Newbie question - what is Keycard Recognition

[macewank]

On 2/16/2024 at 6:54 PM, BirdTravels said:

Key card colors are determined by your Latitudes status for steerage. Then you get to the purple cards for suites and club balconies. And the coveted gold card for Haven guests. 
 

Other than the gold card, nothing else really matters. 

 

I thought the colors were different than that. 

Orange - first NCL cruise

Purple - suites + club balcony

Gold - haven

 

Green/blueish - everyone else

 

edit: had a couple of these flipped on accident 

Edited February 18 by macewank

[UKstages]

4 hours ago, JGander said:

Having cruised Haven and non-Haven, suites and standard balconies, I can tell you that this is either your imagination...

 

having cruised haven and non-haven, suites and standard balconies, as well as the erroneously named club balcony suites, i can tell you that the "haven halo" is quite real. one does not need to wave anything. the keycard is coded and cabin status and latitude status pops up on the screen at every venue. the staff is trained to take it from there. all things being equal (and they are not), a haven guest, a suite guest, or a sapphire or diamond guest will absolutely get preferential treatment.

 

(at the local and the MDRs there are often raised eyebrows, because the host(ess) often doesn't understand why you would choose not to dine in the haven. so, you're practically treated like a celebrity.)

 

NCL provides an expedited in-port escort when haven guests return to the ship. they provide reserved seating in the theatre. they provide access to expedited onboard immigration clearance (on sailings where this is offered, such as canada or to certain ports in the UK). why would one think NCL hasn't trained its employees at every customer touchpoint to recognize haven guests and attempt to provide them the very best service?

 

4 hours ago, JGander said:

...I can tell you that this is either your imagination or you are waving it around to create the Haven Halo affect in the same way that a Karen running around asking for managers creates an affect of people who just simply don't want to deal with their BS.

 

you've chosen to take an innocent comment based on my personal experience and twist and turn it into a commentary on "karenism" and "BS," the basis for which which exists only in your imagination.

 

folks are free to provide their personal experiences as to whether or not a haven cabin or elite latitudes status carries any import outside the haven. what they probably shouldn't do is create elaborate fantasies involving other forum contributors. if you as a haven guest or a diamond guest have found that your status doesn't matter as you travel about the ship, then by all means say so and share with us your experiences.

 

Edited February 18 by UKstages

[CptJLMcCrea]

I don't know. I've personally never seen a gold card get better service in a bar than my green card and greenback got me.  Someday maybe I'll get to experience it myself.

 

[JGander]

3 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

having cruised haven and non-haven, suites and standard balconies, as well as the erroneously named club balcony suites, i can tell you that the "haven halo" is quite real. one does not need to wave anything. the keycard is coded and cabin status and latitude status pops up on the screen at every venue. the staff is trained to take it from there. all things being equal (and they are not), a haven guest, a suite guest, or a sapphire or diamond guest will absolutely get preferential treatment.

 

(at the local and the MDRs there are often raised eyebrows, because the host(ess) often doesn't understand why you would choose not to dine in the haven. so, you're practically treated like a celebrity.)

 

NCL provides an expedited in-port escort when haven guests return to the ship. they provide reserved seating in the theatre. they provide access to expedited onboard immigration clearance (on sailings where this is offered, such as canada or to certain ports in the UK). why would one think NCL hasn't trained its employees at every customer touchpoint to recognize haven guests and attempt to provide them the very best service?

 

 

you've chosen to take an innocent comment based on my personal experience and twist and turn it into a commentary on "karenism" and "BS," the basis for which which exists only in your imagination.

 

folks are free to provide their personal experiences as to whether or not a haven cabin or elite latitudes status carries any import outside the haven. what they probably shouldn't do is create elaborate fantasies involving other forum contributors. if you as a haven guest or a diamond guest have found that your status doesn't matter as you travel about the ship, then by all means say so and share with us your experiences.

 

 You are quoting items which are specifically perks of the suites and Haven, such as priority disembarkation or boarding, which are very different than simply getting service at a bar.

 

Same with main dining if you chose to eat there.

 

While you may believe that it is getting you something, simply asking for a window seat will typically do the exact same thing, and not asking can get you anywhere even with your Haven card, as others have stated. And at a bar, you get your service before you show your card, unless you already have it out and have it presented to show it off.

 

As I said, outside of Haven I have never been treated differently based on what card I had, but this is most likely because my key card lives in my wallet and not on display. When it does get displayed I have never had service suddenly change from what it was to somehow make me think my card was magically making things better or easier.

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, JGander said:

You are quoting items which are specifically perks of the suites and Haven, such as priority disembarkation or boarding, which are very different than simply getting service at a bar.

 

first of all, i'm not "quoting" them and i'm not attributing those perks to somebody flaunting a key card or making a case for those perks in some way being associated with the special treatment being discussed in this thread. i mentioned them to establish the concept of special treatment for those in the haven and for those with status... and i built upon that idea by asking why somebody would think that's where the special treatment ends. why wouldn't all employees be trained to recognize haven status and latitudes status and go out of their way to provide special recognition and support for those guests? that is, in fact, what they are trained to do. and that's why i mentioned those perks. i am not claiming that those perks are part of the haven halo.

