NCL Mastercard FAQ

[MagnoliaBlossom]

12 hours ago, romalley99 said:

It's been quite some time since I've used BoA points for anything NCL. I'm looking to redeem some of my points for a 7-Day Caribbean Cruise. If I redeem my points for a Balcony, is there any way of getting to a Club Balcony, even if I have to pay for the upgrade... or am I stuck at the BA level? I know I can't use points to upgrade to a CBS, but wondering if I can do a paid upgrade? 

 

I'm doing a back to back, and have a CBS for the first leg, and I would like the same cabin for the second week I'm using BoA points for... and it's still open!

 

TYIA

 

No, the TNC say maximum upgrade level  is BA.  I’m not sure if you can pay the difference between a BA and CBS, but let us know in case you decide to do that.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I have had a confusing situation recently.  Has anyone else had this occur?

I booked an I4 (top inside on this ship) for say $700.

Time passes and the I4 rate has dropped to say,$600 Yea,right?

Called my PCP of 14 years, very knowledgeable lady and she says no, your price didn’t drop, because the BA price is actually higher now.   
Huh? I know for a fact I’ve done this in the past.  Anyone else experience this?

[julig22]

13 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I have had a confusing situation recently.  Has anyone else had this occur?

I booked an I4 (top inside on this ship) for say $700.

Time passes and the I4 rate has dropped to say,$600 Yea,right?

Called my PCP of 14 years, very knowledgeable lady and she says no, your price didn’t drop, because the BA price is actually higher now.   
Huh? I know for a fact I’ve done this in the past.  Anyone else experience this?

I usually wait until final payment for exactly this reason.  My pcc once told me that changing anything after a points upgrade is extremely difficult. I tried to get FCC for a price drop and it was denied, saying the price hadn't dropped - but it had, who knows what they were using for comparison.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

43 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I usually wait until final payment for exactly this reason.  My pcc once told me that changing anything after a points upgrade is extremely difficult. I tried to get FCC for a price drop and it was denied, saying the price hadn't dropped - but it had, who knows what they were using for comparison.

That’s understandable, but I know I’ve done it in the past.  I think it’s another way for Norwegianto wiggle out of a price reduction.  We’ve certainly seen enough of that recently with FCCs as you said..  thanks for your info.

[alwalaska]

3 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Next lower level.

That's why you should always book highest inside or OV so you have a greater inventory to choose from.

 

3 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Next lower level.

That's why you should always book highest inside or OV so you have a greater inventory to choose from.

Thanks.  Unfortunately, the cruise I'm looking at was only recently released (I'm looking at 2025) and 2 categories of ocean views are already gone.  I saved points to do BtoB 7 day cruises, but 2025 is selling as one 14 day cruise, so maybe I'll go the interior to balcony to get lower price and better options for balconies.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

2 hours ago, alwalaska said:

 

Thanks.  Unfortunately, the cruise I'm looking at was only recently released (I'm looking at 2025) and 2 categories of ocean views are already gone.  I saved points to do BtoB 7 day cruises, but 2025 is selling as one 14 day cruise, so maybe I'll go the interior to balcony to get lower price and better options for balconies.

Keep an eye on those. Douses, they not be actually sold out.

[romalley99]

7 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Not going to happen. Even afts are no longer allowed.

You can pay but why?  Everything is based of you rate prior to point upgrade.

 

I think they are treating us wrong.

 

If an inside is $1500 and a balcony is $5000 and we double with points we should be able to pay the difference starting at $5000. But no, it's at the $1500.

 

Hope to bid!

 

I would pay just to keep the same cabin. I don't NEED to use points to upgrade, I would be willing to pay on top of the cruise booked with points to get to a CBS. I woudn't bid either as that would defeat the purpose as well 😝.

 

When I call in to book my cruise, I will inquire and report back. I'm fully prepared to be told no, as I already have been here, but worth the shot to ask. 

 

Thanks everyone for the tips. 

