Booking a future cruise whilst on a cruise

[Phyllis Flipflop]

My husband and I are booked on our first cruise (The Getaway in May) and we're keen to consider another cruise towards the end of the year.

 

I've heard people mentioning that they've booked future cruises whilst onboard. Can anyone advise if the savings and/or perks make it an attractive option or whether it's better keeping your eyes and ears open onshore.

 

Many thanks.

[rvsullivan]

With NCL there is no option to book while on board unless you have an internet package and use that to book through the NCL website. I'm not sure that would work since your from Scotland and I'm not sure how your website works while away. Most people on here are mentioning the Future Cruise Credit which you can purchased while cruising. This is a $250 credit toward the down payment for a future cruise, it normally will be the entire deposit. Your actual cost for the $250 certificate will be $150 since NCL will give you a credit for $100 on your bill.

Enjoy your cruise!

[Phyllis Flipflop]

Thanks so much for that info RVS. :)

[xcell]

The future cruise credit is weird if you don't live in the US.

 

I'm in Canada, I bought the FCC in USD but when I went to use it, they reduced the amount of the FCC because they said when I bought it the USD and CDN was at par (and now it is not). So somehow I ended up getting less than I paid (I was supposed to get $250 USD but got $200 or something like that).

 

What I thought they should do is, take the $250 USD FCC and reduce it from my bill prior to converting anything to CDN.

 

Any ways, not sure if that made any sense...bottom line, if you are not from the US, then I wouldn't bother because you'll probably not get what you paid for. But if you do, I'd ask a TA first if it's worth it (or other cruisers that have purchased the FCC where you are from)

[Mom2B&Z]

The future cruise credit is weird if you don't live in the US.

 

 

 

I'm in Canada, I bought the FCC in USD but when I went to use it, they reduced the amount of the FCC because they said when I bought it the USD and CDN was at par (and now it is not). So somehow I ended up getting less than I paid (I was supposed to get $250 USD but got $200 or something like that).

 

 

 

What I thought they should do is, take the $250 USD FCC and reduce it from my bill prior to converting anything to CDN.

 

 

 

Any ways, not sure if that made any sense...bottom line, if you are not from the US, then I wouldn't bother because you'll probably not get what you paid for. But if you do, I'd ask a TA first if it's worth it (or other cruisers that have purchased the FCC where you are from)

 

 

Fwiw we bought a FCC December 30, 2014. It clearly says we paid $250USD, but that it has a value of $275 Canadian. When I used it as a deposit on our Jan/16 cruise, it was indeed redeemed as $275 Canadian. The cruise consultant on board said is has something to do with the ship's currency being USD, but the fact we (and others) use other currencies to pay for our cruise.

I agree that there was a time where it wasn't as clear (at least to me!) on how the currency conversion was done, but it seems to be clarified.

OP, you could book a cruise on board, it's free to access NCL.com while onboard but it's brutally slow...

 

 

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[don't-use-real-name]

With NCL there is no option to book while on board unless you have an internet package and use that to book through the NCL website. I'm not sure that would work since your from Scotland and I'm not sure how your website works while away. Most people on here are mentioning the Future Cruise Credit which you can purchased while cruising. This is a $250 credit toward the down payment for a future cruise, it normally will be the entire deposit. Your actual cost for the $250 certificate will be $150 since NCL will give you a credit for $100 on your bill.Enjoy your cruise!

 

rvs - Your actual cost will be $250 and the certificate will be for $250.

$100 will be credited to your present cruise invoice while on board.

"BUT" you still wind up paying $250 upfront !

Awkward to understand - NCL is giving you $100 OBC to book a future cruise

but you are still paying the $250 !

Yes it appears that you are paying only $150 but your invoice will show that

you are being charged $250 and then on another line will appear the $100

OBC.

You can not purchase the certificate for $150 but it would appear to be that way.

And the offer to purchase a $250 certificate is ONLY good on board your

present cruise to be applied on a future cruise.

You can purchase multiple certificates but only one can be applied at a time

per person - but the multiple certificates are transferable to others in your

party to use on a specific sailing.

The $250 certificate is enough for a deposit for all staterooms except suites

and higher categories.

The certificates must be APPLIED AND USED before the 4 year expiration date.

You can use the certificate on the NCL.com website or have it applied by your

own TA when booking thru that venue.

I just bought -2- certificates while on board the NCL DAWN recently and the

fine print-rules where gone over carefully!

[Demonyte]

The above post is incorrect. If you don't have any other charges on your onboard account (prepaid Service Charges etc), and you purchase one FCR onboard, the final bill is $150 - no more, no less.

[Demonyte]

Fwiw we bought a FCC December 30' date=' 2014. It clearly says we paid $250USD, but that it has a value of $275 Canadian. When I used it as a deposit on our Jan/16 cruise, it was indeed redeemed as $275 Canadian. The cruise consultant on board said is has something to do with the ship's currency being USD, but the fact we (and others) use other currencies to pay for our cruise. [/quote']

 

Yes, according to T&C of FCR program, the reward will always be in the currency determined by the NCL office/region you booked through - GBP for UK, EUR for other EU, etc. Since we always book through US office (or US TA), our FCRs are in USD.

