JillK

Are they transferrable? Or is this just a scam?

Yes the certificates are absolutely transferable! My parents purchased one and transferred it to me when I was booking my last NCL cruise.

I believe I read somewhere the only caveat is that the person that the certificate is being transferred to has to have a Latitudes number (so if you hadn't cruised NCL before you would need to sign up for a number).

As for whether it's a scam... well, I would assume that it is just someone who purchased them and aren't sure if they can use them (I am in that boat with two I purchased last year and am unsure what to do). But of course there could be some people who could be dishonest. It takes trust by both parties.

That being said, since the certificate cost the seller $150 (if they bought one certificate) or $125 (if they bought two certificates) and they are worth $250, that savings gets passed on to you if they are selling them at the cost that they paid.

Yeah I hear ya LrgPizza.

I really wanted to use them to go to Europe this spring but their price point was just *so* much higher than the sale I got with RCI that I couldn't justify booking with NCL, cruisenext voucher notwithstanding.

I have a Carnival cruise booked for March 2019 that was chosen exclusively for the itinerary since it goes to Aruba and Curacao in 8 nights out of Florida- an itinerary that NCL simply doesn't do (doing this over the school break so as not to be overly disruptive for our four kiddos).

I might dump the Carnival trip in order to try to use these certificates to cruise either December 2019 or December 2020 (when they expire) and do the same old western or eastern route. Just waiting now for the itineraries to open up to make some decisions...

It's book and sail before the expiration date. You can always ask them to bend the rules for you, and in my experience the CruiseNext people are pretty accommodating. But I would be concerned that if they let you use your certificate to book a cruise that sails after the expiration date, your deposit becomes basically non-refundable. As long as you're OK with that, they might be willing to work with you.

Great. Thanks for your insights. I might just give them a call and see what they say. I would prefer to use them rather than let them lapse or try to sell them, which would require a lot of trust on both sides to do successfully I'd imagine.

Does anyone here know if there are any discounts for Carnival that Canadians can access?

Anything along the lines of AARP, AmEx rewards or other?

Every contest I see on Twitter is only open to US residents and all the cruise line branded charge cards are for US residents only even though Carnival, Royal and NCL keep emailing wanting me to apply.

I'll be sailing on the bliss begining of June this year (2018). Could i Buy a cruise certificate and use it for the new ship coming in 2022? Right now it says its planning to sail June 2022 however the actual sail date could be after 4 years, but I would book the reservation in 3 years.

 

Terms and conditions says in one spot make reservation within 4 years, and then the next sentence says redeem AND sail within 4 years. Or is this too much of a risky move for a cruise ship thats so far out?

 

8. All CruiseNext Deposits are valid for new reservations made within 4 years from the date of purchase, and become null and void after expiration. Failure to redeem and sail within 4 years will result in forfeiture CruiseNext Deposit.

I have the same question as above. I agree the wording here is confusing. First sentence reads as if the certificates are valid as long as a booking is made within 4 years of purchase but next sentence says booking and sailing within 4 years.

Before I call NCL to confirm, does anyone here know?

I have two that I bought last year but am unsure if I'll be able to cruise NCL within the 4 year period. I would be able to use them however if we can book outside that period as I'm looking at 2021.

Thanks!

That is surprisingly generous! On our Escape cruise December 2016 our scheduled stop in the Bahamas had to be skipped because the ship was experiencing propulsion problems that affected the ship's speed. I seem to recall we got a $50 obc per cabin and our port fees refunded.

If it’s low season, you’ll most likely not be moved. If it’s high season they wouldn’t have let you book it at all.

 

 

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This was my experience trying to book two connecting cabins for three pax each.

An agent we were dealing with told us we would be able to book two connecting oceanview cabins on deck 5 of the Sunshine each with a max 4 occupancy. We were not able to book into them. By the time we went back to grab a pair of connecting cabins on the Riviera Deck, all the 3 pax pairs were gone so we were not able to book connecting rooms, even though some pairs of 4 pax were available.

We are now in side by side 3 pax cabins.

This is a March break cruise so definitely high season.

I've experienced this twice. Once on Carnival and once on NCL.

Most recently was last December on board the Escape. Captain announced a propulsion problem that had reduced our speed to the point that we had to skip our last port of call in order to make it back to Miami on time for turn around. Our port charges were refunded for Nassau and we were given a $50 obc per cabin for the inconvenience.

