FYI - $250 cruisefirst

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, Serengeti228 said:

How can you buy OBC to top up the amount to meet the threshold for applying the CFC or whatever?

ask the person who is doing your reservation to add OBC to the reservation.

[Liljo22]

NM

Edited May 16, 2023 by Liljo22

[Liljo22]

Just purchased a CFC and was going to book a cruise but noticed there are a ton of cabins in my category available currently.  Has anyone been able to get a price reduction before final payment and kept the full value of the certificate?  It seems like the terms are there so you can't cancel an old reservation, buy a certificate and then rebook the same cruise but I am not 100% sure.  

[Liljo22]

NM

Edited May 16, 2023 by Liljo22

[celestialcruiser]

Is it just one certificate per booking? 3 of us on the reservation - can we each buy and apply a certificate?

[julig22]

On 5/13/2023 at 10:04 AM, Serengeti228 said:

I am afraid I can't prove from my personal experience. I stated what my NCL PCC told me last week and the CN desk onboard the Spirit.  Personally, I always applied my CNC/CND at the time of initial booking, not after. If practically we can apply the CNC/CND after the reservation, it is a good news to us. 

Never had an issue adding CNC anywhere along the way, up to final payment.  And adding another if the any cabin double up promo comes along.

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Never had an issue adding CNC anywhere along the way, up to final payment.  And adding another if the any cabin double up promo comes along.

Yeah, I'm slowly embracing the CNC process.  I bought my first two in January (should have bought four) and promptly applied both during a double up offer (inside cabin) to a summer 2023 cruise.  I bought four more in April and was able to apply one to a fall 2023 cruise and used two others to pay deposits on Fall 2025 cruises.  I'll likely buy four more during our Summer 2023 cruise.  They, like the shareholder OBC, take a bit getting used to but ultimately are a great deal.😎

[carohs]

19 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Never had an issue adding CNC anywhere along the way, up to final payment.  And adding another if the any cabin double up promo comes along.

And has it ever impacted the booking promos to do so? So it's not a cancel/rebook type of situation? I chose not to buy any but this is good to know for next time. 

[julig22]

25 minutes ago, carohs said:

And has it ever impacted the booking promos to do so? So it's not a cancel/rebook type of situation? I chose not to buy any but this is good to know for next time. 

CNC is simply a prepaid voucher and basically has nothing to do with your reservation status.  Just a form of payment, just like using a CC or check.

[BermudaBound2014]

Sorry in advance for the uneducated questions. I’m normally better researched than this but I stumbled upon a cruise I’d like to book. I am using a Travel agent. 
 

What is the difference between buying a cruise first  certificate from nCL or a next cruise certificate from social media resale pages? Benefit? Drawback?
 

if I purchase a cruise first from ncl tomorrow, can it be applied as my deposit if I book with a TA? I must use a TA for this cruise (long story).

 

If I make an initial deposit tomorrow, can I purchase cruise next certificates (from resale pages on social media) and use these to pay the remaining balance? 
 

Finally, what is double up? 
 

Sorry again, this cruise caught me off guard and I’m totally behind the eight ball when it comes to NCL post covid.

[julig22]

12 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Sorry in advance for the uneducated questions. I’m normally better researched than this but I stumbled upon a cruise I’d like to book. I am using a Travel agent. 
 

What is the difference between buying a cruise first  certificate from nCL or a next cruise certificate from social media resale pages? Benefit? Drawback?
 

if I purchase a cruise first from ncl tomorrow, can it be applied as my deposit if I book with a TA? I must use a TA for this cruise (long story).

 

If I make an initial deposit tomorrow, can I purchase cruise next certificates (from resale pages on social media) and use these to pay the remaining balance? 
 

Finally, what is double up? 
 

Sorry again, this cruise caught me off guard and I’m totally behind the eight ball when it comes to NCL post covid.

When is your cruise?  Cruise first has to be a new booking, 120 days or more from your booking date. Current offer is $250 for a $500 certificate, offer expires in a couple days, no way to know if it will be extended or reverts back to $150/300. Good for 3years.

CruiseNext is worth $250, good for 4 years.  It will take time to transfer if you buy online.  Normally you can use 1 but double up allows you to use 2.  Current offer is any cabin, 4 months out. You should be able to book and apply certificates later but be aware that the double up offer changes frequently.

[BermudaBound2014]

Perfectly explained thank you. I have a few more clarifying questions if you don’t mind. 

 

Cruise is January so I qualify in terms of time.

 

If I buy cruise first certs tomorrow, I assume I buy them directly from ncl?
 

Do these cruise first certs go  into my ncl online acct? Can my TA access these to make the deposit? I’m unclear when in the process the TA gets involved. 

Finally, if I buy cruise first tomorrow and apply $500 as a deposit- can I then go on to purchase cruise next from social media resale sites for the remaining cost of cruise? 
 

