Benefits to Booking Next Cruise While Onboard?

[KermitClin]

We're considering booking our next cruise while we're on the Breakaway next month. Does NCL typically offer better deals if you book while you're on board? I'm curious what others have experienced when booking on a cruise, especially if you have done it recently.

Edited April 28, 2019 by KermitClin

[JohnHall1965]

The only real benefit ive found is the OBC you get on the current cruise you are on 

 

 

[KeithJenner]

Depending on the cabin you book they can upgrade you, which may save you some money.

 

You get a discount on the cruise deposits, but you don’t need to actually book onboard to get that, just buy the deposits.

[JamieLogical]

So first off, you can purchase CruiseNext deposits for essentially half price. Two CruiseNext deposits can be applied to a Balcony or above. So if you spend $250, you get $500 deposit on your next sailing if it's in a balcony or above. Also, they will put you in the highest category in a "meta" for the price of a lowest category in that same meta when booking below Haven. So, say you are booking on the Escape... they will book you in a BA for the price of a BF or an MA for the price of an MC. A word of warning though. Since they started offering the free or reduced airfare on many sailings, they cannot arrange that for you on board. You will need to call NCL once you are home to make arrangements for airfare if you want to use that promo.

[YankeesFan4Life]

15 hours ago, JohnHall1965 said:

The only real benefit ive found is the OBC you get on the current cruise you are on 

 

 

 

Any idea how much the OBC is if you buy the 4 certs??  I'm trying to seriously justify paying extra for the PPBP and every little bit of OBC counts!

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

 

Any idea how much the OBC is if you buy the 4 certs??  I'm trying to seriously justify paying extra for the PPBP and every little bit of OBC counts!

 

If you buy 4 certificates, you get $500 in OBC. However I always use the OBC towards the certificates, so those 4 would cost me $500. If you use the OBC towards other things, you pay the full $1000.

[YankeesFan4Life]

12 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

If you buy 4 certificates, you get $500 in OBC. However I always use the OBC towards the certificates, so those 4 would cost me $500. If you use the OBC towards other things, you pay the full $1000.

 

SO....let me get this straight, maybe I'm reading this wrong.  Each CruiseNext cert is worth $250, correct?  If I purchase 4, they cost $1000, and I get $500 OBC.  Since the OBC is free money, and if I use OBC to then pay for it, the $1000 actually costs $500.  Are there any other benefits to purchasing?  I thought there was a bonus OBC offered....

[FLAHAM]

4 minutes ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

 

SO....let me get this straight, maybe I'm reading this wrong.  Each CruiseNext cert is worth $250, correct?  If I purchase 4, they cost $1000, and I get $500 OBC.  Since the OBC is free money, and if I use OBC to then pay for it, the $1000 actually costs $500.  Are there any other benefits to purchasing?  I thought there was a bonus OBC offered....

 

No.

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

 

SO....let me get this straight, maybe I'm reading this wrong.  Each CruiseNext cert is worth $250, correct?  If I purchase 4, they cost $1000, and I get $500 OBC.  Since the OBC is free money, and if I use OBC to then pay for it, the $1000 actually costs $500.  Are there any other benefits to purchasing?  I thought there was a bonus OBC offered....

 

You have it correct. There is no additional OBC. You get half the value of the CruiseNext deposits as OBC. You can choose to use that OBC towards the CruiseNext to essentially get them for half price OR you can use the OBC for other purchases on your current sailing. That is it. Is that not enough?

[KermitClin]

7 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

So first off, you can purchase CruiseNext deposits for essentially half price. Two CruiseNext deposits can be applied to a Balcony or above. So if you spend $250, you get $500 deposit on your next sailing if it's in a balcony or above. Also, they will put you in the highest category in a "meta" for the price of a lowest category in that same meta when booking below Haven. So, say you are booking on the Escape... they will book you in a BA for the price of a BF or an MA for the price of an MC. A word of warning though. Since they started offering the free or reduced airfare on many sailings, they cannot arrange that for you on board. You will need to call NCL once you are home to make arrangements for airfare if you want to use that promo.

Thanks for the info We're already familiar with the CruiseNext vouchers, I bought one on my last cruise and used it when we booked our upcoming cruise. We definitely plan to take advantage of that again! Is the free/reduced airfare worth doing? Or is it one of those "freebies" offered only after increasing the cost to cover most of it?

