Excursion perks with 10% off

[EllieinNJ]

I'm trying to figure out which will cost me less, the reduced air or additional $50 per port excursion credit,  if I decide to take all NCL excursions in my 7 ports.

 

Do they take the 10% off first for platinum cruisers, then the $50 + $50 or the $50 + $50, then the remainder at 10%? 

[Zippeedee]

18 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I'm trying to figure out which will cost me less, the reduced air or additional $50 per port excursion credit,  if I decide to take all NCL excursions in my 7 ports.

 

Do they take the 10% off first for platinum cruisers, then the $50 + $50 or the $50 + $50, then the remainder at 10%? 

I don’t have the extra perk, but I just booked an excursion and the discount was subtracted first. I didn’t call because I wanted the balance paid now so I just booked it online. I hate leaving a ship with a big bill.

[esm54687]

23 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I'm trying to figure out which will cost me less, the reduced air or additional $50 per port excursion credit,  if I decide to take all NCL excursions in my 7 ports.

 

Do they take the 10% off first for platinum cruisers, then the $50 + $50 or the $50 + $50, then the remainder at 10%? 

what happened to me in May:

- full price charged to stateroom

- $50 promo OBC given to stateroom

- Latitude discount OBC given to stateroom

 

3 line items for the 1 excursion. It is processed exactly like CruiseNext is.

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by esm54687

[esm54687]

9 minutes ago, Zippeedee said:

I don’t have the extra perk, but I just booked an excursion and the discount was subtracted first. I didn’t call because I wanted the balance paid now so I just booked it online. I hate leaving a ship with a big bill

Really? 

 

Normally if you pre pay (on line or on phone), you get charged the full amount and you receive the OBC upon completion of the excursion.  The reason they do that is if you pre pay and get the credit up front..... then you see a price reduction and you rebook with a different promo and no longer get the excursion credit then all things are messed up. That's why they say to pre reserve with the promo by calling the Excursion 800 number. 

Edited October 1, 2019 by esm54687

[Dar & Bob]

6 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

Really? 

 

Normally if you pre pay (on line or on phone), you get charged the full amount and you receive the OBC upon completion of the excursion.  The reason they do that is if you pre pay and get the credit up front..... then you see a price reduction and you rebook with a different promo and no longer get the excursion credit then all things are messed up. That's why they say to pre reserve with the promo by calling the Excursion 800 number. 

However, if the price increases before your cruise and you have just reserved it, you pay the increased price.  On the other hand if you book online and pay for it up front you get the $50 credit and then have non refundable OBC to use.  So decisions, decisions

[esm54687]

2 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

However, if the price increases before your cruise and you have just reserved it, you pay the increased price.  On the other hand if you book online and pay for it up front you get the $50 credit and then have non refundable OBC to use.  So decisions, decisions

I've cruised NCL 8 or 9 times and never received the $50 promo credit when pre paying for an Excursion..... it's always been paying full price and then get the OBC when excursion was completed.

 

I was talking about the cruise price being reduced and you call, rebooked the trip and chose the PBP promo instead of the Excursion promo....... if you receive the $50 discount as part of pre paying then it would be a mess charging that $50 to the credit card because you no longer have the excursion promo

[Zippeedee]

I will get the $50 credit onboard. I paid for the excursion less the platinum discount. Sorry I was didn’t make that clear. All the others I have called to book and will pay for those onboard, then get the $50 credit for each one. They are almost all under $50 so it is mostly a wash.

Edited October 1, 2019 by Zippeedee

[Nola26]

10% off the top and you're charged the rest.  After the excursion $50 credit issued once to cabin, not per occupant. Same process if you prepay or pay on day 1 of cruise. 

 

In your case your max credit is $350. 

Edited October 1, 2019 by Nola26

[EllieinNJ]

7 hours ago, Nola26 said:

10% off the top and you're charged the rest.  After the excursion $50 credit issued once to cabin, not per occupant. Same process if you prepay or pay on day 1 of cruise. 

 

In your case your max credit is $350. 

Yes, but I have a choice of taking the reduced air or an extra $50 per port per cabin.  That would make it $100 per port per cabin plus the 10% off.  So say I pick a shore excursion for $100 per person, $200 total.  Would the 10% come off first ($20) then the $100 with a net of $80 or the $100 first, then the 10% ($10) with a net of $90?