 

Robbie

[mscdivina2016]

5 hours ago, alwalaska said:

 

Thanks.  Unfortunately, the cruise I'm looking at was only recently released (I'm looking at 2025) and 2 categories of ocean views are already gone.  I saved points to do BtoB 7 day cruises, but 2025 is selling as one 14 day cruise, so maybe I'll go the interior to balcony to get lower price and better options for balconies.

I actually have 2 booked in 2025 already.

Keep in mind. Pay for the cruise now and get triple points to use on it if needed.

[alwalaska]

2 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I actually have 2 booked in 2025 already.

Keep in mind. Pay for the cruise now and get triple points to use on it if needed.

Is that pay in full now?  Are the triple points you are talking about the credit card points?   Sorry if I seem dense, I play a lot of credit card games, but I am new to the NCL card.

[mscdivina2016]

3 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

Is that pay in full now?  Are the triple points you are talking about the credit card points?   Sorry if I seem dense, I play a lot of credit card games, but I am new to the NCL card.

If you need points to upgrade you can pay now or even a portion.

 

Yes the triple is for credit card points on NCL products.

[romalley99]

So, I really took some time today to think about how I can get to the CBS... My new question is... can the person I am sailing with use their unused Diamond Upgrade on this BoA points cruise? As mentioned above... I'm doing a balcony with points. This is an interesting scenario which I'd be interested in pursuing. 

 

If anyone knows, please shed some light for me? If not, I'll find out tomorrow hopefully and will report back! 

 

Thanks again for the insight earlier! 

 

Robbie 

Edited February 23, 2023 by romalley99
spelling

[mscdivina2016]

8 hours ago, romalley99 said:

So, I really took some time today to think about how I can get to the CBS... My new question is... can the person I am sailing with use their unused Diamond Upgrade on this BoA points cruise? As mentioned above... I'm doing a balcony with points. This is an interesting scenario which I'd be interested in pursuing. 

 

If anyone knows, please shed some light for me? If not, I'll find out tomorrow hopefully and will report back! 

 

Thanks again for the insight earlier! 

 

Robbie 

Interesting thought but I doubt the system will take it.

Half the time when I redeemed, my confirmation now reads complimentary upgrade from IA to BA.

So when you want the upgrade it will be treated as complimentary and based off original category.

 I don't know when your friend got it, but it has to be used within 1 year. Unclear if it's book in a year or sail in a year.

[romalley99]

6 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Interesting thought but I doubt the system will take it.

Half the time when I redeemed, my confirmation now reads complimentary upgrade from IA to BA.

So when you want the upgrade it will be treated as complimentary and based off original category.

 I don't know when your friend got it, but it has to be used within 1 year. Unclear if it's book in a year or sail in a year.

 

I'm not trying to upgrade to a balcony with points, I booked a balcony outright with points so my confirmation only reads "BA" and not a category before it. They got rid of the one year rule for both the Diamond upgrade and Ambassador Cruise (which is how I was able to book my Ambassador cruise, thankfully... since it previously expired)... so I'm not too worried about that. I'll be reaching out shortly to Latitudes to see if they will take this perk and apply it to this cruise... Will let you know how it works out. I'm going in with a "expect the worst but hope for the best" attitude. 

 

Let's see...... 

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, romalley99 said:

 

I'm not trying to upgrade to a balcony with points, I booked a balcony outright with points so my confirmation only reads "BA" and not a category before it. They got rid of the one year rule for both the Diamond upgrade and Ambassador Cruise (which is how I was able to book my Ambassador cruise, thankfully... since it previously expired)... so I'm not too worried about that. I'll be reaching out shortly to Latitudes to see if they will take this perk and apply it to this cruise... Will let you know how it works out. I'm going in with a "expect the worst but hope for the best" attitude. 

 

Let's see...... 

Oh ok.  You should be fine as they are the other occupant and the upgrade is valid.

[The Traveling Man]

On 2/21/2023 at 6:16 PM, Kath29 said:

 

re your first question: I think they just randomly assign a cabin. I spoke to my PCC when I booked the inside cabin IA, told her my plans to upgrade with BofA points to a Balcony BA. She told me that after the upgrade was complete, if I wanted to change the rooms (within the same BA category), I could call her and she could do a cabin change.

