Oh my goodness thank you, I finally got it, I have been trying to follow this thread for I had the same questions. I used Cruise First for an upcoming cruise this summer that my travel agent told me to get. After she explained that I was like heck yeah free money and I was booking immediately. I never understood the difference and the materials provided by NCL were confusing at best. Your explanation was perfect and I plan to buy CN in June for last minute cruise I intend to buy for the fall (assuming it will still be available for the dates/cabin I want).