Here are some tips & instructions for booking shorex using the $50/port shorex promo

[zogrand]

Just want to say thank you to the original poster.  This is the first time in years we have traveled with NCL.  Your post is very helpful since we have the excursion credit for or cruise in December.

[jaja]

2 hours ago, farjar said:

We were aware of the suggestion to take a screen shot of our tour price at time of booking and are very glad we did. 

 

I feel so silly...but how does one do a screen shot of a page??

[Turtles06]

41 minutes ago, zogrand said:

Just want to say thank you to the original poster.  This is the first time in years we have traveled with NCL.  Your post is very helpful since we have the excursion credit for or cruise in December.

 

You're quite welcome!  I hope you have a great cruise!

[Turtles06]

34 minutes ago, jaja said:

 

I feel so silly...but how does one do a screen shot of a page??

 

It's very easy, but the "how to" depends on what type of device you are using (desktop, phone, etc.)   Your best bet is to Google "how to take a screen shot on [name of your device ]." 

You'll also want to save that screen shot.  (On my Windows 10 laptop, I use a program called Paint.  On my iPhone, I can save it to my photos.) 

[Sailing12Away]

Sorry, but I'm still confused. I was always told that in order to use the $50 port credits, I had to call to book excursions or book onboard. You couldn't book online yourself if you wanted to claim the $50 credits.

 

Has that rule now changed? I would obviously prefer to book online myself than sit on hold, but don't want to lose that $50 credit. It's not much, but on an 8 port cruise it adds up...

[peg013]

The last time I called to book shore excursions with the shore excursion credit (for Feb 2019 cruise) I was told that I would not be able to use OBC to pay for the pre-booked shore excursions on board. They repeated several times that it was a new policy so do not count on using your OBC to pay for the pre-reserved shore excursions. I bought Cruise Next certificates which  used up our OBC so I do not know if it is really being enforced or not but would love to know if anyone has ran into this.  

Edited August 15, 2019 by peg013

[Turtles06]

30 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Sorry, but I'm still confused. I was always told that in order to use the $50 port credits, I had to call to book excursions or book onboard. You couldn't book online yourself if you wanted to claim the $50 credits.

 

Has that rule now changed? I would obviously prefer to book online myself than sit on hold, but don't want to lose that $50 credit. It's not much, but on an 8 port cruise it adds up...

 

No reason to be confused.  The answer is clearly set out in numbered paragraph 5 of my OP, and in the Terms & Conditions, also linked in the OP.

[Turtles06]

13 minutes ago, peg013 said:

The last time I called to book shore excursions with the shore excursion credit I was told that I would not be able to use OBC to pay for the pre-booked shore excursions on board. They repeated several times that it was a new policy so do not count on using your OBC to pay for the pre-reserved shore excursions. I bought Cruise Next certificates which  used up our OBC so I do not know if it is really being enforced or not but would love to know if anyone has ran into this.  

 

When were you told this?  It makes no sense, since OBC can be used to pay any part of your on-board charges (except, I believe, the DSC).  I would be very surprised if this were the case, but I don't have personal experience yet on this to say for sure.  

[peg013]

 

4 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

When were you told this?  It makes no sense, since OBC can be used to pay any part of your on-board charges (except, I believe, the DSC).  I would be very surprised if this were the case, but I don't have personal experience yet on this to say for sure.  

 

I added the time frame above before you posted so you must have had the quote sitting for a few minutes. It was when booking for our Feb 3, 2019 cruise.....they repeated it so many times it was crazy.

Edited August 15, 2019 by peg013

[njhorseman]

11 minutes ago, peg013 said:

 

 

I added the time frame above before you posted so you must have had the quote sitting for a few minutes. It was when booking for our Feb 3, 2019 cruise.....they repeated it so many times it was crazy.

I had no problem booking shore excursions by phone without advance payment for a cruise taken during the same time frame.

