NCL Gem Jan 09th & 19th 2022 voyage (B2B), OMG! Refund for onboard purchases received for both voyages!

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, WYB! said:

Yes, we agree, you are misunderstanding!

 

Why would other people on Part B be reimbursed for a cruise that wasn't cancelled?

You seem to think I'm bragging. I'm reporting the facts as they happen. You seem to be stating opinion.

I'm looking for other people who are in my situation, (B2B voyage booked as 1 reservation where voyage 1 was cancelled) and what happened after that.

 

Were you even on this voyage?

As I've stated, I have nothing to hide and I'm hiding nothing.

So please explain how I'm stealing anything?

 

How does someone have 3.5k with all negative posts?

 

Have you ever said anything even remotely positive about anything? Ever use the term "Thanks" before?

 

 

Stay positive and Safe travels,

 

- WYB

Yes...you are reporting what happens.  But somethings things happen that shouldn't be happening.  

 

When i had a tax prep business (for 30 years)....sometimes the govt made mistakes.  I used to tell my clients.....do what you want, but don't be surpised in a year or so, when they realize a mistake was made.  And, most of the time the found their errors.  (Not talking about audits...about things like giving double credit for estimates etc)

 

The bottom line....which YOU are misunderstanding is that:  You are surprised about this refund.  I'm not telling you to call NCL to verify you're due this refund.  People who have gotten screwed (and there are lots of them) may not be so happy for you...and could press the issue with NCL.  So, if I were you, I wouldn't advertise the "wonderful luck" you had.

 

BTW....I'm very flattered you had the time to read my 3.5K posts!

[The Traveling Man]

On 2/9/2022 at 3:00 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

So it's either:

a) NCL is kind and generous and focused on rewarding loyal passengers or

b) Totally inept, screwing up wherever possible

 

Hmmm....  I'll have to check more threads here to see what the consensus is. 🤣

I think I might be tempted to vote for "B".

[The Traveling Man]

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

How do you book a back to back as 1 reservation?  Aren't they two separate reservations?

My question, as well.  There was a time, several years ago, when NCL would offer some cruises as separate segments and also as part of a combined cruise.  The amazing thing to me was that the price of the combined cruise usually was more than the sum of the parts.  I don't recall seeing any listed that way since about 2015 or so.

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, WYB! said:

You can and should book a B2B as 1 reservation.

What is the procedure for doing that?  I know that several years ago NCL would offer some cruises both as separate segments as well as part of a longer cruise, but I haven't seen the option for putting two different cruises under a single reservation.  Please describe how you did this. Thanks.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, WYB! said:

you can and should book a B2B as 1 reservation. (You should also say "Thank you" when you learn something new).

Can anybody explain what this poster is talking about?

[WYB!]

I could but it’s easier to direct people to post #4667 (August 29th, 2018) and read on from there to learn more about booking a B2B voyage as 1 reservation, the meta upgrade and the NCL MC.

 

Stay positive & safe travels,

 

- WYB

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by WYB!

[ChiefMateJRK]

16 minutes ago, WYB! said:

I could but it would be easier to direct people to post #4667 (August 29th, 2018) and read on from there to learn more about booking a B2B voyage as 1 reservation, the meta upgrade and the NCL MC.

 

Stay positive & safe travels,

 

- WYB

 

 

 

Well, that was ten minutes of my life I'll never get back.  I see no answers to my question and only hints that it might require booking with NCL Mastercard points (I don't have any such thing).

 

There are many very helpful posters here on CC.  Unfortunately, it's not 100%.

[ChiefMateJRK]

Some of us are still waiting to hear about how to do that. Apparently it is super secret insider info. 

[WYB!]

41 minutes ago, julig22 said:

As I understand it, you can no longer get a meta upgrade for both cruises using NCL points even if they are booked under a single reservation.  If somebody has done that recently, please let me know! 

So there may not be any advantage to booking a B2B as a single reservation (although if you get to keep your windfall I guess there might be).

Disadvantage - you might want/need to cancel 1 leg.

 

Yep, that is correct. It was good while it lasted. (See my Signature for B2B trips)

 

This trip might have been the last of the single meta upgrades which covered both B2B voyages.

 

Now you need twice the number of points for the meta upgrade as before for a B2B.

 

Although if you do want/need to cancel 1 leg, that's what travel insurance is for.

 

Stay positive and safe travels,

 

- WYB

Edited February 12, 2022 by WYB!

[WYB!]

6 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Some of us are still waiting to hear about how to do that. Apparently it is super secret insider info. 

Sorry, that ship has already sailed...

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 minutes ago, WYB! said:

So back in post #34 you said, "NCL Mastercard points (I don't have any such thing)."

