Just booked my cheapest NCL cruise ever

[PortFees45]

7-day to Quebec City out of Boston is available on NCL.com right now for $229 for a solo inside sailaway. 

 

I don't think fares get much lower than that. Do they? 

[Sweetnspicy]

3 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

7-day to Quebec City out of Boston is available on NCL.com right now for $229 for a solo inside sailaway. 

 

I don't think fares get much lower than that. Do they? 

Wow! Great  find! 

[PortFees45]

And the return trip was unfortunately much, much more expensive...at $299.

 

With two CruiseNext certs (one for each) this really is coming up on being cheaper than staying home. 

 

Not wild about the Inside cabin, but unlike the Dawn (other Canadian route I was looking at) the Gem has Great Outdoors and Spinnaker, which makes such a huge difference. 

[fstuff1]

50 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

And the return trip was unfortunately much, much more expensive...at $299.

 

With two CruiseNext certs (one for each) this really is coming up on being cheaper than staying home. 

 

Not wild about the Inside cabin, but unlike the Dawn (other Canadian route I was looking at) the Gem has Great Outdoors and Spinnaker, which makes such a huge difference. 

congrats on the great price!

 

i prefer the Dawn over Jewel class ships mainly because of the additional specialty restaurant, Los Lobos.

i went on an 18day Gem panama cruise solo and got so tired of alternating Cagneys + Le Bistro every night.

'free' 11day dining package+ 4 Platinum (sharing) = 7 days cagneys, 6 days le bistro, 2 moderno.

(dont like Tepanaki or La Cuchina.)

[bones774]

57 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

And the return trip was unfortunately much, much more expensive...at $299.

 

With two CruiseNext certs (one for each) this really is coming up on being cheaper than staying home. 

 

Not wild about the Inside cabin, but unlike the Dawn (other Canadian route I was looking at) the Gem has Great Outdoors and Spinnaker, which makes such a huge difference. 

I believe you can use 2 CN certs on any cabin till tomorrow, so if you have 4 certs double your savings

[CookieShip]

If only I weren't in the middle of all these work projects :(.

[Named-Tawny]

2 hours ago, PortFees45 said:

7-day to Quebec City out of Boston is available on NCL.com right now for $229 for a solo inside sailaway. 

 

I don't think fares get much lower than that. Do they? 

Wow. Which dates?

 

Let me know how the trip goes? I'll be sailing Quebec-Boston in 2020.

[Budget Queen]

2 hours ago, PortFees45 said:

And the return trip was unfortunately much, much more expensive...at $299.

 

With two CruiseNext certs (one for each) this really is coming up on being cheaper than staying home. 

 

Not wild about the Inside cabin, but unlike the Dawn (other Canadian route I was looking at) the Gem has Great Outdoors and Spinnaker, which makes such a huge difference. 

Why didn’t you use 2 Cruise Next per cruise???   Now that’s a deal.    😀😀😀

[beljwl]

That is a great price!!! Congrats. 

 

I have been lucky, I have gotten 2 practically free cruises with NCL. My first one was 3 years ago from Miami to Bahamas for 4 days. We paid $500 total (taxes included) for a mini suite. This next one we are getting a deck 10 balcony cabin for $100 (yes $100)  per person (plus taxes) This upcoming one is leaving Los Angeles on Sunday and going to San Diego and Ensenada and returning to Los Angeles on Friday. Both cruises are music cruises. Over 15 bands on each cruise. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by beljwl

[PortFees45]

1 hour ago, Budget Queen said:

Why didn’t you use 2 Cruise Next per cruise???   Now that’s a deal.    😀😀😀

I only buy two cruise nexts at a time. There's really no financial incentive to get more than that. I used one for each leg of the trip. 

[bones774]

1 hour ago, PortFees45 said:

I only buy two cruise nexts at a time. There's really no financial incentive to get more than that. I used one for each leg of the trip. 

You just found out the financial incentive to get more. There really is no financial incentive not to have a full load. They are resellable,  last for four years and there is a active market for people who want them. You can usually resell them in a day.

[PortFees45]

18 minutes ago, bones774 said:

You just found out the financial incentive to get more. There really is no financial incentive not to have a full load. They are resellable,  last for four years and there is a active market for people who want them. You can usually resell them in a day.

Nope, NCL is still only kicking in $250 to match your $250. If I had 4 cruise certs now, it just meant I spent more in the past. 

 

It's not like how if you get one $250 cert they kick in $100, but if you book two they kick in $250. If you bought 4 certs and they say, kicked in $600 instead of $500, I'd buy more than 2 at a time.

[bones774]

4 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

Nope, NCL is still only kicking in $250 to match your $250. If I had 4 cruise certs now, it just meant I spent more in the past. 

 

It's not like how if you get one $250 cert they kick in $100, but if you book two they kick in $250. If you bought 4 certs and they say, kicked in $600 instead of $500, I'd buy more than 2 at a time.

The way NCL markets these things makes it so difficult to grasp the deal. The best way to look at it is you are buying 1/2 price gift certificates.  You get 1k of merchandise for $500. If you put  down 4 you would get a 1k drop in price that only cost you $500

[PortFees45]

1 minute ago, bones774 said:

The way NCL markets these things makes it so difficult to grasp the deal. The best way to look at it is you are buying 1/2 price gift certificates.  You get 1k of merchandise for $500. If you put  down 4 you would get a 1k drop in price that only cost you $500

Yes but there's no more actual savings (ie "free money") for 4 versus 2...it just means you've paid more up front. 