[deefer]

On our Panama Canal cruise in March of this year we got the discount applied first, then the $100 credit was applied.

[newmexicoNita]

When we book on line they always take off our Plat plus discount at that time The 50.00 perk comes off after we have taken the cruise. To us it is a good deal. We used to always book private tours but now more and more we are leaning toward booking all our excursions through NCL or most of them anyway. 

[Nola26]

2 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Yes, but I have a choice of taking the reduced air or an extra $50 per port per cabin.  That would make it $100 per port per cabin plus the 10% off.  So say I pick a shore excursion for $100 per person, $200 total.  Would the 10% come off first ($20) then the huh $100 with a net of $80 or the $100 first, then the 10% ($10) with a net of $90?

No that is incorrect the shoreX perk is $50 per cabin not per person  for $100. For 7 ports your maximum perk is $350.

The math works as I described: 10% discount and pay for the excursions. After you take it your account is credited $50.

 

So 7 $100 excursions for two people with a Latitude discount you will be charged $1,400-140 = $1,260. After each excursion you get $50 back so net cost is $910.

If you have some type of double up that gives $100 per cabin that's different and not the perk I use every cruise. 

 

Seems airfare would save more than $350 for 2 plane tickets. 

Edited October 1, 2019 by Nola26

[EllieinNJ]

10 minutes ago, Nola26 said:

No that is incorrect the shoreX perk is $50 per cabin not per person  for $100. For 7 ports your maximum perk is $350.

The math works as I described: 10% discount and pay for the excursions. After you take it your account is credited $50.

 

So 7 $100 excursions for two people with a Latitude discount you will be charged $1,400-140 = $1,260. After each excursion you get $50 back so net cost is $910.

If you have some type of double up that gives $100 per cabin that's different and not the perk I use every cruise. 

 

Seems airfare would save more than $350 for 2 plane tickets. 

Yes.  We get the regular ShoreX at $50 per cabin plus an additional ShoreX at another $50 per cabin if we choose not to take the reduced airfare.  We only need air one way so I'm trying to work out which is less expensive.  All I wanted to know is which is taken off first - the 10% or the ShoreX perks.  This will be the first time I have ever picked this kind of perk.

[Nola26]

36 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Yes.  We get the regular ShoreX at $50 per cabin plus an additional ShoreX at another $50 per cabin if we choose not to take the reduced airfare.  We only need air one way so I'm trying to work out which is less expensive.  All I wanted to know is which is taken off first - the 10% or the ShoreX perks.  This will be the first time I have ever picked this kind of perk.

Well I have answered your question twice. Good luck doing your math. 

[snorklinbarb]

31 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Yes.  We get the regular ShoreX at $50 per cabin plus an additional ShoreX at another $50 per cabin if we choose not to take the reduced airfare.  We only need air one way so I'm trying to work out which is less expensive.  All I wanted to know is which is taken off first - the 10% or the ShoreX perks.  This will be the first time I have ever picked this kind of perk.

Just finished doing the same exercise as you.  Take a look at the free/reduced one way air you need and compare that to how much it would normally cost you to fly.  As for shorex, yes, the Latitudes discount is taken right off the top and the shorex credit is reflected on your a/c after you complete the excursion.  With the shorex Perk it is $50 per port per cabin.  If you choose the extra shorex vs airfare option, you will have $100 per port per cabin excluding the embarkation port but including the disembarkation port (so can be applied to a shorex last day with airport drop-off).  

 

For one of my upcoming trips I chose the airfare as it is really low and way better than any fare I could possibly find to get us to Miami and then back from Europe.    For the other cruise, which starts in NYC, I chose the extra shorex as I only need one way air.  Will use miles to fly back.  14 ports so the Platinum Plus discount and $100 per cabin is more valuable to me.  

 

Like others said, count the number of excursion days and get a "value" for both the $50 regular shorex perk  plus choosing airfare option vs taking the regular and extra shorex and foregoing airfare.  Compare that to what you would expect to pay for air to figure out which combination works best for you.  

 

Good luck!

