Final Payment date

[evitacruiser]

I hve just booked a cruise for the end of March next year.

 

Final payment is 30th Nov, 16 weeks before sailing. This seems a long time to me, is this NCL policy (uk) or is it the TA I have used?

Edited August 13, 2015 by evitacruiser

[tarps14]

Is it a suite? NCL has a much longer cancellation penalty phase for suites than most other lines. Four months sounds about right. Our Sept 12th cruise final pymt was due May 15th.

Edited August 13, 2015 by tarps14

[evitacruiser]

No, a balcony and a couple of insides.

[SissasMomE]

I hve just booked a cruise for the end of March next year.

 

Final payment is 30th Nov, 16 weeks before sailing. This seems a long time to me, is this NCL policy (uk) or is it the TA I have used?

 

Did you book through a TA? They usually have a final payment date before the actual final payment date, just to be on the safe side.

[tarps14]

For balcony and insides, final pymt shouldn't be due until late Dec or early Jan. I have no clue if the UK requirements could be different. Try and do a mock booking through the NCL UK site and see what date comes up.

[rydan]

It depends on the type of accommodation you have. Suites have earlier penalty phases, then standard rooms. 120 days sounds about right.

 

Also holiday sailings usually have earlier final payments as well.

[hawkeyetlse]

This is what the NCL UK booking conditions say:

The balance of the holiday cost must be received by us not later than the balance due date which is 60 days prior to the start of the holiday for all cruises (full payment for Suites (category H1-SJ) is required at 90 days).

So whoever is asking the OP for full payment 4 months before the cruise is evidently following their own policy, not NCL's.

[evitacruiser]

Yes, I have just done a mock booking on the NCL site and final payment is due 4th Jan and not 30th November which is when we have to pay by.

 

Also, the deposit was half what we have paid. However, on the plus side the TA has discounted it by £150pp from the online NCL site.

Edited August 13, 2015 by evitacruiser

[candydane]

I personally would be very suspicious of a TA that required final payment that much before the cruise line's required date.

 

Occasionally TAs will charge clients payments early but not pay the cruise line until they have to, which creates a risk for clients. There have been a couple accounts I've read over the years where the TA goes bankrupt after collecting client payments but before the TA actually pays the cruise line. In that case clients are out of luck and in for a big financial hassle. Cruise lines don't consider payments made until THEY get their money, regardless of when clients pay their TAs.

 

I recommend when you do make your final payment that you check your credit card account immediately (online or by phone) to be sure the final payment charge to your credit card is done by NCL and not by the TA's agency.

[Wavesprite]

We're in a suite on February 14th and our final payment date is December 1st.

[evitacruiser]

It is a large online agency based in the UK trading as Planet cruise/Iglu. I have asked them the question and will await their response. I should say we have used them once before without a problem, but I probably just didn't notice the difference in payment dates then as I was new to cruising.

Edited August 14, 2015 by evitacruiser

[Demonyte]

I recommend when you do make your final payment that you check your credit card account immediately (online or by phone) to be sure the final payment charge to your credit card is done by NCL and not by the TA's agency.

 

 

While this would be the way to go in the perfect world, there are even some big TAs that charge client's card directly (used one of them couple of times before moving on to my current TA) -- so even if the TA makes the charge, it is not an absolute indication of something being wrong.

[Millipilli]

I just booked a June cruise for next year directly with NCL europe. Final payment is in May, 30 Days prior to cruise start.