NCL Refuses to Honor Loyalty Reward?

[Stickboy3327]

Hi, everyone.  Wife and I had a cruise planned for October 2020 which NCL cancelled.  We received an email from NCL in July 2020 saying "To reflect our gratitude for your loyalty, we are also extending you a bonus 25% future cruise credit in the amount of $... These future cruise credits are valid one year from the issue date and applicable to all published sailings through December 31,2022." 

 

Now we are trying to book a cruise for 2022 and NCL is saying the "loyalty" credits will not be applied because they say we are the ones who cancelled the October 2020 cruise (we did not).  We are currently "in dispute" and the Resolutions area is working with Guest Services.

 

Curious if anyone else is experiencing the same thing from NCL?

 

Thank you.

[Stickboy3327]

Well, it is official.  NCL will not honor the 25% award.  This is unacceptable...

[adam_s_allen]

That doesn't seem to make much sense. I would ask them why you would get an e-mail offering a bonus 25% future credit. If you cancelled the cruise on your own they would not be offering any extras.

[pghflyer]

Yeah I had the same problem with an Asian Cruise (for Jan 2021) that THEY cancelled (March 2020) and sent me a letter offering 10% off a future cruise, and then when I called they said they had no record of it, and then when I showed them the letter, they said they no longer honor those either. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

Classic NCL. I’ve spent many hours attempting to get them to honor a 25% discount they gave us in February 2020 after a canceled cruise , with a one year expiration date. They have steadfastly refused to extend the expiration or honor the discount, even though the pause in operations kept getting extended. 

[DaCruiseBug]

Typical NCL...couldn't care any less about customers. They just care about $$$

[skywonder]

NCL has no class.

[Cshells]

This is terrible!   NCL owns its customer money and tries to get away!   

 

And I found that this gentleman also has same problem.  

 

 

[DaCruiseBug]

dupe

Edited March 11, 2021 by DaCruiseBug

[Stickboy3327]

Just spoke to NCL Guest Services.  They could not have cared less about my experience or the fact that I have their offer in writing.  Trying to be reasonable and get something out of this I asked "Well, what can you do?" and he replied "We don't have to do anything..."

 

They have thousands of my dollars already but this will be our last cruise with these crooks.

[Rob_H]

Does (or did) the 25% bonus appear on your MyNCL account?  Should appear as "Your 25% Single Use FCC Bonus Credit" under My Coupons and Credit on your My Account page (below bookings).  You can't use it for deposits (or after 2022).

 

Ours show there, and were recently extended to use by end of this year, for sailings by end of next year.  This is for cancelled cruises in March 2020.  It took a few months to show up on the account.

 

[AstoriaPreppy]

3 hours ago, Rob_H said:

Does (or did) the 25% bonus appear on your MyNCL account?

Mine never showed up in my account. We discovered last year that NCL has different kinds of discounts... in our case it was a “you have to call us to book, or have your TA call us.” Our TA tried, which is when we discovered the one year expiration, and started months of begging them to extend the expiration to a point when cruises were sailing again. We booked a cruise for November 2021, but they wouldn’t honor the discount. 
 

As we learned, NCL guest services has both total discretion in extending the discounts, and it’s completely arbitrary. Other guests on our canceled Jade sailing had their discounts extended... we didn’t. That said,  NCL did reimburse our flight changes (and refused for many guest on our canceled trip) so i can’t gripe about the 25% too much. 

[warburg]

I sailed several times on  NCL when the voyages began in New York City. My current booking on the Bliss in December is my first in years because it leaves from Miami. Living on South Beach, 20 minutes from the Port of Miami, it has been depressing to see it so dead. Ships dock there, but they are not collecting passengers. Some show signs of neglect. Very sad.

 

I am hoping the Bliss will sail soon. It is the second year that this industry has been out of business. So, what's next? There are not too many options. As a cruise fan, it is even hard to anticipate. I already that three times.

[graphicguy]

19 hours ago, Rob_H said:

Does (or did) the 25% bonus appear on your MyNCL account?  Should appear as "Your 25% Single Use FCC Bonus Credit" under My Coupons and Credit on your My Account page (below bookings).  You can't use it for deposits (or after 2022).

 

Ours show there, and were recently extended to use by end of this year, for sailings by end of next year.  This is for cancelled cruises in March 2020.  It took a few months to show up on the account.

 

That's where miscount is right now....shows in MyNCL account.  Mine showed up right away after my March 2020 cruise was cancelled, too.

 

Booked Alaska for May 2021.  That was cancelled, too.  The discount showed back up in MyNCL account within a few days of that cancellation, too.

 

Weird they would extend it to some and not all.

[AstoriaPreppy]

59 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Weird they would extend it to some and not all.

You're telling me... it was the NCL fiasco to end all fiascos.

All passengers on the February 2020 Jade sailing had to change their arrival flights from Hong Kong to Singapore, after NCL changed departure ports 11 days before the sailing (we weren't allowed to cancel) NCL told us they would pay for this, and then said "oh, just kidding we only meant the $300 change fees."

Then, they canceled the *entire* voyage 4 days before departure, as hundreds of passengers were already on flights to Singapore. 

The 25% discount was the least they could do... and then the put a sail-by date of one year (of course, all cruise operations were paused and we were unable to use it!)

 

It was just the biggest mess, and the worst customer service. As I noted, I was able to get the flight changes from HK to Singapore reimbursed after arguing with guest services, but lots of passengers weren't even able to get that. And now with the 25% discount expired and gone before we were able to use it, it's been a total kick in the teeth. 

[pghflyer]

I don't really expect anything when they have to cancel due to a global pandemic and it is all out of their control.....but it is a great gesture of customer service and indicator of valuing my business.   How they can have a rolling year of pandemic cancellations and keep offering significant % discounts to everyone for each time they cancel and rebook is beyond me.  I suppose it is just part of the game and why prices are now about 50% more than 2 years ago.

