Price drop after final payment for NCL cruise - request OBC?

[BrachaPDX]

Hi, I have a newbie question: we made the rookie mistake of paying in full too early. Now the price appears to have dropped. I know it would be extremely unlikely to get any kind of refund, but what about onboard credit? If requesting OBC is a good idea, when should we time the request (our cruise leaves on January 14, 2023)? How can we apply it? I know gratuities are out, but if we did get OBC, could we upgrade internet, drinks package, or ?

 

TIA, I appreciate it!

Barbara

[DCGuy64]

We tried that and our travel agent was told they don't do OBC anymore for price drops, only FCC.

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

We tried that and our travel agent was told they don't do OBC anymore for price drops, only FCC.

 

That’s correct, we just had a price drop after final payment on a cruise in February. We have been told by NCL that after completion of that cruise, we will be given an FCC in the amount of the price difference, and that the FCC must be used within a year from that date (applied and sailed).

 

You can only make one request for this per cruise, even if the price drops again. 

 

 

[BrachaPDX]

Thank you for your replies - this will help greatly to guide my request. We were thinking of another cruise later next year, so this might work out. Next time though, we don't pay in full early!

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

That’s correct, we just had a price drop after final payment on a cruise in February. We have been told by NCL that after completion of that cruise, we will be given an FCC in the amount of the price difference, and that the FCC must be used within a year from that date (applied and sailed).

 

You can only make one request for this per cruise, even if the price drops again. 

 

 

Thank you, that's exactly what our TA told us. My only beef with that solution is, how does it work in conjunction with CN certificates? You can only use 2 Cruise Next certs max for each cruise, so if the FCC we got for the drop in price can't be combined with those, we'd have to use the FCC instead and that puts our CN's in jeopardy due to their expiration dates.

[BrachaPDX]

Follow up question: If we negotiate FCCs given the price drop, will we be able to work with a travel agent on the next NCL cruise and still apply those FCCs? Or must we go directly through NCL to apply them? TIA!

[DCGuy64]

4 minutes ago, BrachaPDX said:

Follow up question: If we negotiate FCCs given the price drop, will we be able to work with a travel agent on the next NCL cruise and still apply those FCCs? Or must we go directly through NCL to apply them? TIA!

They should work independently of how you book. Our travel agent in the past has always been able to apply any discounts or FCC's for us. We've had 2 NCL cruises cancelled and he was able to apply the FCC each time. Hope that helps. Cool that you know ASL and Spanish! #envious 😄

[cruiseny4life]

@DCGuy64 is correct. Your TA can look up any discounts/credits/FCC/coupons using your Latitudes number. Then they can apply them in their TA portal.

[julig22]

FCC has nothing to do with CN certificates, you can use them together. 

I'm not understanding your PIF comments however.  If you are sailing in January, your PIF date was 2 months ago.  If you do pay early, you would get a refund from NCL if you requested a price adjustment. In order to get FCC after final payment date, the promo terms must match - so if you had airfare or other promos not currently in effect, you FCC request may be denied.

[BrachaPDX]

Thanks for this guidance. I've only been on one cruise so far, and that was ten years ago so I figure by now I'm a complete noob again 😄

 

I love studying languages - Spanish and ASL are ones I can converse in well (I use ASL almost daily for work), but I am still working on others. Any that I can understand well enough with slightly less than one full-working ear (completely deaf on left, partially on right), so tonal languages are pretty much out 😜Also working on CW (Morse Code) for ham radio use.

[BrachaPDX]

1 minute ago, julig22 said:

FCC has nothing to do with CN certificates, you can use them together. 

I'm not understanding your PIF comments however.  If you are sailing in January, your PIF date was 2 months ago.  If you do pay early, you would get a refund from NCL if you requested a price adjustment. In order to get FCC after final payment date, the promo terms must match - so if you had airfare or other promos not currently in effect, you FCC request may be denied.

Ah okay, I did not realize the PIF date was that long ago - thanks for the clarification! I'm unclear about the promo terms part, though. I don't know that we had any promotions. We didn't go through NCL for air, given our complex travel needs. Is Free at Sea a promo? Sorry - again, noob here! 

 

Based on the PIF deadline info, it seems unlikely we would get any kind of FCC regardless.

 

Thanks!

[OrcaGirl]

I also noticed a significant price drop this week for my January 2023 cruise, and called in to NCL. Like others had mentioned, NCL doesn't offer OBC anymore, just FCC that has to be used within a year. But since my family isn't planning another NCL cruise in that time frame, I also inquired about switching to a higher cabin category instead.

 

We had booked a regular balcony, and the agent immediately offered me an upgrade to a club balcony. However, I had done my research before calling, and knew that there was at least one aft balcony still available. It took a good ~15 min on hold while she checked with a supervisor, but she was able to move me into an aft balcony, and we are absolutely happy with that outcome.

