NCL Mastercard FAQ

[karinad]

I think for the most part that's pretty standard with TAs. That said, I've used only a few, as until about 5 cruises ago I typically booked directly with the cruise line. Since using a TA, in every case a small portion of the total fare was shown as charged by the TA and the rest by NCL. One of them explained it to me, but TBH I didn't read the whole explanation. LOL. The charge is from NCL for the majority of it and perks I get from the TA more than make up for the lose of a few hundred points! :D But, I agree, it's not fair!!

 

No solo balconies yet. I understand there are a couple RCCL ships with solo balconies. I've seen video of them and they look great. I've never sailed with them and I always buy FCCs on NCL, so maybe someday I end up in one of those balconies for solos. The pricing on NCL's studios fluctuates back and forth between being a good deal and at times being more than you'd pay if booked a double-occupancy inside! On my Epic cruise last year--10-night Canary Islands--I paid $904 and that included port charges and taxes. That was a fantastic deal! For the one this fall on the Epic (Western Med for 7 nights) I'm paying almost $400 more for just the base fare. So, like all other cabins on the ship, the fare bounces around. I've seen posts where people paid as low as $499 for a studio. I'd like to get one of those deals!:D

Wow! $904. for a 10 day cruise for a solo cabin with a balcony is a great deal! I guess you could find the deals if you keep watching! I try to watch. We got a great deal with Celebrity for a 10 day Med for 2 people for $2300. Plus, we got $600. in OBC's! That price was gone in less then 24 hrs.! The ship was the Equinox.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Wow! $904. for a 10 day cruise for a solo cabin with a balcony is a great deal! I guess you could find the deals if you keep watching! I try to watch. We got a great deal with Celebrity for a 10 day Med for 2 people for $2300. Plus, we got $600. in OBC's! That price was gone in less then 24 hrs.! The ship was the Equinox.

 

 

That's one of the reasons I usually book so far in advance.

 

I wish it had been a balcony! But it was a studio. Nice thing though is that the Epic spa has a huge balcony and I spent a lot of time there. :)

[karinad]

That's one of the reasons I usually book so far in advance.

 

I wish it had been a balcony! But it was a studio. Nice thing though is that the Epic spa has a huge balcony and I spent a lot of time there. :)

I always start checking rates more then a yr. ahead, and I guess when there's limited cabins like for the solo spa ones you really do need to. As long as the deposit is refundable, I have no problem putting money down. It's nice having access to a semi-private balcony when there isn't one with the cabin. I can't say that we're out on ours a lot, especially, busy cruises. They are nice to have, though.

[Jana60]

Can you upgrade from a balcony to a minisuite or a spa balcony or a suite?

 

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I don't believe there's any way to upgrade to a mini Suite or sweet using rewards points unless you have a huge number of points enough to pay for the entire cruise. But to me the mini suites on Norwegian don't really offer much beyond what you get with a balcony. There's not really a significant amount of square footage increase in the room. The bathroom is larger due to it's having a bathtub but that's sort of wasted space for me since I'm a shower girl. I went ahead and bit the bullet and upgraded today. The prices on my cruise didn't seem to be decreasing and I was afraid to wait and see if a bid placed for upgrade got accepted so instead I paid $100 per person extra to upgrade from a inside guarantee to an ocean view guarantee and then I used my rewards points to upgrade from the ocean view guarantee to a balcony guarantee. It would have cost me $1,500 more to upgrade to a balcony without the points but instead only cost $200 more. I could have gotten $300 cash for the 30,000 points but I like $1,300 better!

 

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[karinad]

I don't believe there's any way to upgrade to a mini Suite or sweet using rewards points unless you have a huge number of points enough to pay for the entire cruise. But to me the mini suites on Norwegian don't really offer much beyond what you get with a balcony. There's not really a significant amount of square footage increase in the room. The bathroom is larger due to it's having a bathtub but that's sort of wasted space for me since I'm a shower girl. I went ahead and bit the bullet and upgraded today. The prices on my cruise didn't seem to be decreasing and I was afraid to wait and see if a bid placed for upgrade got accepted so instead I paid $100 per person extra to upgrade from a inside guarantee to an ocean view guarantee and then I used my rewards points to upgrade from the ocean view guarantee to a balcony guarantee. It would have cost me $1,500 more to upgrade to a balcony without the points but instead only cost $200 more. I could have gotten $300 cash for the 30,000 points but I like $1,300 better!

 

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When you put it that way, that's a great use for the points!

[karinad]

I have another question in regards to using your points for the upgrade from OV to balcony. On the promotion that NCL is running now and probably the same promo we booked with months ago, it's called a balcony bonus, I believe. Would you lose the promo NCL is offering if you booked the ov and used points to upgrade to the balcony? Did I read that the upgrade is for a balcony gty? I think that when we booked the gty balconies weren't eligible for the bonus.

