Booking your next cruise on-board...or not???

[LBS1]

Are the on-board booking prices for future cruises a good deal? Or is it better to wait until we're home and book using our usual on-line TA?

 

Has anyone compared prices between, on-board booking, NCL.com and TA's?

 

Thanks

[Hockey19]

NCL is pushing the on board deposit heavily. It's a pretty good deal. $250 charged to your room with an immediiate $100 on board credit so your net is $150. It takes 2 minutes to do. You sign a form and and a confirmation is delivered to your cabin. You bring that to your TA (or NCL) and book as usual. You need to book in 12 months and sail with 30 months.

[old sole]

Just a clarification - the certificate you buy for $250 ($150 net after the OBC) serves as your entire deposit for the cruise you book with it.

[The Nice Family]

Just a clarification - the certificate you buy for $250 ($150 net after the OBC) serves as your entire deposit for the cruise you book with it.

 

Yep, a great deal IMHO. We took advantage earlier this month. There was a limit of 4 certificates per person - wish I could have gone to the limit as these certificates are transferrable and I'm sure a few of our friends would have appreciated the $250 entire depost feature.

 

By the way, as for actually booking your upcoming cruise while on-board, the cruise consultant discouraged us from doing that. He said that we should purchase the certificate then check out the best deals with TA's (or online ourselves) when we got home as the NCL Cruise Consultants no longer had access to any "special" fares or incentives due to the new Certificate programme.

[DMRick]

Yep, a great deal IMHO. We took advantage earlier this month. There was a limit of 4 certificates per person - wish I could have gone to the limit as these certificates are transferrable and I'm sure a few of our friends would have appreciated the $250 entire depost feature.

There is a $50 fee to tranfer them, and if you get them for others, you want to make sure you would be spending the $100 on your account, because if you don't spend it, you lose it.

[The Nice Family]

There is a $50 fee to tranfer them, and if you get them for others, you want to make sure you would be spending the $100 on your account, because if you don't spend it, you lose it.

 

There WAS a $50 fee to transfer them but, according to the presentation given on the Gem this month, that is no longer charged. As for spending 4 x the $100, not a problem for me:) !

[DMRick]

There WAS a $50 fee to transfer them but, according to the presentation given on the Gem this month, that is no longer charged. As for spending 4 x the $100, not a problem for me:) !

OK..this was in September so it sounds like it changed. I don't usually spend that much..and I would feel I had to, and give it to the person I give the $250 with to keep their costs down. Now..if I knew someone would just want it for the discounted deposit..I too, would spend the bucks LOL!

[BCOS]

We just purchased one last week, and they applied that $100 straight to our onboard account. I hadn't purchased much of anything on the ship at all so far, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the $100 had come off of our total owed to our onboard expenses.

 

I went to the main desk and asked for a copy of our charges so far (this was on Thursday and we were on a Sun-Sun cruise). I knew I'd used some internet time and bought something small in the gift shop, and just wondered how much more I could spend.

 

Lo and behold, they had applied it towards our total bill... meaning it came off of our tips, as well.

 

I went back and asked them if that was right, as I had assumed it didn't apply to tips. They said no, this was the only onboard credit that could go towards anything on your onboard account, including tips.

 

So yes, it was truly a very good deal.

[DMRick]

I agree it's a good deal, and we'll be doing it again for ourselves next week. Last time it did take it off our tips. However, talking about doing it for someone else, even if there was no more $50 transfer fee....I'd have to (or feel guilty LOL) give them the $100..which means if I did it for myself and another person, I'd have to be sure to spend $200, or for a third, $300..so I would have it to give to the person I transfer to. That I would have trouble spending..and I wouldn't want to spend it just so I could give it to someone else. We have private tours, and we don't drink alcohol, so the only thing usually on our bill is the tips and maybe one inexpensive shipboard tour. So I might be OK if I did for two specials.

[BaileyandBella]

Can someone explain the details of this to me? Do you have to take the next cruise or can you still cancel it?

 

Can my husband and I both get an onboard credit? How do we find out about this?

 

Thanks

[petesweet]

I agree it's a good deal, and we'll be doing it again for ourselves next week. Last time it did take it off our tips. However, talking about doing it for someone else, even if there was no more $50 transfer fee....I'd have to (or feel guilty LOL) give them the $100..which means if I did it for myself and another person, I'd have to be sure to spend $200, or for a third, $300..so I would have it to give to the person I transfer to. That I would have trouble spending..and I wouldn't want to spend it just so I could give it to someone else. We have private tours, and we don't drink alcohol, so the only thing usually on our bill is the tips and maybe one inexpensive shipboard tour. So I might be OK if I did for two specials.

 

Not sure I understand the problem. If we can get money from the casino to be charged against our account, we could use up the credit that way. Right?

[EdinPueblo]

You can go to NCL.Com and click on the tab "Onboard Activities/Events" and then choose "Cruise Rewards". From there, click on the "Terms and Conditions" at the bottom. From what I have read, you can cancel the certificate within 30 days but they will deduct $100 from your $250 deposit. The $100 credit cannot be used to pay the gratuities charged to your cabin. You MUST make a reservation for a future cruise within 12 months of purchase or you loose it! I thought that I read somewhere else that only one(1) $100 credit could be applied per cabin.....so let's everyone really watch that concern. I would not want to purchase 2-3 and be told later what I mentioned above about the "per cabin credit". I will email NCL and get a clarification on this one. Another part of the terms states that this certificate must be used with your next cruise on NCL......I wonder if that was another legal slip-in....if you forget to use it then it may NOT be good later.....another issue I will request info on from NCL. But remember, I have gotten different answers from different NCL representatives on the "800" number. Just last week, I was told I could board with the VIPs/Suite holders since I have a mini-suite......that feature ended 01/01/08.

