Russiamomm

I agree completely with this. I was on a B2B on the Breakaway in the spring. The TA from NY to Rome and then a 10 night round trip Rome through Italy, Greece and France. On the TA we had the drink package. We had to pay VAT in Spanish ports and waters, but nowhere else. And after we got past a certain point, the casinos opened and there was no more VAT charged on drinks, In Livorno we could only get beer or wine - no VAT. No VAT in France. On the second leg I did it solo and went cheap. I didn’t have a drink package. Huge mistake. In Greece I couldn’t even buy a soda, much less an alcohol drink. Those with the drink package paid no VAT - it was business as usual. I made friends with people with a drink package. 😂. another thing I don’t get is that the casino and duty free shops opened every night. Presumably because we were in international waters. On these recent cruises where VAT is charged for the whole cruise, does the casino stay closed? I’m on the Epic for a TA on December 1. I hope they get this all straightened out by then.

Yeah. That’s what I was getting at in an earlier post. For next week’s cruise, that’s how it showed for me as well. Now I have a possible additional problem. Earlier this week I purchased $1000 of OBC to take advantage of the Amex offer. The system allowed me to book it, but now I have $1100 of “purchased” OBC. Both are showing on my summary, but I’m hoping I don’t run into issues because you’re supposed to be limited to $1000 of purchased (refundable) credit. Both are shown as the same category of purchase. I don’t know how the system differentiates between refundable (the purchased credit) and non-refundable (the SH credit).

I’m sure you’ve already done it, but for my cruise next week it shows as a $100 purchased item, as opposed to showing up as onboard credit in the summary in the upper left hand side of the reservation as all previous cruises and the one I have booked for December. I thought it odd when it came through that way, but assumed it was because I had asked that it only be applied to my account and not split between me and my cabin mate.

I did the same. I’m pretty confident it went through, I just wish we could cash it in before the last day of the cruise. I plan to use the OBC in the casino, but don’t like the idea of paying $30 for the privilege of using my own money! (I know, first world problems. And it’s the same as a couple of hands of Blackjack. But still. 😂)

First, I have to wonder how you will have been on a ship for 345 days in 4 cruises. Those were some really long cruises! I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that was a typo. 😃 Anyway, I have nothing else to add that hasn’t been said. The terms and conditions are clear. I just wanted to note, though, that you are nowhere near final payment if your cruise isn’t until May, watch for double up offers. You can apply a second cert as payment on an existing reservation when the promotion is in place. Sometimes they even have triple up offers. There was one this summer before final payment on my December cruise and I was able to add a third to the booking.

I thought they added a 3% fee if you do that. I know they do on the tables. Is it not the same on the slots?

Thanks. I’m fine with getting it cash. Do you know how soon in the trip you can do this? I’d just as soon take it take out in cash in the beginning of the trip and use it for the casino. Is that doable? (I understand if you pull cash from your account in the casino, they still charge 3%. I’d rather just cash out the OBC.

I’ll bounce it around with the CN Manager. I have no intention of using the NROBC on anything other than the CNs. Maybe the answer is to cash in the refundable credit the last day of the cruise and then buy the CNs. I thought about the Cruise First option, but really prefer the CNs as they have double and triple up offers regularly. I was able to use three for our TA in December.

It’s my understanding that they refund it in cash on the last day. If they do just credit the folio, it’s my NCL card that will be on file with the ship, not the Amex.

Good point. I’ve gotten into a tif with them in the past about the CNs. I wish they would charge $500 for four of them and be done with the OBC nonsense. If I do this, I will confirm with the CN Manager that the non refundable “OBC” is applied to the cost of the certs. I’m obviously fine using the refundable portion to pay the actual $500 cost of the certs. If they can’t confirm it, I’ll just wait until my December trip to buy the CNs.

Looking at previous threads for this offer it seems that people have been successful in adding $1000 of OBC, getting the credit and getting whatever’s left in cash on the last day of the cruise. That’s where I’m leaning. If it takes, great. If not, the credit is refundable. Thoughts?

I’m in the same boat as others, Have two cruises cooked for this year, both paid in full and prepaid gratuities already. My question is, how do they know what are onboard purchases? Don’t the charges all show us as being charged to Norwegian? I was planning to buy 4 CNs next week, which would be a good chunk of the $1000.

