Change in Cruisefirst program

[Birdnutty]

Just spoke to an NCL rep, and confirmed this online.  The Cruisefirst program is now being offered at $150 for a $300 credit.  It was $250 for $500 but that is now changed.  

[Liljo22]

It comes and goes all the time.  The $250 for $500 will be back in a few weeks.

[shof515]

150 is the normal everyday price

250 is the special promotion they do every now and then

 

this is not new

[dbrown84]

3 hours ago, Birdnutty said:

Just spoke to an NCL rep, and confirmed this online.  The Cruisefirst program is now being offered at $150 for a $300 credit.  It was $250 for $500 but that is now changed.  

$150 for $300 is the normal amount.  the $250 for $500 is a special they run form time to time

[Birdnutty]

Guess I'm lucky, then.  I haven't sailed NCL since last year and haven't been on the boards, so I'm a bit uninformed.  Got lucky and just purchased 2 $250 ones the day before it ended.  Whew!

[rsachek]

Can anyone comment on the logistics of using the CruiseFirst certificate if booking through a travel agent? Do you still pay a deposit at the time of booking with the travel agent? Then once the cruise is linked to your Lattitudes account, can you apply the certificate and the cerifiticate amount is then deducted from the final payment balance? Does this sound correct? I have tried contacting NCL and two different travel agents and nobody seems to have a confident answer.

[cruiser2015]

57 minutes ago, rsachek said:

Can anyone comment on the logistics of using the CruiseFirst certificate if booking through a travel agent? Do you still pay a deposit at the time of booking with the travel agent? Then once the cruise is linked to your Lattitudes account, can you apply the certificate and the cerifiticate amount is then deducted from the final payment balance? Does this sound correct? I have tried contacting NCL and two different travel agents and nobody seems to have a confident answer.

Last year, I booked a cruise through a TA and purchased a Cruise First while booking (the $500 version). The certificate was instantly applied to my account, covering the deposit.

There was also a reduced deposit promotion then - half off. The required deposit was only $250, so my CF covered that plus an additional $250 prepaid (or would have covered a normal full deposit of $500).

[ggTexasGal]

It's best to purchase before booking.  Or, have your TA, or NCL Rep, "sell" and attach certificate(s) at the time of booking...

https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions#cruisefirst

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I’ve never had a problem buying the CF at the time of booking.  But I always book with a PCC not a TA..

[rsachek]

Thanks for the replies, all. Very helpful. I would actually prefer to book directly with NCL, but some TAs are offering considerable onboard credit and one is even willing to discount the price of the cruise in the amount of the onboard credit instead and I'm too cheap to pass that up.

[dbrown84]

22 hours ago, cruiser2015 said:

Last year, I booked a cruise through a TA and purchased a Cruise First while booking (the $500 version). The certificate was instantly applied to my account, covering the deposit.

There was also a reduced deposit promotion then - half off. The required deposit was only $250, so my CF covered that plus an additional $250 prepaid (or would have covered a normal full deposit of $500).

nice thing about CF and CN, they are full deposit (for cabins below Haven) no matter what.  so even if you had 4 people in the cabin (which would require a $1000 deposit), the cert would be all you need.  I usually have to go thru the exercise of getting my bill to be at least $500 so that I don't lose any value of the cert, which isn't always easy

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

nice thing about CF and CN, they are full deposit (for cabins below Haven) no matter what.  so even if you had 4 people in the cabin (which would require a $1000 deposit), the cert would be all you need.  I usually have to go thru the exercise of getting my bill to be at least $500 so that I don't lose any value of the cert, which isn't always easy

Lose value?

Wouldn't the entire amount be credited to your account?

As I mentioned, my deposit was only required to be $250, but the full $500 was immediately credited to my cruise bill.

[dbrown84]

54 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

Lose value?

Wouldn't the entire amount be credited to your account?

As I mentioned, my deposit was only required to be $250, but the full $500 was immediately credited to my cruise bill.

right, I'm assuming your total bill was at least $500.  But if your total owed was $450, for example, you would lose $50 in value as they do not give you change or anything.

[EngrJones]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

right, I'm assuming your total bill was at least $500.  But if your total owed was $450, for example, you would lose $50 in value as they do not give you change or anything.

Are you talking about the total cruise invoice or just the on-line cabin account?

[dbrown84]

7 minutes ago, EngrJones said:

Are you talking about the total cruise invoice or just the on-line cabin account?

total invoice.  not sure I even know what the on-line cabin account is

[EngrJones]

3 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

total invoice.  not sure I even know what the on-line cabin account is

It's the account they set up for you on every cruise that they charge drink taxes, DSC, on board purchases, etc. to.  Total invoice is the cost of the cruise (base fare, taxes, port fees, FAS gratuities, etc.).   Are you saying that your total invoice is sometimes less than $500?  Are you using CAS?

[sunshine55]

On 2/23/2024 at 12:53 PM, rsachek said:

Can anyone comment on the logistics of using the CruiseFirst certificate if booking through a travel agent? Do you still pay a deposit at the time of booking with the travel agent? Then once the cruise is linked to your Lattitudes account, can you apply the certificate and the cerifiticate amount is then deducted from the final payment balance? Does this sound correct? I have tried contacting NCL and two different travel agents and nobody seems to have a confident answer.

We book through TA all the time.  TA can see how many certificates we have available and applies to our booking immediately.  TA also makes sure military discount is applied

 

 

.  

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

right, I'm assuming your total bill was at least $500.  But if your total owed was $450, for example, you would lose $50 in value as they do not give you change or anything.

Gee, I forgot about all of those under $500 cruises (fare + taxes + port charges + DSC + FAS grats. (if any). Oh, how about any pre-purchased shorex or possible upgrades or other add-ons.

 

For the record, my Club Balcony for 2 for 15 days, even with discounts, ran several thousand dollars.

 

[dbrown84]

10 minutes ago, EngrJones said:

It's the account they set up for you on every cruise that they charge drink taxes, DSC, on board purchases, etc. to.  Total invoice is the cost of the cruise (base fare, taxes, port fees, FAS gratuities, etc.).   Are you saying that your total invoice is sometimes less than $500?  Are you using CAS?

oh, on-line threw me off.  no, not that account.  You don't get that account until you've boarded the ship so CF or CN would have no effect on that account.  Yes, I'm talking about the total invoice.