Refaring an NCL booking. Are there any pitfalls to be aware of?

[Ken the cruiser]

Here's the scenario. We have three B2B cruises booked on the Getaway starting in Oct 2024, with final payment due dates not until June 2024. We booked each of them using the Cruise Next certificates as deposits. We have also added the FAS Plus package to each of them, have prebooked excursions, and had shareholder benefits added to each cruise as well. As of today since we booked the cruises back in Dec 2022, the cruise fares have gone down $167 (first leg), $338 (second leg), and $378 (third leg) per person.

 

Early next week we plan to contact our TA to "refare" each of those bookings to hopefully get the lower fares applied. Since this will be the first time we will be requesting any of our NCL bookings to be refared, I thought I would open this thread to see if anyone knows of any pitfalls we need to watch out for.

 

For example, will the bookings turn into nonrefundable bookings if they are refared? Will we lose any of the prepaid packages or excursions or have to reapply for shareholder benefits. I'm thinking no, but thought I'd ask just to make sure. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

[RocketMan275]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Early next week we plan to contact our TA to "refare" each of those bookings to hopefully get the lower fares applied. Since this will be the first time we will be requesting any of our NCL bookings to be refared, I thought I would open this thread to see if anyone knows of any pitfalls we need to watch out for.

Be sure and ask your TA for their insights before  you decide.  Usually, the only 'pitfalls' involve promotions you may have booked  under.  For example, suppose one or more of those cruise had prepaid service charges which are no longer available.  If you refare,  you would lose that promo.  Since only  you and  your TA know what promos  you have,  you'll  have to rely upon your TA for guidance.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

Be sure and ask your TA for their insights before  you decide.  Usually, the only 'pitfalls' involve promotions you may have booked  under.  For example, suppose one or more of those cruise had prepaid service charges which are no longer available.  If you refare,  you would lose that promo.  Since only  you and  your TA know what promos  you have,  you'll  have to rely upon your TA for guidance.

Good point. In our case our TA gives us a rebate check as a booking perk just prior to the cruise once we pointed out to her a while back that we couldn't use their normal nonrefundable OBC booking perk to pay the NCL DSC once onboard.

[RocketMan275]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Good point. In our case our TA gives us a rebate check as a booking perk just prior to the cruise once we pointed out to her a while back that we couldn't use their normal nonrefundable OBC booking perk to pay the NCL DSC once onboard.

I get a rebate as well.  Refaring with my TA only reduces the amount of the rebate check since that rebate is 8% of the fare.  My TA offers a choice of a rebate, a discount, or obc all in the amount of 8%.  Some cruise lines only allow OBC.  However, my TA OBC is refundable.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I get a rebate as well.  Refaring with my TA only reduces the amount of the rebate check since that rebate is 8% of the fare.  My TA offers a choice of a rebate, a discount, or obc all in the amount of 8%.  Some cruise lines only allow OBC.  However, my TA OBC is refundable.

That’s what we get too, but without the choice. But we were quite happy when they offered the rebate check. It probably also helps that we book a lot of cruises with them. 😁

[ChiefMateJRK]

I've repriced many NCL cruises direct with NCL and never had a single problem.  I would be mostly worried about a travel agent not knowing what they are doing.

[vacation44]

I constantly reprice (re-priced one cruise six times) and only once lost the extra latitudes points offered per night.   I willingly gave them up for the savings.

[julig22]

DSC rates are based on the booking date so those do not change as long as you pay prior to boarding the ship. SH obc stays. I believe FAS charges are grandfathered as well. Excursions will stay. BOGO airfare rates seem to remain, although I'm always told they could change.

Latitudes points will be adjusted to the current promo. CruiseNext certificates will be removed if you applied multiples and no longer qualify for that promotion.

What happens with any TA promos is anyone's guess.

[dbrown84]

if you booked with any cruisefirst certs, make sure they only re-price the cruise and not cancel/re-book.  A cancel and re-book would cause you to lose the extra amount of the CF.  For example, your $150 CF would only be worth $150, instead of $300

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

CruiseNext certificates will be removed if you applied multiples and no longer qualify for that promotion.