 

There have been some posts from Canadians that state that they have booked in $ Canadian but have gotten FCRs in USD but as said, according to the T&C that shouldn't happen. :)

[Mom2B&Z]

Yes, according to T&C of FCR program, the reward will always be in the currency determined by the NCL office/region you booked through - GBP for UK, EUR for other EU, etc. Since we always book through US office (or US TA), our FCRs are in USD.

 

There have been some posts from Canadians that state that they have booked in $ Canadian but have gotten FCRs in USD but as said, according to the T&C that shouldn't happen. :)

 

 

This is new though, because I clearly recall purchasing FCR certificates as a Canadian that stated they were worth $250USD, and we paid $250USD (minus the $100 OBC) for them. This was much less of an issue when the Canadian and U.S. Dollars were almost at par, but now that there is a 15%+ difference, this is a big deal. The other complicating factor is some Canadian TAs would let me pay for my cruise in USD, again complicating the issue.

Let's just say I think it is a very good idea that they are being so upfront and clear on exactly how much a FCR is worth to a non-US cruiser :)

 

 

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[mdod]

The above post is incorrect. If you don't have any other charges on your onboard account (prepaid Service Charges etc), and you purchase one FCR onboard, the final bill is $150 - no more, no less.

 

I was just wondering about this. I was thinking about getting another reward on our cruise in a couple of week but I remembered that I paid for everything, including the mandatory service fees, when I booked a couple of weeks ago. We generally don't eat at the specialty restaurants and we do our own excursions so it's unlikely we will have $100 balance to apply the OBC without the service fees on there.

[DevilDogsWifey215]

Nvm

Edited January 21, 2015 by DevilDogsWifey215

[emcelh]

I was just wondering about this. I was thinking about getting another reward on our cruise in a couple of week but I remembered that I paid for everything, including the mandatory service fees, when I booked a couple of weeks ago. We generally don't eat at the specialty restaurants and we do our own excursions so it's unlikely we will have $100 balance to apply the OBC without the service fees on there.

 

You'll have a charge of $250 on your account for the certificate. The $100OBC will be applied against that charge if you have nothing else..

[mdod]

You'll have a charge of $250 on your account for the certificate. The $100OBC will be applied against that charge if you have nothing else..

 

Great. Thanks!

[Sotermarler]

Just doesn't seem like a good deal. Your basically just getting $100 off your next cruise.

[nyc2theworld]

Just doesn't seem like a good deal. Your basically just getting $100 off your next cruise.

 

There's a subtlety to the Future Cruise Rewards though. Lets say you have a FCR of 250. A cruise you are looking a cruise that costs 2000. The normal deposit is 400 leaving you 1600 to pay. If you use your FCC you can reserve the cruise with just your FCR and not pay ANY money upon booking and have 1750 left to pay. This helps you secure a cruise if you don't have the full deposit right away.

 

This is especially helpful if there's a promo that's really great when you are thinking about booking as you can secure the promo with no cash down at that time.

Edited January 24, 2015 by nyc2theworld
grammar

[DevilDogsWifey215]

There's a subtlety to the Future Cruise Rewards though. Lets say you have a FCR of 250. A cruise you are looking a cruise that costs 2000. The normal deposit is 400 leaving you 1600 to pay. If you use your FCC you can reserve the cruise with just your FCR and not pay ANY money upon booking and have 1750 left to pay. This helps you secure a cruise if you don't have the full deposit right away.

 

This is especially helpful if there's a promo that's really great when you are thinking about booking as you can secure the promo with no cash down at that time.

That's good to know!

[KeithJenner]

We are from the UK and have bought quite a few cruise credits. Basically, you pay the dollar amount and get a credit worth an equivalent amount in pounds, it's as simple as that. The amount in pounds has fluctuated a little based on the exchange rate, but the rate has always looked OK to me..

 

My understanding is that you get the certificate in the currency of where you booked from, rather than where you live, so a European who books through the U.S. will get it in dollars. They are also supposed to be redeemed in that currency, so you may find it harder to use if you plan on booking through a different countries NCL office or travel agent. I don't know this from experience, but people have mentioned it on here.

 

As for whether it is a good deal or not, you are still able to look for whatever deals you want when booking the cruise itself. This is basically just $100 extra off. Maybe not groundbreaking, but why would you not take that $100 if you know you will be booking another cruise in the next few years. You can always sell it on if you decide not to book anything, and get your money back.

[insidecabin]

We have transfered then between currency regions, for our own bookings and to others.

 

 

Dead simple they cost $150 for a $250 credit converted to booking currency to be held against your latitude account.

Edited January 24, 2015 by insidecabin

[louise63]

I'm thinking of buying a FCC on my Getaway cruise in November so this thread has come in really useful :)

 

I'm from the UK so did wonder how the conversion would work but this thread has answered my question! Cheers!