I don.t get it.

[Minoushka]

I have oBC but cannot use it on ship to pay for my dining options if I pre reserve ...i need to prepay

They expect prepayments .if i book on ship the price is higher ...wow ...how disgusting ...why should it be more .....why can.t I pay the same price but choose the day on board and have the option to use my OBC ??if

I f i a restaurant on land the price stays the same ....i pay that night ...not so onNCL ....not right

Same with excursions ...prpay or up the price goes ..So tell me how do i get to use my OBC if i cannot reserve on line and pay on board ??Not fair ...so how am I supposed to use my OBC

I do not need more tshirys or junk jeweleery

I am not pleased with all these changes and the upcharges

EVen with a dining packAge there are all kindsof upcharges

NCL please correct this or you will lose lts of customers

 

:(. :(. :(

[piper45maru]

I pre-reserved the spa, one specialty dining, and shore excursions, and I did not have to prepay any of them. I was told I would pay for them on the ship. The dining venue is the same price whether I pre-reserved it or booked on the ship. The spa pass is cheaper if you pre-reserve it, but AFAIK that is the only discount for reserving ahead of time.

[ColinIllinois]

[computerworks]

Reserve and pay online. Once onboard, reverse the CC payment and use OBC.

[khaide612]

I have oBC but cannot use it on ship to pay for my dining options if I pre reserve ...i need to prepay

They expect prepayments .if i book on ship the price is higher ...wow ...how disgusting ...why should it be more .....why can.t I pay the same price but choose the day on board and have the option to use my OBC ??if

I f i a restaurant on land the price stays the same ....i pay that night ...not so onNCL ....not right

Same with excursions ...prpay or up the price goes ..So tell me how do i get to use my OBC if i cannot reserve on line and pay on board ??Not fair ...so how am I supposed to use my OBC

I do not need more tshirys or junk jeweleery

I am not pleased with all these changes and the upcharges

EVen with a dining packAge there are all kindsof upcharges

NCL please correct this or you will lose lts of customers

 

:(. :(. :(

 

If NCL didn't have people prepay for reservations, people would reserve all the times/days. I could reserve for 4 people at 1 restaurant/time each day and then have others in my party do the same so we would have 4 reservations for the same 4 people each day with no penalty for cancelling at the last minute or not showing. Wait until you get onboard, be flexible with your days/times and make dinner reservations - very simple!

 

Same for excursions. I could book all the excursions for every day and then wait to see what I felt like doing on any particular day and cancel the rest with no penalty. Except, NCL has already contracted with the tour company for X amount of people.

 

Many of your posts are complaints about the costs of optional things - specialty restaurants, excursions. Maybe you should rethink these add-ons.

[Leavethekidswithmom]

Omg, you mean you can't use an onboard credit before you are actually onboard, that's just wrong. [emoji57]

 

OP, pay now and cash your OBC out at the casino for a 3%fee is also an option.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Leavethekidswithmom

[MrsPhoenix91]

Omg, you mean you can't use an onboard credit before you are actually onboard, that's just wrong. [emoji57]

 

OP, pay now and cash your OBC out at the casino for a 3%fee is also an option.

 

Maybe OP doesn't understand what "onboard" means...

[LMaxwell]

I pre-reserved the spa, one specialty dining, and shore excursions, and I did not have to prepay any of them. I was told I would pay for them on the ship.

 

That is contradictory to the normal policies. How were you able to do this?

[vince_g]

That is contradictory to the normal policies. How were you able to do this?

 

Well we know the website requires payment when you book, and she says she was told she'd pay on board. Also as far as I know, there is no way to pre-reserve spa services, and I know if you want to reserve a shore excursion now, you must pay for it now. Look forward to hearing how she supposedly pre-reserved these items.

[piper45maru]

That is contradictory to the normal policies. How were you able to do this?

 

I called to reserve the shore excursions because I chose the shore excursion package because it was the best deal for me. It wasn't showing up in my online account under "amenity details" so I called to make sure I had the credit, and the NCL rep confirmed I did and booked my shore excursions. He said I would pay onboard, and I know my credit card has not been charged. I don't know why it was different than normal, as this is my first NCL cruise. I actually wanted to pay ahead of time for the difference in price between my shore excursion credit and the price of the excursions I chose.

 

Well we know the website requires payment when you book, and she says she was told she'd pay on board. Also as far as I know, there is no way to pre-reserve spa services, and I know if you want to reserve a shore excursion now, you must pay for it now. Look forward to hearing how she supposedly pre-reserved these items.

 

I didn't "supposedly" did--I did, as I explained above. I do not know why I was told something different than others. Maybe because I have the shore excursion credit?

 

I was allowed to pre-reserve the spa, too. When I log into My NCL and go under the "Explore and Plan" option, there is an offer to pre-book the spa pass for $20 less online vs. onboard. I've seen others in other threads mention that they've seen an option to pre-book the spa pass within X (60? 90? I can't remember) number of days of their cruise, so I'm not sure why you think there's "no way" to reserve the spa.

 

My NCL account is showing that I have these things reserved when I look at my Vacation Summary. I don't know what to tell you, but I am telling the truth and don't appreciate the insinuation otherwise.

