CruiseNext Confusion

[Russiamomm]

3 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

That's how I understood it last time also.  And this time it had changed. But now that the others have explained how it really works it  seems so obvious.  So its only a good deal if you buy 8 certificates and not have any other charges on your account. UGH

I don’t think it changed.  I think it was a shady salesperson.  As long as you buy at least two the net cost is $125 for a $250 certificate.  That’s how it’s always been.  This nonsense about OBC does nothing but muddy the waters and cause confusion.

[RocketMan275]

13 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

how would that be any different than CruiseFIRST?   

Why does it have to be different?

[Smitheroo]

Just now, RocketMan275 said:

Why does it have to be different?

Because its kind of silly having a different name for the same Promo?

[Russiamomm]

14 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

how would that be any different than CruiseFIRST?   

I’ve never used a CruiseFirst, but I think the difference is that the CN is good for four years, where the CF is only good for three.  Also, they regularly have “Double Up” and sometimes “Triple Up” offers for CNs.  I don’t think they do for CFs.

[RocketMan275]

1 minute ago, Smitheroo said:

Because its kind of silly having a different name for the same Promo?

Why do you need two promos?

[FlGoodShips]

42 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

So...I pay $500...get $500 worth of CN certificates...and at the end of the cruise, my credit card is only charged $250. Correct?

 

EDIT: I see @stinkyharriet answered my question, above.

Exactly. Yes.

[Smitheroo]

6 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

It’s not a change.  That’s the way it’s always been.  They just try to convince you that you have to spend the money on other stuff.  
 

I did have an issue on my first cruise post-covid.  Onboard they said I forfeited something like $160 of OBC.  Stupid me didn’t check the account closely enough before I got off the ship.  I noticed it the next day.  It took several days and multiple escalations, but finally talked to a CN supervisor in Miami.  Her reaction was “Of course you can apply the OBC to the cost of the certificates.  Why else would anyone buy them?”  It took two more phone calls, but I got my $150 back.

 

And I agree about buying 8.  Unless you’re planning a LOT of cruises in the future.  You can buy more on each trip.  I usually try to keep four on account.  I’m out at the moment and will buy four more next month on the Epic.

I'm hoping to take advantage of the double up promo  if I can make up my mind where and when I want to go.   Why not just buy CruiseFirst?  Its a bigger expense up front but it works out the same   Spend $250 get $500.  They seem to offer the promo them often enough. 

[Asawi]

What they seem to do now is if I buy for example 2 certificates they start writing numbers on a paper and tell you "if you buy this you will get onboard credit but I have a special offer for you. Instead of the onboard credit I give you two certificates for free."

I just looked at him and said "that is exactly the same thing as buying 4 and getting onboard credit." And he said "no it's not".  

I just looked at him shook my head...

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Asawi

[IAcruising]

8 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

 This nonsense about OBC does nothing but muddy the waters and cause confusion.

 

It's really all about how you choose to perceive it. I had $1000 in casino charges on my account. I bought 8 certs. In my mind, I had erased my casino charges and put a $2000 downpayment on future cruises. Worked for me! 😂

 

[destar]

Its like a 3 cards monte game.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

My way of looking at it

 

On Day 5 your account says you owe $542

On Day 6 you purchase 4 Cruise  Next Certificates at $500 each ($2000) so your account now carries the figure of $2542 owed.

On Day 7 the Cruise Next team credit your account for purchasing 4 Cruise Next certificates at a discount of $250 each so your account now reads that you owe $1542; ($2542-$1000)

 

That sum is made up of your original debt ($542) and a debt for the FOUR Cruise Next Certificates ($1000).   

 

What you have are 4 Cruise Next certificates each worth $500 that, when you have paid off your account, you actually paid $250 for each.

 

I agree that the use of the term "FREE MONEY" should not be allowed but if you think it through it isn't too difficult.

I also wish that they would not IMPLY that the "FREE MONEY" has to be spent on OTHER things while on board.   You ARE spending it on board by paying off part of the original cost of the Cruise Next Certificates.

 

I have heard one Cruise Next Manager use what I have outlined above to explain to passengers how the "FREE MONEY" tree works.

[hallux]

It's not typical, but the CN Manager on my Joy cruise last year (or maybe Escape this year) did a PERFECT job explaining it.  He explained it exactly as I understand it - buy two, get credit back for one for a net BOGO of the certificates with NO OTHER on-board purchases needed to 'spend' the money.

 

In fact, if you look at the T&C's of CruiseNext you can understand this is exactly how it works.

 

Only refundable Onboard Credits and the Non-Refundable Onboard Credit given for purchasing CruieNext deposits may be used towards your CruiseNext purchase.

[Russiamomm]

22 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

It's really all about how you choose to perceive it. I had $1000 in casino charges on my account. I bought 8 certs. In my mind, I had erased my casino charges and put a $2000 downpayment on future cruises. Worked for me! 😂

 

I suppose that’s one way to look at it.  😂

[dbrown84]

I think it's really a shame how they try to trick people with the CN sales tactics.  Just sell it as half-off like they do the cruise first certs.  I just don't want to deal with the onboard sales pitches, so I've always bought my CN re-sale.  Now that CF are available, I buy those only.  I buy them when they offer the $500 certs and keep one in my account so that I have one that has aged for the 4 months.  And since I book inside cabins, I don't have to wait for the very few times that they offer the CN double up on any cabin.  Of course, now they've threw in triple up offers......