 

 

[julig22]

4 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Perfectly explained thank you. I have a few more clarifying questions if you don’t mind. 

 

Cruise is January so I qualify in terms of time.

 

If I buy cruise first certs tomorrow, I assume I buy them directly from ncl?
 

Do these cruise first certs go  into my ncl online acct? Can my TA access these to make the deposit? I’m unclear when in the process the TA gets involved. 

Finally, if I buy cruise first tomorrow and apply $500 as a deposit- can I then go on to purchase cruise next from social media resale sites for the remaining cost of cruise? 
 

 

 

I'll answer what I can.  I've not bought cruise first myself but I think a TA can buy them when you book your cruise.

You can't add CruiseNext to cruise first, it's one or the other.

[BermudaBound2014]

15 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I'll answer what I can.  I've not bought cruise first myself but I think a TA can buy them when you book your cruise.

You can't add CruiseNext to cruise first, it's one or the other.

Thank you again. REALLY appreciated. 
 

To summarize, assuming my TA can buy a cruise first cert tomorrow, I can have her purchase up to 10, but apply only one per cruise? I would spend 250 and apply 500.
 

Or, I can just make a small cash deposit tomorrow and then purchase 2 next cruise certs and apply before may 31 for the double up. This maybe a little more savings since next cruise certs sell for slightly less (spend $200 to get $500). 
 

Either way the most I can apply is $500. 
 

Do I have this?

 

 

[Serengeti228]

I purchased 3x$250 CF directly from NCL PCC over phone 3 days ago and the CFs immediately appeared in my Latitudes account.  For APAC market, the $250 promo ends on May 18. I had already applied one CF on one of the 3 btbs about 130 days out as the deposit and I will apply the remaining two CFs tomorrow.

 

Do read the CF's TnCs as there are restrictions, in particular if you have applied CF on a booking but later you need to cancel and rebook on the same itinerary, the bonus value will be lost.

 

According to the PCC and the TnCs, CF can only be use as initial booking deposit payment, not after the deposit has been made. This is my first time to purchase and use CF, so I have not tested the otherwise, or do I have time and chance to do so, mainly due to the 120 days rule.

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 5/12/2023 at 7:45 AM, dbrown84 said:

I had been waiting for the $250 cruisefirst certificates to be offered

[MagnoliaBlossom]

If you do an internet search for buy and sell CruiseNext certificates you will find a website where you can buy and sell CN/CF s that owners cannot use.   They are always listed at less than they paid for the certificate.

 

please read every word of the restrictions on CF certificates (they are different than CN certificates) so you will be aware of what you are buying.

[celestialcruiser]

Chatted with someone at NCL - they quoted me the T&C and it says: Limit one CruiseFirst certificate that may be used per reservation.

 

CruiseFirst certificates are not combinable with CruiseNext, 

 

So maybe some people have been able to use more than one, but looks like that may be a random and not guaranteed occurrence.

[carohs]

10 hours ago, julig22 said:

I've not bought cruise first myself but I think a TA can buy them when you book your cruise

I bought a CF while on the phone with my TA. She was able to find it and apply it to my booking. 

[julig22]

3 hours ago, celestialcruiser said:

Chatted with someone at NCL - they quoted me the T&C and it says: Limit one CruiseFirst certificate that may be used per reservation.

 

CruiseFirst certificates are not combinable with CruiseNext, 

 

So maybe some people have been able to use more than one, but looks like that may be a random and not guaranteed occurrence.

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone claim to have been able to use more than one CF.

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 hours ago, julig22 said:

CruiseNext is worth $250, good for 4 years.  It will take time to transfer if you buy online.  Normally you can use 1 but double up allows you to use 2.  Current offer is any cabin, 4 months out.

I believe that they have reverted to "balcony and above" for the current promo.

[julig22]

12 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I believe that they have reverted to "balcony and above" for the current promo.

Wow - I checked it yesterday morning and it said balcony, then checked it later (someone had posted any, so I checked) and it said any.  Now it's back to balcony.  So apparently you gotta check it hourly now!

 

But this is what the CN website has:

Edited May 18, 2023 by julig22

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Wow - I checked it yesterday morning and it said balcony, then checked it later (someone had posted any, so I checked) and it said any.  Now it's back to balcony.  So apparently you gotta check it hourly now!

Check this out.  I've been trying to apply a second since late April to an inside later this year without success.  After seeing your post, I said "what the heck" and tried again.  This time it worked. 😎  Thanks!!

 

And the T&Cs still say:

Edited May 18, 2023 by ChiefMateJRK

[carohs]

Hi me again. Asking because I have an existing reservation and final payment is due soon. How would I know if my existing reservation qualifies for the double up promotion?

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 minutes ago, carohs said:

Hi me again. Asking because I have an existing reservation and final payment is due soon. How would I know if my existing reservation qualifies for the double up promotion?

Just to confirm.  Are you asking about CruiseNext or CruiseFirst?