Edited August 5, 2015 by piper45maru

[peg013]

Well we know the website requires payment when you book, and she says she was told she'd pay on board. Also as far as I know, there is no way to pre-reserve spa services, and I know if you want to reserve a shore excursion now, you must pay for it now. Look forward to hearing how she supposedly pre-reserved these items.

 

You can now pre-book the spa pass and the a la carte restaurants all say "Complimentary" but then go on to say you will pay onboard since they don't know what you will order. I know this is true for the Escape at the very least.

Edited August 5, 2015 by peg013

[johnql]

Just wanted to add a comment about pre-booking excursions. You can pre-book excursions without pre-paying if you're using the shore excursion credit that's part of the current promotions.

[piper45maru]

You can now pre-book the spa pass and the a la carte restaurants all say "Complimentary" but then go on to say you will pay onboard since they don't know what you will order. I know this is true for the Escape at the very least.

 

Thank you for confirming my experience! I was starting to feel crazy! :)

[piper45maru]

Just wanted to add a comment about pre-booking excursions. You can pre-book excursions without pre-paying if you're using the shore excursion credit that's part of the current promotions.

 

That must be why I was able to, then. Thanks for clarifying this! Like I said, my first NCL cruise! (And first cruise in over a decade!)

 

I honestly thought that my experience was normal or I never would have said anything at all.

Edited August 5, 2015 by piper45maru

[johnql]

That must be why I was able to, then. Thanks for clarifying this! Like I said, my first NCL cruise! (And first cruise in over a decade!)

 

I honestly thought that my experience was normal or I never would have said anything at all.

Yes, just to clarify - this is different from pre-booking an excursion and trying to use OBC given by NCL or a travel agent. OBC still cannot be used to pre-book excursions; pre-payment would still be required. However, the shore excursion credits are treated differently.

[emmak8]

Good time to check out the perks on other cruise lines.

[newmexicoNita]

I have oBC but cannot use it on ship to pay for my dining options if I pre reserve ...i need to prepay

They expect prepayments .if i book on ship the price is higher ...wow ...how disgusting ...why should it be more .....why can.t I pay the same price but choose the day on board and have the option to use my OBC ??if

I f i a restaurant on land the price stays the same ....i pay that night ...not so onNCL ....not right

Same with excursions ...prpay or up the price goes ..So tell me how do i get to use my OBC if i cannot reserve on line and pay on board ??Not fair ...so how am I supposed to use my OBC

I do not need more tshirys or junk jeweleery

I am not pleased with all these changes and the upcharges

EVen with a dining packAge there are all kindsof upcharges

NCL please correct this or you will lose lts of customers

 

:(. :(. :(

I am a lttle confused. Where are you getting the idea dinner is more expensive if you do not pre book and prepay? When did the prices go up? I think you have been given some good ideas here, you may want to take some of them.

[NMLady]

I have oBC but cannot use it on ship to pay for my dining options if I pre reserve ...i need to prepay

They expect prepayments .if i book on ship the price is higher ...wow ...how disgusting ...why should it be more .....why can.t I pay the same price but choose the day on board and have the option to use my OBC ??if

I f i a restaurant on land the price stays the same ....i pay that night ...not so onNCL ....not right

Same with excursions ...prpay or up the price goes ..

:(. :(. :(

 

The price is the same whether you prebook or book onboard.

[StolidCruiser]

I am a lttle confused. Where are you getting the idea dinner is more expensive if you do not pre book and prepay? When did the prices go up? I think you have been given some good ideas here, you may want to take some of them.

 

Wishful thinking. It's always nice to be optimistic but in this case I think the pot already has a crack in it.

[daffodiliaz]

Reserve and pay online. Once onboard, reverse the CC payment and use OBC.

 

Has anyone done this successfully? I spoke to someone at corporate who said they could make an exception but she wouldn't put a note in my reservation and I don't trust that the front desk on board could or would refund to my credit card. So we'll just DIY the port I was interested in.

[mpcaruth]

Omg, you mean you can't use an onboard credit before you are actually onboard, that's just wrong. [emoji57]

 

OP, pay now and cash your OBC out at the casino for a 3%fee is also an option.

I was not aware of this. I typically use my OBC to pay gratuities on other lines. We have $225 OBC for our upcoming Getaway cruise, and already have the UBP. So would cashing in OBC from the casino, and then putting that cash on my account for DSC work?

[Leavethekidswithmom]

I was not aware of this. I typically use my OBC to pay gratuities on other lines. We have $225 OBC for our upcoming Getaway cruise, and already have the UBP. So would cashing in OBC from the casino, and then putting that cash on my account for DSC work?

 

 

You got it right. It's too bad you can't just use your OBC for the DSC but this is a way around it.

[Lorey2007]

A little off topic but since it was mentioned can someone explain what exactly a spa pass is and the cost. Thanks.

[piper45maru]

A little off topic but since it was mentioned can someone explain what exactly a spa pass is and the cost. Thanks.

 

 

The pass gives you access to the thermal spa with thallasotherapy pools, and it's adults only. From what I've been able to tell, the cost depends on the cruise. For my 7-night, port-intensive cruise (only one sea day), the online cost is $129, which is advertised as a $20 savings compared to onboard. I've seen other people report that they got theirs for $199 for a 7-day cruise, one that had more sea days than mine, which is when people generally use them more. I've seen higher prices for longer cruises. So you'd have to check your specific cruise to know the cost.