[EllieinNJ]

Thanks Snorklinbarb.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one trying to figure out what works best.  We also are starting in NYC to Seattle.  Right now there are 7 ports, possibly 8 because there is no ShoreX out of Seattle yet so not as great a deal as you have but right now if we choose this option, we are still $50 less than the NCL Air option and we can pick our own flights and time.

 

Thanks Nola26 for answering my question several times.  I was just trying to tell you that we have the additional $50 per port per cabin.

 

 

[deefer]

4 hours ago, Nola26 said:

Well I have answered your question twice. Good luck doing your math. 

 

Sometimes there is a promotion where you get an EXTRA $50 shore excursion per cabin.  This is what we had on our Panama Canal cruise and this is what the the OP can get in lieu of taking the “free air” perk.   

 

So her math is correct.

 

[snorklinbarb]

6 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Thanks Snorklinbarb.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one trying to figure out what works best.  We also are starting in NYC to Seattle.  Right now there are 7 ports, possibly 8 because there is no ShoreX out of Seattle yet so not as great a deal as you have but right now if we choose this option, we are still $50 less than the NCL Air option and we can pick our own flights and time.

 

Thanks Nola26 for answering my question several times.  I was just trying to tell you that we have the additional $50 per port per cabin.

 

 

I just paid to fly out a day early and so you bring up a good point to consider.  Also, even though we would therefore prefer to fly sometime during the morning or afternoon, it could be that crack-of-dawn flight that they have to use when one flies/sails same day (without the deviation).  No way to indicate our "preference" even with the deviation.  It only covers going earlier or staying later but not the flights themselves.  

 

On one I'm taking the shorex for many ports, including disembarkation (SF), are not yet posted.  But no worries, they will offer something for Seattle.  Rather than pay for airport transfer by NCL or a taxi,  worth looking at having a shorex that ends at the airport - and you can use your discount and I guess 2 shorex credits so you should do very well!  Wish they would load the debarkation shorex on my cruise as I'd also like to do something like that but can't book flight home yet until I know.  It will indicate "for flights after 3 pm" or "4pm" in order to qualify.

[disneylover89]

On 9/30/2019 at 8:46 PM, Dar & Bob said:

\However, if the price increases before your cruise and you have just reserved it, you pay the increased price.  On the other hand if you book online and pay for it up front you get the $50 credit and then have non refundable OBC to use.  So decisions, decisions

Did not know this.  So if you prepay and take 4 excursions you now have a $400 non-refundable OBC, what if you don't spend $400 on board?  At this point, everything is paid for .

Edited October 2, 2019 by disneylover89

[snorklinbarb]

4 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

Did not know this.  So if you prepay and take 4 excursions you now have a $400 non-refundable OBC, what if you don't spend $400 on board?  At this point, everything is paid for .

 

I prepaid all my recent Dawn excursions but the actual $50 per port/pp credit did not show up on my a/c until I actually completed the shorex.  I did not have OBC waiting for me.

 

Most excursions actually exceeded the Plat. Plus discount and shorex perk so not an issue.  I paid the difference.  A couple of excursions (walking tours in particular) were priced such that net price was lower than $50.  I received a credit for only the amount of the discounted excursion, not the full $50 (nor did I expect to receive 50).  

 

I did have a couple of glitches where they listed the full price of the shorex, not the price I prepaid with the Plat. Plus discount taken right off.  Shorex and Purser's Deskj got it ironed out.  I think they could really improve on this score as I've now read here about others having issues including not seeing the credit at all.  

 

I used any OBC towards buying CN vouchers!  Immediately used them for cruises booked!  And booked one more again under the Double Up offer!

[Dar & Bob]

11 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

Did not know this.  So if you prepay and take 4 excursions you now have a $400 non-refundable OBC, what if you don't spend $400 on board?  At this point, everything is paid for .

That is why I mentioned it.  One couple in our group booked and prepaid for all but one excursion which took care of the on board credit.  We were on a Med cruise and the excursions were pricey.  As another member noted you could buy Cruise Next certificates, but we will not be cruising NCL again.  Also the OBC can be used for anything else not covered, a good bottle wine, the gift shop.  I just wanted to put it out there so that others are aware that if you prepay you don't get a refundable credit to use.