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

[smplybcause]

I would point out/remind that non-refundable can't be used for the DSC. So if you prepay you have to use it for something. 

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

Totally agree that it's ridiculous that NCL's site doesn't display any other shore excursions for a port once you've booked something. For what it's worth, back in January 2019 I actually submitted that as a bug to NCL's digital team because it seemed so weird, and this was the reply I got:

 

"I did review this with out IT Department and there is an issue going on where only the booked excursions shows and nothing else. They are looking into the issue because you should be able to view all the excursions available no matter what. This is not an intentional design, this is a legitimate error that is occurring and is being worked on. We apologize for the inconvenience."

 

But if it's still happening... 🤷‍♀️

 

Thanks for this.  It's fascinating to learn they think this is erroneous, since it's been the case on NCL's web site for years.  Pretty unfortunate to learn they haven't been able to do anything since January.... 🙁

[AlexandNessa]

Want to point out that if you book your shorex by calling, your Latitudes discount will not automatically be applied onboard. It's actually in the Latitudes T&Cs that they make you ask for it.

 

 

For the record, I think this is ridiculous.  I've never had discounts apply automatically when I've called to book because I had OBC to use, even after waiting several days. I've always had to ask the concierge to take care of it, and then a discount is never refunded via OBC. The full charge of the shorex is refunded, and then I'm recharged the discounted rate.

 

 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, AlexandNessa said:

Want to point out that if you book your shorex by calling, your Latitudes discount will not automatically be applied onboard. It's actually in the Latitudes T&Cs that they make you ask for it.

 

 

 

 

I appreciate that the Latitudes discount that folks are being told on the phone is being applied may not in fact automatically get applied on board, but I don’t read the Latitudes T&Cs that you quoted as the reason. The first two sentences of what you quoted deal with someone who is booking and paying in advance on line. The other sentence deals with someone who is booking a shorex once on board.

 

None of what you quoted deals with the shorex promo at all nor the situation in which a person with the promo calls to book.  Also, since NCL does sometimes change the price of shore excursions, the telephonic booking price — which is the price after the Latitudes discount has been applied — does need to be transmitted to the ship or the ship would not know what amount to post to the person’s account.  I think what’s going on is a glitch by NCL in its system. It would not be the first time, as evidenced by comment 25 above.

[xcell]

Also for the Latitude discount, it's only for the 1st two persons in the cabin, does not apply to #3 and #4 (sucks for my kids).

 

Also, if you book an excursion that's less than $50 -- you do get the entire $50 credit regardless -- i.e. I believe on the private island, you can rent snorkel gear for less than $50 (so if it's $20 - no idea the actual cost, you came out ahead $30 for that port).

[newmexicoNita]

20 hours ago, NYcruzzer said:

Thank you for providing this useful info. Do I have to wait for final payment to book excursions by phone ?

nope and btw we have never had any trouble getting our latitude discount after booking. When there has been a problem we have gone to the tour desk and they have corrected everything immediately. 

[esm54687]

12 hours ago, ddlb said:

One more question if you don’t mind if an excursion is $35 each do you still get a $50 per cabin discount or only $35? THANKS!

and if only one of you want to do the $35 excursion then the promo will only be $35. The $15 balance is not available for another excursion etc   

[ddlb]

16 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

nope and btw we have never had any trouble getting our latitude discount after booking. When there has been a problem we have gone to the tour desk and they have corrected everything immediately. 

 True that you can go to the excursions desk and get your 10% applied. Unfortunately most of the times there’s a big line and it’s a waste of time and very frustrating in my opinion after being told it would be on my account when I booked over the phone. If anyone else has actually gotten the 10% latitudes discount automatically applied to their excursion price when they did book over the phone and did not prepay please respond.  

[Turtles06]

53 minutes ago, xcell said:

Also, if you book an excursion that's less than $50 -- you do get the entire $50 credit regardless -- i.e. I believe on the private island, you can rent snorkel gear for less than $50 (so if it's $20 - no idea the actual cost, you came out ahead $30 for that port).

 

6 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

and if only one of you want to do the $35 excursion then the promo will only be $35. The $15 balance is not available for another excursion etc   

 

@xcell you are the only person on this thread who has said that if an excursion costs less than $50, you get the difference.  I've never had one that cost so little, so I can't say from personal experience, but several others have posted comments to the contrary (including the one I've just quoted here).

Can anyone with actual experience who has taken an excursion costing under $50 (or even asked the shorex folks about this) settle the dispute? 