Friendly suggestion. Please change your font. While it’s pretty, these old eyes have a hard time reading it. I’m sure I’m not alone. 😃

Welcome! We’ve been pretty much NCL loyalists for several years. Had done a few Carnival cruises years ago when the kids were young and did another Carnival in August. Honestly, I can’t see myself ever going back on a Carnival ship. We’re going home to NCL. I’m going to try to be objective here. Granted, it’s difficult. 😂. The entire vibe is different on NCL. A bit more upscale, but not stuffy. We really missed NCL’s freestyle dining. On Carnival, we found the food to be ok, but not up to NCL standards. We missed the included specialty dining with FAS. For breakfast and lunch, we found the buffet to be really lacking compared to the buffet on NCL. I’m not saying that NCL is 5 star, but it’s definitely a notch up from what we saw on Carnival. While we had the Cheers package on our trip, it really annoyed me that they only let you get one drink at a time. On NCL you can get two. I did like that Carnival’s package included specialty coffee and bottled water, I wish NCL’s package did the same. It never affected us because we don’t drink that much, but Carnival has a limit of 15 alcoholic drinks a day. NCL has no limit. Finally, we just found that we liked the passengers better on NCL. It’s hard to explain, but on NCL we never have a problem finding people to chat with that we have common experiences. Although we met a lot of people on our CCL trip, there weren’t that many we could we really relate to. It was like we were coming from two completely different worlds. Hop on over and test the waters!

It’s real smoke on the drink. Best thing ever. 😂. But there is no smoking (by people) at the bar. Attaching a video from the Joy last year. Video.mov

Oh, man! My favorite thing about the Haven! Loving your pics. We’ll be in a 2BR in the Haven for the TA on December 1. Simply cannot wait! Can you post pics of Posh when you get a minute? And speaking of smoking, can you please let us know of there’s still a smoking area on the upper deck of the Posh? I’ve heard conflicting info on that. Some say yes, others say they eliminated it. Thanks!

Not the OP, but on our December 1 TA booked through CAS, we were able to reprice it twice before final payment. My rep told me they would give is a one time credit after final payment for any additional drops, in the form of a future cruise credit, not OBC. I watched it, and it did drop again by about $400. But the gambler in me said to “let it ride” a little longer, thinking it would continue to drop. It didn’t. I missed the sweet spot and the cabin is now sold out, so no more credits. I’ve never heard of OBC being given for price drops. At most it’s a FCC that will appear in your account after you complete the cruise. Edited to add that this particular cruise was neither a comp or a discount. CAS would have given us a discount on any cabin we wanted except for a Haven cabin. For this trip we really wanted the Haven and booked it outright through CAS.

Right. Just have to keep an eye out. Either way, there shouldn’t be an issue booking it when it opens.

There should not be an issue booking the spa. When you book the cabin you can choose to purchase the spa pass right online. We bought ours for next week’s Alaska cruise in July - around two days after we booked the trip.

It’s a great benefit. We’ve used it several times. But it is only 10%, which I think is rather generous.

Consider yourself lucky. The one time we used NCL Air to NYC they put us on 10PM flights - despite there being flights every hour on the hour. 😳 go to the airport and try to get on standby for an earlier flight. If it’s an option, your bags will go on the earlier flight. If you make it - great! If you don’t, buy a day pass for a lounge. Your bags will be waiting for you at your destination. We were able to get on an 11AM flight on standby.

You each get the 10%, but it’s on the basic cost of the cabin. If you’re paying $1000 each, you each get $100 off - $200. The total fare for the cabin is $2000. You get $200. It’s the same. Nobody gets 20%.

I think there is a way to add a spouse to ID.me. When he did it I got my own login. Every day I get emails offering me the discounts - directly from ID.me. All kinds of offers, not just NCL. He also has his own login and gets the offers to his email,

Thanks! It really is a great program. I’m a spouse. I don’t remember how my husband did it, but I believe when he added me as a spouse in ID.me it verified me as well. I don’t remember if I had to call NCL to link my Latitudes account or not, but now the discount is linked to my account. I’ve done several trips without DH and got the discount. Thank you for your service, honey. 😂

If your card has been charged, it’s a safe bet that you got the upgrade. Congrats! Just May take a bit for the NCL system to catch up.