NCL Mastercard FAQ

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

Now I feel so much better. Instead of a $500 coupon I can go watch smuckers stars on ice. :)

And the problem is? Just kidding! Man, am I depressed. :( :( :(

We haven't got our letters yet, but I'm sure they're in the mail.

I think we all need a group hug.

[AFT_LOVER]

that states what a better card we are getting when we have to spend twice as much to get what we've had. Not too excited so I may tell them to change me to VISA SIGNATURE so I get free airport clubs for free booze & relaxation for a flight. I have done a search for cruise cards & just about all I read about have the WORLDPOINTS for $100 OBC for 10000 points. OR you have to use their TA.

 

LOUSY! So maybe we should all call NCL to ask why they are doing this to us. 1/2 the rewards for our best customers?????

 

 

And you can spend $50,000 instead of $16,666 or less to get $500. :mad: However, if you spend $25,000 to NCL you will get double points and 2 $250 certificates....what's wrong with this picture? :eek:

[Dannie138]

I loved this card...this sucks.

 

If I have points that will be Compass Rewards as of 12/31, when will they mail the certificate? Would I be able to send it in for my 2/15 cruise?

 

Are there any other good cruise cards out there?

[lpglarry]

that states what a better card we are getting when we have to spend twice as much to get what we've had. Not too excited so I may tell them to change me to VISA SIGNATURE so I get free airport clubs for free booze & relaxation for a flight. I have done a search for cruise cards & just about all I read about have the WORLDPOINTS for $100 OBC for 10000 points. OR you have to use their TA.

 

LOUSY! So maybe we should all call NCL to ask why they are doing this to us. 1/2 the rewards for our best customers?????

 

 

so may i ask a question?? if i have 400 rewards points at the end of year, will i get 400 dollars off a cruise, or just an upgrade, because in the rewards booklet you need 500 reward points to get 500 dollars of a cruise, i am so teed off . this happened to me before with carnival cruise line i lost a lot then, i feel like i am going lose this time too. thanks Larry

[chezbo99]

I was on vacation this past week happily counting all the points I was earning with hotels, car rentals, meals, etc...and now this awful news when I return home! I had my mail held so I haven't seen the letter yet. I just hope we all get every $ we earned under our current agreement, even if we haven't reached the 500 mark.

[98Charlie]

so may i ask a question?? if i have 400 rewards points at the end of year, will i get 400 dollars off a cruise, or just an upgrade, because in the rewards booklet you need 500 reward points to get 500 dollars of a cruise, i am so teed off . this happened to me before with carnival cruise line i lost a lot then, i feel like i am going lose this time too. thanks Larry

Larry

 

I don't think that anyone knows for sure how they will handle the odd points at the beginning of the program. There is another thread about the program ending. Here's a link to the thread.

 

Charlie

[98Charlie]

I was on vacation this past week happily counting all the points I was earning with hotels, car rentals, meals, etc...and now this awful news when I return home! I had my mail held so I haven't seen the letter yet. I just hope we all get every $ we earned under our current agreement, even if we haven't reached the 500 mark.

We haven't received our letters yet either. There was probably a bunch going out:rolleyes:

 

Charlie

[gemsm]

I loved this card...this sucks.

 

If I have points that will be Compass Rewards as of 12/31, when will they mail the certificate? Would I be able to send it in for my 2/15 cruise?

 

Are there any other good cruise cards out there?

 

I just spoke to an NCL rep -- She said that due to the fact that the program is expiring...more than likely they will honor the certificates for my 2/9/2010 cruise. She then told me to contact Compass Rewards. When I did that they told me to contact NCL so it sounds like none of them have a clue what is going on.

[98Charlie]

I just spoke to an NCL rep -- She said that due to the fact that the program is expiring...more than likely they will honor the certificates for my 2/9/2010 cruise. She then told me to contact Compass Rewards. When I did that they told me to contact NCL so it sounds like none of them have a clue what is going on.

It looks like one of those situations where:

• The bean-counters figured out a way to increase the company profits and let the suits know .
  
• The suits advise middle management about the policy change.
  
• Middle management then schedules a meeting to discuss how to let the CSR's know what's happening and how to handle the questions that will arise.
  