Edited August 15, 2019 by njhorseman

[Turtles06]

2 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

I had no problem booking shore excursions by phone without advance payment for a cruise taken during the same time frame.

 

I think what peg013 is saying is that she was told that when you book shorex pre-cruise by phone, and thus don't pay in advance, that you can't use OBC once on board the ship to pay for those excursions.  That makes no sense to me, but I have no personal experience yet on this.

[peg013]

4 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

I had no problem booking shore excursions by phone without advance payment for a cruise taken during the same time frame.

 

I had no problem booking excursions - were you able to use your OBC to pay for them is the real question.

[njhorseman]

21 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I think what peg013 is saying is that she was told that when you book shorex pre-cruise by phone, and thus don't pay in advance, that you can't use OBC once on board the ship to pay for those excursions.  That makes no sense to me, but I have no personal experience yet on this.

 

19 minutes ago, peg013 said:

 

I had no problem booking excursions - were you able to use your OBC to pay for them is the real question.

No problem at all using the shore excursion OBC as well as other OBC we had to pay for the excursions booked by phone.

 

Peg...what you were told defies common sense and NCL practice, nor have the Terms and Conditions changed: Shore excursion credit can be redeemed by calling 1-866-625-1167 or booking onboard. 

Edited August 15, 2019 by njhorseman

[All-ready2cruise]

I've used the directions posted by Turtles06 a few times. They are absolutely correct (I had read on CC that calling to make reservations was the way to book them). Never been denied the ability to use my OBC to pay for the remainder of what's owed. I had $150 per cruise x2. Next time I will only have $50 but that's ok, it will still go towards the cost of my shorex. 

 

Good luck and enjoy. 

[jgreenwo17]

On 8/13/2019 at 8:54 AM, Turtles06 said:

There are so many threads here in which people have asked questions relating to the booking of NCL shore excursions when they have the $50/port shorex promo that I thought it would be helpful to set out some how-tos and advice:

 

1.  The $50 promo credit is per port and per cabin.  It is not per person, and you don't get a credit if there's a port in which you haven't taken an NCL shore excursion.  It's use it or lose it.   (There's an exception to the per-port rule for Bermuda, where your ship may spend one or more overnights.  In Bermuda, the credit is per day, up to three individual days.  In all other overnight ports, there's only one $50 credit for that port.)   The full Terms and Conditions for the shorex promo are here:

 

https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

 

2. Unless for some reason you want to pay for your shorex before you sail, you should book your shorex prior to sailing by calling NCL's shorex desk: 1-866-625-1167.  (You can also book on board, but then you run the risk of a shore excursion selling out.)   By booking on the phone, you will not have to pay in advance; the excursion will be charged to your onboard account.  (You'll be able to use any OBC you have to pay for the excursion on board, another benefit of booking by phone and not paying in advance.) 

 

3.  When you call to book your shorex, have your reservation number available.  If your Latitudes tier entitles you to a certain % off the cost of a shore excursion, that % will first be applied to the price, to give you a per person cost of the tour.  It's from that total amount that the $50 will be deducted after you have taken the shore excursion.  (For example, if a shorex is $100 pp and you and your spouse are Platinum Latitudes members and thus get 10%  off, the pp cost of the shorex is $90, for a total of $180.  Once you've taken the shorex, $50 will be applied to your account, making the total cost of that shorex for the two of you $130.)

 

4.  Pro Tip: Before you call to book any shore excursion, take a screen shot of the description AND the price and bring it with you on board, so you have proof of the price at the time you booked, since that price is locked in for you.   You need to do this because the email confirmation of your shorex booking that you receive from NCL will not show the price, and because, once you have booked a shore excursion, NCL's site will only show you that shorex as costing $0.  (It also will NOT show you any other shore excursions for that port, which I find ridiculous, as you might want to change your mind.  So be sure to review the available shorex for a port carefully before you book.)