 

this is not about entitlement, it's not about what i personally believe I can finagle by flaunting a card... i don't flaunt any card or status or wave a card or say, "excuse me, haven guest, coming through, make way, please peel my grapes!"

 

outside the haven, i wait in whatever line there is and then simply place my card on the card reader like any other guest. any special treatment i receive is offered up by the venue and its staff, not requested by me.

 

my point is that NCL employees from the guest services desk to the internet desk to restaurant hosts and hostesses to the people who run the race track to the folks at the excursion desk are all trained to recognize haven and elite status guests and provide high level service whenever they can. 

 

i have typically found that means shorter wait times at restaurants and preferred seating locations.

 

that doesn't mean that non-haven guests don't get treated well or can't get window seats or the finest cuts of meat, it just means that the NCL team has been trained to go the extra mile for haven guests throughout the ship.

 

there is very much this thing that i have dubbed the haven halo and it does indeed follow you around the ship.

 

your mileage may vary and, apparently, it has.

 

and, yes, of course, it only applies when you take your card out and place it on the card reader, or if the staff member takes the card from you. there is no literal halo above your head! the staff members are not mind readers. but once having seen your status, the service often improves or special treatment ensues. not because an entitled monster demands it, but because NCL team members are instructed to provide extra special service to haven guests and elite status members.

 

Edited February 19 by UKstages

[debenson0723]

I agree completely with @UKstages. I am Sapphire status on NCL and have had extra treatment given to me, when I allow it. As an example, I was in line at the Local for lunch on a sea day.  It was very busy and quite a number of people were waiting. The group in front of me was 5 people, I am a solo. They were asked to step aside and told the wait would be about 15-20 minutes. I placed my card on the scanner and was immediately taken to a table...for 6! I looked at the hostess and told her I did not need to be sitting at that huge table by myself and to please let me go stand in line and seat the party of 5 that was in front of me. She looked a little taken aback but I walked back to the podium and she took the party of 5 to 'my' table. I then told her I wanted nothing larger than a 2 top and I would be happy to wait. 

I have also had a hostess apologize (multiple times) if there were no window seats available in the MDR when I was being seated. I always tell them it is not necessary that I have a window...I just want to eat. These are only 2 examples off the top of my head and yes, service should be exceptional for every guest onboard but sometimes it is a touch more exceptional for Haven and elite status members (without waving our cards around). 

[UKstages]

3 hours ago, LloydJr said:

Has anybody here ever been told by a member of NCL staff that they are trained to treat Haven passengers better than the rest?  

 

of course not, the first rule of the "providing special treatment" club is that there is no "providing special special treatment" club. NCL values all its guests (except, perhaps, the veuve-drinking , hash brown-eating, cookie-eating guests), but they value some guests a little bit more. this is not a revolutionary concept, nor is it a proprietary practice unique to NCL:. almost every company with savvy marketing does their own version of this.

 

3 hours ago, LloydJr said:

Wouldn't they be trained to provide the best service possible to all guests?  

 

indeed, i'm sure they are. 

 

providing top notch service to elite customers does not preclude providing excellent service to all guests. but it's clear that NCL personnel are trained on the lifetime value of a customer and to provide recognition and to go out of their way to provide extra special service to elite customers.

 

just as airlines and hotels and subscription media companies do.

 

2 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

These are only 2 examples off the top of my head

 

similar things have happened to me, too. and, yes, it can be embarrassing. and unfair, in its own way.

 

on my most recent cruise a couple of weeks ago, i was waiting for my beeper to go off, while i was talking to a nice couple who were on their second cruise with NCL and commiserating about the long wait. my beeper did go off and they asked how long had i ben waiting... about ten minutes i said. they had been waiting nearly 25.

 

the haven (or sapphire, or diamond) halo!

 

it's real.

Edited February 19 by UKstages

[JGander]

7 hours ago, UKstages said:

NCL values all its guests (except, perhaps, the veuve-drinking , hash brown-eating, cookie-eating guests)

 

You forgot the Grey Goose drinking guests, they don't value them anymore either. 🙂

[Davechipp74]

I hear tell if you have a gold card that says Ambassador, they allow you to be the Helmsman on sea days. 

[Asawi]

14 hours ago, LloydJr said:

Wouldn't they be trained to provide the best service possible to all guests?  

It certainly seems so. I always get excellent service. Not haven. Not Platinum or above. Not a big tipper. Maybe it's my sparkling personality that makes them like me? 😄  (And now I need to get my daughter who is reading over my shoulder to stop laughing hysterically...)

[dcrambler]

23 hours ago, LloydJr said:

I've gotten great service all over the NCL ships, regardless of card color.

Agreed - service has been excellent sans having to wait a bit for a table to open on a few occasions when we were dining in the Manhattan Room without a reservation.

