pentiumvi

4 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

That actually cannot happen.  The state of Florida has a law to prevent that. SInce the companies office is in FL, it applies. Chapter 501 section 95.

 

A gift certificate purchased or credit memo issued in this state may not have an expiration date, expiration period, or any type of post sale charge or fee imposed on the gift certificate or credit memo, including, but not limited to, service charges, dormancy fees, account maintenance fees, or cash-out fees. However, a gift certificate may have an expiration date of not less than 3 years if it is provided as a charitable contribution, or not less than 1 year if it is provided as a benefit pursuant to an employee-incentive program, and the expiration date is prominently disclosed in writing to the consumer at the time it is provided. In addition, a gift certificate may have an expiration date if it is provided to the recipient, or to a purchaser for transfer to the recipient, as part of a loyalty or promotional program when the recipient does not pay a separate identifiable charge for the certificate, or if it is provided in conjunction with a convention, conference, vacation, or sporting or fine arts event having a limited duration so long as the majority of the value paid by the recipient is attributable to the convention, conference, vacation, or event. An issuer may honor a gift certificate that has expired on or before the effective date of this act.

Well that's interesting. Whether this applies or not to the FCC is something I don't know.

But... being the devil's advocate... I feel even if it does apply, NCL will conveniently ignore this, and FCCs will expire, and it'll be up to the consumer to fight for getting them reinstated per this Florida statue.

13 hours ago, CUontheC said:

 What if the next cruise gets cancelled?  Can my money sit with them for over 2 to 3 years?  

No, your money won't sit with them for that long. Your FCCs will have expired by then, and you'll have unfortunately end up with nothing.

9 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

 

I also have some FCC from a May 2020 cruise that got cancelled, and my FCC shows June 30, 2021 (I just checked by logging on to MyNCL).

Was it always June 30? Or was it originally something else, and got extended?

13 hours ago, kaprin02 said:

My FCC originally had a March expiration, then I had a cruise paid with that FCC cancelled, and when it was returned, it had an expiration of 6/30/21.  So at least for me, it appears they extended the expiration, at least a little.

 

I wonder if it might be the cancellation of a cruise paid with FCC from a previous cancellation that triggers the extension?

 

I got my original FCCs from a May 2020 cruise that got cancelled.

Booked an October 2020 cruise with it, also got cancelled.

FCC still showing April 1, 2021 use by date.... 😞

14 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

Some earlier FCCs have already been extended the deadline from Feb/Mar/Apr/May 2021 to become Jun 2021. Note that this is the "book by date", while the "sail by date" is Dec 2022.

 

I guess NCL may offer another extension when it is closer to the deadline. Just wait until spring to see.

Really, where have you seen reports of FCC being extended? Or do you personally have FCCs that got extended?

Reason I ask is I have FCCs that have an use by date of April 1, 2021... With the rolling cancellations, I'd really like to see this extended, at least till they actually restart....

Would hate to book something which gets cancelled, resulting in the FCC automatically expiring.

7 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

And once again that is covered by the terms I cited.  In particular this snippet -> "including but not limited to situations of possible future cruise suspensions, displacements, cancellations or if the FCC exceeds the time in which it must be used."  Direct and specific to the situation at hand.  Exactly what anyone who accepted FCC agreed to.

You're still interpreting that paragraph out of context:

"Please be advised that at no time will an FCC be redeemable for cash, including but not limited to situations of possible future cruise suspensions, displacements, cancellations or if the FCC exceeds the time in which it must be used."

The above highlighted portion is the key point in this particular clause. This says that if there are future suspensions, cancellations, or whatever, the FCC is not redeemable for cash. Basically, if you accept the FCC and the future cruise you use it on is also cancelled, then you can't get cash back.

The situation isn't that I am looking for cash refund of the FCC due to ongoing cancellations. I am simply looking for the FCC expiration date to be extended.

I do not believe the topic regarding FCC expiration date is covered anywhere in the T&C.

4 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Again...

"Note FCCs have no cash value and cannot be redeemed for cash. If a guest opts to retain the FCC provided, the guest hereby agrees to all of NCL’s terms and conditions associated with the FCC, which can also be found on www.ncl.com/cruise-faq. Please be advised that at no time will an FCC be redeemable for cash, including but not limited to situations of possible future cruise suspensions, displacements, cancellations or if the FCC exceeds the time in which it must be used."

