ncl credit card

[cruiser82]

Thanks shoreguy, you confirmed what I thought. I wouldn't be getting a cash advance in the casino but would be charging the chips to the card so that works out great in regards to the points I could get. It looks like all that's left for me to do is submit the application! Thanks for your help :)

[cruizinwithkids]

On my recent Majesty cruise DH and I got on the ship with $10 in our pockets. When the casino opened we got chips charged to our account and then cashed them in for money. So instead of paying for a cash advance we actually got points for it. We were traveling with friends so if for some reason it hadn't worked out we would have been OK.

 

I've read of others maximizing their points by taking money from the casino and then depositing it into their bank accounts when they got home. I don't have the guts to do that, but I was pretty proud of myself for going cashless.

[Preds]

On my recent Majesty cruise DH and I got on the ship with $10 in our pockets. When the casino opened we got chips charged to our account and then cashed them in for money. So instead of paying for a cash advance we actually got points for it. We were traveling with friends so if for some reason it hadn't worked out we would have been OK.

 

I've read of others maximizing their points by taking money from the casino and then depositing it into their bank accounts when they got home. I don't have the guts to do that, but I was pretty proud of myself for going cashless.

I'm cruising next month on the spirit. I may have to try just that. What's the max in casino chips you can charge to your room? Also, if you have 2 rooms, can you make a seperate withdrawal for both rooms?

 

I don't gamble much (less than $100 over an entire cruise), but if this indeed works, without any cash advance fees and whatno, I'll take out a grand or 2 in chips, cash em in , and take the free 4% in points if I can LOL. It's a no brainer.

 

Most who use these cards the right way are disciplined spenders, thus this scenario is pretty feasible IMO.

 

BTW, I redeemed $1000 in certificates for my August cruise last week. Had them expedited (got them in 2 days), and they were kind enough to waive the two $35 expidition fees! If your a good customer, and have a long history with them, it never hurts to ask!

[sweetpea-2]

We have several NCL-MBNA accounts. There are maximum amounts of points you can earn per month (250) and per year, so we opened more accounts so we could take every advantage.

 

We cruise about once a year and use an average of about $2000+ in vouchers each time. We charge everything we can, but never carry a balance or it just wouldn't seem worth it.

 

If you do a search of this forum you will find lots of information about the credit card, and many more happy stories.

 

;) I was wondering about that, if it was worth it when you don't carry your balance over month to month, so it seems it is, thanks Margaret :)

[shoreguy]

;) I was wondering about that, if it was worth it when you don't carry your balance over month to month, so it seems it is, thanks Margaret :)

 

It is only worth it if you don't carry a balance over month after month.

[Stillfloatin']

I'm wondering if cruisers continue to abuse the free casino cash by charging large sums to their onboard account and then taking the money home without much play in the casino, if NCL will put a stop to this by charging a fee for getting cash at the casino? :(

 

I know Carnival charges a 3% fee for any chips/cash charged in the casino to your onboard account. It would be a shame for those of us who appreciate the convenience of not carrying large sums of gaming cash to start paying for this privilage because it has been abused by non-gamers. Just my two-cents, but worth noting because NCL has been known to eliminate programs that are abused, such as Well-wishers.

[kruzkupple]

Good question, Stillfloatin'!! And it's one thing to abuse a privilege, but it's quite another thing to brag about it on an open forum like this. Anybody can read these postings, including people who work for certain banks.:eek: If you want to take advantage of a procedural loophole, folks, by all means do so. But for heaven's sake, don't broadcast it for all to see.:mad: If you do, it won't be long before the loophole disappears.

 

Jack

[Preds]

I think a couple of you are getting worked up over a small thing. Have any of you ever taken advantage of a 0% cash advance offer from a credit card for 6-12 months, banked it, and used their money for free for 6-12 months before paying it off or rolling it over to another deal? This isn't much different, and I'm sure there are limits anyhow.

 

NCL is banking on folks not having discipline and blowing the money in the casino. I'm sure they make quite a bit this way. Credit card companies are the same way with cash advances or teaser lines. I see no problem with playing the other side of the coin and beating them at their own game. Call it whatever you wish, but it's just sound financial management.

[Commodore Suzy]

Well, I just want to jump in with MY two cents.

 

I have to say that I'm a TA (don't hurt me!), and I don't have time to post super often on the boards. However, I've got two clients that have the NCL card, and when the first one started asking me about it I was clueless and called NCL.

 

So, first of all, it's simply a check payment towards your cruise. I have NO idea why there is fine print about not sending in the payment before final, as anyone could pay towards their cruise balance at any time! If you could write a check, or call and have $1000 charged to a credit card many months before a cruise final was due because you like to pay in installments, why couldn't you do this with the vouchers redeemed? NO reason. Just remember, it's a CHECK, written by MBNA to NCL, and nothing else. Don't get too freaked out about anything else they say.

 

Also, as a TA, it doesn't harm me in the slightest! I still have a regular booking, with the best rate I could get my client, with my commission built in, and it doesn't effect me in the slightest whether the cruise is paid for with an MBNA check through the program, a credit card, or a paper check from the client to my agency. I get the same!

 

And, after learning about it, I said "WOW! What an awesome program!" to my husband, but we took an NCL cruise we didn't like and didn't see any reason to get a card when we didn't know when we might do NCL again.

 

I've always known that I wanted to do the NCL Hawaii cruise though, and now that I've finally booked the POH for next 10/1, I've applied for the card and will make the best use of it.

 

I don't think I'll max out at 250 points per month, but I couldn't find the answer to the annual max easily at the ncl.com MBNA link. Thanks to all of you, I now know it's a fiscal year, not a Jan - Jan calendar year, for the annual max. That was great info. I'll watch my charges and see how it goes. I already use a points/miles card of a different type, but I've hit the annual max on that one and realized that with my NCL booking DUH! I need to get the NCL card. I applied yesterday, and will advise anyone going with me to do the same!

 

Cheers!

[dyslexic pirate]

With the NCL/MBNA card there is no reason to have another card to rack up air miles. Most of our air travel is to get to the ship's port. On our next POA cruise we booked the air/cruise package and applied our MBNA points directly to the balance. You can use the points this way to take care of your flights.

 

This was a relief to me as we've been putting everything on our two separate MBNA cards and didn't think we would have enough charges to even justify trying to start up another card just to earn air points. We rack up max points of 1000 on one card, retire it then bring out the other card. We work really hard to make sure we pay off the balances each month. Only way we can afford to cruise.