That has not been our experience.  We have used points to upgrade more than ten times.  On each occasion we were able to specify our new cabin number at the time we redeemed our points.

[The Traveling Man]

On 2/21/2023 at 7:07 PM, Mikiejag said:

What would count for a single meta upgrade if Oceanview cabins don't exist?  Looking at the Epic, it goes from Inside to balcony, to suites.

 

Technically it would be a single meta, but according the BOA site, it would be a double.

 

Any clues on this or is this a specific BOA question?

This has come up before and several persons have reported that on ships such as the Epic which do not have OV cabins, it is a double meta to use points to go from inside to balcony.

[alwalaska]

On 7/22/2022 at 1:03 PM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

If you mean passenger A uses points to advance the cabin to OV, then passenger B uses points to advance to Bal.  I’m not sure you could do that BUT the easiest thing to do is transfer points from A to B or vice versa, and do a double meta upgrade in one transaction.  There is no fee (unlike some airlines) to transfer points.

Do you know if there is a way to transfer points online or do we both need to be available to talk to someone to do the points transfer?

[mscdivina2016]

46 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

Do you know if there is a way to transfer points online or do we both need to be available to talk to someone to do the points transfer?

As long as you have both credit cards in front.of you you should not have an issue.

Last week we used 30,000 points from wife's card and 30,000 from my card for a double.

All they asked for was card number.

[Smitheroo]

On 1/29/2008 at 3:27 PM, cliffd64 said:

 

Exactly. Hence the need to "apply" for a second account.

Do you mean another person in the household apply for a card under their own account?   Because I dont think one person can have two different accounts with a charge card?   

[mscdivina2016]

5 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Do you mean another person in the household apply for a card under their own account?   Because I dont think one person can have two different accounts with a charge card?   

Yes. We have two accounts in one household.

[TifffanyD]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:39 AM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Yes,it will automatically show up.  Mine have usually taken anywhere from a few hours to two days.

 

you are able to pick your room.  They may try and force a cabin on you but I always have a list of acceptable cabins, in order of preference so I can quickly accept or reject.  But usually I just start by telling the agent what cabin I want and we go from there.  I have had agents insist they had to assign the cabins.  When that happens I just hang up and call back with  another agent.

 

I have read that online upgrades are now available, which is fairly new, and that people have been able to select their cabin.  I have not yet experienced that.  But I’m old school and prefer to speak to a human about my transactions.  Let us know how it goes with your online booking.

 

I wouldn't say it will automatically show up. Mine never did and I had to call. If it doesn't show in a bit then call 

[Smitheroo]

9 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Yes. We have two accounts in one household.

But can one person have two accounts?   

[mscdivina2016]

6 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

But can one person have two accounts?   

Yes you can but you won't earn any bonus sign up points.  I am talking two separate accounts that can earn points.  I had one I used for business that was offered to me when I opened a business account (sole proprietorship) so I took it and I chose the world points card .

 I have my old BOA card and my wife also has a separate BOA card as well.

[Smitheroo]

1 hour ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Yes you can but you won't earn any bonus sign up points.  I am talking two separate accounts that can earn points.  I had one I used for business that was offered to me when I opened a business account (sole proprietorship) so I took it and I chose the world points card .

 I have my old BOA card and my wife also has a separate BOA card as well.

Still confused.  I suspected you wouldnt get any bonus sign up points but can one person have two cards that earn points?  One person posted that once he reached the maximum allowed number of points he started using his other one. One person said he had 3.  I dont have another traveling person in the household so it would be just me.   

[mscdivina2016]

8 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Still confused.  I suspected you wouldnt get any bonus sign up points but can one person have two cards that earn points?  One person posted that once he reached the maximum allowed number of points he started using his other one. One person said he had 3.  I dont have another traveling person in the household so it would be just me.   

Yes I have 2 cards.  There is no maximum.