[Mangojh2]

One more question about it, it says ". A maximum of four (4) Freestyle Cruise Rewards Deposits may be purchased per person."

 

Does anyone know if you can use all of those toward the same cruise? For example, can I buy 4 for myself and pay $1000 and get $400 credit and use the entire $1000 on a ticket for 1 cruise, or would I have to take 4 cruises.

[kimdakruiser]

One more question about it, it says ". A maximum of four (4) Freestyle Cruise Rewards Deposits may be purchased per person."

 

Does anyone know if you can use all of those toward the same cruise? For example, can I buy 4 for myself and pay $1000 and get $400 credit and use the entire $1000 on a ticket for 1 cruise, or would I have to take 4 cruises.

You can only use one 250 deposit certificate per cabin booked. This is still a great deal. I bought one in Dec and I'm already using it for March. I'm sure I'll be buying more next cruise.

[flashdog_1]

Pretend I'm at sea today and buy a couple of coupons for $500. I already have two bookings with NCL (1 for August and 1 for January 2009).

 

1) Can I use the certificates for those already booked cruises, applying the $250 I just paid to pay down my August and January final payments?

 

2) Does the $100 onboard credit for each go to my current sailing or the future cruises, or do you have a choice?

 

The reason I ask is that some posters say the money is appearing in their onboard account while they are currently at sea. But when they speak of transfering a certificate to someone they speak of giving the $100 along with it.

 

3) Is the amount of the onboard credit the same regardless of the length of the cruise you will be booking?

 

4) Do you get a booking # with each certificate? If so, can you book say a 14 nighter to South America for 2009 and then change your mind and make it a 14 nighter in Europe using the same booking #, so there's not really a cancelation penalty to deal with? I know that on some cruise lines you can do that. Want clarification about NCL. Thanks

[Diana68]

Pretend I'm at sea today and buy a couple of coupons for $500. I already have two bookings with NCL (1 for August and 1 for January 2009).

 

1) Can I use the certificates for those already booked cruises, applying the $250 I just paid to pay down my August and January final payments?

This is not what the certificates are intended for. We have been told no by many NCL employees. You can always ask your cruise consultant to try when you get home, but it is against the rules.

2) Does the $100 onboard credit for each go to my current sailing or the future cruises, or do you have a choice?

The onboard credit goes toward the sailing that you are on, but it will come off of the $250 that you are spending. On our New Years trip I bought two certificates on the first sea day because I wanted to see what the $100 could be used toward. When I checked my statement the next day, it had come off, even though I hadn't spent $200 on other things yet.

The reason I ask is that some posters say the money is appearing in their onboard account while they are currently at sea. But when they speak of transfering a certificate to someone they speak of giving the $100 along with it.?

I think that they mean that they wouldn't charge their friends $250 for it, only $150, passing on the savings.

3) Is the amount of the onboard credit the same regardless of the length of the cruise you will be booking?

Yes. You don't actually book the trip until after you get home. You are just paying the deposit on your next trip.

4) Do you get a booking # with each certificate? If so, can you book say a 14 nighter to South America for 2009 and then change your mind and make it a 14 nighter in Europe using the same booking #, so there's not really a cancelation penalty to deal with? I know that on some cruise lines you can do that. Want clarification about NCL. Thanks

Again, you don't book until you get home, so no booking number. The certificate is linked to your latitudes number, so when you book and give them your number, the certificate shows up. I hope this helps. We have used four certificates so far, and think that this is a great value if you plan to sail on NCL again in the near future.

[goldmom]

I also think it's a great deal and we've bought several of them. One thing to remember, yes you are getting the $100 onboard credit, but even if you don't spend much on a cruise it doesn't matter. The $250 cruise certificate is charged to you onboard account, so you'd have a $250 onboard charge of which they would give you a credit for $100.

 

What you're basically getting is a $250 deposit certificate for $150.

[glen tev]

I fell for this on the Dawn in April.We got the onboard credit and the early disembarktion tags but guess what happened this year when i went to book our Dawn cruise to Bermuda.I was told the $250 was for one person not per cabin.So i had to cough up the other $750 for my wife and 2 kids.This was booked through a big Internet cruise dealer who had no clue as to what this program was.According to them after they put me on hold and contacted Ncl that is what they were told from Ncl which doesn't suprise me being that Ncl is notorious for there bad customer service.In the end it's still worth the $100 credit but i will bring it up when i'm on the Dawn in October.

[tunseeker1]

I fell for this on the Dawn in April.We got the onboard credit and the early disembarktion tags but guess what happened this year when i went to book our Dawn cruise to Bermuda.I was told the $250 was for one person not per cabin.So i had to cough up the other $750 for my wife and 2 kids.This was booked through a big Internet cruise dealer who had no clue as to what this program was.According to them after they put me on hold and contacted Ncl that is what they were told from Ncl which doesn't suprise me being that Ncl is notorious for there bad customer service.In the end it's still worth the $100 credit but i will bring it up when i'm on the Dawn in October.

 

I think that was the TA not NCL.

Did you talk to NCL yourself when this came up?

What cabin Catagory was it? Some have their own deposit rules.

I never had a problem with using them per cabin, but I don't book cabins with special deposit rules.

[coneygal]

I use any on board credits left after drinks, photos, etc, were deducted to purchase duty free perfume, vodka, as gifts used throughout the year. Have been given more than the $100 and never had a problem using them.

[goldmom]

We used our $250 certificate to book an AE Suite on the Jewel, we booked through NCL. Had no problem at all using the certificate and it was accepted as the full deposit for the two of us.