NCL master card question

[Vyhanek]

There is NO limit on the amount of certificates you can use. I used 9 or 10 certificates this past March for my family of four to cruise the NCL sun. We stayed in an AC Penthouse suite for FREE with these points.

 

It was such a fantastic deal for us that I am just waiting for the day that they stop this GIG. I am sure there is someone somewhere in NCL management with MY situation as an example just waiting to discontinue this program.

 

I charge a lot, I'm a fabulous shopper, in fact besides being a SAHM shopping is my primary profession. Dh goes to work, I go shopping. So we rack the points up quickly. They limit the amount of points you can earn each month so if you go buy a car on your MBNA card they will only allow so many point credit each month. You can't play that type of game. You really just have to be a regular, consistently good spendor for the credits to rack up.

 

Good luck.

[mbisson]

Can the credits also be used as an onboard credit too? So if you had $3000 in credits and the cruise only cost $2500, can you use the remaining $500 for onboard purchases while your on the cruise?

 

If not, what happens to the remaining $500?

 

I usually try to know how much the price of the cruise is in advance (or even have it booked) prior to requesting the coupons. In a case such as you presented, I wouldn't order that last coupon.

 

BTW-Just got confirmation yesterday that my$1000 in coupons was applied to my Jewel cruise for Dec. We're paid in full! We didn't owe quite $1000 so they did reimburst my CC the difference.

 

-Monte

[gary]

You can have as many cards as they will approve for you. You may have multiple in any one name. If you are in possesion of the certificates, I would send them in. You never know what kind of snafu may ensue and you want to have ample time to settle it. P.S. I always send certified with a signature required.

Happy free cruising to you!

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Vyhanek stated: It was such a fantastic deal for us that I am just waiting for the day that they stop this GIG. I am sure there is someone somewhere in NCL management with MY situation as an example just waiting to discontinue this program.

You don't understand.....NCL would have no interest in stopping this program. When you book a cruise you're getting a discount off the cruise price because of the points/vouchers, but NCL isn't discounting the cruise or making any less money. NCL redeems the coupons back to MBNA and get's paid the value of those vouchers. It's MBNA that is paying for part of your cruise. MBNA makes its money from all your charge purchases plus any interest you pay on your balance. They are rebating some of their income back to you by paying NCL when the vouchers are redeemed. So you don't need to worry about NCL ending the program. It's great for them and costs them nothing. You need to keep your eye on MBNA.

 

BTW, before I got my NCL Mastercard, I compared the big 3 cruise line credit cards offered by banks for NCL, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. By far....and I mean BY FAR, the NCL card is superior. For example, to get a $500 discount off any cruise fare, you only have to spend $16,666 on the NCL Card. On the Carnival card you must spend $23,000 to get a $500 discount and on the Royal Caribbean card you must spend $50,000! :eek: And ironically, the RCI card is also issued by MBNA. Now why it's so lucrative for the NCL credit card and not for the RCI card, I can't explain.

 

BobK/Orlando

[PassionFruit]

I have a couple of questions about the MBNA NCL credit card. I started using this card a while back in anticipation of the Hawaii cruise that I will be taking next summer. I should reach the $1,000 credit mark at the end of this month or possibly next month, and am calling to book my cruise within the next week. So, here are my questions....

 

1. If I order the $1,000 certificate now and send it in after I have paid my deposit so that the total paid will be greater than the deposit amount but less than final payment, can I still get NCL to lower my total price if a better deal on my cabin comes out?

 

2. If for any reason I have to cancel my cruise (not planning to, but better to know) and I have already sent in my $1,000 certificate plus paid the deposit, how will it be refunded?

 

That's all I have at the moment, but please feel free to share any tips or advice you have on using this credit certficate. Thanks!

[PassionFruit]

Oh....thought of one more question....

 

3. If I get enough credits to reach another $500 mark before final payment (since I still have several months of CC activity to go!), is there any problem with submitting another voucher at a later date?

[immargaret]

The certificates are sent in with your final payment not before. I think that should answer your questions if I'm reading it right.

