Of course not free as advertised, but the $50 off excursions is really $45 for many

[Susandt]

Wish they could be used as obc, we rarely use Ncl for excursions 

[herbanrenewal]

It matters when you travel with a friend rather than a family member. 

When the entire FAS discount per room was applied to my roommate's account. Despite the reservation in my name. When each of us booked an excursion that we each paid for separately, they returned a cancellation reimbursement entirely to her account. not to the credit cards of each reservation but all to her account. To further complicate matters we each have different Latitudes status. They of course were no help with the FAS discounts applied per room, Latitudes discounts per individual status and its up to us to figure it out. When we did the math the difference between giving FAS all to one person versus splitting it amounted to $1-2 dollars per excursion - certainly not  a deal breaker, but consistently the difference in our status gave them an extra couple bucks per excursion, for each excursion in NCLs favor. On the plus side, after our last cruise she is now platinum so at least our discounts are the same so its easier for us to figure out when we balance the cost per excursion when just one person got the FAS discount.

[ICutTheCheese]

On 5/11/2023 at 12:23 PM, ontheweb said:

If you are at least silver, you get 10% off excursions as a perk. And this is after the $50 off for the "free" excursions.

 

An example, and I will use $100 as the cost of the excursion as it is an easy number to work with.

 

Passenger #1 would pay $100 less $50, so that would be $50. Then with 10% off pay $45.

 

Passenger #2 without the "free excursion would pay $100 less 10% for $90.

 

As you can see the savings for the $50 off is really $45. ($90 less $45 = $45.)

The value of the 10% is what is going down.  The way the do it is apply the $50 first then give you 10% off of what you actually pay.  $100 - $50 = $50.  $50 less 10% - $45.  Not everyone gets the EXTRA 19% off though.  You are getting your full $50.  Remember that the $50 off is PER EXCURSION so if you take more than one excursion per port you are getting even more.

Edited May 13, 2023 by ICutTheCheese

[ICutTheCheese]

On 5/11/2023 at 2:17 PM, ontheweb said:

My post was just more a matter of stating facts than making a complaint.

 

Except there were no facts that supported your point.

[MoCruiseFan]

Hey everyone, let's not point out to him that if that he is getting ripped off with the FAS free open bar,

Example:  If one is Silver or Gold latitude, he gets 40% off the UBP.  So your free drink package is really only 69% off by his logic and you are LOSING 40%.  The rip off is even higher as you move up the latitude program!  Which of course (again by his logic) you should get back OBC for that 40% amount! 🙂 🙂 🙂

[bedfordmom]

22 hours ago, julig22 said:

Yea, that's not how it works.  They might raise the price, they might not.  But they don't just arbitrarily add $25 to everything.  Comparing exact same excursion, different cruiselines, can be a little difficult, due to differences in transportation logistics, etc. 

 

Simple example:

Goldbelt Tramway in Juneau - $50 ($35 child) if you buy online or onsite.  $49 ($29 child) with NCL. So actually free for #1 passenger, cheaper altogether for a child.  

It was for me! Another example. Mountain top in St Thomas was $25 on site.  35$ through NCL So I got one for free snd the second was bought for $10 less on site. Example 2 biking  on St Martin 49$ online and 75 through NCL. Yes it evened out with the $50 but it was inflated Thant he  but e online pride. It was a last minute change so we had to buy excursions as most did not have internet on the ship to book privately I also wonder if they get a discount from the vendor tour guides.

[julig22]

20 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

It was for me! Another example. Mountain top in St Thomas was $25 on site.  35$ through NCL So I got one for free snd the second was bought for $10 less on site. Example 2 biking  on St Martin 49$ online and 75 through NCL. Yes it evened out with the $50 but it was inflated Thant he  but e online pride. It was a last minute change so we had to buy excursions as most did not have internet on the ship to book privately I also wonder if they get a discount from the vendor tour guides.

To make it more interesting I have found that they add on $25 onto the excursion to make the free $50. 

I was simply commenting on your $25 statement.  Nobody disputes that prices may be different.

[MoCruiseFan]

7 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

It matters when you travel with a friend rather than a family member. 

When the entire FAS discount per room was applied to my roommate's account. Despite the reservation in my name. When each of us booked an excursion that we each paid for separately, they returned a cancellation reimbursement entirely to her account. not to the credit cards of each reservation but all to her account. To further complicate matters we each have different Latitudes status. They of course were no help with the FAS discounts applied per room, Latitudes discounts per individual status and its up to us to figure it out. When we did the math the difference between giving FAS all to one person versus splitting it amounted to $1-2 dollars per excursion - certainly not  a deal breaker, but consistently the difference in our status gave them an extra couple bucks per excursion, for each excursion in NCLs favor. On the plus side, after our last cruise she is now platinum so at least our discounts are the same so its easier for us to figure out when we balance the cost per excursion when just one person got the FAS discount.

