Distinctive voyages

[cmurchake]

We have booked air twice through NCL on international flights because it was significantly cheaper than anything else I found. We were pleased with it even though connection choices weren't the best.

 

I've never found their domestic air prices to be cheaper than what I can find on my own. The $200 credit might make a difference in that. Check and see.

 

We're flying Southwest so will stick with that.

 

However, I AM seeing about hotel.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I'll be flying from the Baltimore/DC area to San Juan and wondered if it was worth booking through NCL. I am a little concerned that I don't have much say on airline/time/price, but the $200 per person airline credit (there's two of us so $400 total) seems like I would come out ahead. I also fly Southwest and have points I could use so I'm still up in the air.

 

I'm sure I'll take advantage of the $100 hotel credit

[EllieinNJ]

Where on the website can you find info on airfare and hotels? And if you are booked with a TA do you have have them go through NCL for you?

[Son of a son of a ...]

Anyone have experience booking air and/or hotel through NCL?

 

I just booked with the Distinctive package. I used them for air. From PHL to Rome RT in Oct 2018, the price was about $960 pp with the $200 credit applied - since DW is booked in the same cabin, she received the other $200 credit on her airfare. I have nothing to compare it to because flights are not available online to book that far out. I have no idea of the airline or flight times until much closer to sailing. The hotel in Rome was $199 pp and included transfer from airport to hotel. Therefore, for DW and me, it was about $400, but with the $100 hotel credit, it was $300. The hotel was the Crowne Plaza. We bought transfers from the hotel to port and port to airport for $110 pp.

 

Note: I was told by the rep that NCL would fly you in the morning of embarkation. I asked if they could schedule the flight to arrive a day earlier and the rep told me that they would only do that if we booked a pre-cruise hotel with them. Pre-cruise hotel stays can be 1-2-3 days ... your choice.

 

The deposit was only $100 for cabin, air, and hotel combined because of the current promo.

[cmurchake]

I just booked with the Distinctive package. I used them for air. From PHL to Rome RT in Oct 2018, the price was about $960 pp with the $200 credit applied - since DW is booked in the same cabin, she received the other $200 credit on her airfare. I have nothing to compare it to because flights are not available online to book that far out. I have no idea of the airline or flight times until much closer to sailing. The hotel in Rome was $199 pp and included transfer from airport to hotel. Therefore, for DW and me, it was about $400, but with the $100 hotel credit, it was $300. The hotel was the Crowne Plaza. We bought transfers from the hotel to port and port to airport for $110 pp.

 

Note: I was told by the rep that NCL would fly you in the morning of embarkation. I asked if they could schedule the flight to arrive a day earlier and the rep told me that they would only do that if we booked a pre-cruise hotel with them. Pre-cruise hotel stays can be 1-2-3 days ... your choice.

 

The deposit was only $100 for cabin, air, and hotel combined because of the current promo.

 

Interesting that they have a price for the flight although flights are not available that far out. For my specific cruise I would request to fly in a day early and use the hotel credit on a 1-night pre-stay. I suppose I can call and ask for pricing even if the itinerary is not available. Perhaps I can get the price but not book yet and wait until flights are available to compare.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Interesting that they have a price for the flight although flights are not available that far out. For my specific cruise I would request to fly in a day early and use the hotel credit on a 1-night pre-stay. I suppose I can call and ask for pricing even if the itinerary is not available. Perhaps I can get the price but not book yet and wait until flights are available to compare.

 

And the rest of the story: I think the hotel is overpriced based on an online comparison of the price. DW and I were having serious discussions of whether we want to keep control of our flights. We would not use the phone minutes - no one we really need to talk to when on vacation. Plus, she is able to pay $5/day overseas for wireless and she is able to pop a hot spot when on shore so I can use it too. We have lots of data to burn so not really a problem. The shorex credit would be nice, but NCL charges a lot of money for excursions as opposed to booking your own.

 

Therefore, we are keeping our options open as to dumping out of the hotel if we can find one cheaper and dumping out of the flight if we can find one within $200 that allows us to control schedules.