[julig22]

8 minutes ago, BrachaPDX said:

Ah okay, I did not realize the PIF date was that long ago - thanks for the clarification! I'm unclear about the promo terms part, though. I don't know that we had any promotions. We didn't go through NCL for air, given our complex travel needs. Is Free at Sea a promo? Sorry - again, noob here! 

 

Based on the PIF deadline info, it seems unlikely we would get any kind of FCC regardless.

 

Thanks!

In never hurts to ask.  Free at sea is a promo but fairly stable.  But they have had 35%, 40% and now 50% "sales" and if you booked under a 35% sale for example they may say no.  They have a specific protocol but hard to say how they apply it.

 

Alternatively, you can ask for an upgrade, it just has to cost more than what you currently have.

Edited November 15, 2022 by julig22

[BrachaPDX]

I'm solidly in the camp of "it never hurts to ask." Should I reach out to our NCL contact? Or just call NCL directly? She can be hard to reach, and a bit slow to call back.

 

I'd probably pursue FCC, but if that isn't an option, I might ask about an upgraded accessible cabin (we're booked for an accessible balcony room). If there isn't an accessible upgrade option, we'll just stay where we are.

[julig22]

1 minute ago, BrachaPDX said:

I'm solidly in the camp of "it never hurts to ask." Should I reach out to our NCL contact? Or just call NCL directly? She can be hard to reach, and a bit slow to call back.

 

I'd probably pursue FCC, but if that isn't an option, I might ask about an upgraded accessible cabin (we're booked for an accessible balcony room). If there isn't an accessible upgrade option, we'll just stay where we are.

If you booked through a TA you have to go through them, they own your reservation. If you have a NCL consultant it's best to go through them but you can also call NCL if you can't get a hold of your person.

[Laszlo]

Last week I went thru the same thing. No more OBC, only FCC. We have over $500 coming to us. They also said we have a year to use it

[Turtles06]

40 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thank you, that's exactly what our TA told us. My only beef with that solution is, how does it work in conjunction with CN certificates? You can only use 2 Cruise Next certs max for each cruise, so if the FCC we got for the drop in price can't be combined with those, we'd have to use the FCC instead and that puts our CN's in jeopardy due to their expiration dates.

Is there something in the terms of the CN certificates that prohibits using an FCC on the same cruise? If not, there shouldn’t be a problem. 

[Turtles06]

1 minute ago, Laszlo said:

Last week I went thru the same thing. No more OBC, only FCC. We have over $500 coming to us. They also said we have a year to use it

Just to reiterate for folks, a year to “use it” means not only to apply it to a cruise within a year, but also to sail within that year. Not so easily done for all of us. 

[Lakesregion]

1 hour ago, BrachaPDX said:

Hi, I have a newbie question: we made the rookie mistake of paying in full too early. Now the price appears to have dropped. I know it would be extremely unlikely to get any kind of refund, but what about onboard credit? If requesting OBC is a good idea, when should we time the request (our cruise leaves on January 14, 2023)? How can we apply it? I know gratuities are out, but if we did get OBC, could we upgrade internet, drinks package, or ?

 

TIA, I appreciate it!

Barbara

I asked for and received a very nice upgrade to my cabin. That works best for all concerned in my book. I pay the same as I originally thought a good rate for the lesser cabin but received a much better one for no additional cost. NCL does not have to giveaway a refund nor an OBC which comes out of their pocket and they have a better chance of selling the lower grade cabin than the one I upgraded to. Win - Win.

[Katie H]

If you received an FCC for a price drop after final payment, can it be applied to another cruise you already have booked or is it for new bookings only?

[vince_g]

19 minutes ago, Katie H said:

If you received an FCC for a price drop after final payment, can it be applied to another cruise you already have booked or is it for new bookings only?

You can apply it to any cruise you already have booked

[Turtles06]

6 minutes ago, vince_g said:

You can apply it to any cruise you already have booked

As long as it sails within the one-year deadline 

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, BrachaPDX said:

we made the rookie mistake of paying in full too early. Now the price appears to have dropped.

That's not a rookie mistake.  It's just locking in a price/cabin/itinerary that you want to sail on.  Nobody knows if a month later the price will be higher or lower (or you'll be stuck with a guarantee rate or no cabin in your preferred category whatsoever).

[nhtravels]

I'm waiting to hear on a FCC for a February cruise.  There is no higher priced cabins available for us to upgrade to.   And I'd be happy with the FCC as we have 2 more cruises booked for next year that I can apply that to.

 

Fingers crossed!

[BrachaPDX]

Looks like we'll get a modest amount of FCC from the price drop. We may well find a way to sail within the year, so it's all good.