Edited August 14, 2019 by Turtles06

[newmexicoNita]

9 minutes ago, ddlb said:

 True that you can go to the excursions desk and get your 10% applied. Unfortunately most of the times there’s a big line and it’s a waste of time and very frustrating in my opinion after being told it would be on my account when I booked over the phone. If anyone else has actually gotten the 10% latitudes discount automatically applied to their excursion price when they did book over the phone and did not prepay please respond.  

guess we have been lucky. the two or three times I have gone to the desk they have not been busy; maybe a few people in front but certainly didn't take more than a few minutes to get the problem solved. We have found the tour desk not always so friendly  but that can happen at any desk. There are nice people and not so nice people. 

[esm54687]

13 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

@xcell you are the only person on this thread who has said that if an excursion costs less than $50, you get the difference.  I've never had one that cost so little, so I can't say from personal experience, but several others have posted comments to the contrary (including the one I've just quoted here).

Can anyone with actual experience who has taken an excursion costing under $50 (or even asked the shorex folks about this) settle the dispute? 

I have actual experience with this. 

 

Port Canaveral Shuttle to Cocoa Beach is approx $17 (or something like that) .....the $17 was charged and a line item credit for the promo was $17.  While at the Shore Excursion Desk chasing my Latitude discount, I asked about the $50 and they pointed to the T&Cs where it said the promo has "no monetary value".  It made perfect sense to me so if I was the exception I am fine with only the $17.

 

If you were to get the full $50..... it's a no brainer to choose the cheapest excursion, never go or cancel, get charged, get the Latitude discount and make money on the balance.  That would be one of the biggest loopholes that would light up every cruise board. 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, xcell said:

 

Also, if you book an excursion that's less than $50 -- you do get the entire $50 credit regardless -- i.e. I believe on the private island, you can rent snorkel gear for less than $50 (so if it's $20 - no idea the actual cost, you came out ahead $30 for that port).

Not in my experience. When the cost of an excursion was less than $50 the credit was capped at that cost. We didn't receive the full $50.

[njhorseman]

53 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

@xcell you are the only person on this thread who has said that if an excursion costs less than $50, you get the difference.  I've never had one that cost so little, so I can't say from personal experience, but several others have posted comments to the contrary (including the one I've just quoted here).

Can anyone with actual experience who has taken an excursion costing under $50 (or even asked the shorex folks about this) settle the dispute? 

We only received a credit for the cost of the excursion, not the full $50.

[xcell]

I had this happen on my Xmas 2018 cruise, so possibly they changed it in their system.

 

I assumed that they would just cover the cost of the excursion up to $50 but I was surprised to get the full $50 the day after.

 

In any case, excursions less than $50 are very rare, mostly I would say at the private islands (snorkel, kayak)

 

[dmdiver]

Thanks for the info.  We have been wondering how this was going to work.  My frustration right now is not being able to view & mark favorites while logged into my booking.  I realize it is too early to book, but it would be nice to be able to view & mark excursions as favorites so they can be retrieved easily when those bookings open up.

[AlexandNessa]

7 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I appreciate that the Latitudes discount that folks are being told on the phone is being applied may not in fact automatically get applied on board, but I don’t read the Latitudes T&Cs that you quoted as the reason. The first two sentences of what you quoted deal with someone who is booking and paying in advance on line. The other sentence deals with someone who is booking a shorex once on board.

 

None of what you quoted deals with the shorex promo at all nor the situation in which a person with the promo calls to book.  Also, since NCL does sometimes change the price of shore excursions, the telephonic booking price — which is the price after the Latitudes discount has been applied — does need to be transmitted to the ship or the ship would not know what amount to post to the person’s account.  I think what’s going on is a glitch by NCL in its system. It would not be the first time, as evidenced by comment 25 above.

I have extensive experience calling ahead to book shorex. My only point is that you're charged onboard, and I've never, since the Latitudes change in 2017 and multiple cruises, been charged the discounted Latitudes rate, ever. Because you're charged onboard, they act like you've booked onboard. If it was a glitch, I think it'd have fixed it by now, 2.5+ years later. After all, there is zero benefit to them to fix this "glitch" because they're ahead of the game if one person forgets to ask for their discount.

 

I am also in a group just for Platinum Plus and Ambassador members and asked after this situation there. No one reported automatically receiving their 15-20% discount there either. It seems to be policy.

 

I think it relevant because the discounts are combinable. Your best bet is to book online to get your Latitudes discount up front and then have the shorex credit auto apply onboard, once you've taken the excursion, to maximize your discounts without hassle. Of course, if you want to use OBC, you must call or book onboard, both of which you'll need to ask for your discount to be applied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

14 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

Totally agree that it's ridiculous that NCL's site doesn't display any other shore excursions for a port once you've booked something. For what it's worth, back in January 2019 I actually submitted that as a bug to NCL's digital team because it seemed so weird, and this was the reply I got:

 

"I did review this with out IT Department and there is an issue going on where only the booked excursions shows and nothing else. They are looking into the issue because you should be able to view all the excursions available no matter what. This is not an intentional design, this is a legitimate error that is occurring and is being worked on. We apologize for the inconvenience."

