Never booked directly with NCL - Questions

[cruisegeek1974]

Hi there, while I have been on many cruises, I have always booked through either a TA or through an online travel site with the initials V.T.G. (not sure I can say the name).  I can't even say why I never tried booking directly through the cruise line, but just haven't.

 

I'm looking to cruise on NCL likely in either January or February 2022.

 

I have a few questions which I'm sure will be easy to answer by all of the extremely knowledgeable people on this board.

 

• If I book through NCL.com, am I correct that if I pay the minimum deposit and cancel the booking more than 60 days prior to sailing that the deposit is refundable (versus sitting as a credit to be used on another booking)?  I'm basing this on this page which appears current    Cancellation Fee Schedule (ncl.com) 
• If I purchase a CruiseFirst certificate prior to booking, can that credit be used no matter how I book my trip, or do you have to apply it by booking directly on NCL.com?
• From many discussions I've seen, one advantage that I see is that when you have booked direct with NCL you can watch prices and 'rebook' at a lower fare if you find it.  Generally I can only cruise on Xmas break (wife is a teacher) and we usually book something in October/November for an upcoming December cruise and I think pre-covid you had to fully pay within 90 days of the cruise.  So in the past we would look for the best Xmas time "deal" and we would pay the full fare and that's it.  I don't think we could price adjust after that.

 

Thanks for any help with this.

[julig22]

Yes, you would be able to cancel a January or February cruise up to 61 days before sail date.  Cancel date will be going back to 120 days starting in April

 

I have no personal experience with CruiseFirst but as far as I know, it is in your account and can be used if you book through a TA.  However, read the terms carefully.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but as I read it, they can only be used for a sail date 120 days after the purchase date, so you wouldn't be able to apply it until mid-March at the earliest.  Under those conditions, you'd be better off going on a cruise and getting CruiseNext certificates to apply to a future cruise - you get the same 50% discount, they are good for 4 years (vs 3) and can be used on any future cruise.

 

You don't need to book through NCL to get price adjustments - a TA can also re-price.  After final payment date, NCL may allow adjustments, although every case is different.  They might let you pay for an upgrade to a better cabin or give you up to 25% OBC for the price difference.

Edited November 16, 2021 by julig22

[cruisegeek1974]

7 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Yes, you would be able to cancel a January or February cruise up to 61 days before sail date.  Cancel date will be going back to 120 days starting in April

 

I have no personal experience with CruiseFirst but as far as I know, it is in your account and can be used if you book through a TA.  However, read the terms carefully.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but as I read it, they can only be used for a sail date 120 days after the purchase date, so you wouldn't be able to apply it until mid-March at the earliest.  Under those conditions, you'd be better off going on a cruise and getting CruiseNext certificates to apply to a future cruise - you get the same 50% discount, they are good for 4 years (vs 3) and can be used on any future cruise.

 

You don't need to book through NCL to get price adjustments - a TA can also re-price.  After final payment date, NCL may allow adjustments, although every case is different.  They might let you pay for an upgrade to a better cabin or give you up to 25% OBC for the price difference.

Thanks for the reply.   You are right, can only use the CF credit for cruises 120 out.  Shows how you always have to scour the terms and fine print!

 

[cruiserbear55]

13 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Yes, you would be able to cancel a January or February cruise up to 61 days before sail date.  Cancel date will be going back to 120 days starting in April

 

I have no personal experience with CruiseFirst but as far as I know, it is in your account and can be used if you book through a TA.  However, read the terms carefully.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but as I read it, they can only be used for a sail date 120 days after the purchase date, so you wouldn't be able to apply it until mid-March at the earliest.  Under those conditions, you'd be better off going on a cruise and getting CruiseNext certificates to apply to a future cruise - you get the same 50% discount, they are good for 4 years (vs 3) and can be used on any future cruise.

 

You don't need to book through NCL to get price adjustments - a TA can also re-price.  After final payment date, NCL may allow adjustments, although every case is different.  They might let you pay for an upgrade to a better cabin or give you up to 25% OBC for the price difference.

FWIW-April final payments have been changed to 60 days, not 120. So your cancel time would be day 61, not day 121. Happy sailing!!

[julig22]

4 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

FWIW-April final payments have been changed to 60 days, not 120. So your cancel time would be day 61, not day 121. Happy sailing!!

Good catch.  Somebody at NCL needs to update their web page.....So much for reading the headline, not the full article!

[xfer]

Some things I have learned this fall, that you may find useful.

1. CruiseFirst - If you buy now and then wait 120 days, you can then use it anytime, no additional date limitations. You cannot use it for a cruise you've already reserved. Cruise must be 6 days or longer. They often offer a $250 cert worth $500. 
2. CruiseNext - These can be used anytime on any sailing of any length except...they only sell them as $125=$250. Normally, you can only use one for a deposit. So if you want to use two, to get to a total of $500, you have to book a balcony or higher, six months out. The cool thing is that there are many people looking to re-sell theirs after the pandemic. You can pick up a $250 cert for as little as $100. (Try searching for a buy sell trade group on social media, selling them here isn't permitted). It's a simple transfer, only takes a phone call and a few minutes. Of course, you can always buy these on your next sailing. 
3. Most TA's can take care of getting you credit for any price drops and should honor the 61 day cancel policy. About 50 days out, you might get an email offering you a chance to upgrade (upgrade fairy). I'm not sure if this is affected by booking through a TA or not. You will want to check the NCL site for the prices, not the TAs site, since sometimes the prices can differ. 

[cruisegeek1974]

1 minute ago, xfer said:

Some things I have learned this fall, that you may find useful.

1. CruiseFirst - If you buy now and then wait 120 days, you can then use it anytime, no additional date limitations. You cannot use it for a cruise you've already reserved. Cruise must be 6 days or longer. They often offer a $250 cert worth $500. 
2. CruiseNext - These can be used anytime on any sailing of any length except...they only sell them as $125=$250. Normally, you can only use one for a deposit. So if you want to use two, to get to a total of $500, you have to book a balcony or higher, six months out. The cool thing is that there are many people looking to re-sell theirs after the pandemic. You can pick up a $250 cert for as little as $100. (Try searching for a buy sell trade group on social media, selling them here isn't permitted). It's a simple transfer, only takes a phone call and a few minutes. Of course, you can always buy these on your next sailing. 
3. Most TA's can take care of getting you credit for any price drops and should honor the 61 day cancel policy. About 50 days out, you might get an email offering you a chance to upgrade (upgrade fairy). I'm not sure if this is affected by booking through a TA or not. You will want to check the NCL site for the prices, not the TAs site, since sometimes the prices can differ. 

Thanks for that info!