[mscdivina2016]

I have another question in regards to using your points for the upgrade from OV to balcony. On the promotion that NCL is running now and probably the same promo we booked with months ago, it's called a balcony bonus, I believe. Would you lose the promo NCL is offering if you booked the ov and used points to upgrade to the balcony? Did I read that the upgrade is for a balcony gty? I think that when we booked the gty balconies weren't eligible for the bonus.

When you use points, you new receipt uses the words ......complementary upgrade.....so you only get the perks that the actual category you booked had. So what they offer for OV is what you get when you use points to upgrade to the balcony.

Now if you booked balcony and are going backwards being repriced for OV then yes you lose perks as you only end up paying for OV.

 

The upgrade is for an actual numbered cabin. Not guarantee

Steve

 

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[gemcrusier]

Good news my points are credited back to me still dont know how the guy was able to steal them , but I am glad it's over

[$hip$hape]

Good news

my points are credited back to me still don't know how the guy was able to steal them , but I am glad it's over

Nice!

Time and tide heals all wounds.:)

(mixed metaphor)

[karinad]

When you use points, you new receipt uses the words ......complementary upgrade.....so you only get the perks that the actual category you booked had. So what they offer for OV is what you get when you use points to upgrade to the balcony.

Now if you booked balcony and are going backwards being repriced for OV then yes you lose perks as you only end up paying for OV.

 

The upgrade is for an actual numbered cabin. Not guarantee

Steve

 

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Thank you for clearing that up for me! I guess it's a matter of what is worth more to you. The perk that they're offering now is worded for a balcony bonus.

[$hip$hape]

Thank you for clearing that up for me! I guess it's a matter of what is worth more to you. The perk that they're offering now is worded for a balcony bonus.

Thanks.

If you put "Balcony Bonus Week " in a NCL search,

more info can be found.

[karinad]

Thanks.

If you put "Balcony Bonus Week " in a NCL search,

more info can be found.

Thank you!

[Jana60]

I have another question in regards to using your points for the upgrade from OV to balcony. On the promotion that NCL is running now and probably the same promo we booked with months ago, it's called a balcony bonus, I believe. Would you lose the promo NCL is offering if you booked the ov and used points to upgrade to the balcony? Did I read that the upgrade is for a balcony gty? I think that when we booked the gty balconies weren't eligible for the bonus.

 

I was given to understand that the upgrade takes you to the same level in the next room categories. So if you had a mid ship OV with drink and dining package you could use your 30,000 points to upgrade to a mid-ship balcony with drinking dining package. But if all the midship balconies are sold out you would not be able to use your points to upgrade from the midship ocean view. By the same token if you have an Oceanview guarantee (OX) you would only be able to use your points to upgrade to a balcony guarantee (BX). I actually tried to upgrade to the least expensive Ocean View that included the drinks and dining package but that category of balcony was already sold out so the only way I would have been able to get the packages would be too upgrade to a much higher level of Ocean View that was still available in that same category of balcony and then use my points to get the balcony. The price of the Oceanview guarantee was $100pp more than what I paid for an inner room guarantee and the price of the least expensive Ocean View that includes perks was $400pp more then the Inner Room guarantee but in order to get an OV with dinner and drinks that I could upgrade to the same balcony category I would have had to pay $600 more per person then I paid for the Inner Room guarantee. That would have defeated the purpose of getting the perks since my sister and I won't drink nearly that much. So I paid the $100 more per person and we can feel guilt-free in spending the other $300 per person on drinks or whatever we want.

 

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[karinad]

I was given to understand that the upgrade takes you to the same level in the next room categories. So if you had a mid ship OV with drink and dining package you could use your 30,000 points to upgrade to a mid-ship balcony with drinking dining package. But if all the midship balconies are sold out you would not be able to use your points to upgrade from the midship ocean view. By the same token if you have an Oceanview guarantee (OX) you would only be able to use your points to upgrade to a balcony guarantee (BX). I actually tried to upgrade to the least expensive Ocean View that included the drinks and dining package but that category of balcony was already sold out so the only way I would have been able to get the packages would be too upgrade to a much higher level of Ocean View that was still available in that same category of balcony and then use my points to get the balcony. The price of the Oceanview guarantee was $100pp more than what I paid for an inner room guarantee and the price of the least expensive Ocean View that includes perks was $400pp more then the Inner Room guarantee but in order to get an OV with dinner and drinks that I could upgrade to the same balcony category I would have had to pay $600 more per person then I paid for the Inner Room guarantee. That would have defeated the purpose of getting the perks since my sister and I won't drink nearly that much. So I paid the $100 more per person and we can feel guilt-free in spending the other $300 per person on drinks or whatever we want.