[stinkyharriet]

I don't know if this will make it any clearer.  This is my invoice after my cruise on the Escape earlier this month.  I have some small charges for tax on drinks while we were still in NYC.  There's an $11 credit for who knows what.  It just appeared.  There's also some random 10¢ charge that I have no idea about.  I bought some stuff in the onboard shop.  My final total is $500 plus the charges/credits for other stuff.  That's exactly what my credit card was charged at the end of my cruise.

Final Invoice.pdf

[BunnyHutt]

As I think others have said, they really just need to say that you’re getting half off the cost of the certs. Period. 
 

The rep originally got me and my bestie by saying we could each apply 2 certs on our next cruise (we share(d) a cabin and stated that we were already planning on booking another cruise in a club balcony). When I read the T&C’s and saw that I could only apply 2 per cabin, I immediately when back to the desk. She was like “I said you could

each apply 2 on your own staterooms.” Yeah, no. I had her change my purchase to only 2 certs at a net cost of $250. I don’t cruise enough to want extras just hanging out to be used at some nebulous point in time. 

[RocketMan275]

13 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

I think it's really a shame how they try to trick people with the CN sales tactics.  Just sell it as half-off like they do the cruise first certs.  I just don't want to deal with the onboard sales pitches, so I've always bought my CN re-sale.  Now that CF are available, I buy those only.  I buy them when they offer the $500 certs and keep one in my account so that I have one that has aged for the 4 months.  And since I book inside cabins, I don't have to wait for the very few times that they offer the CN double up on any cabin.  Of course, now they've threw in triple up offers......

The only reason they don't sell CN as a half-off is their present sales pitch is an attempt to trick people into thinking they're getting something 'free'.  If they go to a it's a half-off promo, they lose the 'something for free' gimick.

[Capitan Obvious]

First, it is both interesting and telling to look at the language people in the thread use to describe both the cruise line and the cruise guests. Based on how it is being framed, you'd think cruise guests are simply feeble-minded idiots who are easily manipulated and tricked into everything. 

 

Always a victim...

 

 

21 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The only reason they don't sell CN as a half-off is their present sales pitch is an attempt to trick people into thinking they're getting something 'free'.  If they go to a it's a half-off promo, they lose the 'something for free' gimick.

 

Good example. In order for me to agree with this, I'd have to believe that the cruise guest can't/won't understand the difference between "buy one, get one free" and "50% off". 

 

A good rule of thumb is to remember that the cruise line, like any other business, exists to make money from their customers. Every sale, offer, item, special, deal, etc. is designed to facilitate the movement of funds from the customer to the business...ALWAYS giving the advantage to the business. They are not in business to create deals that will benefit the customer more than it benefits the guest.

 

There. Is. No. Free. Lunch.

 

 

[ziggyuk]

 

Half the comments on here over complicate things more than the Cruise Next staff do 😵

 

At the end of the day, forget the spin, forget the OBC, forget the free money, for 2 and above certificates you are invoiced half the face value, it's that simple.

[FlGoodShips]

15 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Half the comments on here over complicate things more than the Cruise Next staff do 😵

 

At the end of the day, forget the spin, forget the OBC, forget the free money, for 2 and above certificates you are invoiced half the face value, it's that simple.

Thank you.  Thank you.

Done and done. Nothing more to discuss.

Hope this thread is done.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

I think the confusion is that people don't realize that they can use the OBC to offset the cost of the Certs and think they need to spend it on something else.

 

[RocketMan275]

35 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Half the comments on here over complicate things more than the Cruise Next staff do 😵

 

At the end of the day, forget the spin, forget the OBC, forget the free money, for 2 and above certificates you are invoiced half the face value, it's that simple.

Then why not present it simply as half off?  The only reason for the mumbo-jumbo is to confuse and mislead?  One wonders if Cruise Next recruites former used car salesmen.

[cruiseny4life]

39 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Half the comments on here over complicate things more than the Cruise Next staff do 😵

 

At the end of the day, forget the spin, forget the OBC, forget the free money, for 2 and above certificates you are invoiced half the face value, it's that simple.

What a cogent point! I'll be the first to label CruiseNext staff as snake oil salespeople, but....I think I have Cruise Next figured out, then a thread like this pops up and I get all sorts of confused until I remember exactly what you just said. 🙂 Someday I'll stop reading these threads altogether, but they can be fun.

[RocketMan275]

43 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

Good example. In order for me to agree with this, I'd have to believe that the cruise guest can't/won't understand the difference between "buy one, get one free" and "50% off". 

It should be Obvious that the Cruise Next isn't sold as a 'BOGO'.  The whole sales pitch is overly complicated for a reason.  It's is designed to confuse and mislead.  If it's such a good 'BOGO' deal, then simply sell it as such.

[TrumpyNor]

16 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

I’ve never used a CruiseFirst, but I think the difference is that the CN is good for four years, where the CF is only good for three.  Also, they regularly have “Double Up” and sometimes “Triple Up” offers for CNs.  I don’t think they do for CFs.

I have used both, and the main difference to me was that CruiseFirst could be purchased online 8and CruiseNext can only be purcased on board), so my PCC suggested to purchase a CruiseFirst as deposit at a time where I had already used my original CruiseNext vouchers as deposits on other cruises. (At that time I believe that I paid $250 and got $500 paid off on the cruise I booked. At a later time I purchased one CruiseFirst for $150 and got $300 paid off on the cruise. So both time I used it as I did not have any CruiseNext vouchers left.).

So based on what I have written above, it is actually a better deal to get the extra credit added to the future cruise (as you do with CruiseFirst) instead of as OBC (as you do with CruiseNext).