CruiseNext trying to confirm what I have been told onboard

[UKstages]

7 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

If you only buy one at a time, however, you only get $100 off the $250 value.  Your second one receives $150 off, so with two you average getting $125 off each one.  Additional certificates purchased at the same time earn the full $125 off the $250 value.

 

or you could just buy a $250 cruise first credit with a $500 value and not have to worry about a double up promo or fall down an OBC rabbit hole or be subjected to CN strong arm tactics.

 

that's the thing... everybody raves about the double up promo as it was the be all and end all of savvy cruise shoppers. many do not realize there is such a thing as a $500 cruise first credit, routinely sold by NCL at half the stated value.

 

Edited March 13 by UKstages

[julig22]

8 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

or you could just buy a $250 cruise first credit with a $500 value and not have to worry about a double up promo or fall down an OBC rabbit hole or be subjected to CN strong arm tactics.

 

Easier said than done. The $250/$500 deal is a special, under normal circumstances it's $150/$300. But a little birdie told me the $500 certificates might be available for a couple of weeks, starting 3/15/24.

[Ken the cruiser]

Here are the respective links and associated information. However, I didn't see any reference to a CruiseFirst certificate for $250, just the $150.

 

CruiseFirst | Vacation Savings | Norwegian Cruise Line (ncl.com)

 

CruiseNext | Norwegian Cruise Line (ncl.com)

 

[Ken the cruiser]

50 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Easier said than done. The $250/$500 deal is a special, under normal circumstances it's $150/$300. But a little birdie told me the $500 certificates might be available for a couple of weeks, starting 3/15/24.

So if I might ask being a relatively newbie to NCL, where does the little birdie post this information on the website when it's official?

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Easier said than done. The $250/$500 deal is a special, under normal circumstances it's $150/$300.

 

it's not really that hard!

 

the only thing more frequent than the $250 sale is NCL's free second guest sale. seriously. some folks in that other thread about cruise first $500 availability talk about how it's hard to catch the $500 credits. and it's really not. off the top of my head, i seem to remember thanksgiving, and then christmas and then president's day and valentines' day. it comes and goes, for sure, but it would be rare for it to disappear for more than three weeks or so. and it's not always brought back in conjunction with a holiday.

 

Edited March 13 by UKstages

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

You may get lucky and find a cruise to book during one of NCL's frequent "double up" offers which allow you to use two certificates for one stateroom.

Just buy two and use one or both on the next booking.   If no double up in effect, apply one and then add the second when the next double up comes around in a week or two.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So if I might ask being a relatively newbie to NCL, where does the little birdie post this information on the website when it's official?

NCL doesn't seem to advertise the DoubleUp or CruiseFirst stuff, at least not anywhere I've seen. But they put the current terms and effective dates in their promo T&C page.

There are quite a few TAs on various groups on the book site and they will sometimes post upcoming promos.

 

Norwegian Cruise Line - Promotions Terms and Conditions (ncl.com)

[julig22]

17 hours ago, julig22 said:

NCL doesn't seem to advertise the DoubleUp or CruiseFirst stuff, at least not anywhere I've seen. But they put the current terms and effective dates in their promo T&C page.

There are quite a few TAs on various groups on the book site and they will sometimes post upcoming promos.

 

Norwegian Cruise Line - Promotions Terms and Conditions (ncl.com)

And my birdie friends have posted rumors of a triple-up coming on the 22nd. 

[Bonthewater]

4 hours ago, julig22 said:

And my birdie friends have posted rumors of a triple-up coming on the 22nd. 

Does that mean you can apply 3 to a balcony cabin or higher?

[julig22]

45 minutes ago, Bonthewater said:

Does that mean you can apply 3 to a balcony cabin or higher?

That's what the terms have been in the past.

[Ken the cruiser]

38 minutes ago, julig22 said:

That's what the terms have been in the past.

Can you apply them to an existing booking IF the purchase date of the CN certificates are before the date of the booking?
 

We have 2 extra ones that were returned to us when NCL canceled our Getaway booking a couple of months ago.

Edited March 15 by Ken the cruiser

[julig22]

9 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Can you apply them to an existing booking IF the purchase date of the CN certificates are before the date of the booking?
 