 

5.  If you want to pay for your shorex before you sail, you can book on line and pay the full price by credit card then.  Once you take the shore excursion, a $50, non-refundable credit will be applied to your on board account.  This information is stated in the Terms and Conditions as well as in the auto-greeting you hear when you call the shorex desk.  (In the early days of this promo a few years ago, you could only book by phone.) 

 

I hope this is helpful.  If I've misstated anything or something is not clear, please do post a comment.

 

 

"Now he tells me!"  Great advice.

[All-ready2cruise]

3 minutes ago, jgreenwo17 said:

"Now he tells me!"  Great advice.

Now you got it, right?  You go... good luck and have fun!!

[JoeTec]

We just got back from the Escape to Bermuda & we booked the beach chair & shared umbrella at Snorkel Park & it was originally $29 per person but when we got there they didn't let anyone put up the umbrellas so they discounted our price which came to 23.20 per person & our shore excursions was credited 46.40 not 50.00

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, JoeTec said:

We just got back from the Escape to Bermuda & we booked the beach chair & shared umbrella at Snorkel Park & it was originally $29 per person but when we got there they didn't let anyone put up the umbrellas so they discounted our price which came to 23.20 per person & our shore excursions was credited 46.40 not 50.00

I assume you know this, but in case others reading this thread don't, you were credited $46.40 rather than $50 because you only get a credit for the lesser of your actual cost or $50. 

[peg013]

18 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 

No problem at all using the shore excursion OBC as well as other OBC we had to pay for the excursions booked by phone.

 

Peg...what you were told defies common sense and NCL practice, nor have the Terms and Conditions changed: Shore excursion credit can be redeemed by calling 1-866-625-1167 or booking onboard. 

 

Maybe I was told about it because of the shareholder OBC that was on my account when I called Shorex to reserve my shore excursions.

 

I just read about this on the Shareholder thread in this forum and must admit I never read it before so it may or may not be new. 

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

 Under #7 "Certificate value credited to onboard account at the time of sailing and may not be used toward onboard service charges or pre-purchased activities."

 

I hope it is just another "rule" they do not enforce for all of our sakes. 

 

I looked to see if there are any new restrictions on the Latitude OBC but none is offered right now so there are no terms and conditions to check.

[Turtles06]

3 minutes ago, peg013 said:

 Under #7 "Certificate value credited to onboard account at the time of sailing and may not be used toward onboard service charges or pre-purchased activities."

 

The shorex we are talking about aren't "pre-purchased," they are pre-booked.  Can you imagine if the accounting folks on board had to implement a system where they tried to differentiate shareholder OBC from other non-refundable OBC and then not apply the former to shorex booked pre-cruise by phone but paid for on board?   (My head hurts just thinking about it.)

[njhorseman]

14 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

(My head hurts just thinking about it.)

 

Well thanks, Judith, because now I have a headache. 

[JoeTec]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

I assume you know this, but in case others reading this thread don't, you were credited $46.40 rather than $50 because you only get a credit for the lesser of your actual cost or $50. 

Exactly.  Someone posted earlier in this thread that you would get the whole 50 & someone else was asking for examples

[farjar]

On ‎8‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 4:17 PM, jaja said:

 

I feel so silly...but how does one do a screen shot of a page??

I just took a photo of the shore excursion screen with my cell phone.  Since I will have my phone on the cruise I can just show them on my phone.  I also forwarded the photo to my email account and printed out a paper copy just in case I accidently delete it from my phone.   

[jaja]

2 hours ago, farjar said:

I just took a photo of the shore excursion screen with my cell phone.  Since I will have my phone on the cruise I can just show them on my phone.  I also forwarded the photo to my email account and printed out a paper copy just in case I accidently delete it from my phone.   

Thanks !!!!

[newmexicoNita]

FYI  I just looked at my conformation for our shore excursion booked via NCL. When I booked it on line they automatically gave us our Plut Plus discount. I hadn't noticed that before.