[bones774]

every $250 cert you put down only cost you $125. every cert you use you save $125.

that's why the 2 per any cabin is a good deal and people are always looking for that deal

Edited August 29, 2019 by bones774

[PortFees45]

17 minutes ago, bones774 said:

every $250 cert you put down only cost you $125. every cert you use you save $125.

that's why the 2 per any cabin is a good deal and people are always looking for that deal

Nope. If you buy one $250 cert you get $100 in "free money." 

 

If you buy 2, you get $250 in "free money" - not $200, so you do really save more by buying two. Those savings end if you get more than that. 

[bones774]

4 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

Nope. If you buy one $250 cert you get $100 in "free money." 

 

If you buy 2, you get $250 in "free money" - not $200, so you do really save more by buying two. Those savings end if you get more than that. 

the savings don't end they just don't increase %wise.  if you buy 4 you get $500 in total savings.

anyway you got a good deal, enjoy your cruise

the more certs you put down the more you save, that's why they limit you to begin with.

Edited August 29, 2019 by bones774

[xcell]

Great price -- I just checked, an inside cabin for 2 would be $1000 CDN and then using a FCC, your down to $800-850 range.

 

Too bad it's off my kids school break schedule.

[KeithJenner]

8 hours ago, PortFees45 said:

Nope. If you buy one $250 cert you get $100 in "free money." 

 

If you buy 2, you get $250 in "free money" - not $200, so you do really save more by buying two. Those savings end if you get more than that. 

I don’t understand your reasoning at all.

 

I would certainly avoid buying just one voucher, as the discount is less than 50% in that case. However, if you are buying then in multiples of 2 then it is a 50% discount on however many you buy.

 

When you come to using them, you effectively lose out if you don’t use as many as you are allowed to spend. If you just use one voucher you effectively save $125 off your fare, but if you use 2 then you save $250. There is your financial incentive.

 

Thats why I always keep a few certificates, available on my account.

[PortFees45]

35 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

I don’t understand your reasoning at all.

 

I would certainly avoid buying just one voucher, as the discount is less than 50% in that case. However, if you are buying then in multiples of 2 then it is a 50% discount on however many you buy.

 

When you come to using them, you effectively lose out if you don’t use as many as you are allowed to spend. If you just use one voucher you effectively save $125 off your fare, but if you use 2 then you save $250. There is your financial incentive.

 

Thats why I always keep a few certificates, available on my account.

What don't you understand? You said it yourself, you don't get any savings beyond getting them in pairs.

 

So just buy one pair per cruise. If I buy two pairs I don't save any more money. I just have to spend less at the time of booking my next cruise because I spent more on the previous one. 

[bones774]

8 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

What don't you understand? You said it yourself, you don't get any savings beyond getting them in pairs.

 

So just buy one pair per cruise. If I buy two pairs I don't save any more money. I just have to spend less at the time of booking my next cruise because I spent more on the previous one. 

The previous poster may have mistated somewhat when he said buy them in pairs, you can buy them in odd amounts also, you can buy 3 or whatever, but buying only one is the least economical way to buy. In any case buying 2 or more gets you 50% discount ALWAYS.

You are having a hard time comprehending, suggest you just take advice from a couple posters here stating use as many cert as you are allowed. In a roundabout way even NCL is telling you to use as many as you can by the fact they are promoting the 2CN as a special rewards program for a short time(unless they extend).

If I sold you 4@$250($1000) Amazon gift certificates for $500 in total would that be a good deal? Now substitute NCL for Amazon.

[PortFees45]

What am I "having a hard time comprehending?" 

 

What don't you understand about the fact you're just giving NCL your money earlier if you buy more than 2, without any additional benefit other than having to spend less when you book the next cruise?  

 

4 amazon gift certificates for $500 total is no better a deal than 2 certificates for $250 total. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by PortFees45

[KeithJenner]

25 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

What don't you understand? You said it yourself, you don't get any savings beyond getting them in pairs.

 

So just buy one pair per cruise. If I buy two pairs I don't save any more money. I just have to spend less at the time of booking my next cruise because I spent more on the previous one. 

But, if you had bought more than 2 per cruise then you could have had more in your account now and applied two per cruise, therefore saving $250 on each cruise rather than $125.

 

You may make a decision to limit what you have tied up in CruiseNext vouchers, or there may be other reasons for just buying two, but there is certainly a financial incentive to buy as many as you will likely need, rather than just limiting yourself to two.

[KeithJenner]

15 minutes ago, bones774 said:

The previous poster may have mistated somewhat when he said buy them in pairs, you can buy them in odd amounts also, you can buy 3 or whatever, but buying only one is the least economical way to buy. In any case buying 2 or more gets you 50% discount ALWAYS.

Yes, I worded it badly. Ishould have said if you buy more than two, rather than buying in pairs.

[KeithJenner]

Let's illustrate this with some numbers.

 

If I have no vouchers on my account and then buy two of them, I will have $500 of vouchers for $250 (a saving of $250). Or, if I buy 4 then I will have $1000 of vouchers for $500.

 

Let's say I then book two cruises at a cost of $1,000 each. If I had bought just two vouchers then I would have to pay $1,500 for those two cruises. Plus the $250 I paid for the vouchers means that the two cruises cost me $1,750 in total.

 

Alternatively, if I had bought 4 vouchers then I would have to pay $1,000 for the two cruises, plus the $500 I paid for the vouchers means a total price of $1,500. That is $250 less, and therefore there was a financial incentive for buying 4 vouchers at the time.

 

To be clear, I am not saying that there is any particular benefit in buying 4 vouchers over 2, but that there is certainly a benefit in making sure you have enough vouchers to cover your future bookings. If you have to buy 4 in order to do that then there is the financial benefit.