 

So trying to explain what a Meta upgrade is would be like, trying to explain how the internet works to someone who doesn't know how  to work a computer.

Stay positive and safe travels,

- WYB

Yep. This proves it. 
 

[casofilia]

I would NOT recommend booking a B2B as a single entity.   Someone actually did that for my wife and I on the Ill-fated Spirit cruises in March 2020.   We had Dubai-Cape Town and Cape Town-Singapore under one reservation number.

 

In actuality the Dubai-Cape Town cruise did not visit any ports after Muscat and the Cape Town-Singapore cruise was first changed to Cape Town-Athens and then cancelled totally.

Because we had a single reservation number we received all information regarding the Dubai-Cape Town cruise but NOTHING about the Cape Town-Singapathens cruise directly from NCL before we boarded.   I found out some things from Cruise Critic and then had to confirm with my PCC in Sydney.

 

Once on board for the Dubai-Cape Town cruise we did receive all the documents that were handed out.  At times I had to ask at Guest Services for clarification due to errors or ambiguities within the documants.

 

The discounts that we had been offered were the easy part once someone realised that we had actually booked a B2B.   However any refunds or FCCs were very difficult as the percentages for the two cruises were not exactly the same and, of course, the actual sums depended on the fares for each cruise.  No-one in Sydney was willing to take the fare we had paid and split it into separate sums for the two cruises.   I made logical suggestions of how to do it but no-one in Sydney had the authority to make a decision.

 

I believe it finally was passed to a person in NCLs Legal Claims and Support Services Division in the UK to make a decision and who then gave advice to senior persons in Sydney of the manner how our refunds and FCCs were to be calculated.   It actually took over 5 months from our return to NZ before the matter was finally completed.

 

Never again!!!!   We do lots of B2Bs on the same ship but make sure we have totally separate reservations for each cruise.

 

Don't get me started about the "information breakdown" or the "abominable paper warfare" we had to put up with!!

[julig22]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

So, you have no personal experience that confirms this is actually possible?  

Correct.  But I have no reason to doubt anyone, including the op, who says that they have booked their b2b cruises this way. And used points to upgrade both legs, even tho irrelevant.

Since you won't take the word of anyone here, why don't you just contact NCL and ask.

[Stevio]

11 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Can anybody explain what this poster is talking about?

 

This may be a UK thing but...

 

Our October 22 B2B cruise booked directly through our NCL cruise consultant is shown on the confirmation copy as a single sailing of 9th to 28th Oct, under a single reservation/ invoice and cabin number with guest fares, taxes etc for an individual cruise with a single total and an unbroken 19 day itinerary.

 

The only part that looks odd for a single cruise is the application of Add-Ons which shows for the two of us such old school things as "4 X Internet package (60 Minutes)".

 

I was thinking that this perhaps has been done in order to apply the 10% cancellation discount off the next cruise over both cruises, but apparently all our previous pre pandemic  B2Bs were booked the same way.

 

So it turns out that all of our B2B cruises have been booked as single reservations automatically by NCL whether we wanted it or not.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Stevio

[WYB!]

9 hours ago, casofilia said:

I would NOT recommend booking a B2B as a single entity.   Someone actually did that for my wife and I on the Ill-fated Spirit cruises in March 2020.   We had Dubai-Cape Town and Cape Town-Singapore under one reservation number.

 

In actuality the Dubai-Cape Town cruise did not visit any ports after Muscat and the Cape Town-Singapore cruise was first changed to Cape Town-Athens and then cancelled totally.

Because we had a single reservation number we received all information regarding the Dubai-Cape Town cruise but NOTHING about the Cape Town-Singapathens cruise directly from NCL before we boarded.   I found out some things from Cruise Critic and then had to confirm with my PCC in Sydney.

 

Once on board for the Dubai-Cape Town cruise we did receive all the documents that were handed out.  At times I had to ask at Guest Services for clarification due to errors or ambiguities within the documants.

 

The discounts that we had been offered were the easy part once someone realised that we had actually booked a B2B.   However any refunds or FCCs were very difficult as the percentages for the two cruises were not exactly the same and, of course, the actual sums depended on the fares for each cruise.  No-one in Sydney was willing to take the fare we had paid and split it into separate sums for the two cruises.   I made logical suggestions of how to do it but no-one in Sydney had the authority to make a decision.

 

I believe it finally was passed to a person in NCLs Legal Claims and Support Services Division in the UK to make a decision and who then gave advice to senior persons in Sydney of the manner how our refunds and FCCs were to be calculated.   It actually took over 5 months from our return to NZ before the matter was finally completed.

 

Never again!!!!   We do lots of B2Bs on the same ship but make sure we have totally separate reservations for each cruise.