• Meanwhile, the letters start going out (we haven't gotten ours yet) and message boards like this light up.
  
• We call and talk to a CSR that's either has no clue or heard rumors only.
  

My guess is it will be a week or two before any of us can get a straight story.

 

Charlie

[kiwiwoman]

Okay, for all who understand this program well I have a question.

 

We have a cruise Nov 29th, final payment has been made. We used a $500 cert for part of the amount. Now with the program ending we are looking at what is the best way to use our remaining points. We now have 600 points. We have considered trying to use a $500 cert and get credit back or use it on another cruise next year, but not sure we will be able to go on one next year for various reasons. Then the extra 100 points that are left-could we get any credit with the $100 towards the upgrade for one person on this cruise?

 

So what would you do? Advise appreciated in advance!!!!!

[98Charlie]

Okay, for all who understand this program well I have a question.

 

We have a cruise Nov 29th, final payment has been made. We used a $500 cert for part of the amount. Now with the program ending we are looking at what is the best way to use our remaining points. We now have 600 points. We have considered trying to use a $500 cert and get credit back or use it on another cruise next year, but not sure we will be able to go on one next year for various reasons. Then the extra 100 points that are left-could we get any credit with the $100 towards the upgrade for one person on this cruise?

 

So what would you do? Advise appreciated in advance!!!!!

I'm not sure if anyone can answer that question at this point. Like gemsm said the people at Compass Rewards will tell you to check with NCL and vice versa.

 

There will probably be more info available tomorrow. But, you can bet that the lines to NCL and BoA will be swamped.:D

 

Charlie

[CruzinFamilyof5]

Let's not all panic just yet. I went online and they were still advertising the same point system, the chat person had no idea where I got that info and advised me to call the number on the back of the card so I did. The representative on the phone said that they have not received anything regarding a change and they would have received updates leading up to this. However, we know that in some cases, business closes without notice and employees are the last to know :)

 

Here's the link:

http://www2.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/?context_id=marketing_detail&offer_id=ECOMM090RADZ00500800143215EN000&requestTimeout=120&router_flag=y

 

If the point system is changing, I wish there was a warning it was coming. When I made my final payment I had to choose between American Express Reward points and the NCL points. I chose the NCL card, because the points accumulated quicker for the same discount certificate. With American Express, you get a $50 gift card with 5000 points and $100 gift card with 10000 points. The NCL 16000 points for $500 gift certificate was a great deal in comparison and now it looks like it's no longer available except with 50000 points. LOL. What a rip! In the long run, with all these changes and interest, it may be better just to pay off the trips in advance and save on the interest :confused: Another OP on a different forum mentioned that the American Express Sherwood Hotel card has the best point system. Also with the American Express Rewards, you can borrow up to 15000 points in advance for free and it's paid back automatically through the purchases. They have an annual fee, but it's worth it for the car rental insurance and trip protection! We purchased AIG travel insurance for the first time and then panicked about them falling apart. American Express assured us that the trip was covered just in case AIG bailed out.

 

You can't be certain of anything these days. Back in April, an OP stated that Alitalia will never be out of business. A red flag warned us when they were on AIG's list of exclusions. The audacity of AIG having a list of failing airlines! Lucky, we didn't listen and purchased our air through Swiss. We're keeping our fingers crossed. :rolleyes:

 

...

[weloverunning]

Sorry cruisinfamilyofive: When I called the number on the back of my card yesterday, the rep proceeded to read to me word for word the letter we received in the mail. He also tried to tell me how WONDERFUL the new worldpoints are until I cut him off and told him to can the sales pitch. Is anyone surprised no one has a clue at BOA compass rewards? I called last week and asked to talk to a supervisor after talking to 5 different people and getting 5 different answers and she said, "you know, they are only people answering telephones at a telephone bank so they can't know everythiing about every card:eek: "

[medicalma'am]

Well, our plan is to use the card on big purchases that we had planned anyway, pay off our cruise, and buy onboard credit until December. We will then CAN THE CARD for another like our State Farm card that we used to use. Of course, that ends our loyalty to NCL. Can't they see the handwriting on the wall?

