/post cruise with NO funny unusable OBC !

 

  

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

It has to do with the allowability of the charge from a business expense perspective for taxation. Is it an allowable business expense or does it come straight out of profit. 

Edited March 31, 2019 by BirdTravels