 

Don't get me started about the "information breakdown" or the "abominable paper warfare" we had to put up with!!

That's unfortunate, but I'm glad you got it resolved. 

 

Did you also have travel insurance and if so were they helpful?

 

March 2020 was a bad time for any type of travel.

 

Stay positive and Safe travels,

 

- WYB

Edited February 13, 2022 by WYB!

[WYB!]

19 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

What is the procedure for doing that?  I know that several years ago NCL would offer some cruises both as separate segments as well as part of a longer cruise, but I haven't seen the option for putting two different cruises under a single reservation.  Please describe how you did this. Thanks.

Hi,

 

So using my TA, I inform them that I would like Voyage 1 and Voyage 2 under 1 booking number.

 

The TA then contacts NCL and makes sure I have Voyage 1 and Voyage 2 under 1 booking number.

 

1 booking number then shows up on my NCL account when I login to ncl.com.

 

Stay positive and safe travels,

 

- WYB

[casofilia]

@WYB!

 

Did you also have travel insurance and if so were they helpful?

 

We did have travel insurance but we didn't need to use them.   However I did ask if they would help if required but they did say it would depend on the actual situations based on the effect of Covid.

 

I knew it would be sorted as soon as there was someone who had the authority to make a logical decision.   Finally happened and we had everything sorted to our satisfaction.

[casofilia]

@WYB!

 

Hope that NCL doesn't cancel ONE of the two parts at very late notice.

[WYB!]

11 minutes ago, casofilia said:

@WYB!

 

Hope that NCL doesn't cancel ONE of the two parts at very late notice.

We sailed on the 09th of Jan 2022 on a 10 day voyage and they cancelled on the 13th of Jan 2022.

We also stayed on for the B2B which started on the 19th and returned on the 29th.

But for me and perhaps the rest that sailed on the 09th, it worked out pretty well without having to jump through any hoops.

 

Stay positive and safe travels,

 

- WYB

 

[The Traveling Man]

11 hours ago, casofilia said:

I would NOT recommend booking a B2B as a single entity.   Someone actually did that for my wife and I on the Ill-fated Spirit cruises in March 2020.   We had Dubai-Cape Town and Cape Town-Singapore under one reservation number.

 

In actuality the Dubai-Cape Town cruise did not visit any ports after Muscat and the Cape Town-Singapore cruise was first changed to Cape Town-Athens and then cancelled totally.

Because we had a single reservation number we received all information regarding the Dubai-Cape Town cruise but NOTHING about the Cape Town-Singapathens cruise directly from NCL before we boarded.   I found out some things from Cruise Critic and then had to confirm with my PCC in Sydney.

 

Once on board for the Dubai-Cape Town cruise we did receive all the documents that were handed out.  At times I had to ask at Guest Services for clarification due to errors or ambiguities within the documants.

 

The discounts that we had been offered were the easy part once someone realised that we had actually booked a B2B.   However any refunds or FCCs were very difficult as the percentages for the two cruises were not exactly the same and, of course, the actual sums depended on the fares for each cruise.  No-one in Sydney was willing to take the fare we had paid and split it into separate sums for the two cruises.   I made logical suggestions of how to do it but no-one in Sydney had the authority to make a decision.

 

I believe it finally was passed to a person in NCLs Legal Claims and Support Services Division in the UK to make a decision and who then gave advice to senior persons in Sydney of the manner how our refunds and FCCs were to be calculated.   It actually took over 5 months from our return to NZ before the matter was finally completed.

 

Never again!!!!   We do lots of B2Bs on the same ship but make sure we have totally separate reservations for each cruise.

 

Don't get me started about the "information breakdown" or the "abominable paper warfare" we had to put up with!!

Mike,

Thanks for sharing this info.  We were scheduled to be on the Cape Town to Singapore cruise with you, then we were going to stay on B2B to Tokyo.  I recall reading your daily reports at that time of the travails on your Spirit cruise to nowhere and the difficulties you had in getting home safely and receiving your refund.  Glad to hear it finally kinda worked out OK for you.

James

Edited February 13, 2022 by The Traveling Man

[The Traveling Man]

19 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Some of us are still waiting to hear about how to do that. Apparently it is super secret insider info. 

 

20 hours ago, WYB! said:

I could but it’s easier to direct people to post #4667 (August 29th, 2018) and read on from there to learn more about booking a B2B voyage as 1 reservation, the meta upgrade and the NCL MC.