 

I just wish they wouldn't offer it at all if they think they may not be able to honor it.   

 

THAT SAID....I just talked to NCL and lo and behold the agent WAS able to find my long lost 10% discount that other TA and other NCL agents tried to tell me didn't exist.  I got mine for a March 2020 cancellation of a January 2021 sailing and she said it is good for booking made by 12/31/21 that complete their sailing by 02/28/23, so that is looking up (if I can get them to find it again when I am ready to book ha ha).

Edited March 12, 2021 by pghflyer

[adam_s_allen]

1 hour ago, pghflyer said:

I don't really expect anything when they have to cancel due to a global pandemic and it is all out of their control.....but it is a great gesture of customer service and indicator of valuing my business.   How they can have a rolling year of pandemic cancellations and keep offering significant % discounts to everyone for each time they cancel and rebook is beyond me.  I suppose it is just part of the game and why prices are now about 50% more than 2 years ago.

 

I just wish they wouldn't offer it at all if they think they may not be able to honor it.   

 

THAT SAID....I just talked to NCL and lo and behold the agent WAS able to find my long lost 10% discount that other TA and other NCL agents tried to tell me didn't exist.  I got mine for a March 2020 cancellation of a January 2021 sailing and she said it is good for booking made by 12/31/21 that complete their sailing by 02/28/23, so that is looking up (if I can get them to find it again when I am ready to book ha ha).

It doesn't matter how many times they offer discounts if they keep getting cancelled. They only have to ultimately honor 1 discount. I had 1 booking that was cancelled at the beginning and they offered me a 25% discount which I used for a cruise that would have been in Jan 2021. After that one got cancelled I was offered a 10% discount for my next cruise.

[tumblew467]

Mine ( 25% bonus) showed up after March 2020 was canceled by NCL. I used it for the May 2021 cruise which was just canceled. It showed backup in my account with the 10% as well.

[DaCruiseBug]

NCL's motto should be:

Norwegian Cruise, we put the 'screw" in screwing your customers. Come sail with us!

[Wendy&Grumpy]

On 3/10/2021 at 5:36 PM, Stickboy3327 said:

Hi, everyone.  Wife and I had a cruise planned for October 2020 which NCL cancelled.  We received an email from NCL in July 2020 saying "To reflect our gratitude for your loyalty, we are also extending you a bonus 25% future cruise credit in the amount of $... These future cruise credits are valid one year from the issue date and applicable to all published sailings through December 31,2022." 

 

Now we are trying to book a cruise for 2022 and NCL is saying the "loyalty" credits will not be applied because they say we are the ones who cancelled the October 2020 cruise (we did not).  We are currently "in dispute" and the Resolutions area is working with Guest Services.

 

Curious if anyone else is experiencing the same thing from NCL?

 

Thank you.

 

If NCL canceled your cruise, you should have the initial "we're canceling your cruise" email.

I would think forwarding that to them would get the matter resolved quickly?

[BirdTravels]

13 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

NCL's motto should be:

Norwegian Cruise, we put the 'screw" in screwing your customers. Come sail with us!

NCL seems to be abiding by their published policies very well. It is the customers who are not choosing wisely and make victim noises assuming that they should be the one exception out of the hundreds of thousands of cancelled reservations. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by BirdTravels

[Back to school]

On 3/10/2021 at 4:36 PM, Stickboy3327 said:

trying to book a cruise for 2022

Where is the date and ship?

[Back to school]

 

On 3/10/2021 at 11:37 PM, Cshells said:

This is terrible!   NCL owns its customer money and tries to get away!   

 

And I found that this gentleman also has same problem.  

 

 

It’s different situation for the gentleman.  The difference of opinion publish cruise fare “rack rate” versus net.  The gentleman wants more discounts.  NCL variable price, always changing.  Gentleman was wrong.

NCL:

Original rate prices quoted are offering prices and may not have resulted in, and savings shown from original prices may not be based on, actual sales. From time to time, we may use original to mean the price offered during a previous seasonal time period, and therefore such prices may not have been in effect during the past 90 days. Quoted cruise prices are subject to promotions, discounts, and sales based on many factors including but not limited to seasonality, timing, range or mix of offers at a particular time, demand, availability, and capacity management.

[graphicguy]

NCL covered my flight change fees.  Delta refunded my first flight in early 2020.  I rebooked for May 2021 to SEA for the now cancelled Alaska cruise.  NCL is covering the change fees for that flight.  I got the 125% FCC on the 2020 cruise, which transferred to the Alaska 2021 cruise.  That FCC showed up in MyNCL account a few days after that one was cancelled.

 

My hotels were cancelled with no cancellation fees.  So, all good there.

 

I think it took them a few days to get mine sorted out, but they did.  They took care of my flight changes and issued the FCC as they said they would.

 

Looking at Dec 2021 cruise or early 2022 cruise now.  Prices did go up.  So, even with 125% FCC, it's probably going to be a wash.

 

As these cruise lines start to make plans to sail again (which it appears they're doing now with vaccines starting to be widely available), I believe demand will surge for cruises, and at least initially, the ships will not sail at anywhere near capacity.  That means prices will rise even more.

[DCGuy64]

I feel bad for the OP, and I'd be mad, too. However, head over to the MSC board and read the posts from people who say "MSC screwed up, they're the worst, NCL would never do this to me." Yeah they would.

There's so such thing as a perfect cruise line. All of them mess up at some point. But this sucks. We have FCC on MSC and if even THAT gets taken away, it's not the end of the world. 25% isn't going to make or break our cruise plans. I kinda feel bad for them since they can't really cruise anywhere.