It is ALWAYS applied to the first person in the cabin.  If it bothers you that much just give your friend $25 cash and you are even.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, ICutTheCheese said:

The value of the 10% is what is going down.  The way the do it is apply the $50 first then give you 10% off of what you actually pay.  $100 - $50 = $50.  $50 less 10% - $45.  Not everyone gets the EXTRA 19% off though.  You are getting your full $50.  Remember that the $50 off is PER EXCURSION so if you take more than one excursion per port you are getting even more.

Yes, I understand one can possibly book excursions in both the morning and the afternoon, but when I go to my NCL on the 2 ports where I have already booked excursions, only the one I booked is showing. The others have all disappeared.

 

And let's not forget that their advertising uses the word FREE.

[Ozmodiar]

Once you book an excursion online, the system removes those with times that overlap so you can't book yourself into a conflict.

 

I have more than once booked morning and afternoon tours online and gotten the $50 off for each.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, I understand one can possibly book excursions in both the morning and the afternoon, but when I go to my NCL on the 2 ports where I have already booked excursions, only the one I booked is showing. The others have all disappeared.

 

And let's not forget that their advertising uses the word FREE.

Just depends on your itinerary and the excursions you choose.

[Viajera7]

On 5/13/2023 at 3:35 PM, MoCruiseFan said:

It is ALWAYS applied to the first person in the cabin.  If it bothers you that much just give your friend $25 cash and you are even.

That’s what I do when I travel with friends or my cousin. Since I am always booking the cruises, I always get the credit and give them $25 for each day that both of us have excursions.

[MoCruiseFan]

41 minutes ago, Viajera7 said:

That’s what I do when I travel with friends or my cousin. Since I am always booking the cruises, I always get the credit and give them $25 for each day that both of us have excursions.

 

OK so whats the problem?

[Viajera7]

7 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

OK so whats the problem?

Why do you think that there’s a problem?

[wil e coyote]

On 5/13/2023 at 3:56 PM, bedfordmom said:

It was for me! Another example. Mountain top in St Thomas was $25 on site.  35$ through NCL So I got one for free snd the second was bought for $10 less on site. Example 2 biking  on St Martin 49$ online and 75 through NCL. Yes it evened out with the $50 but it was inflated Thant he  but e online pride. It was a last minute change so we had to buy excursions as most did not have internet on the ship to book privately I also wonder if they get a discount from the vendor tour guides.

It doesn't surprise me that the cruise lines charge more for a given excursion than if I booked it myself with the same provider. When you book through the line, you are paying them for doing the research to find a reputable provider, make arrangements with them, give you tickets in your cabin, put someone on the pier with a sign who can lead you to the drop-off point, hold the ship if your excursion is late, and so on. You're also paying for the convenience of doing that all within NCL's system as a single reservation with NCL rather than separately for yourself. All that has a certain amount of value, and so it should cost more if booking through the line.

Now, I understand that some people (including us) like doing the research, finding the bargains, and so on, and for those people, booking privately is "worth it." But I would never expect the cruise line price to be exactly the same as what I could find privately.

[ontheweb]

On 5/12/2023 at 10:03 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

Amazingly, this is the exact same method Kohl's and any other department store, auto parts store, and grocery stores use for combining a cash discount and a percentage reduction.

 

Do any of these other stores advertise FREE? And then FREE becomes $50 off?

[MoCruiseFan]

12 hours ago, Viajera7 said:

Why do you think that there’s a problem?

 

My bad I got you and Herbanrenewal Mixed up.

Edited May 21, 2023 by MoCruiseFan

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:32 AM, MoCruiseFan said:

Wow some people just LOOK for reasons to complain, LOL.

Nice try but WRONG.

It works like this... They take the $50 off FIRST then apply the 10% to the remaining balance.

 

$75 excursion, less $50 is $25.  Less 15% (Sapphire) is another 3275 discount, remaining cost is 21.25.  You are getting the entire $50 discount and 15% discount off of what you would otherwise pay.

The original post was just pointing something out - I don't see a complaint anywhere. You can decide to read it what way and pop in with direct insults at the OP, or you can just recognize you are doing the exact same math and looking at it different ways. 

 

When did this site become about jumping in first to demean a poster as fast as possible? It didn't used to be this way, and honestly it's becoming a little tiresome. 

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:44 AM, ChiefMateJRK said:

This one should be fun.

No, it really isn't. And I'm starting to see why a friend of mine does not want to post any questions here. 

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

On 5/13/2023 at 10:41 AM, ICutTheCheese said:

 

Except there were no facts that supported your point.

Ummm, the math supported the point. Or is math not factual in your world?

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, SeekingKillerWhales! said:

The original post was just pointing something out - I don't see a complaint anywhere. You can decide to read it what way and pop in with direct insults at the OP, or you can just recognize you are doing the exact same math and looking at it different ways. 

 

When did this site become about jumping in first to demean a poster as fast as possible? It didn't used to be this way, and honestly it's becoming a little tiresome. 

OP here, and that was exactly what I was doing. Gave you a thank you, but also decided it needed to a post with an additional thank you.

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, SeekingKillerWhales! said:

Ummm, the math supported the point. Or is math not factual in your world?

I wish I could give both a thanks and a HA HA. I specifically did a math example.