[cmurchake]

Luckily for my cruise and cabin selection the price did not change and I was able to add this promo for nothing. Still not sure I want to be at the itinerary and pricing mercy of NCL

[coldweather]

I have not seen any comments but I was able to add the Distinctive Voyages promotion to my exisiting reservation booked through a travel agent. The promotion of Distinctive Voyages did not show up on the computer system of the TA. A quick call to NCL had this promotion added to my existing reservation.

[Casino Comp Chick]

$100 per day?? You mean $1400??? How?

 

No I mean $100 per day....$50 for the free at sea perk & another $50 per day for the Distinctive Voyage perk

[mugtech]

Another Distinctive Voyage was just added, the 20 day Jewel returning to Seattle from Tokyo with many stops in Japan and then Seward and the usual Alaska stops. Prices starting at less than $1900 for an inside. Check it out, wish this was listed sooner, already purchased my way home from Asia next spring.

[sjbdtz]

No I mean $100 per day....$50 for the free at sea perk & another $50 per day for the Distinctive Voyage perk

 

 

I think you mean $100 per PORT day. Otherwise it is a 2 week sailing with 14 days = $1400 which is what NMLady was asking about.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

[Casino Comp Chick]

I think you mean $100 per PORT day. Otherwise it is a 2 week sailing with 14 days = $1400 which is what NMLady was asking about.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

 

I said in post #12 that it was a 7 port cruise.

[NMLady]

No I mean $100 per day....$50 for the free at sea perk & another $50 per day for the Distinctive Voyage perk

 

I have the Distinctive Voyage perk and I don't have $50 per day. what cabin category are you in?

Or are talking about $50 per port for the Shore Excursion credit?

I probably won't use the Shore excursion credits since I wasn't planning on doing ship excursions in our ports.

 

But the free wifi package is welcome since I was going to purchase one so that's a money saver for us.

[NMLady]

I said in post #12 that it was a 7 port cruise.

 

But then you said "per DAY". That is what was confusing. You repeated per day in your post #33.

The perk is only good when applied to shore excursions through the ship. So it is per excursion, not per day, not even per port unless you're taking a ship excursion.

[biker@sea]

:( 14 day Eastern Caribbean from Boston did not make the list. :confused:

 

Don't seem right. :rolleyes:

 

The 9 night from Boston is.

The 14 night Eastern from N.Y. is.

 

What's up with that??

 

https://www.ncl.com/vacations/?sailingmerchandisingspecials=Distinctive_Voyages&destinations=Caribbean_Cruises

[Casino Comp Chick]

But then you said "per DAY". That is what was confusing. You repeated per day in your post #33.

The perk is only good when applied to shore excursions through the ship. So it is per excursion, not per day, not even per port unless you're taking a ship excursion.

As long as the free at sea perks have been around I naturally assumed (incorrectly obviously) that all the seasoned cruisers would know I was speaking of per port. Next time I will be more specific.

[canicruiseagainplease]

We have booked air twice through NCL on international flights because it was significantly cheaper than anything else I found. We were pleased with it even though connection choices weren't the best.

 

I've never found their domestic air prices to be cheaper than what I can find on my own. The $200 credit might make a difference in that. Check and see.

 

We're flying Southwest so will stick with that.

 

However, I AM seeing about hotel.

 

Just quoted $700 round-trip (nope, not first class either) from Boston to New York! When I do it myself, it's $150, so I don't understand at all? Sounds like I have to do it myself and lose the $$230 ($150 air +rt shuttle) in savings I thought I'd realize using DV.

[Scrappytraveller]

Looking at the spring 2019 epic TA and it has this distinctive voyages BS. It’s stopping me from booking. We had to cancel the fall 2018 TA and the price we had for that was much lower. These extra so called perks are mostly useless to us. Wish ncl would give the option of booking without it.

 

 

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[Shawnino]

We are booked on a DV B2B this coming fall (Spirit; Med)

One the one hand, it seems NCL is making all this up as they go along...

...on the other hand, packing in air credit seems like a hand-me-down concept from the somewhat more upscale Oceania line within NCLH. If you head over to the Oceania board there are several threads on how to (and how not to) use airfare offers.

[lnhoney]

The Free at Sea port excursion credit is only good for up to 3 excursions on a 7 day cruise, 4 excursions on a 10 day and up. I found that in the fine print somewhere on the NCL site and was also confirmed by my TA through NCL. I don't know if the DV credit for port excursions works the same way. Not offered on my upcoming cruise.

