Please explain Cruise Next vs. Cruise First.

[retiredyoungLV]

Thank you for an explanation!

[phillygwm]

CruiseNext may only be purchased onboard, though they're transferrable so you can get them in the secondary market.  You may purchase up to 4 of them in $250 increments for $125 each.  You can usually use two toward your cruise deposit, though I believe that varies based on cabin type and cruise length.  I usually book balcony 7 day cruises and they allow me to double up.  Your total savings would be $250 under that scenario.

 

CruiseFirst may be purchased online.  Usually, it's $150 for a $300 certificate.  Occasionally, NCL runs a promo so you can buy $500 for $250.  You cannot double these up.  

 

If you can catch one of the $250/500 CruiseFirst promos, there's no financial difference.  If you got the standard $150/300, your net savings is $100 less than you'd have with CruiseNext.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by phillygwm

[UKstages]

the net savings is less, that's true, but the percentage savings is the same.

 

there are times when, as a CAS guest, my total expenditure is less than $500. at times such as those, a $300 certificate comes in handy.

 

my understanding is that cruise first certificates are fully transferable, although i'ver never done it. 

 

one important restriction on cruise first certificates is that they must have been purchased 120 days before the sail date. (don't confuse the date of booking with the sail date. you can book a cruise for next week and apply a cruise first certificate provided the certificate was purchased at least 120 days before the cruise.) you can even buy a cruise first certificate when you call a PCC to book your cruise. he or she will apply the credit right then and there, reducing your invoice by $300 or $500.

 

conversely, my understanding of cruise next certificates is that the cruise you book must be 120 days out from the day you book the cruise, not the purchase date of the certificates. 

 

for this reason, i prefer cruise first.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

You may purchase up to 4 of them in $250 increments for $125 each. 

Each person in the cabin can purchase 8.  DW and I have purchased 16 on each of our last two cruises.  All but two of those 32 are currently applied via double up offers to future cruises.

[KeithJenner]

If you only buy one Cruisenext it costs $150. 2 are $250 and it is $125 each from there.

[retiredyoungLV]

I always buy the cheapest cabin and rate possible. In the Cruise First fine print it says it's not applicable on Sail-Away rates. Is every basic room called Sail-Away?

[Asawi]

7 hours ago, UKstages said:

conversely, my understanding of cruise next certificates is that the cruise you book must be 120 days out from the day you book the cruise, not the purchase date of the certificates. 

 

The 120 days limit is only when using a double up promo. And sometimes they don't have that limit either.
Double up is almost always available for balcony and above. Sometimes (5-ish times/year?) for lower categories as well.

(Cruise first is not available for us in Europe)

[Asawi]

2 hours ago, retiredyoungLV said:

I always buy the cheapest cabin and rate possible. In the Cruise First fine print it says it's not applicable on Sail-Away rates. Is every basic room called Sail-Away?

For US customers Sail-Away is a cabin without FreeAtSea perks.

(In Europe it's just the lowest sub-category in each category and we can buy FreeAtSea the same way as we do in all other categories. It's usually not much discounted compared to non-SailAway.)

[dbrown84]

If you usually buy inside cabins, I would recommend cruise first over cruise next.  Cruise first can always be used on any cabin so just buy one or two when you see the $500 version for sale.  That way, you always have a net $250 savings on your cruise.  Cruise next double up is not always available on inside cabins, so you're only guaranteed to be able to use one, for a $125 savings.  For the few times that they do allow double up on all cabins, then it's the same either way.  One other thing to know about the cruise first.....if you cancel and rebook the same cruise that had a cruise first, you lose the extra value of the cruise first.

[dbrown84]

9 hours ago, UKstages said:

there are times when, as a CAS guest, my total expenditure is less than $500. at times such as those, a $300 certificate comes in handy.

yes, I run into this problem all the time.  I can usually get over the $500 mark by adding the pre-paid DSC.  Once I had to buy the airport shuttle from the port to get over the mark

[phillygwm]

6 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

yes, I run into this problem all the time.  I can usually get over the $500 mark by adding the pre-paid DSC.  Once I had to buy the airport shuttle from the port to get over the mark

I have similar issues.  I usually just upgrade my cabin accordingly 🙂

 

Amex just ran the $200 refund on $1000 spend promo for some of us.  Same challenge:  I found myself booking my FAS+, prepaying DSC, and booking an excursion, despite it being 9 months before sailing, just to hit the threshold. 

[retiredyoungLV]

29 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

If you usually buy inside cabins, I would recommend cruise first over cruise next.  Cruise first can always be used on any cabin so just buy one or two when you see the $500 version for sale.  That way, you always have a net $250 savings on your cruise.  Cruise next double up is not always available on inside cabins, so you're only guaranteed to be able to use one, for a $125 savings.  For the few times that they do allow double up on all cabins, then it's the same either way.  One other thing to know about the cruise first.....if you cancel and rebook the same cruise that had a cruise first, you lose the extra value of the cruise first.

But if I want just the lowest price it sounds like i won't be able to use cruise first? Is there an option to buy just one add-on so it's no longer a sail away rate?

[laudergayle]

11 minutes ago, retiredyoungLV said:

But if I want just the lowest price it sounds like i won't be able to use cruise first? Is there an option to buy just one add-on so it's no longer a sail away rate?