I don't see how this clause has anything to do with what I was complaining about.

You cherry-picked that part of the sentence, but if you read the beginning, it's talking about the FCC being redeemable for cash.

I 100% agree that if you let the FCC expire, you wouldn't get cash back.

But the situation I'm talking about is using FCCs on future cruises that keep getting cancelled. NCL keeps returning the FCC with original expiry date. If you end up using the FCC for a future cruise that gets cancelled AFTER your FCC use-by date, then you effectively lost your money.

5 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

The very first FCCs given at the start of the pandemic had expiration dates of Dec 2022 (copy attached for reference) so they are good for almost two full years from today. I'm not seeing how FCCs are already expiring. Just seems like people are confusing CruiseNext with FCC - - which throws the whole topic off the rails.

NCL COVID Letter 031420.pdf 75.17 kB · 3 downloads

The FCCs allow you to book a cruise up to Dec 2022, but have a "use-by" date of April, 2021 (for the first batch of FCCs).

So if one was to book a cruise after April 2021 with the FCC, but that cruise gets cancelled, current situation is that the FCC would be expired and gone.

5 hours ago, electro said:

I'm talking about Cruise next FCCs that I bought on my cruise in May, 2018. They original expiry date was May, 2022, 4 years from purchase. They change the expiry to Apr 2022, actually shortening them by a month.

 

I think it is ridiculous that NCL will not extent FCCs when they haven't sailed in almost a year and will be over a year by the time they start again.

 

I would be calling again, how can they not extend it when they won't even be sailing by the time it expires. The money you paid them doesn't expire.

 

Ah, I misunderstood.

But yea, the fact that they aren't willing to extend the FCC is a real kicker.

I actually rebooked already with the original FCC, but that cruise also got cancelled. They returned my FCC but with the original expiry date.

Makes me wonder, if I go ahead and book something for say May 2021, but that ends up being cancelled, I effectively lose my FCC? That seems so very wrong to me....

2 hours ago, electro said:

I just checked my FCC on myNCL and see that they have also been changed to 4/2022. The problem is that the original expiry date was 5/2022 so they actually shorten their life by a month.

If NCL had any integrity at all, all FCC that were due to expire after cruising had stopped, would be extended by the amount of time that they have not been sailing, which will be min 1 yr.

Your FCCs were extended to 2022 without you asking?

My FCC that I got last year still reflect 4/1/2021 expiry... Last time I called NCL, they wouldn't extend for me either.

1 hour ago, emm126 said:

I think if you are going to fall back on the cruise contract, that refunds are to go back to the original form of payment, then the only option from the beginning should have been refunds. But we know that is not the case. So if the cruise line can change and offer 2 options when it benefits them, they can also offer 2 options all the time. IMO. 

 

For the record, if I buy an airline ticket on a credit card and then exchange it several times, if it needed to be refunded, it is to the  ORIGINAL form of payment, credit card, not vouchers or exchange tickets etc. Cruise Lines seem to have their own thoughts on what is original. 

 

 

I'm not so sure that's a good analogy though. When you exchange airline tickets, you aren't getting a voucher, and then applying the voucher to a ticket.

Booking a new cruise with FCC isn't an "exchange". You opted to pick the FCC as your form of refund when first offered (and likely getting a bonus amount). All subsequent cruises booked with said FCC is no longer really associated with your original booking you paid for in cash.

And to be fair, NCL did offer you the ability to refund back to our original form of payment, but offered you a bonus, if you picked the FCC. That was unfortunately the decision some of us made.

So basically, NCL enticed us by giving us bonus FCC credit, but failed to mention explicitly the strings attached.

2 hours ago, hallux said:

Some thoughts -

It could be argued that it doesn't need to be.  While the first cruise was paid with "cash", the second was paid with FCC.  The cruise contract indicates that refunds are to the original form of payment.  In the case of the FCC-paid cruise, that would be FCC.

Even though I'm in this situation, and would love to get a cash refund, I agree with you, and never bothered to try and argue/fight this.

FCCs had always had a clause saying it has no cash value and cannot be redeemed for cash. When first round of cancellation happened, the options were take FCC, or take refund to original form of payment.