We have 2 extra ones that were returned to us when NCL canceled our Getaway booking a couple of months ago.

CNCs have never had a purchase date requirement - that's only applicable to CFs.

With the last triple-up, you could add more certificates through your MyNCL account, which may have been due to a glitch in the NCL system,as several TAs reported that they couldn't add them for their clients. The terms did say "New Bookings" but it's also always said that on the double-up offer - and adding a 2nd certificate has never been an issue.

 

There are also new rules for certificates purchased after January 11, 2024 - terms say they can't be applied to existing reservations. As of now, I've not seen anyone post that they couldn't apply them but on the other hand, maybe nobody has tried yet.

 

So to answer your question - probably, assuming you are before final payment and booked in a balcony or above. You could always add 1 now, the current DoubleUp (any cabin) ends today.

[Ken the cruiser]

56 minutes ago, julig22 said:

CNCs have never had a purchase date requirement - that's only applicable to CFs.

With the last triple-up, you could add more certificates through your MyNCL account, which may have been due to a glitch in the NCL system,as several TAs reported that they couldn't add them for their clients. The terms did say "New Bookings" but it's also always said that on the double-up offer - and adding a 2nd certificate has never been an issue.

 

There are also new rules for certificates purchased after January 11, 2024 - terms say they can't be applied to existing reservations. As of now, I've not seen anyone post that they couldn't apply them but on the other hand, maybe nobody has tried yet.

 

So to answer your question - probably, assuming you are before final payment and booked in a balcony or above. You could always add 1 now, the current DoubleUp (any cabin) ends today.

We actually got 6 CNs returned to us as it was a B3B that was cancelled by NCL. We had our TA in Feb 2024 apply 2 of them to a replacement Nov 2024 B2B (booked BEFORE the CNs were actually returned to us) which we had to put a deposit on, and 2 of them to another existing B2B scheduled in May 2025.
 

So I guess you can add them to an existing booking. In thinking about it, I’m guessing we got to apply 2 CNs because they were B2B bookings with two separate itineraries combined under one booking number, which we thought was kind of odd since they were advertised as separate itineraries.

 

However, since there is no expiration date on the 2 CNs that remain in our account, we’re thinking now that we’ll just hold onto them until we find another cool set of itineraries to book. 😁
 

Edited March 15 by Ken the cruiser

[ChiefMateJRK]

47 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So I guess you can add them to an existing booking. In thinking about it, I’m guessing we got to apply 2 CNs because they were B2B bookings with two separate itineraries combined under one booking number, which we thought was kind of odd since they were advertised as separate itineraries.

Is this "booking number" something from your TA or an actual NCL reservation number?

[Ken the cruiser]

30 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Is this "booking number" something from your TA or an actual NCL reservation number?

NCL. When we booked our B3B on the Getaway through our TA back in Dec 2022, there were 3 separate booking numbers. However, when we booked our May 2025 B2B on the Star early last year as well as the Nov 2024 B2B on the Pearl in January, NCL combined each set under one booking number.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

NCL. When we booked our B3B on the Getaway through our TA back in Dec 2022, there were 3 separate booking numbers. However, when we booked our May 2025 B2B on the Star early last year as well as the Nov 2024 B2B on the Pearl in January, NCL combined each set under one booking number.

Thanks.  Did you do the bookings over the phone with an NCL agent?

[julig22]

Edited March 15 by julig22

[Ken the cruiser]

8 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Thanks.  Did you do the bookings over the phone with an NCL agent?

No, it is not a discounted "group booking". My TA books them directly with NCL, like she always does with all of our bookings. In turn, we receive both a NCL confirmation and a TA invoice (which includes the appropriate perks we receive from booking with our TA). When I log onto my NCL account, there is only one combined reference to each B2B booking.

[Ken the cruiser]

FWIW my DW just noticed on her NCL app that there is actually an expiration date on the two CruiseNext certificates she has in her account - 2099! I guess we’d better start planning accordingly! 😂

[Rick&Jeannie]

22 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

FWIW my DW just noticed on her NCL app that there is actually an expiration date on the two CruiseNext certificates she has in her account - 2099! I guess we’d better start planning accordingly! 😂

You'd better get crackin'! 😄

 

And...you better start looking at excursions....

 

Edited April 1 by Rick&Jeannie