This statement caught my eye. When we were on our Jade B2B and booked these 3 Oct/Nov 2024 cruises onboard in early December 2022, we only applied 2 CruiseNext certificates valued at $125 each, 1 for each of us, to each booking. Since the certificates are valid for 4 years, I’m guessing your example doesn’t apply in our situations, correct?

 

Here’s what it says in the CruiseNext T&C, or am I missing something?

 

1. All CNDs (including Haven option) are valid for new reservations that book and sail within 4 years from purchase date. CNDs become null and void after expiration. Failure to redeem and sail within 4 years will result in forfeiture of your CND(s). Not applicable towards existing reservations.

 

[itsnotjustme]

I think the point on CruiseNext was that the allowance of two per cabin is not automatic.  If the offer to do so is no loger present, you could be restricted to 1 not 2 per cabin.

[julig22]

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

This statement caught my eye. When we were on our Jade B2B and booked these 3 Oct/Nov 2024 cruises onboard in early December 2022, we only applied 2 CruiseNext certificates valued at $125 each, 1 for each of us, to each booking. Since the certificates are valid for 4 years, I’m guessing your example doesn’t apply in our situations, correct?

 

Here’s what it says in the CruiseNext T&C, or am I missing something?

 

1. All CNDs (including Haven option) are valid for new reservations that book and sail within 4 years from purchase date. CNDs become null and void after expiration. Failure to redeem and sail within 4 years will result in forfeiture of your CND(s). Not applicable towards existing reservations.

 

CNCs are 1 per cabin, not per person. They often run "double up" promos where they allow 2 (rarely 3) per cabin. Usually 2/cabin are allowed for balcony or above, sometimes for any cabin. So if you are booked in an inside or OV, and you make a price adjustment now, they would remove that 2nd CN since the current promo does not include those cabins.

However, you could add them back if the "any cabin" double up promo comes back before your final payment due date.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

CNCs are 1 per cabin, not per person. They often run "double up" promos where they allow 2 (rarely 3) per cabin. Usually 2/cabin are allowed for balcony or above, sometimes for any cabin. So if you are booked in an inside or OV, and you make a price adjustment now, they would remove that 2nd CN since the current promo does not include those cabins.

However, you could add them back if the "any cabin" double up promo comes back before your final payment due date.

Thanks! We're in a Club Balcony on all 3 legs but will definitely make sure our TA is aware of that issue. 🙂

 

Update: I just checked and the CruiseNext promotion still includes our 3 bookings. 👍

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! We're in a Club Balcony on all 3 legs but will definitely make sure our TA is aware of that issue. 🙂

Enjoy your cruise(s), sounds delightful.

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 hours ago, julig22 said:

CruiseNext certificates will be removed if you applied multiples and no longer qualify for that promotion.

Just a recent data point:

 

Current promo:

Booking Window: September 26th – October 2nd, 2023 11:59pm EST
Offer Details: Book a BALCONY or above stateroom on any sailing at least 4 months in advance and apply TWO CruiseNext, CruiseNext Haven or CruiseNext Lite deposits.

 

I repriced an April 2024 itinerary, in an inside cabin, on Sept 26.  I had two CNs applied previously.  They still show on the reprice confirmation.

[Ken the cruiser]

Thanks everyone! Our TA just seamlessly refared our 3 Oct/Nov 2024 bookings that make up our 30-day B3B saving us a little over $2000 total as well as gaining $200 more in OBC. Yay!

[dbrown84]

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks everyone! Our TA just seamlessly refared our 3 Oct/Nov 2024 bookings that make up our 30-day B3B saving us a little over $2000 total as well as gaining $200 more in OBC. Yay!

Awesome 

[DCGuy64]

Congratulations to OP! I have to confess, I'd never heard the term "refaring" before. I've added a new word to my lexicon. 😊

[Ken the cruiser]

7 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Congratulations to OP! I have to confess, I'd never heard the term "refaring" before. I've added a new word to my lexicon. 😊

The “refare” option basically involves applying current fares and/promotions to an existing booking rather than cancelling and then rebooking the cruise, which causes all kinds of issues if you’ve already purchased items such as excursions. What term are you familiar with that does the same function?