[vacation44]

Also agree with @UKstages.   My family was on the Epic last March in a Haven category while some extended family were in regular cabins.   The young adults went to O'Sheehans late one night and my niece approached the check in stand and was told "here is a pager and the wait would be an hour for a party of six".    My daughter then took out her Haven card and requested a table for six and was told "right this way".  My niece gave the pager back as she walked in immediately.

[DaisyGoldberg]

I noticed more immediate service in the MDR (telling me there was a 15 minute wait, then scanning my card and taking me right in) this past trip with my Sapphire card than previously with my Haven card.  Other than that I attribute special treatment to being a good tipper (which might also show up on your profile, I suppose).

 

One exception - if you stay in the Garden Villa on a Jewel class ship they must send your photo around to the desks, because we were pulled out of line without scanning our cards and instantly escorted to a table even though there was a wait. They can only have done it by knowing what we looked like even though we hadn't yet dined there that week.  Now THAT'S a halo!

[dbrown84]

On 2/18/2024 at 10:54 PM, UKstages said:

the first rule of the "providing special treatment" club is that there is no "providing special special treatment" club

LOL!!!

 

Edited February 22 by dbrown84

[spanishguy1970]

On 2/16/2024 at 8:48 PM, LloydJr said:

That only applies to 2.3% of cruisers.  The rest are nice people who couldn't care less about flashing around "special status."  I wish there were more, because they amuse me greatly.  

sometimes for fun i stick my humble Diamond color card ( whatever it is LOL) in the elevator to take me to the HAVEN but darn it doesn't work. Oh well 😁

[Ultracat9972]

First time on NCL and your key card says Welcome to…. When you are cruising again and likely a bronze or higher level depending on how many latitude points that you earned on that first cruise, then your keycard says Welcome back…. That’s it!!!  And it will say Bronze Silver or Gold or whatever on it. But the recognition is really just the welcome back part!  
 

Haven folks do have a good card specifically. But us regular boring people have the recognition by the card just saying Welcome back.  Hope that answers your question 

[Ultracat9972]

*gold

[KeithJenner]

5 minutes ago, Ultracat9972 said:

First time on NCL and your key card says Welcome to…. When you are cruising again and likely a bronze or higher level depending on how many latitude points that you earned on that first cruise, then your keycard says Welcome back…. That’s it!!!  And it will say Bronze Silver or Gold or whatever on it. But the recognition is really just the welcome back part!  
 

Haven folks do have a good card specifically. But us regular boring people have the recognition by the card just saying Welcome back.  Hope that answers your question 

The “welcome to” and “welcome

back” cards are also different colours, as mentioned earlier.

[graphicguy]

On 2/16/2024 at 8:52 PM, IAcruising said:

 

And really, the gold card doesn't often matter other than unlock the Haven door. I've stood right next to a "gold card" at the bar, and my silly little green card got served first. 

 

Peon! 😉

[dmwnc1959]

On 2/18/2024 at 12:51 PM, macewank said:

 

I thought the colors were different than that. 

Orange - first NCL cruise

Purple - suites + club balcony

Gold - haven

 

Green/blueish - everyone else

 

edit: had a couple of these flipped on accident 

So, as a first-timer on NCL, I can proudly flaunt my beautiful ORANGE card? 🎉 😉

 

If after my first cruise - I am doing a B2B - my status changes from a NEWBIE to a cruiser with 25-nights and jumps from that past bronze to silver, do I actually get the SILVER CARD at the beginning of the 2nd half of the B2B? Or only the benefits and the card comes later? My B2B was booked as two different cruises. 

 

Per NCL:

If I change tier level during a back to back cruise, will I receive the benefits for our next tier?

 

If your back to back sailing was booked as two different reservations, and you graduate a tier after your first cruise, you will receive the benefits of your new tier on your second cruise. If your sailing was booked as one reservation, you will not receive the new tier benefits on your current cruise. You will receive benefits for your new tier on your next cruise.

 

 

Edited April 4 by dmwnc1959

[macewank]

13 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

So, as a first-timer on NCL, I can proudly flaunt my beautiful ORANGE card? 🎉 😉

 

If after my first cruise - I am doing a B2B - my status changes from a NEWBIE to a cruiser with 25-nights and jumps from that past bronze to silver, do I actually get the SILVER CARD at the beginning of the 2nd half of the B2B? Or only the benefits and the card comes later? My B2B was booked as two different cruises. 

 

Per NCL:

If I change tier level during a back to back cruise, will I receive the benefits for our next tier?

 

If your back to back sailing was booked as two different reservations, and you graduate a tier after your first cruise, you will receive the benefits of your new tier on your second cruise. If your sailing was booked as one reservation, you will not receive the new tier benefits on your current cruise. You will receive benefits for your new tier on your next cruise.

 

 

Yep. Your first cruise will have the orange card, and then for your 2nd you'll get the greenish one and it'll show Silver for status. 

[dmwnc1959]

5 minutes ago, macewank said:

Yep. Your first cruise will have the orange card, and then for your 2nd you'll get the greenish one and it'll show Silver for status. 

Green and silver is a very nice combination. 🥰

[macewank]

Yup! 

 

To be fair though. It just says the word Silver and it's in black font. Lol