Query Re Booking from a Different Country

[Kazzer75]

Does anyone know if it is safe or advisable to make a booking with NCL from another country??

 

I am confused and upset that the Classic Med cruise we are interested is alarmingly cheaper on the American website that its counterpart on the UK website.

 

For a BB category on the UK website you are looking at £1429 each person. For the exact same cruise and room its only US$3850. Even with the pound falling to the dollar, thats still only £1283.

 

So my question is, is there anything stopping us from booking the cruise from the American site? It appears that we could for cruise only, then we could just book our own flights from England.

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[calmac]

No problems at all in booking your cruise via http://www.ncl.com I agree that often, even with the current poor exchange rate, it is cheaper to book via the US. We have done so in the past and will do so again (currently have 2 bookings made via ncl.com).

[Demonyte]

I'm sorry to "hijack" this thread but I was thinking about the same question as OP and have one additional question:

 

Has anybody got any experience about having a PCC from a "wrong" NCL office?

 

Being an European myself I have booked both our cruises from US TA to get much cheaper $-prices (compared to NCL's prices in €) but probably would be happier if I could contact NCL directly with any questions as the TA doesn't provide much extra value for me while being in the middle.

[calmac]

I have a PCC who is based in the US (Arizona, I think!). He has his own e-mail address so we usually just e-mail each other when necessary. I have also phoned the NCL main reservation number in the US and have used Skype to "phone" there with no problems. I have dealt with the NCL UK office too but don't have a PCC based there so I just call their Latitudes number.

[Kazzer75]

I have tried to book on the American NCL site, but seem to get stuck as it wants me to list a state or province? Does anyone know how I can get around this?

 

BTW - Are you happy to share the details for your US contact?

[tony@stanton19.freeserve.]

We also booked on the NCL.com site for our Norway cruise last year, and saved a small fortune not only on the original booking but a further £900 as the price of the cruise dropped up to final payment. As Calmac says, use a Skype type service for those transatlantic calls to get the price drops.

 

I was a little nervous about how to do it but, with a little hand-holding from Calmac, we managed it with no problem. Can't remember whether or how we overcame the state problem. Is there an "other" option or can you just leave it blank?

There are some scaremongers around that warn about not having ABTA protection or even that US bookings must be from a US address for the contract to be valid. If this were true, it wouldn't worry me as they should not accept the booking, it's normal practice to buy all sorts of goods and services internationally via the internet. Lots and lots of people have booked this way and it seems a valid practice.

 

I would definitely do it again but would probably would make sure I paid by credit card rather than debit card in these days where any firm could go bump.

 

On recently independently booked holiday we took out "supplier failure insurance" which covered the cost of the holiday if any of the components failed eg airline goes bust so you can't make the cruise, even covered the cost of replacement flights. It cost £12 for the three of us! Well worth it for peace of mind.

[calmac]

I think you can choose "none" as your state or province. Just be sure that you change the default of US Citizen to your own nationality.

 

Unfortunately, the rules of CC deem that providing a PCC's names is the same as providing a travel agent's name. After you have made your booking I would call NCL in the US and request a PCC - they all have e-mail addresses and are happy to deal with you via e-mail.

[Kazzer75]

The website is really confusing me. It lets me pick 'None' for state and province, but when you enter it comes up saying 'invalid state/province' and won't let you go further. If you just randomly pick one it still says invalid.

 

Also, I am pretty naive about all of this travel booking, etc. What does PCC actually stand for and why do I need one?

 

:confused:

[Demonyte]

What does PCC actually stand for and why do I need one?

 

If I'm not mistaken, PCC is Personal Cruise Consultant, one person that you can contact when you have something to ask about/make modifications etc. Just like having a specific contact person in travel agency.