False advertisement with MyVegas redemption?

[Espeonkins]

I apologize if this sounds like a newbie question (I'm totally new to Cruise Critic, though not new to cruising)--but I'm just trying to see if other people had good or bad experiences redeeming MyVegas rewards on NCL.

 

My mother redeemed a $750 off on MyVegas; I was skeptical at first, and after digging in a little more, it seems my skepticism is justified. I went on the NCL site to look for cruises we may be interested in, then I called in to try to make my booking. It felt very scammy; the representative quoted a price way higher than what I saw on the NCL website, so that after applying the MyVegas discount, we ended up saving only $400. I get it, the $750 is applicable to only one passenger, and doesn't cover gratuities, taxes, and the booking fee. But I cranked through the numbers, and the fact remains that they they're taking the $750 discount off of a much higher price than was advertised on the NCL website. 

 

This feels very similar to the "buy 1 airfare get 1 free" scams that companies try to push. They tell you the 2nd passenger is free, but they double the first passenger's airfare, so the net amount is about the same. 

 

We'll probably still do a cruise anyway, but maybe choose a cheaper one. A discount is still a discount (yes, we're being cheated out of the $750 discount, but still, we'll take any discount). That said, this arbitrary raising of prices left a sour taste in our mouth. 

 

Anyone else experienced this? 

[Maanio]

Unless you provide us a breakdown of the price this is just speculation.

My two bookings with my Vegas ended up exactly as I expected: only taxes and FAS gratuities.

[LatinaInTexas]

Not sure what happened with your booking but I have taken many cruises using the My Vegas rewards with no issues or complaints. 

I have used the $750 off NCL on three bookings with no issues or complaints. Calling to book was simple, no upsells and quick and easy. The prices I booked at were the prices I saw online, exactly to the penny. My last booking the inside cabins were showing only guarantee available but the rep left me pick a cabin, that was very helpful. 

These rewards have been great, especially since on my 3 bookings me and my husband were both able to use the $750 off saving $1500 right off the bat.

 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Espeonkins said:

Anyone else experienced this? 

 

The general answer is "no". Can you list the items you were charged for... What you should expect is.

 

• Cruise Fare
• Booking admin fees 
• Port Taxes / Fees
• Travel Protection/Insurance (if you selected that)
• Beverage Package Service Charge/Gratuities (if you selected the free unlimited drinks package)
• Dining Package Service Charge/Gratuities (if you selected the 1 or 2 free dinners)
• Pre-paid daily service charge gratuities (if you selected to pre-pay those)

 

Everything beyond the Cruise Fare would be in addition to the base fare you see on the website unless you do a full mock booking (which would not include the admin fee).

 

You can opt out of the unlimited drinks package and pay for drinks by the glass. And you can opt out of the dining package and eat at complimentary restaurants. You can opt out of Travel Protection. The Daily Service Charge can be pre-paid or paid onboard. 

 

We find the BOGO airfare reasonable and saves a lot of money. So, before you fire unsubstantiated accusations, you need to do your homework. That being said, NCL will book the cheapest flights which may involve connections (where non-stop flights are available) and early/late flights. We're retired, so the flight times don't really matter to us. 

[G-DawgMN]

5 hours ago, Espeonkins said:

I apologize if this sounds like a newbie question (I'm totally new to Cruise Critic, though not new to cruising)--but I'm just trying to see if other people had good or bad experiences redeeming MyVegas rewards on NCL.

 

My mother redeemed a $750 off on MyVegas; I was skeptical at first, and after digging in a little more, it seems my skepticism is justified. I went on the NCL site to look for cruises we may be interested in, then I called in to try to make my booking. It felt very scammy; the representative quoted a price way higher than what I saw on the NCL website, so that after applying the MyVegas discount, we ended up saving only $400. I get it, the $750 is applicable to only one passenger, and doesn't cover gratuities, taxes, and the booking fee. But I cranked through the numbers, and the fact remains that they they're taking the $750 discount off of a much higher price than was advertised on the NCL website. 

 

This feels very similar to the "buy 1 airfare get 1 free" scams that companies try to push. They tell you the 2nd passenger is free, but they double the first passenger's airfare, so the net amount is about the same. 

 

We'll probably still do a cruise anyway, but maybe choose a cheaper one. A discount is still a discount (yes, we're being cheated out of the $750 discount, but still, we'll take any discount). That said, this arbitrary raising of prices left a sour taste in our mouth. 

 

Anyone else experienced this? 

 Did you go all the way through the booking when you price compared. I don’t believe taxes and port fees are usually included until the very last step. There’s also free at sea gratuities if you opt into those. 