 

To make sure I reached my $1000 lbefore final payment was due I paid all but $100 (balance due) of my cruise fare ahead of time to get the points......so when I send in the certificates with my final payment I will get a $900 credit on my credit card.

 

:)

[Bennett'sCruise]

BUT, you can't accrue more than 1000 points per year, right?

[immargaret]

$1000 points max per card, we have 3 NCL MBNA cards to work with. Maximum points you can earn per month is 250.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Booked my 2006 Alaska cruise on Norwegian Sun today. The total for 4 people/inside cabin was about $2100. Normally the deposit for four people is $1000 but I told the reservationist I had a $2000 credit from the NCL Mastercard. She was totally familiar with the card and made a notation in the reservation file that a $2000 credit certificate was coming. She allowed me to make just a $100 deposit to keep the reservation open.

 

BTW, the NCL website has horrible prices. Appears that with NCL you're always better off booking through a travel agent.

 

BobK/Orlando

coming up: Sovereign of the Seas (10/05)

Costa Mediterranea (01/06)

Norwegian Sun (05/06)

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

PassionFruit, see the other thread on here about the same subject. The NCL reservationist I worked with today let me put down a $100 deposit instead of $1000 because I explained I had a $2000 discount certificate coming from my NCL MBNA Mastercard.

 

BobK/Orlando

coming up: Sovereign of the Seas (10/05)

Costa Mediterranea (01/06)

Norwegian Sun (05/06)

[x2tpd]

IMMARGRET--

 

Are you sure that you will get a credit for the overpayment? I know that on the other NCL Mastercard thread therer is a survey about who received a credit from NCL on their mastercard for amounts that they overpaid and its like 60% who did and 40% who didnt. If this works for you please let me know as that was an ingenious way to make some extra points without any expense to you.. Good luck.. I hope it works..

[PassionFruit]

KINGBOBOFTHENORTH - Thanks for pointing out the other thread. I must have overlooked it earlier. Good information there, also!

 

IMMARGRET - I'm also interested to know if this works for you....keep us posted!

 

We won't be getting this cruise for free, but with the $1,000 or $1,500 credit it will be significantly reduced since we're just going to do an inside cabin. (Not on the ship much with this itinerary, anyway.) Combine the cruise credits with the 3 frequent flier tickets we're getting from our airlines credit card, and this trip to Hawaii is significantly discounted for us! :D This will be our first cruise on NCL, but with a CC program this good there certainly may be more to follow!

[mbisson]

PassionFruit-You're my kind of traveler. Hope you have a great cruise.

 

BTW-I got a refund on my Credit card recently when I sent in vouchers. My (& my TA's understanding) is that so long as the vouchers sent in are less then (or equal too) the total ticket amount before the deposit, you will be refunded the difference (IE: they won't refund more than the deposit you paid). This is probably not a good explanation so let me give a couple examples.

 

a) cruise cost is $2300.

Deposit totals $500

Send in $2000 in coupons

They will refund $200 back to your credit card (they explained it as the

refund is against the deposit).

Net: You paid $300 on credit card and $2000 in coupons and are paid in

full

 

B) Cruise is $1900

Deposit totals $500

Send in $2000 in coupons

They will refund $500 (refund against the deposit)

NET: You paid $2000 in coupons for a $1900 cruise

You are out $100 (coupons can't be more than total cruise price)

 

This may be wrong but it's how they explained it and my TA said he's had a couple people upset because they didn't get "full value" for their coupons. Maybe some TA's or others with experience on this can verify either way.

 

-Monte

[immargaret]

IMMARGRET--

 

Are you sure that you will get a credit for the overpayment? I know that on the other NCL Mastercard thread therer is a survey about who received a credit from NCL on their mastercard for amounts that they overpaid and its like 60% who did and 40% who didnt. If this works for you please let me know as that was an ingenious way to make some extra points without any expense to you.. Good luck.. I hope it works..

 

 

I guess I didn't explain it very well... I have paid for all but $100 of my cruise to date by charging it on my MBNA NCL card, and have earned the points for the payment. I then request the vouchers for the $1000 (max per year)and when I send the voucher in to NCL they will put a $900 refund on my credit card statement and it will show that I have (36)negative points.