 

Stay positive & safe travels,

 

- WYB

 

Well, just like the Chief, I spent several minutes reading about World Points meta stateroom upgrades and how they differ on single vs B2B cruises.  Just like the Chief, what I didn't find was the answer to the question "how do you get NCL to combine two cruises under a single reservation?"  Unlike the Chief, however, I do have an NCL Master Card and have used it about a dozen times to upgrade from an OV to a B, and a couple of times on a double-meta jump from an Inside to a Balcony.  I can see how it would be advantageous to use one meta upgrade on a long combined cruise instead of two upgrades on two separate bookings, but I'm still wondering how to get NCL to combine two parts of a B2B into a single reservation.  It may be a moot point, as an earlier poster noted that you no longer can use the World Points in that manner.  Also, as Casofilia mentioned, there can be some really inconvenient ramifications of combining two cruises if something goes wrong.  Either way, though, I still would appreciate the details.  Inquiring minds want to know.

[julig22]

2 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

 

Well, just like the Chief, I spent several minutes reading about World Points meta stateroom upgrades and how they differ on single vs B2B cruises.  Just like the Chief, what I didn't find was the answer to the question "how do you get NCL to combine two cruises under a single reservation?"  Unlike the Chief, however, I do have an NCL Master Card and have used it about a dozen times to upgrade from an OV to a B, and a couple of times on a double-meta jump from an Inside to a Balcony.  I can see how it would be advantageous to use one meta upgrade on a long combined cruise instead of two upgrades on two separate bookings, but I'm still wondering how to get NCL to combine two parts of a B2B into a single reservation.  It may be a moot point, as an earlier poster noted that you no longer can use the World Points in that manner.  Also, as Casofilia mentioned, there can be some really inconvenient ramifications of combining two cruises if something goes wrong.  Either way, though, I still would appreciate the details.  Inquiring minds want to know.

Quite simple.  Just tell them it's what you want to do when you make the reservation(s). 

If you get a rookie agent that says you can't do it then tell them you know it can be done and either they can figure it out or get a supervisor.

Nothing magical or mysterious about it.

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Quite simple.  Just tell them it's what you want to do when you make the reservation(s). 

If you get a rookie agent that says you can't do it then tell them you know it can be done and either they can figure it out or get a supervisor.

Nothing magical or mysterious about it.

Thank you for the input.  It would be great to hear from somebody who has actually done this.  That said, this is infinitely more helpful than links to nonsensical posts about credit card features.  I have B2B cruises booked later this year.  Unlike many, this is really just a round trip Boston-Quebec-Boston; so it looks more like a single 14 day cruise.  Once March 1 blows over, I'll likely poke at pros/cons of combining them (if possible).  One pro may be that I can apply a single 10% FCC to reduce the price of both cruises.  Also, perhaps, I would be issued a single key card and not be subject to any further Covid testing for the second leg (if that's still a thing at that time).  We'll see.

[The Traveling Man]

14 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Quite simple.  Just tell them it's what you want to do when you make the reservation(s). 

If you get a rookie agent that says you can't do it then tell them you know it can be done and either they can figure it out or get a supervisor.

Nothing magical or mysterious about it.

Thank you.  That makes sense.  I guess it never occurred to me before, and I know that none of the NCL reservation staff with whom I have dealt have ever mentioned it, even when we told them at the beginning of our conversation that we wanted to book two cruises B2B.  On the other hand, the horror story that Casofilia told of his Spirit cruises might make me shy away from trying to combine them.

[The Traveling Man]

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Thank you for the input.  It would be great to hear from somebody who has actually done this.  That said, this is infinitely more helpful than links to nonsensical posts about credit card features.  I have B2B cruises booked later this year.  Unlike many, this is really just a round trip Boston-Quebec-Boston; so it looks more like a single 14 day cruise.  Once March 1 blows over, I'll likely poke at pros/cons of combining them (if possible).  One pro may be that I can apply a single 10% FCC to reduce the price of both cruises.  Also, perhaps, I would be issued a single key card and not be subject to any further Covid testing for the second leg (if that's still a thing at that time).  We'll see.

Chief, check out Casofilia's post above for a story about combined cruises.  We have taken several B2B cruises before, including Boston to Quebec to Boston.  Because many or even most of the folks boarding in Boston are only going on the first leg of the cruise, your key card, like everyone else's,  only will be good for the first half, the Boston to Quebec segment.  Even if you keep the same stateroom for the return voyage, you'll need to pick up a new card from the Guest Services Desk when you get to Quebec (or maybe they will issue it to you one day early to avoid the rush).  There usually will be a meeting for B2B guests a day or two before getting to the turnaround port.  There they will give you instructions about the protocols to follow and issue you some form of wrist band or ID tag to let port terminal personnel see that you are an in-transit guest.  That way you can bypass the additional screening that other guests who are boarding in Quebec will have to go through.  You will be able to breeze through the terminal the same way you do at any other interim port-of-call.