[Vinegarjoe10]

Thanks for the quick reply. I just checked, and sure enough we have a 2019 sailing that was made into a Distinctive Voyage. For the hotel and air credits, would we need to book hotel and air with Norwegian, or would we get the credit for whichever we choose?

 

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CTCruiser001,

 

We are sailing on a cruise that is a distinctive voyage in Feb. 2019. Upon inquiring about the airfare and hotel credits, I was told by the NCL representative that you have to book through NCL. The rep unofficially stated that most folks don't bother with the airfare option as you can find cheaper airfare and book the airline you want.

[EllieinNJ]

If you booked a cruise that had DV, is it noted anywhere on MYNCL? Did you have to pick it as one of your two perks?

[DarkJedi]

CTCruiser001,

 

We are sailing on a cruise that is a distinctive voyage in Feb. 2019. Upon inquiring about the airfare and hotel credits, I was told by the NCL representative that you have to book through NCL. The rep unofficially stated that most folks don't bother with the airfare option as you can find cheaper airfare and book the airline you want.

 

Not only that but when I tried to use it they wouldn't even let me pick the date and time I was flying. Since we are going a week early that was pretty much a waste.

[wilsonhold]

The Free at Sea port excursion credit is only good for up to 3 excursions on a 7 day cruise, 4 excursions on a 10 day and up. I found that in the fine print somewhere on the NCL site and was also confirmed by my TA through NCL. I don't know if the DV credit for port excursions works the same way. Not offered on my upcoming cruise.

 

 

 

I believe that statement was true in the past, but current rules are listed below.

50 Per Port Shore Excursion Credit:

$50 USD per port shore excursion credit is per stateroom.

Credit has no monetary value and is nonrefundable.

In the event a port of call or excursion is missed, for any reason, no refund or credit will be issued.

Shore excursion credit is applicable for each port, including debarkation port, and is not transferable to other ports. Use the credit or lose it.

Does not include embarkation ports. Overnight stays count as one port, except Bermuda sailings which can receive up to 3 individual days of shore excursion credit.

Shore excursion credit can only be redeemed by calling 1-866-625-1167 or booking onboard.

 

 

 

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[RVA_PAUL]

SHOULD BE CALLED NCL DISTINCTIVE CAOS -

 

Beware getting distintive voyage perks is not straight forward as most customers would think.

I state this after my terrible experience just today when booking a cruise on NCL website and speaking with NCL rep toto pay and another 2 hour seperate call to try to decern what I was getting.

 

The NCL site listed this my date/itinerary as a DISTINCTIVE VOYAGE(DV). But after paying and looking at my res confirmation and online trip info nowhere could I find any mention of the DV credits/call minute/hotel/air credits.

 

So I called and was told nope I do not have any DV. I escalated to manager. After 2 hours this is my impression.

 

Either intetionally or not intentionally getting DV perks is conviluted, confusing, and unclear.

 

Note this is not just for me a lay person but also for all the NCL reps and manager I spoke with. At no time did feel that the process was clear to NCL staff and it was more unclear to me. The DV perks are nowhere on paperwork or my trip planner. Nowhere on AMENITY INVOICES.

 

From reading oth er reviews touching on DV it seems as though it is up the customer to follow-up and request those DV perks. If a customer does not do this he/she will simply not get them.

 

This demostrated lack of clarity of responsiblities and process only favors NCL as cruisers are not NCL verbiage and process experts

 

BEWARE - DV

 

ASAP AFTER BOOKING MAKE SURE YOU GET AMENITY INVOICES FOR EACH AND EVERY ITEM YOUR EXPECTING.

I will revise this post once and if I can get someone from NCL who knows how the DV admin process works and get me a correct AMENITY INVOICE PRIOR TO CRUISE!!!

I will also update once I have completed my cruise when and if all DV benefits were applied correctly.

Edited April 6, 2018 by RVA_PAUL

[shof515]

The easiest way to tell if you have all of the distinctive voyage perks is by looking at onboard amenity in your vacation summary page and on the edocs . each perk should be listed one by one. they should also be listed on your amenity confirmation and on the confirmation email

 

I was on the breakaway in November and it was part of this distinctive voyage. none of my documents said distinctive voyage but all of the perks were listed individually