 

But if it's still happening... 🤷‍♀️

 

I just followed up on this by calling the Shore Ex folks.  I explained that once I had booked an excursion in a specific port, I could no longer see any other excursions for that port.  He told me that this IS how their web site is supposed to work.  When I asked why, since it's ridiculous, he said that it's so people can't double book!  That of course is a failing of the NCL web site.  (If you try to make conflicting reservations on some other cruise line sites, including Celebrity and RCI, you will get a pop up box telling you that there's a conflict and asking if you want to cancel the earlier booking.)  I told the rep that someone on social media had reported being told in January this was a glitch and was being worked on, he said it's been this way for the ten years he's been there and repeated this is how it's supposed to work. 

 

When I asked what folks are supposed to do if they decide they want to consider other options in a port where they've already booked an excursion, he said that people can see ALL shorex for a particular port on the NCL site when they are not logged in.  Go to NCL.com, click Explore at the top, select Shore Excursions from the drop down menu, and then select the port on the screen that pops up.   (I just checked that out.  You can't book any of those excursions that you see, even if you follow the "log in to book" link.  It takes you to your reservation, where it shows the excursion is "not available.")

 

Imho, truly an absurd and poor use of technology in this day and age.

[Turtles06]

15 minutes ago, AlexandNessa said:

I have extensive experience calling ahead to book shorex. My only point is that you're charged onboard, and I've never, since the Latitudes change in 2017 and multiple cruises, been charged the discounted Latitudes rate, ever.

 

Yes, thanks, clearly you are not alone in this.   FWIW, I just asked the Shorex Phone desk about this, telling them that a lot of folks on social media are reporting that the Latitudes discount is NOT automatically applied on board even though people have been quoted the discounted price on the phone and been assured that's all they'll be charged on board.  The rep said that the people on board have the same pricing info in a guest's reservation that the phone people do -- the original price less the Latitudes discount.    When I said that it does not seem to be working that way on board, he just repeated what he'd told me.

 

I think folks need to start complaining about this . . . I certainly will if this happens to us.

[farjar]

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.  Our upcoming Duck Boat Tour in Ketchikan booked three months ago for $49.00 per person is now $59.00 per person.  That's a 20% increase.  As Platinum cruisers we have never had our 10% discount show up on our onboard account without going to the shore excursion desk despite what Shorex said when we called to book.  Once on the ship I'll have to go and get both matters taken care of at the same time.

[Tinyturtle22]

6 hours ago, dmdiver said:

Thanks for the info.  We have been wondering how this was going to work.  My frustration right now is not being able to view & mark favorites while logged into my booking.  I realize it is too early to book, but it would be nice to be able to view & mark excursions as favorites so they can be retrieved easily when those bookings open up.

You should be able to save or even book excursions at anytime. When is your sailing? Are there any excursions posted in the “explore and plan” section of your booking?

[dmdiver]

My sailing is not until May 2020.  Excursions show 0 and are grayed out.  I don't know why they don't at least let you see them & just say they're not available to book yet - like it does for dining & show reservations.

Edited August 14, 2019 by dmdiver

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, dmdiver said:

May sailing is not until May 2020.  Excursions show 0 and are grayed out.  I don't know why they don't at least let you see them & just say they're not available to book yet - like it does for dining & show reservations.

 

That's nearly a year away.  It's quite possible they have none open for booking yet.  You just need to keep checking back periodically.  If you want to browse through the offerings in various ports, then go to NCL.com, do NOT log in, click Explore at the top, select Shore Excursions from the pull down menu, and go from there.

[dmdiver]

That's what I've been doing, I just can't save them as favorites.  Well, I was able to save one, but the next time I tried, it didn't.  Strangest thing I've ever seen.  I was not logged in and when I went to mark as a favorite, it said I needed to log in to save it.  So, that's what I did.  So when I log in, I see the excursion I saved.  However, when I tried to do this again, it didn't work.

[ms sjsky]

If you go to Bermuda for the 3 days and get a $50 credit per day, can you use the $150 towards 1 excursion or do you need to book 3 different excursions on each day you are in port to get the credit?

[njhorseman]

21 minutes ago, ms sjsky said:

If you go to Bermuda for the 3 days and get a $50 credit per day, can you use the $150 towards 1 excursion or do you need to book 3 different excursions on each day you are in port to get the credit?

It's $50 credit for each individual day and you can't accumulate the credits so you can't use $150 towards one excursion.