So it can be said that NCL disclosed everything up front, and it was up to the customer to have made the connection that if they opted for the FCC, and booked a future cruise with it, then any subsequent cancellations/refunds would be back to the payment method, which would be the FCC.

Of course NCL could have been more upfront, and stated this explicitly.

I also just realized, NCL didn't even want to provide a new expiry date for FCC that was cancelled a second time.

I would have at least felt that a new expiry date based off the latest cancellation would have been a given....

3 hours ago, njkate said:

Your only option is to sell the FCC, of course you will not get face value of it, but if you know you won't be able to cruise getting even 75% back through selling is better then a total loss

I suppose that's an option.

Don't know any one in my circle of friends/family that would be interested in buying though.

Are there any specific marketplace type forums I can try and peddle my FCCs on?

3 hours ago, UTRIPUMP said:

figured as much......was hoping to get refunded for the original amounts of the first cruise booking

 

I'm in the same boat.... Original cruise cancelled in May 2020, TA offered the option to rebook. Rebooked for Nov 2020.

As we all know, that also got cancelled, and now stuck with FCC. Due to our personal situation, it's is highly unlikely we'll be able to find time to cruise by end of 2022.

So.... unfortunately, seems like I'll have to write off my cruise fare as lost for good at this time.

Would love to hear any reports otherwise, where someone has been able to get FCC from a twice cancelled cruise refund back in cash.

In my opinion, what NCL isn't wrong technically, since it's as per their T&Cs.

But we are currently in unprecedented times, and one would feel it's not completely unreasonable for NCL to allow for extensions of these expiry dates.

I haven't been following along too closely, but what happened in the cases where a certificate was used and the cruise was cancelled by NCL after the certificate's expiration date? Did those at least receive an extension?

If one has both FCC and "bonus" FCC from a cancelled sailing, which is applied first, towards the fare, when making a new booking?

I would hope they apply the bonus first, allowing for any remainder of the regular FCC to be used towards something in the above list.

16 minutes ago, casofilia said:

My guess is that you will have the FCC returned.   Refunds are made to the method of "payment" used to make the booking.   FCCs issued by the cruise line have "No financial value".

That's what I figured would be the most likely scenario.

Unfortunately I naively didn't take the initial refund and hoped for sailings in the fall 😞

Perhaps this is the wrong thread to ask, but I had a cruise booked in Oct using FCC from previously cancelled cruise in April.

From the looks of it, the upcoming cruise is getting cancelled too.

Does anyone know what options I have at that point? Am I stuck with the FCC, or will I have the option to get a cash refund?

8 hours ago, shof515 said:

most likely canceled since the Getaway is no longer any cruising in Europe and there is no need to re-locate a ship to NY

Interestingly the Getaway looks like it's on its way to Europe right now.

Still mulling over my options.

If I decide to make use of the 20% do I have to book direct through NCL? Or can I use a TA?

25 minutes ago, Waquoit said:

Take the cash and rebook later. The 20% and 125% are just marketing gimmicks so they can hold on to your money. Prices will plummet in the future.

Thanks for the opinion. That was my gut instinct as well.

I'm a newbie NCL cruiser and wanted some opinions from more experienced cruisers.

I was impacted by the recent cancellations and got the 20% offer, but with the caveat that I must book by mid April.

Looking at the prices for future cruises (ie. Oct, April/May 2021 etc), the prices seem to be quite high... Or is it just me?

Even with the 20% discount and the 125% FCC, I still end up needing to pay additional money to get a similar cruise.

Is the general consensus to wait a few months for the prices to drop, and forgo the 20% discount?

I'm also on the fence regarding whether to take the 125% FCC, or to request a refund and have the cash back in my hands.

Any comments or thoughts are appreciated.

1 minute ago, rjruby said:

I received an email last night with the credit amount for my cancelled cruise but it's only for half of my cruise amount. It appears it's only for me and doesn't include my wife.

 

Credit on my account on NCL.com is also incorrect

FCCs are applied per individual.

Your wife's FCC would appear under her Latitude account.

Just now, chobo2 said:

With this FCC and 20% discount is that on only the non tax portion?

Curious as well. I assume the 20% discount is on the base cruise fare.

But what about the FCC, can it only be applied to the cruise fare as well? Or can it be used to cover taxes, gratuities, service charges and whatnot?