CactusFlower527

I think it all depends on what you want out of your vacation or cruise experience. Right now, I have no desire to sail out of the USA ------------ that may change one day but for now. A lot of people are shocked to see what 4 of us are paying to sail on POA .. the suite is $10k for the week ... + airfare, hotel in Honolulu beforehand, and rental cars.. not to mention tours & shore excursions. We are not rich people, we've been saving for this for a LONG time I am happy for people who can do Hawaii for less. More power to you. I want to do Hawaii on a cruise ship :)

My brother took my folks in 2011 and the regular balcony staterooms are pretty small esp for "3" people. For 2 people they should be fine. we're going in May 2014 and since there are 4 of us to split the cost, we booked a 2 bedroom family penthouse suite on the 13th deck. It only came to 2500 a person after all taxes and prepaid service charges.

Hawaii is so port intensive that most people are using it for sleeping/meals they are not spending a great deal of their time 'on' the ship itself, they are seeing the islands.

I truly didn't see any of the "attitude" people report about POA employees. But then I don't enjoy the over the top fawning that some cruise staff do to ingratiate themselves. Efficient, cheerful -- great qualities in service positions. Beyond that I get uncomfortable.

 

I thought the POA staff hit just the right note.

agreed. I want people to be polite, but I don't need to be catered too.. I am cruising on POA in May 2014.. and having relatives that have sailed on it in the past, they loved it.:D I am basically using the ship as a floating hotel and restaurant.. but I am really there to see the Islands. I also appreciate the POA being an American flagged shipped, doesn't require a US passport (which I don't have at present).

yes

Awesome - it's been years since I've used a travel agent.. I can't even remember how it all works.

I used an online travel agency to book my cruise and charged it to the BoA NCL card for double points. The points must be posted on your bill before you can redeem them. You only need about 2 months before your cruise to make it work so if your cruising 12/8 you have plenty of time to accomplish this and accumulate more points. The points are very quick and easy to redeem by calling the number on the website.

So the NCL MC gives you double points even if you are going through a travel agent?

what's the rules with using the NCL credit card to put a down payment on a NCL cruise and then continuing to use it to make payments?

 

is there a fee?

 

do these "purchases" earn points?

 

 

 

thanks!

I didn't have the NCL MC when I booked my cruise back in Oct 2012 - but I can attest to the fact that .. YES! You get double points when you make payments to NCL with their card. I don't think it would count if you were paying through a Travel Agent though. The info that I got with the card says double points on ANY NCL purchase. This past billing period I made an $850 payment and got 1700 points :) the extra set of points show up as a separate earnings line item called NCL Bonus Points.

Points are available to use as soon as they have been incorporated into a monthly statement. You can see all of your points as they accumulate, but cannot redeem them until they have been rolled up in a statement period.

Yep, left that part out.. but it's not too different than most CC reward programs... can't use 'em til the statement cuts. But they don't care if you pay the balance or not to access all of your points through the statement period.

Do we have to make the payment before using the points?

It looks like the points are accumulated as you charge not as you pay...

I found their statement kind of confusing though... because if you use the card for paying NCL .. the "bonus" extra point becomes a separate line item. My first statement cut a couple of days ago though and I did get the 10,000 signing bonus :D +

I just wish they had put 1,734 for my monthly earnings.. because the 10,000 is already accounted for on another line item.

It read as follows

11,734 Monthly Earnings (*10,000 +850 NCL + 34 "other")

*10,000 Bonus Points this month (signing bonus)

850 NCL Bonus Points (Paid $850 towards my 2014 cruise)

11,734 Total Points Available

I still have a "balance" of $550 on my card to pay by the end of the month.. so I am not paid up...yet it shows all of my points as being available to use.