[MoCruiseFan]

It is quite possible that the price you were looking at on line was the cruise fare only and the price quoted on the phone was the to final price including things such as the port fess/taxes, insurance, FAS gratuities, and possibly the DSC.  No scam or false advertising.  Just a misunderstanding on your part at what you were looking at.

[herbanrenewal]

one more thing that used to confuse me - each cabin grade has options - the lowest advertised price in usually a guarantee interior, with options like selecting your own cabin a higher price. Since i never book a guarantee I know the advertised low price is not what i will be paying.

[Guindalf]

Another thing to consider is that prices are often quoted with the current promotion applied.

 

For example, if the cruise price is $1000 and it's 'second passenger is 50% off', the prices shown are likely to be $750 each. The discount would come off the rack rate, not the discounted fare!

[Espeonkins]

Thank you to all who replied--I feel better about this now. I was just unsure because it's my first time using the MyVegas reward. 

 

UPDATE: So I guess I just got unlucky with the first agent I spoke to. She was not very good at explaining the prices, spoke very quickly, and seemed to get irritated when I asked her for the per person price breakdowns. I also found out she tacked on the cruise protection without telling me. 

 

I tried again the next day, and the agent quoted me another price that was $1,000 more than the estimate I got yesterday, but this agent quickly caught the error and acknowledged there was probably a glitch in the system. After retrying the price did indeed come out to what I expected it to be. 

 

So for those of you who were curious and asked for actual numbers: 

Upon booking, I got the receipt, and the math mostly checks out. The per person fares are (including the discount): Pax 1 ($0) + Pax 2 ($629) + Pax 3 ($449) + taxes & gratuities ($1,006). The error that happened was that the 3 Pax fares somehow jumped up to $380/$1073/$859, which the agent quickly realized could not have been correct. 

 

So I'll chalk it up to just bad luck that I was dealing with errors my first time. After re-trying, things seemed to work out. Thanks for all your replies!

[LatinaInTexas]

1 hour ago, Espeonkins said:

Thank you to all who replied--I feel better about this now. I was just unsure because it's my first time using the MyVegas reward. 

 

UPDATE: So I guess I just got unlucky with the first agent I spoke to. She was not very good at explaining the prices, spoke very quickly, and seemed to get irritated when I asked her for the per person price breakdowns. I also found out she tacked on the cruise protection without telling me. 

 

I tried again the next day, and the agent quoted me another price that was $1,000 more than the estimate I got yesterday, but this agent quickly caught the error and acknowledged there was probably a glitch in the system. After retrying the price did indeed come out to what I expected it to be. 

 

So for those of you who were curious and asked for actual numbers: 

Upon booking, I got the receipt, and the math mostly checks out. The per person fares are (including the discount): Pax 1 ($0) + Pax 2 ($629) + Pax 3 ($449) + taxes & gratuities ($1,006). The error that happened was that the 3 Pax fares somehow jumped up to $380/$1073/$859, which the agent quickly realized could not have been correct. 

 

So I'll chalk it up to just bad luck that I was dealing with errors my first time. After re-trying, things seemed to work out. Thanks for all your replies!

Glad it worked out, enjoy your cruise🙂 Just to let you know for in the future in case you are interested My Vegas also periodically offers comp NCL cruises. Unlike the money off rewards like the one you used the comp cruise rewards charge an administration fee of $20 per person per day in addition to the other standard fees.

[Espeonkins]

11 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Glad it worked out, enjoy your cruise🙂 Just to let you know for in the future in case you are interested My Vegas also periodically offers comp NCL cruises. Unlike the money off rewards like the one you used the comp cruise rewards charge an administration fee of $20 per person per day in addition to the other standard fees.

Thanks! I've definitely seen those, but usually by the time you click on them, they're already sold out. But we'll try again another time. My mother is a retiree, so she's got a lot of time on her hands. She was playing MyVegas throughout Covid lockdown, so she has tons and tons of points and doesn't know what to do with them. 😆

 

Assuming this cruise goes well, I hope my mother gets hooked and will want to go on more. 

[BirdTravels]

43 minutes ago, Espeonkins said:

Thanks! I've definitely seen those, but usually by the time you click on them, they're already sold out. But we'll try again another time. My mother is a retiree, so she's got a lot of time on her hands. She was playing MyVegas throughout Covid lockdown, so she has tons and tons of points and doesn't know what to do with them. 😆

 

Assuming this cruise goes well, I hope my mother gets hooked and will want to go on more. 

If mom gambles in the casino, try to call Casinos at Sea directly first to see what they have to offer. Never hurts to ask. And if you play a lot, then every room will be a comp'ed room directly through CAS in the future.