NCL Gift Cards

[Arubamoose]

Anyone have any issues using these for final payment?

 

These cards have a Discover number and they are a credit card (not a debit - no pin number).

 

My travel agent has gotten nothing but grief from NCL.

 

They were declined. So I called the number on the back of the card after hours yesterday - didn't get a human and went through the prompts to check my balances - I have full balance. Even went on line and took a screen shot of my balances and sent it to the agent. This morning I spoke to a human at the card help line and he mentioned that NCL has had issues because they are trying to use them as a debit card. Then my travel agent asked if I activated them. The number I called states no activation needed. So now it's with accounting.

 

How can NCL sell this product and have so much trouble? I have $1500 worth of gift cards....not chump change!! And my final is due on Saturday. Imagine if I had not had my agent do final payment a few days prior!

[Twelvevman]

I called up NCL directly and was able to apply $2500 to my cruise without any issue. The rep was able to apply all 5 I had towards final payment and each went through without any problems. Hope they are able to get it straightened out for you.

[Godiva830]

My mother used 5 $500 NCL gift cards last week for our final payment. She did it on the website. No issues.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Godiva830

[antsnanny]

I had a 500.00 gift card that I used with no problem, I gave my TA the information and he had it applied it.

[Arubamoose]

The NCL website says only three cards are allowed to be used towards payment.....hmmmmm.

 

I would have LOVED to use 5 cards - especially since I bought them off HSN and got $100 gift cards for my purchase.

 

Hopefully my agent gets resolution soon!

[Arubamoose]

I am so totally annoyed and frustrated.

 

My agent has tried a number of times to apply these cards to my booking. I even called up NCL myself and they told me the cards were declined. They said it was a glitch in the system. DOESN'T HELP ME!!

 

Call the number on the back of the card with an hour wait and they said there was no record of them trying to be used or a decline by NCL. Then they hung up on me.

 

Apparently they are not issued by NCL but by an outfit called "Paragon" backed by "Meta-Bank". Tried calling Meta-Bank but today is a holiday and they are closed.

 

Today is my final payment. At least my agent assured me that NCL would extend my due date because of all the hassles.

 

You would think that since these gift cards have the supposedly good NCL name on them that they would back their product. Apparently not.

 

I am at a total loss as to what to do. I PRE-PAID good money for these gift cards and I don't really want to have to hassle with my credit card company and dispute the charges for them.

 

Where is NCL Forum Watcher!?!?!? I could use your help!

 

Or else Kevin Sheehan or Andy Stuart are getting a call tomorrow!!!

[jdvmd]

Hope it works out for you. Subscribing to see the outcome.

[SeaShark]

You seem to be doing a lot...posting, calling, etc...things I would think that the TA who is being PAID to take care of you should be doing.

 

I would give the info to the TA and let them do the job they are paid to do...take care of your booking so you don't have to worry about it.

 

If your TA values your business, this will be taken care of without you having to stress over it.

[mizLORInj]

Wow, what a pain!

I had 2 and applied both toward final payment a few months ago. My TA did it with no problems at all.

I agree NCL sells them for their product--they should stand behind them too.

[Demonyte]

You seem to be doing a lot...posting, calling, etc...things I would think that the TA who is being PAID to take care of you should be doing.

 

I would give the info to the TA and let them do the job they are paid to do...take care of your booking so you don't have to worry about it.

 

If your TA values your business, this will be taken care of without you having to stress over it.

 

Second this. When you have a TA, you should have to worry about these yourself. Especially since there are people here reporting no problems with their TA, it only leads me to think that the problem is with the TA (esp. how they are trying to use the cards), not the cards themselves.

[Coastalbreezes]

My issue with the gift cards is how LONG it takes to receive them after ordering! I have been waiting for over 2 weeks since placing my order. When I contacted customer service, I was told that they take "at least 12-14 business days" from date of order to receipt and that if I wanted them sooner, I should have paid for expedited service. :eek:

 

I think that is total BS. I order gift cards often online from other companies and always, without fail, have them in my hand within a week at the most.

 

I don't understand why it takes so long and am very frustrated with the process.

 

Tracy

[deladypilot]

We used ours $500.00 gift card as part of our deposit (suite). We had no issues what so ever. I too am beginning to think that it might be a problem with your TA.

 

I think I would be more worried about what the TA said about NCL waiting extra days for final payment. It is my understanding that if it is not paid on time, they cancel your cruise and they do not seem to care why. So please talk with your TA about this again.

 

Best of luck and let us know what happens

[knitlady037]

I can't see what the problem could be. Maybe your TA does not accept Discover as a form of payment and is giving you some BS story. I used 5 cards with no problems on the BA in December and then used 4 more as final payment on my NCL account to make final payment last month. Not a problem with one of them.

[Demonyte]

I can't see what the problem could be. Maybe your TA does not accept Discover as a form of payment and is giving you some BS story.

 

Even if the TA didn't accept Discover, TA should just relay the card info directly to NCL and have them process the payment. There have been numerous horror stories here about TAs that take the payment to their own accounts instead of cruise line making the charges and then later paying TA's commission to them.

[dexddd]

Used a $500 in December no problem for final. Told TA all the info and I was put on hold while they called NCL to process the card and then rest went on regular credit card. It did take about 15 minutes but no problems.

[dalgirl]

You can always use some of the cards for final payment and save some for your bill on the ship. We got a small gift card ($50) for Christmas and plan to use it for payment onboard. Isn't that allowed?

[Arubamoose]

I called NCL and found a GREAT agent to work with.

Don't know what the heck she did with accounting but they went through. She said it was something to do with the expiration date.

She was kind enough to take my number instead of letting me wait on hold and was kind enough to give me her extension just in case.

 

Her name is GLORY.....and yes - she is a GLORY!!! Many THANKS to her!

[ylojerseygirl]

Are these the Discover rewards gift cards? I was under the impression we were only allowed to use like $100 towards our cruise fare. I hope I was wrong! I can't wait to hear!

[Demonyte]

Are these the Discover rewards gift cards? I was under the impression we were only allowed to use like $100 towards our cruise fare. I hope I was wrong! I can't wait to hear!

 

See here for all the info, cards apparently are based on Discover's network: http://www.ncl.com/giftcard

[SteveWW]

Buying a NCL gift card for someone has been the worst customer service experience of my life. Last year about this time I purchased a $250 card for my business partner who was taking his family on a cruise. First the issuing company sent it in his name to my address and it got returned. Since it was in his name the company would not talk to me (even though I paid for it with my credit card). After his cruise he and I called them and they sent out a replacement card saying no problem just use it as a discover card. WRONG. Would not work, only good on NCL. Then this last week he took a NCL cruise, both of us happy he would get a chance to use it. However on the ship it only showed $200 available not $250. (BTW $250 is printed on the front of the card)Staff had no explanation. Dormancy fee is only $3 a month starting in 13th month so that was not it. Screwed out of $50. Never again...... I recommend to avoid at all costs.