The first time was a little more dramatic. Our honeymoon cruise on the Paradise in July 2000. Boarded, did muster drill, went to sail away party then headed back to cabin. Were pleased to see our luggage had arrived so I started to unpack. That's when I felt that we were turning around (we had an inside cabin so couldn't visually check), something I hadn't encountered in my previous two cruises. I told my new hubby who had never cruised before that something was wrong.... soon enough we there's an announcement that they are having problems with the azipods and are returning to port to investigate.

So we go to dinner and really enjoyed our tablemates (this is back in the days of traditional dining) and the food. We went for an after dinner stroll on deck and watch the divers with their underwater flashlights inspecting the ship. We were still on deck when the Captain came on and began his announcement with "Ladies and gentlemen, the Paradise uses the Azipod propulsion system which works by...." ("This isn't good" I say to hubby). "... We have had a failure in one pod and need to go to dry dock to have it fixed. Your cruise is cancelled."

Yep - honeymoon cruise cancelled. We were able to stay on board that night to sleep before being disembarked the next day after breakfast. We were pretty devastated to say the least!

Carnival handled it really well though with multiple announcements keeping everyone informed and helping with alternative travel arrangements, etc. We ended up with a full refund for the cancelled cruise as well as a credit for a free 7-day cruise in the cabin category we had booked.

As an added bonus, we had booked our air through Carnival (first and only time I have done this) which ended up being a really good thing since our airfare was refunded as well. So we had a little adventure for our honeymoon and were able to fly using our refund and book a free cruise the following winter. We even decided to pay a $100 to upgrade to an oceanview. No hitches with that one!

Luckily that didn't deter hubby from catching the cruise bug!

When leaving for my very first cruise way back in December 1992 we were caught in a massive snow storm on the way to airport. My parents had wisely booked the flight for the day before the cruise and we were one of the last flights to leave the airport before it was closed.

Since then I have always booked to fly out at least a day before, if not a few days prior.

The only time I broke that rule was flying from Kelowna, BC to Seattle in September for an Alaskan cruise. We had an early morning flight and should have had plenty of time to wait in the cruise terminal except that our Alaskan Airlines plane had some mechanical issues and we ended up leaving several hours behind schedule. We still managed to make the ship but it was the only time we walked right through the terminal to an agent and right on board with no wait. I think we made it with a half hour to spare.

Things happen and going in ahead of time is always a good idea, even if weather shouldn't be an issue. I do feel for the affected passengers- they learned this lesson the hard way.

We are not there yet - only 14.50 for now.

True enough. But the fact is when I'm budgeting for any future trip, I will have to take this into consideration when looking to book a cruise for my entire family. This is one of those variables that I now have to know across all lines and factor into my vacation costs when I am comparing cruises across various lines.

This is why I would like to see it presented as part of the cruise fare rather than an amount I have to remember per cruise line, as Rukkian was wondering.

With the exchange, flights to Florida and increasing incidentals, as much as my family loves to cruise it is becoming more and more challenging financially.

The good news is that I have parents who are willing to babysit my children for an extended period of time, which is why hubby and I are able to cruise on the Brilliance in May. Tips are $351 USD for the 13 nights but we decided to pass on the deluxe drink package which would have run us $1288.56 (or $1572 canadian). Seems unrealistically expensive to me.

The service crew that work on the ships do not live the North American tip culture life and many in the US need to realize this and clear their heads!

 

In Australia RCI cruises factor all grats into the initial cruise price with zero grats onboard and most Australians do not tip anything to anyone ever! Cruise prices have not increased with the grats absorbsion because of market competition and staff have not left in droves.

 

RCI North America would be better off going down the same track as RCI AU and just let USA tippers tip away as they feel necessary,so why dont they do it? Because USA has the largest cruising population numbers in the world and the grats are just a wage subsidy collected by RCI and spread across the worldwide fleet of employees.

I agree that the price of the "daily service/gratuity charge" should be rolled into the cruise fare. Make it an additional line item like taxes/port charges.

When I started cruising with my family back in the 1990's, tipping was quite the affair. You had to bring cash, you were given an envelope, you personally gave the tip to the employee and thanked them for helping to make your cruise so wonderful.

While it's convenient not to have to worry about carrying the extra cash, it's not personal. You are just a name on your room steward's list that either has a check mark indicating if you've pre-paid gratuities or not (at least that's the case on NCL. Saw it several times during my cruise on the Escape).

I also recall when I would regularly see and converse with our cabin steward. As a general observation, we find that we generally see them less than we used to and they certainly don't want to have an extended conversation with us. Maybe that's a personality thing, or maybe it's because they used to want to make a personal connection for that tip?

We are six and $15.50 per person per day for a seven day cruise represents $651 USD for us. Add in exchange on top of it (currently around $1.22) and that takes the new RCI tips to around $794 Canadian dollars. I'd much rather see a sum that large wrapped into the fare than an extra.

I have cruised with NCL, RCI, Carnival, Disney, Princess and Celebrity. I can easily compare RCI and NCL as they were my last two cruises (Oasis and Escape).

Quick take: We found the food in the main dining room on Oasis to be better to that of the Escape but the buffet and specialty restaurants were significantly superior on Escape to Oasis. Entertainment was also significantly better on NCL, as others have mentioned.

I find those two lines are so similar that I don't prefer one over the other. In fact, I am sitting on two NCL CruiseNext vouchers I bought on the Escape and have gone ahead and booked two cruises - one with RCI and the other with Carnival! RCI's itinerary and price point for the British Isles cruise was so much better that I couldn't consider NCL and for the Carnival cruise, the decision was itinerary based (NCL should really cruise the ABC's more regularly).

If price and itinerary aren't factors, then your motivating factors should be line/ship based experience, food and entertainment.

I wouldn't hesitate to book another NCL cruise. Their beverage package is usually included with booking (has been on promo for several years) and it's really nice not to have to worry about how much the cocktail or pop is costing you. The staterooms are tight but well appointed and very comfortable. The food in their specialty restaurants is excellent and IMO no other cruise line can touch their buffets. There are many excellent entertainment options with them as well.

That being said, you seem reluctant to book NCL so you should stick with your gut instinct and go RCI.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your kid-free cruise! It's a great way to spend some quality time with your husband!

Humm... now you've all got me wondering. They came through to me on email in Canadian $ (value of $690) but I thought I had paid $500 and gotten $200 obc but I will check and advise. Possibly I purchased them separately rather than at once and this could be why. I'll have to go search through my paperwork for that cruise and see what the line item charges were.

TheDougOut - will let you know. Will have to get some semantics out of the way like I assume these can be applied in USD at a rate of $250 per, but would feel better if I call NCL tomorrow and confirm.

I used a CruiseNext voucher with a value of $250 USD to book that Escape cruise but because I paid for that cruise in Canadian, the CruiseNext voucher was applied at a rate of $250 Canadian which really meant that it cost more to acquire given the exchange rate so I lost out there.

I didn't speak to Carnival directly but did work with an agent.

Looks like all the 3 pax and 4 / 2 connecting cabins are booked (or at least one of the two is) which is why I wanted to see if we could get into the 4 pax connecting cabins.

In order to get two 4 pax cabins, we would have to book two guests who would be no shows. I would rather have that money to spend on board so will forfeit the connecting cabins - but thanks denrusk for the tip.

I know there are people out there who would try to "make money on them" but I am only looking to recoup what I spent, not make money. I paid $150 USD per $250 certificate, since I got $100 OBC for each.

BirdTravels, if you paid only $125 for $250 value then you got one heck of a deal.

In any case, I was simply looking for some advice on how I could go about doing this from someone who has done so in the past. Obviously there is a lot of trust involved by both parties, hence why I was seeking the benefit of someone else's experience.

I've offered them to my parents who cruise NCL almost exclusively now but they were with us and purchased their own and don't think they'll be able to use mine. I've also offered them to a good friend of mine who has just started sailing with NCL but she too is uninterested.

Thanks for the input.

I know that I I still have 3 years left to use them however it is highly unlikely I can afford two more cruises on top of the two non-NCL cruises that I currently have planned. We are a family of six so travelling is very expensive, especially when coupled with having to deal with exchange which hasn't been in our favour since 2007.

My preference for my current bookings would have been NCL and I searched to see what could work, however the NCL British Isles option was prohibitively more expensive than RCI so we went with RCI.

Meanwhile, NCL simply does not offer the Southern Caribbean itinerary in a regular enough fashion so that we can go when my kids aren't in school hence my Carnival booking.

So, that is why I am looking at selling these so I can recoup my money and someone else can realize the $100 per voucher savings.

Hi all.

I purchased two CruiseNext vouchers when I was aboard the Escape last December.

Due to a variety of reasons, I have booked two cruises in the next two years but not with NCL. As a result, I think it's highly improbable that I will be able to use my vouchers.

My mom is suggesting that I try to sell them for what I paid (didn't realize until I got home and saw the emails but mine are in Canadian $ as I had booked the Escape in Cdn $).

I wanted to reach out here and get any advice from anyone who has successfully sold them in the past (ie. are they quick at transferring them, if they can be used in USD if anyone knows)...

Many thanks!

OK, so we were not able to secure connecting cabins using either a 3 / 3 or 4 / 2 configuration for the Sunshine. Since this is a March 2019 sailing I thought I was booking enough in advance but apparently not!

Because the date, itinerary and ship are exactly what we're looking for, we decided to book two rooms side by side as luckily there were still a few of these scattered on the first deck with 3 pax occupancy. Hubby and I have cruised quite a bit and really want to get to the southern islands of Aruba and Curacao that we haven't visited previously instead of doing the eastern/western milk runs. I'm still sitting on two NCL future cruise credits I don't see how we'll be able to use now because they don't offer this itinerary.

I will periodically search as time goes by to see if any of the lucrative 3 / 3 connecting cabins free up as we get closer to final payment date.

Admittedly I'm a little disappointed but this is a minor inconvenience and I'm happy we have a ship with lots of amenities for our family to enjoy, on a great itinerary and right over our kids' March Break.

Thanks to all who replied!

I am looking at a peak season of winter break in early March.

I suspected it was restricted but wanted to double check here. I will likely try one more time to see if we can get the 4 / 2 configuration to work and will give up on 3 / 3. If that fails, next step is pick another cruise at another time!

Thanks to all for your insightful responses!

I'm trying to book our family of 6 on the Sunshine in two connecting oceanview cabins in a 3/3 or 4/2 configuration. I'm being told by my travel agent that this can't be done as there is no availability.

I can see online that there are a few remaining 4 pax capacity connecting rooms available - I assume that Carnival will not allow 3 pax to be booked into a 4 pax cabin?

Can anyone confirm? Getting super frustrated!

Thanks!

Well certainly sounds like connecting is the way to go regardless of our sleeping arrangements. I agree this would be the best case scenario but I certainly don't have a good view of what is available online so will have to either call an agent or Carnival directly.

Hopep84 - do you mind telling me what category outside you guys had on your most recent Sunshine cruise?

I also briefly flirted with the Horizon for the same week sailing, as the Family Harbor cabins are very appealing but I can't bring myself to pay the premium for the new ship for the same itinerary as the Sunshine.

And Tracy - 8 children WOW! Makes my family look small!

Great tips - thanks! I have an agent that I used for a Vista cruise that we had to cancel so I think I'll give him a call to see what he can arrange for us. Excellent point about the additional space with the oceanviews. The past two cruises with my parents they have gotten accustomed to a balcony but hubby and I usually book interior or oceanview. We prefer to spend that extra money onboard the ship rather than on the cabin!

Good tip on Cheers.... not sure that we will purchase this, will have to look at the overall cost of the program and weigh it against what our usual bar bill is for the week (when we haven't had packages given to us at booking as a perk like on Celebrity and NCL).

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Much appreciated!

Hi all.

Hubby and I have several cruises under our belts on various lines. We have done two cruises with all four of our kids (daughters 13 & 11; sons 8 & 6), but both those times my parents cruised with us and had our two older children in their cabin.

I am looking at booking the Sunshine for March Break 2019 and am unsure of the best way to configure our family.

Looking for anyone that has advise to share on what has worked for their large family.... right now I am pricing with a boys cabin and girls cabin as close together as possible, but was wondering if there is a better way (1 balcony with 1 inside across hall, two connecting cabins where kids sleep in one room and parents in other with connecting doors open)?

Any advice welcome and appreciated!

Thanks.

Hubby and I were in a Boardwalk balcony on Oasis a few years back and enjoyed it.

There were no aquatheatre shows that week however, due to technical difficulties and then weather, so I can't comment on the effect they would have had. There was only one night when for some reason they were showing the more recent Jurassic Park movie well past 11:00 pm that the noise was obtrusive, otherwise I felt the noise level was acceptable and non-disruptive.

We had a decent view of the ocean when sitting on the balcony and facing the rear of the ship.

I wouldn't hesitate to book that class of cabin again, although I would try to get a non connecting room. We did hear quite a bit of noise leaking in from the other cabin - every time they flushed the toilet, had a shower or their alarm clock went off we knew! I'm sure they were treated to the same from us.

Happy cruising!