 

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In this case and with the promotion that NCL has now, you have to book the balcony to get the perks. It's not something that you purchase outright with the drink package or dining package, etc. When u book a balcony you get to pick 2 or 3 perks. I don't know how it would work if I booked the OV and got the upgrade to balcony with the points from MC since the original booking would be for an OV.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

In this case and with the promotion that NCL has now, you have to book the balcony to get the perks. It's not something that you purchase outright with the drink package or dining package, etc. When u book a balcony you get to pick 2 or 3 perks. I don't know how it would work if I booked the OV and got the upgrade to balcony with the points from MC since the original booking would be for an OV.

 

You get the perks for the category you book. So, if you book OV and upgrade to balcony, you get the OV perks. It makes sense--you get what you pay for.

[TLC535]

You call the number to redeem your award. It's on your online statement under the rewards tab.

They credit the money to your on board account and it is debited as needed or used.

They say you can't use it for tips but it seems that is not really true any more,but that is the rule.

Just redeem for a statement credit and then you don't need to worry.

Steve

 

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Hi Steve...Thanks for all your useful information:D

Follow up question to this, if redeeming points for OBC does ithe credit show on the booking online prior to the cruise or is there any "back-up" ppwk. sent/emailed we should carry with us if needed ?

This is our first with NCL but have had "clerical" issues with other lines and good thing I am always very anal about taking any & all back-up or screen shots with us ;)

[mscdivina2016]

Hi Steve...Thanks for all your useful information:D

Follow up question to this, if redeeming points for OBC does ithe credit show on the booking online prior to the cruise or is there any "back-up" ppwk. sent/emailed we should carry with us if needed ?

This is our first with NCL but have had "clerical" issues with other lines and good thing I am always very anal about taking any & all back-up or screen shots with us ;)

I have had it show up some times but it usually does not. I always brought my redemption email with me.

I would get or find a paper in cabin notifying me that I got it and it would show up on the tv account screen.

Steve

 

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[catsea]

How would you compare the NCL card to other, more generic cards for travelling? I was looking into the Discover Miles card, which seems like a good one. Is it better to get something like that so you can redeem it on any line instead of getting a card for a specific line and just using it for cruises through them?

[SNJCruisers]

Only you can determine which card is the best. But you do need to put all your eggs in one basket and put as much stuff as possible on your card in order to accumulate the maximum amount of points that you can.

 

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[Jana60]

How would you compare the NCL card to other, more generic cards for travelling? I was looking into the Discover Miles card, which seems like a good one. Is it better to get something like that so you can redeem it on any line instead of getting a card for a specific line and just using it for cruises through them?

 

If you use the card only for non Norwegian Cruise Line purchases and have no desire to achieve Rewards related to the cruise line then I would definitely choose a different card. But for me the Norwegian MasterCard is a good choice. I earned most of the 30,000 points I recently used purchasing Norwegian Cruises so I received triple points on every dollar spent. I would say about 20,000 of the thirty thousand points were due to NCL purchases so the dollar amount was actually more like $6900. So that means my total spending was about $17000 for which I received all of the items I bought during that time plus 30,000 points. I just used those 30,000 points to upgrade from a $749pp Ocean View to a $1399pp balcony. So my 30,000 points ended up being worth $1,300 for me. This is a 7.6% return! Of course you have to save points for quite awhile to get up to the 30,000 mark required for a meta upgrade. The rewards requiring smaller points total are more of a 1.5 to 2% return.

 

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[duskydog]

If you sign up for a Norwegian MasterCard, after the first transaction you get 10,000 points which can be used as $100 onboard credit. It's for any purchase, even a small one.

[willoughbee]

I got the MC Norwegian card and I recently paid for an Alaskan trip for myself, my daughter and son-in-law. I was able to pay it off right away and have now accumulated 65,000 points. I am booked on the Bliss for the inaugural sail next April, 2018. Is it possible to pay some of my cruise fare with some of those points? Cards and points are new to me. Thanks

[mscdivina2016]

You have a few options. Get $500 + OBC

Get a statement credit of $600+

Depending on your category, call and get repriced. Meaning, if you are in a Balcony, they will reprice you as an inside and use 60,000 of your points to put you in a Balcony. That may be worth thousands.

 

Steve

[Vanwyck]

G

 

 

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[tomberly]

I got the MC Norwegian card and I recently paid for an Alaskan trip for myself, my daughter and son-in-law. I was able to pay it off right away and have now accumulated 65,000 points. I am booked on the Bliss for the inaugural sail next April, 2018. Is it possible to pay some of my cruise fare with some of those points? Cards and points are new to me. Thanks

 

You absolutely can use your point for money off the cost of your cruise. I was able to take $800 off of our Europe cruise with the points we had accumulated. I redeemed my points for $500 off and then about 3 months later I had enough points for another $300 off of the same cruise.

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