rodndonna

I meant under a no-promo condition. It appears the answer is no.

Can I ever use a CN and a CF towards the same cruise?

Thanks. Our NCL cruise is in January 2024 so I guess "wave" season so hoping for the extra CN certificates as well. New to NCL .. could still apply also a "cruiseFirst" certificate as well as the 2 CruiseNext's ? Still struggling to understand NCL certificate program.

Please humour me (new to this and still a little unsure) - do I have this correct? CruiseFirst - can be bought anytime, and applied as deposit or payment towards a cruise anytime CruiseNext - can only be bought on a cruise, and can only be used towards a cruise deposit (while on the purchased cruise or later) Sometimes offers may allow you to use multiple CruiseFirst or CruiseNext certificates?

Thanks! Sounds kind of hit and miss, but it would appear the only "true" benefit would be the upgrade within a category - but still "better than a kick in the head" as they say.

I read on a blog (points guy) that a perk of booking on board with NCL for a future cruise is a complimentary upgrade. I can't find reference to that as being a perk anywhere so assuming that is not the case (or may be an offer at times which varies) Is there any benefit to actually doing a booking while on-board as opposed to just purchasing CruiseNext certificates that you can use later?

You can see Alaska 2025 sailings as well as pricing on at least one of the major on-line booking sites (which can't be named here), but if you click to book it will return an error. Must be close to appearing on HAL's site I would think.

We treat our "speciality" dinners like cruise "night outs" .. so dress similarly to our Gala night (sometimes even the same .. hope nobody notices!). We even get a pre dinner drink somewhere different than our usual pre-dinner drink location, so the night just feels different. We don't tend to book in advance as we like to feel out what night would work best after being on board. We don't mind eating later so typically not an issue to delay booking until being on board for us.

What puzzles me is I can see/book things like Alaska in September 2025 on a TA site, but it doesn't show up on HAL's site. Same for a couple of longer fall 2025 TA cruises...

Oddly enough, I can see some Holland itineraries for 2025 to be booked on a major on-line TA. For Europe, it is just for spring 2025 with longer repositioning cruises. A couple of days ago, they only had Alaska cruises for 2025, but today there are a few more destinations so seems like things are starting to roll out .... Still nothing on HAL's site though.

You haven't missed it. We have some FCD and "come back and sail" OBC burning a hole in our pocket waiting for the TA's for fall 2025. Our PCC thought they would be out before end of summer.

Like you we have sailed only HAL and Celebrity (since Covid). We have sailed NCL in Europe, but it was many years ago and a very port intensive 1st cruise ... so treating NCL as "new" to us. We really like HAL and Celebrity and they seem to be the best for us, but still have interest in cruising other lines. The San Juan itinerary on the Viva gives us a chance to check out a more current NCL experience as well as trying a "new" and large ship, both of which would be a different experiences for us. We figured this "trial" on a great southern Caribbean (no port days!) was a safe bet that we would enjoy ourselves regardless. We have done a very similar itineraries on Carnival and Celebrity and have it booked again on Celebrity for 2025, so clearly, we know we like the itinerary and assume we will have a good time. 😃

I just checked promo codes for our recent Casino offers- the last "free cabin" offer was a "UYV" code. Our most recent "discount" cruise offer (30% off select sailings) has a promo code "DE" (no third letter).. so close. In the past we have had no issues adding HIA to either of those types offers. Maybe that "A" or the "8" at the end of your "DE?" is the problem 🤔

Oh - I notice the difference in the price - just saying I only really look at the price they list as "Best Value - Cruise - Have it all" as it is our only option when booking. I've always assumed it was still around the $50, but never bothered calculating, so am happy to learn may actually less than that (with more perks when booked early) I would actually prefer HAL would modify their website to allow me the option to default to prices with HIA included. When searching Princess, you select whether you want your search prices displayed as Princess standard" or with "Princess Plus" (which is same as HIA).

Did you get other perks within that deeply discounted rate or is it just a deeply discounted fare? A free cabin is about as much of a "discount" as you can get, and even with those, we (and others) have been able to add HIA. I really don't get the stance "you gave us so little money for this cruise, we have decided we don't want more of your money by selling you HIA". It is a weird stance ..🤔 Maybe your particular cruise has some other overriding element that disallows HIA. The mystery continues ........

I must confess to be being one who does not calculate what our HIA package costs when bundled in the fare at time of booking (early) since we just really never consider not getting more for convenience. Wow - I just checked a 14 day fall 2024 itinerary similar to on we are hoping will be around for 2025, and wow - it actually comes out to just $58 CDN/day or about $45 US/day and that is for the pumped-up "early HIA" with premium wifi, elite drinks and gratuities. 😃

Ours are held in a non-registered account, but as you say no tax implications to date with no dividends. If and when they reinstate dividends, it will still be peanuts from a tax perspective for 100 shares.

😫 😫

If the fall 2025 comes out before July 22, we have a "Thank you for sailing" to use as well but not sure that's realistic. Expecting we will still have our typical Casino discount (seems realistic) and shareholder OBC as well. 😀 I totally agree - the combination of the all early discounts and OBC's offers make our "early booked" cruises better value than our "free" cabin cruises (as we always still get HIA). Couple that with better flight prices when booking in advance, always the preferred option for us.

I agree (although we go non-refundable). We seem to get the best deals booking early for the early HIA benefits. Combine that with the Mariner early bonus, hard to beat. Waiting now for 2025 fall cruises to come out so I can book with those promos (and using FCD for deposits to boot!) 😀

Let us know if you have better luck with the app. I'm really curious because you are still the only case where I have heard adding HIA has been denied. They do make that vague statement "available for most fare types" but to date have not found a fare type that it did not apply to except for yours ..(including free cabin Casino rates) 😒 I am wondering if perhaps they are changing the rules on what codes it can be added to.

Are you still trying to get HIA added? Someone a thread about the latest app update said they were able to add it now using the app, when the website said it was unavailable. I would link to the thread, but not sure how .. it's the one tracking all the Hal Navigator app updates on page 1.

Would spring or fall make a difference? We are contemplating doing a TA in fall TA 2025.

Did you pay in full because you were past the final payment date? If past that date, it cannot be repriced.

We did the Millenium apr 2023 in an aft and loved it. Have downgraded (for now) to get on the NCL cruise and hoping to bid up, but is not looking hopeful