[98Charlie]

Well' date=' our plan is to use the card on big purchases that we had planned anyway, pay off our cruise, and buy onboard credit until December. We will then CAN THE CARD for another like our State Farm card that we used to use. Of course, that ends our loyalty to NCL. Can't they see the handwriting on the wall?[/quote']Since NCL was probably not getting $500 per certificate they will be able to reduce the overall prices of cruises if they need to fill ships missing the Compass Reward passengers and not actually lose any money.

 

You can bet that they have run the numbers and it may be a way to attract new customers with lower prices, first time cruiser offers, perks (like the F2 and F3 changes), etc.

 

Charlie

[Pheton]

Just returned from the Dawn today to find three letters from BOA advising me of the change. I knew it was too good to last. I will cancel all three cards. Hopefully something better comes along.

[halos]

I went to the Bank of America site and logged into my NCL charge card account. On the first page of the account, at the bottom left is a link to the program. It seems to be FAQ from NCL, not really a lot of detail. I also received the letter today. Although I can bring my total points to value in time, I was planning on using them in the end of january 2010. I feel if they don't extend the certificates a little for folks, since no one expected this, and they expire in 12 months, we may get screwed come the 1st of january 2010.

 

the FIRST of January????? :eek:

For goodness sake! I'll be getting off a ship in Nov. 2009 There is no way I can cruise the beginning of January 2010.

 

aiy-yi-yi.

 

I hope you're wrong about that.

[rufusrex]

Well, I got my letter, actually 2 identical letters saying the same thing. I am bummed, but this will open up other options. I've been wanting to try a Disney cruise with the family but couldn't justify it with the price difference, especially using the certificates. Now I can. See ya NCL, hello everyone else!

[Leafpeeper]

Guess this means we'll be going back to an inside cabin booking last minute in a nobody else wanted. Oh well, a last minute cruise is probably better than no cruise.

 

To think--last week I was annoyed to find out the tipping was increasing on our NCL Gem cruise in January without notice to booked passengers. Looks like RCCL will be happy with the news in the NY/NJ ports. I'm glad I'm already booked in a suite at a great rate on my 2010 winter cruise on RCCL out of NJ. I wonder if RCCL started offereing the anytime dining because they got a heads up that lots of angry NCL passengers were looking for a better deal but wanted the freedom of anytime dining.

[Scoop_MSU]

btw - BoA has already "de-activated" the online link to apply for the NCL card and in addition, the "Terms and Conditions" link on their site for the NCL card is "not available". Better hope you still have you hard copy!

[CruzinFamilyof5]

I just went online and everything is still available as usual, even the application section. I printed the terms and the offer, etc. just in case. Here's the link:

 

http://www1.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/?context_id=marketing_detail&offer_id=ECOMM090RADZ00500800143215EN000&requestTimeout=120&router_flag=y

 

When I applied last month, I logged into my bank account and got an answer immediately. My husband also applied for the card. We just received them 2 weeks ago. I hope they honor their offer since they are still advertising it!

 

Could there be some confusion about the cards, closing the old MBNA card and sending out those letters for MBNA customers? The new NCL card is with BofA. BofA is not calling it Compass Rewards. Has anyone with NCL card from BofA received those letters?

 

:)

[Oldwickeb]

I spoke to BoA and was told that points certificates will be sent as whole numbers only. If you have 293 points at the end of Dec.,you get 2 100 point certificates and your 93 points just get thrown away.They won't convert them to WorldPoints. You just lose any odd points.:mad:

[mbisson]

I spoke to BoA and was told that points certificates will be sent as whole numbers only. If you have 293 points at the end of Dec.,you get 2 100 point certificates and your 93 points just get thrown away.They won't convert them to WorldPoints. You just lose any odd points.:mad:

 

Oh my-the news just keeps getting worse & worse

[cod]

My compass reward card is with Bank of America and my letter was from them. They can't have two programs. You probably couldn't sign up under January 1 rules before January 1, but I'm sure we will ALL fall under the new ones come January 1st.

[TVLady3]

I have 435 points, I still need 65 points to receive a $500 certificate. Is my math correct that I need to charge $1700 to my NCL card now to put toward my 8/09 Dawn cruise????

 

PLEASE SOMEONE.....HELP!:confused: :confused: :confused: