Account confusion

[Smitheroo]

Up until recently, when I began booking future cruises, I had 1 $300 CF certificate and 2 $500 CF certificates plus 8 $250 CN certificates.   I made 2 bookings and used both $500 CF certificates. I have since cancelled those cruises and I realize that the certificates used will be returned to my account 5-10 work days after.  I used 2 $250 CN for a cruise in Octoer 2024.  If you look at the reservation for these cruises  you see a total amt due and the date if is due.  Nowhere does it say I used these certificates to get to these amounts due . If you do the math it works out but I wonder why it doesnt show the certificates used since they have been removed from my account already?  In another booking I tried to use 2 of the CN certificates but because it was within 4 months of the sailing it would only accept 1 of the certificates. but the other one that was rejected  immediately has not been returned to my account yet. But they billed me immediately and said if I didnt pay it immediately then "cancellation policy" would apply?.  (since it was so close to the sailing date I had to pay in full when I reserved)  This is very confusing.

 

To avoid this confusion in the future, and since you can apply a CN or CF certificate anytime before final payment, wouldnt it be better to keep your certificates in your account and only apply them as the full payment date comes close? 

[schmoopie17]

Someone on another thread (I don't recall who...and I'm too lazy to go back and look) said they applied a CN certificate after final payment and the amount was refunded to the payment credit card. YMMV.

[Smitheroo]

I just checked with the chat person.   This is so crazy, all the different dates and rules for the promo. You can really screw up!  1)  To remove any certiicate you have to cancel the booking and then rebook. You may or may not get the same price.  2) the triple up promotion started on 11/8.  If you booked on 11/7 (which I did) you can NOT apply the triple certificate to that booking . Someone on here said they could and they did.

 

3)  Even thought they billed me the $250 for the rejected cruise next certificate it will still take the full amount of time to go back to my account, just as if it was a cancelled booking.

 

Oh Lord, how can anyone keep all of this straight

 

I didnt bother to ask her on the chat but yes, I think its better to hold onto your CN and CF certificates until closer to the final payment date as long as they are not attached to any promo rules.  Because if you are booking a year in the future those certificates will be tied up in that reservation and you may see a cruise you want to go on inthe meantime and wouldnt be able to use them (because of the 4 month rule)

Edited November 9, 2023 by rootsmith

[carohs]

1 hour ago, rootsmith said:

To avoid this confusion in the future, and since you can apply a CN or CF certificate anytime before final payment, wouldnt it be better to keep your certificates in your account and only apply them as the full payment date comes close

Not necessarily because the promos are always changing. You may not be able to take advantage of a double up or triple up promo if it's not running when your PIF date is nearing. 

[Smitheroo]

6 minutes ago, carohs said:

Not necessarily because the promos are always changing. You may not be able to take advantage of a double up or triple up promo if it's not running when your PIF date is nearing. 

right, in another answer I wrote that you do have to keep track if a the certificate is attached to a promo. It might not be worth the stress.  But you are tying up your certificates if you apply them to a cruise over a year away and there is no promo attached to them, are you not?  You might find a cruise in the meantime you could use them on if you still had them to use. 

[julig22]

33 minutes ago, rootsmith said:

I just checked with the chat person.   This is so crazy, all the different dates and rules for the promo. You can really screw up!  1)  To remove any certiicate you have to cancel the booking and then rebook. You may or may not get the same price.  2) the triple up promotion started on 11/8.  If you booked on 11/7 (which I did) you can NOT apply the triple certificate to that booking . Someone on here said they could and they did.

This is why I have a PCC. Unfortunately I've gone through a few, as they get promoted, leave the company or get fired (by me) because they aren't a good fit. And in some cases I've had to actually guide them through in order to get what I want - but it eventually gets done. Sometimes I think I should get an employee discount considering the number of tricks I've passed on...

 

No, you do not have to cancel a booking and rebook to remove a certificate - been there, done that when I wanted to have a certificate available. But it did take a few days to get returned to my account. But you do have to have a sufficient amount of deposit on the booking to keep it from getting cancelled.

 

If you booked on 11/7, you can most certainly take advantage of the triple up promo if your booking qualifies. No need to go through the chat or anyone else (unless you are using a TA).  You just go to your NCL account and apply the certificate(s) as payments.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Someone on another thread (I don't recall who...and I'm too lazy to go back and look) said they applied a CN certificate after final payment and the amount was refunded to the payment credit card. YMMV.

I saw a similar post, but they said they applied the CN to a fully paid cruise before final payment, and the CC was refunded.  It may be that is what you are remembering.

[Smitheroo]

37 minutes ago, julig22 said:

This is why I have a PCC. Unfortunately I've gone through a few, as they get promoted, leave the company or get fired (by me) because they aren't a good fit. And in some cases I've had to actually guide them through in order to get what I want - but it eventually gets done. Sometimes I think I should get an employee discount considering the number of tricks I've passed on...

 

No, you do not have to cancel a booking and rebook to remove a certificate - been there, done that when I wanted to have a certificate available. But it did take a few days to get returned to my account. But you do have to have a sufficient amount of deposit on the booking to keep it from getting cancelled.

 

If you booked on 11/7, you can most certainly take advantage of the triple up promo if your booking qualifies. No need to go through the chat or anyone else (unless you are using a TA).  You just go to your NCL account and apply the certificate(s) as payments.

Ok, I will try that to apply it as a payment.  Thinking back though, its possible my booking didnt otherwise apply. However, she did say "the triple up promo started on 11/8 and you booked 11/7, therefore it doesnt apply".  She was clear about that. (wrong, but clear. In other words, I didnt misunderstand her)    A friend I am traveling with changed a booking tonight and he became her "PCC" and invited me to ask him any questions I might have so I think I will make him my PCC as well  for future bookings.  I agree that's better than having a random person each time. 

[carohs]

1 hour ago, rootsmith said:

right, in another answer I wrote that you do have to keep track if a the certificate is attached to a promo. It might not be worth the stress.  But you are tying up your certificates if you apply them to a cruise over a year away and there is no promo attached to them, are you not?  You might find a cruise in the meantime you could use them on if you still had them to use. 

Not sure I'm understanding you. Are you having a hard time tracking how many CN or CF you have already applied to any given reservation? Can't you just look at the booking confirmation and see what the cruise price was? Mine also shows the form of payment applied. You can always add another CN to an existing reservation if a DU or TU is running now regardless of what promo was running when you booked. You don't have to keep track of that. 

 

Also, seems like if you need em for a cruise now vs a cruise later it wouldn't be all that difficult to remove them from the cruise later as long as you made another payment to cover at least the deposit amount to avoid cancellation.