While you cannot use the CruiseFirst option for a Sailaway rate (which is what you book), you may find that booking a Free At Sea rate and buying/using a CruiseFirst certificate would net you some savings AND the additional features of Free At Sea.

 

I would do a mock booking for FAS to see how that works out.  I noticed that NCL is offering the $500 (for $250) cruise first right now.

 

Also to answer your question about an add on.  A sail away rate is cabin type that ends with an X ( OX, BX, etc.) so even if you added something it wouldn’t change your cabin type.

Edited December 28, 2023 by laudergayle

[schmoopie17]

CruiseNext says they're only good on future reservations, not on existing reservations. However, numerous people say they're able to apply them to existing reservations.

 

Does the same apply to CruiseNext (regarding being able to apply to an existing reservation?)

If so, I'd love to get one and apply to our existing September reservation.

[laudergayle]

12 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

CruiseNext says they're only good on future reservations, not on existing reservations. However, numerous people say they're able to apply them to existing reservations.

 

Does the same apply to CruiseNext (regarding being able to apply to an existing reservation?)

If so, I'd love to get one and apply to our existing September reservation.

If you meant CruiseFirst, yes you could buy one today and apply to your September booking as long as you don’t have a CN cert on it already.

[ChiefMateJRK]

43 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

CruiseNext says they're only good on future reservations, not on existing reservations. However, numerous people say they're able to apply them to existing reservations.

 

Does the same apply to CruiseNext (regarding being able to apply to an existing reservation?)

If so, I'd love to get one and apply to our existing September reservation.

I've applied CN to existing reservations many times.  In most cases, I've applied 2 under double up offers to existing reservations.  In the others, I've used a single CN at time of booking and added a 2nd during the next double up offer.

[retiredyoungLV]

If I have a Cruise First Certificate for $500, what happens if my cruise is less than that? Let's say the cruise is $450. (Yes, I know it has to be over 6 days long.)

 

And thank you for your help, Everyone.

[UKstages]

you can apply it, but you'll lose fifty dollars in value.

 

the smarter move, as suggested above, would be to add additional items to your reservation, such as prepaying the onboard service charge. that way, you would realize full value.

[ChiefMateJRK]

38 minutes ago, retiredyoungLV said:

If I have a Cruise First Certificate for $500, what happens if my cruise is less than that? Let's say the cruise is $450. (Yes, I know it has to be over 6 days long.)

I have never used Cruise First, but have used Cruise Next a lot.  The $250 per CN comes off the total, which includes base fare, taxes, port fees, etc.  Is there such a thing as a seven day NCL cruise that has out the door pricing of less than $500?  According to CruisePlum, the cheapest total price booking currently available on NCL is a 12 day Orlando - Rome inside cabin for one passenger at $1210.

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

you can apply it, but you'll lose fifty dollars in value.

 

the smarter move, as suggested above, would be to add additional items to your reservation, such as prepaying the onboard service charge. that way, you would realize full value.

Ditto. This is the best answer.

 

 

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I have never used Cruise First, but have used Cruise Next a lot.  The $250 per CN comes off the total, which includes base fare, taxes, port fees, etc.  Is there such a thing as a seven day NCL cruise that has out the door pricing of less than $500?  According to CruisePlum, the cheapest total price booking currently available on NCL is a 12 day Orlando - Rome inside cabin for one passenger at $1210.

for those of us that travel thru CAS, the cruise is pretty much always under $500 since you're only paying $20 per day plus port fees/taxes.  For a 7 day cruise, you're going to be under $500 unless you going someplace with really high port fees.  so you'll have to add something (DSC, drink package, etc) to get over $500 so that you don't lose any value of the cert.  Of course, I'm talking sailing solo.  If there are two of you, it shouldn't be a problem reaching that amount

[dbrown84]

2 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

for those of us that travel thru CAS, the cruise is pretty much always under $500 since you're only paying $20 per day plus port fees/taxes.  For a 7 day cruise, you're going to be under $500 unless you going someplace with really high port fees.  so you'll have to add something (DSC, drink package, etc) to get over $500 so that you don't lose any value of the cert.  Of course, I'm talking sailing solo.  If there are two of you, it shouldn't be a problem reaching that amount

I guess I should have said comped thru CAS

[ChiefMateJRK]

23 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

for those of us that travel thru CAS, the cruise is pretty much always under $500 since you're only paying $20 per day plus port fees/taxes.  For a 7 day cruise, you're going to be under $500 unless you going someplace with really high port fees.  so you'll have to add something (DSC, drink package, etc) to get over $500 so that you don't lose any value of the cert.  Of course, I'm talking sailing solo.  If there are two of you, it shouldn't be a problem reaching that amount

That makes sense.  The OP didn't mention CAS, so I doubt that the cruise being too cheap will be an issue for her.

[cruiser2015]

14 hours ago, retiredyoungLV said:

I always buy the cheapest cabin and rate possible. In the Cruise First fine print it says it's not applicable on Sail-Away rates. Is every basic room called Sail-Away?

A Sail Away should be tagged a "Sail Away" in the cabin title.

[Jacobs Ema]

Lots of good info here. Can you purchase and use cruise next for Haven category cabins? I had heard somewhere you can’t, and I’m planning 2 cruises for next year.