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The “refare” option basically involves applying current fares and/promotions to an existing booking rather than cancelling and then rebooking the cruise, which causes all kinds of issues if you’ve already purchased items such as excursions. What term are you familiar with that does the same function?

Oh, I think the term "refare" is a good one. I'd just never heard it before. It seems to fit perfectly well. I guess I'd have said "reprice, "alter" or "modify," but "refare" is a good word. I may have to ask our TA about doing that for us, we have a sailing in 2025 and if promotions change, I might be asking him to do the same. 😄

[Ken the cruiser]

Here's a fun fact we just discovered today, the day after our refare was completed which saved us around $2000 total. When doing a "fake" booking today, as I do every day while logged on to get the 10% MA discount applied, I noticed our cabin number had changed on all three bookings to one that is in the same relative location, but on the opposite side of the ship on deck 10 rather than deck 11 like our original cabin was.

 

We're happy with the change, as the CB cabins are $50 pp cheaper on deck 10 than on deck 11, but our TA made no mention of it. Does NCL periodically change cabin locations during a "refare"? We've done a bunch of refares on a variety of cruise lines, but this is the first time our cabin number was changed without being asked.

[julig22]

25 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's a fun fact we just discovered today, the day after our refare was completed which saved us around $2000 total. When doing a "fake" booking today, as I do every day while logged on to get the 10% MA discount applied, I noticed our cabin number had changed on all three bookings to one that is in the same relative location, but on the opposite side of the ship on deck 10 rather than deck 11 like our original cabin was.

 

We're happy with the change, as the CB cabins are $50 pp cheaper on deck 10 than on deck 11, but our TA made no mention of it. Does NCL periodically change cabin locations during a "refare"? We've done a bunch of refares on a variety of cruise lines, but this is the first time our cabin number was changed without being asked.

If cabins are currently " best available "  and no cabin choices it could change, according to my PCC.  Since they seem to be doing some sort of cabin category reshuffle at the moment, who knows!

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

If cabins are currently " best available "  and no cabin choices it could change, according to my PCC.  Since they seem to be doing some sort of cabin category reshuffle at the moment, who knows!

There were plenty of specific cabin choices available today as well as the default "best available". In fact, I just noticed we also dropped from an MA category (on decks 11-13) to an MB (on decks 8-10). I also noticed our original cabin was not released as being available to book again either. But again, it's no big deal. I just thought it was interesting as this was our first time to refare an NCL booking.

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's a fun fact we just discovered today, the day after our refare was completed which saved us around $2000 total. When doing a "fake" booking today, as I do every day while logged on to get the 10% MA discount applied, I noticed our cabin number had changed on all three bookings to one that is in the same relative location, but on the opposite side of the ship on deck 10 rather than deck 11 like our original cabin was.

 

We're happy with the change, as the CB cabins are $50 pp cheaper on deck 10 than on deck 11, but our TA made no mention of it. Does NCL periodically change cabin locations during a "refare"? We've done a bunch of refares on a variety of cruise lines, but this is the first time our cabin number was changed without being asked.

For anyone interested. We sent our TA an email this afternoon asking about the recent cabin category and room change during the refare process. This was her answer.

 

NCL made these changes. I had noticed the cabin category difference and that the cabins were all the same for all three legs, but I wasn’t sure if maybe someone else had changed the cabins prior to me refaring yesterday and it made sense that all three legs were in the same cabin. 😊 I hope this helps to clarify.

[RocketMan275]

12 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For anyone interested. We sent our TA an email this afternoon asking about the recent cabin category and room change during the refare process. This was her answer.

 

NCL made these changes. I had noticed the cabin category difference and that the cabins were all the same for all three legs, but I wasn’t sure if maybe someone else had changed the cabins prior to me refaring yesterday and it made sense that all three legs were in the same cabin. 😊 I hope this helps to clarify.

So, they changed the cabin so you would have the same cabin for all three legs?