[YankeesFan4Life]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You have it correct. There is no additional OBC. You get half the value of the CruiseNext deposits as OBC. You can choose to use that OBC towards the CruiseNext to essentially get them for half price OR you can use the OBC for other purchases on your current sailing. That is it. Is that not enough?

 

I thought I read somewhere that there's additional OBC beyond the $500 to pay for the certs....I bought CruiseNext from a guy who needed to get rid of them, so without any additional added value, I might save my $500 and buy it when needed. Seems like they're always available somewhere...

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

 

I thought I read somewhere that there's additional OBC beyond the $500 to pay for the certs....I bought CruiseNext from a guy who needed to get rid of them, so without any additional added value, I might save my $500 and buy it when needed. Seems like they're always available somewhere...

 

I haven't seen them available on ebay or someplace like that for the essentially half price you get them for on board. I have seen them around $170 on there. Half price would be $125. However, I have seen some people selling them here on cruise critic from time to time for what they originally paid. I find them to be worth buying on board. I failed to buy them when I was on the Escape a couple of weeks ago and immediately regretted it. I was able to find someone to buy two from for what they paid ($250 total) but it was much more of a hassle for both parties than it would have been for me to have just bought them on board.

[JamieLogical]

4 hours ago, KermitClin said:

Is the free/reduced airfare worth doing? Or is it one of those "freebies" offered only after increasing the cost to cover most of it?

 

It definitely jacks up the pricing for the fares on sailings that include it, but there is no way to get around that other than booking a Sail Away rate. As for how well it works out, I don't know yet. I have avoided it up until now, though I am strongly considering it for a sailing on the Breakaway in September. It is only $99 per person from my home airport to Miami with the reduced airfare, whereas booking directly would cost about $400 per person right now. Prices for airfare have gone up quite a bit due the the grounding of the 737 Max 8.

[Suzy69]

sorry to jump on your thread,can you use OBC that you get as a free park to pay for cruise next certs?

[KeithJenner]

24 minutes ago, Suzy69 said:

sorry to jump on your thread,can you use OBC that you get as a free park to pay for cruise next certs?

Yes

[YankeesFan4Life]

8 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I haven't seen them available on ebay or someplace like that for the essentially half price you get them for on board. I have seen them around $170 on there. Half price would be $125. However, I have seen some people selling them here on cruise critic from time to time for what they originally paid. I find them to be worth buying on board. I failed to buy them when I was on the Escape a couple of weeks ago and immediately regretted it. I was able to find someone to buy two from for what they paid ($250 total) but it was much more of a hassle for both parties than it would have been for me to have just bought them on board.

 

I bought 4 certs from a guy in Australia for $500 even.  Got the full $1000 credit and even upgraded my rooms to make sure I was able to use the 4 certs, and with the price drop, I ended up paying less overall for the cruise, so it was definitely a win/win situation for everyone involved!

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

 

I bought 4 certs from a guy in Australia for $500 even.  Got the full $1000 credit and even upgraded my rooms to make sure I was able to use the 4 certs, and with the price drop, I ended up paying less overall for the cruise, so it was definitely a win/win situation for everyone involved!

 

Yes, it's certainly possible, since they are fully transferable. I was able to get my $500 in certs for the $250 the seller paid by just "gifting" her $250 worth of OBC through the NCL website for her cruise she was taking on the Bliss that following week. However, she did have to call and was on hold with her PCC for 20 minutes to get them transferred to me. Certainly not the a HUGE hassle, but more so than the simplicity of buying them directly while on board. I am going to make sure to not make the same mistake twice. I didn't buy any directly on my Escape sailing in April, because we already had a December sailing booked with the CruiseNext deposit we already had and I figured we wouldn't need more between now and then. But our upcoming sailing on the MSC Seaside turned into a customer service nightmare and we are canceling that and booking the Breakaway for September instead, but we were out of deposits. Now I know it's better to always have some deposits "banked" in case of last-minute changes in plans.

[KermitClin]

20 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

It definitely jacks up the pricing for the fares on sailings that include it, but there is no way to get around that other than booking a Sail Away rate. As for how well it works out, I don't know yet. I have avoided it up until now, though I am strongly considering it for a sailing on the Breakaway in September. It is only $99 per person from my home airport to Miami with the reduced airfare, whereas booking directly would cost about $400 per person right now. Prices for airfare have gone up quite a bit due the the grounding of the 737 Max 8.

Thanks for the info! I suppose we'll have to decide if the extra cost is worth the risk for us. We're looking at booking a cruise for 2021, so airfare can do a lot of different things between now and then!