NCL Mastercard FAQ

[GoHuskies!]

Take a good look at my signature line below, because you won't see any more NCL cruises added in the future. Last December we took the 12-day cruise around the Mediterranean Sea on the Jade and had a great time, good cruise and good ship. But they disallowed a $100 OBC that I had coming through a promotion in the Fall. I complied with every single detail of the rules and should have been given the OBC. I've written this issue up several times, with my TA, with my NCL representative, and with NCL itself (which by the way absolutely ignored me and did not reply), and I've concluded that for the lack of a $100 OBC, they have lost many thousands of dollars in revenue from me. I will not cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines again unless by some miracle this issue is resolved and they send me $100.

[GoHuskies!]

***I think I get it now, wasn't sure why you would think $200 cash back would be better than the $200 OBC. ***

 

Thanks for the advice !?!

I just cashed in 20,000 points

and BoA let me know that they are happy to send me a check for $160.00 NOT $200.

Maybe I should have taken the on board credits ?

 

My advice: TAKE THE CHECK AND RUN! Why? See my post just below. I've lost my trust in OBCs.

[Philob]

Ever since BofA took over, the NCL card just became another "rewards" card to me. I would just rather "cash" it in than deal with redeeming it for OBC or a discounted cruise.

[Bars7816]

I found this out last year. Couldn't believe BOA would only give $80 for 10,000 points, but I could get $100 OBC for the same points. I took the OBC and it worked out fine. Still mystified, though!

[GoHuskies!]

You're right--BOA should give you full value of credit earned. However, since they do publish their Rewards rates, I found it best to wait until I had 25,000 points earned and then got the full $250. I did this very recently and now hardly ever use a BOA card.

[Glen&Kathy]

Well, let's let the fun begin. Applied for the NCL BOA card because the website indicates that I'd receive 15K bonus points that could be redeemed at WorldPoints for $150 OBC. However, WP only shows $100 OBC for 10K points or $250 OBC for 25K points. NOTHING about $150 OBC for 15K points. I am not looking forward to this call based on the some of the comments in this thread :-(

[bowbiter]

Well, let's let the fun begin. Applied for the NCL BOA card because the website indicates that I'd receive 15K bonus points that could be redeemed at WorldPoints for $150 OBC. However, WP only shows $100 OBC for 10K points or $250 OBC for 25K points. NOTHING about $150 OBC for 15K points. I am not looking forward to this call based on the some of the comments in this thread :-(

 

I don't think the normal WP site has the NCL specials. It's a BOA Rewards Points thing.

[Glen&Kathy]

I don't think the normal WP site has the NCL specials. It's a BOA Rewards Points thing.

 

Thanks! However, I'm not seeing a BOA Rewards section. All rewards take me to WP.

 

I had a 3 way call with BOA and WP yesterday and both said it was the "others" problem. Nice.

[bowbiter]

Thanks! However, I'm not seeing a BOA Rewards section. All rewards take me to WP.

 

I had a 3 way call with BOA and WP yesterday and both said it was the "others" problem. Nice.

 

 

I also don't think you can get to it without an account. Unless you've gotten your card you probably can't sign up for one yet.

 

The list on the NCL website is fairly accurate.

 

http://www2.ncl.com/world-points

 

The only difference is there technically isn't a "$150 onboard credit option" but you can just redeem a $100 obc for 10,000 points and a $50 obc for 50,000 points.

[Glen&Kathy]

I also don't think you can get to it without an account. Unless you've gotten your card you probably can't sign up for one yet.

 

The list on the NCL website is fairly accurate.

 

http://www2.ncl.com/world-points

 

The only difference is there technically isn't a "$150 onboard credit option" but you can just redeem a $100 obc for 10,000 points and a $50 obc for 50,000 points.

 

I do have my card and I have the 15K bonus points on my account but NCL says I was issued the incorrect card and BOA states I have the correct card. I have the card in the picture on the website. In T's and C's it says $150 OBC is a one time bonus for new NCL card holders. Nothing else specific to the card and bonus points or OBC's.

 

The biggest problem I'm really having is that the customer service reps are just rude. Being a new card holder and first time NCL cruiser I'm wondering what kind of service we can expect on board. Based on this board customer service seems great but we are not starting out good.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

There is no correlation between the service on board a ship and the credit card desk. Ever since boa took over this card the reps on both sides have different info and I do feel it is primarily the fault of boa. I spent a good deal of time visiting with the NCL rep in charge of the cruise points program and she was very polite and knowledgeable but apparently the boa folks do not play well with their sponsors.

 

I have had this card since 2000 and enjoyed any free cruises, but nowadays it is not nearly the deal it once was. Best advice is to use the card forcashbackrather than obc credit, that way you can charge everything on your card and get double points. Then apply for cash back and pay the bill at some point. Pay attention to the chart because lower redemption levels willnotgive youths benefit oft steno ping one percent back!

[Glen&Kathy]

Supervisor from NCL just took care of this. Thank you Darius!!!!!! Phew... Now we just have to play the waiting game until February!!

[AttilaTheFun]

I'm sorry for asking questions that have probably already been asked before, but this card and Bank of America are the absolute worst. I signed up for that 15,000 bonus points promo on the NCL site and earned them. Now when I try to redeem, I go to the Cruises section of their reward site and it just lists cruises available to buy and there is no obvious way to redeem for an OBC. There is a sentence mentioning $100 OBC for 10,000 points, but it's not a link and you can't click on it - worst site design ever?

 

I also tried redeeming for cash as most other people have suggested, but they will only award $120 cash for 15,000 points. I'd like to get $150 worth of value - any suggestions?

 

If I am able to somehow redeem for the OBC, can anyone recommend what steps I should take to ensure that it's actually applied to my sailing and doesn't just disappear?

 

This experience has definitely ensured that I will never do any business with Bank of America again. Every online experience I've had with them through this NCL card has been abysmal.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

There is a thread on the NCL board about this same problem. The public relation rep fromncl actually posted and gave a contact name and number and I believe the poster said the situation was resolved and she did get her obc. Sorry I don't recall the thread name, seems like it may have been something like beware if you have NCL MasterCard

 

Yep, the boa service is horrid.

 

Good luck with your quest. If you can't find the thread, call NCL and ask for public relations, since that's where I think the credit card liaison is.

 

Merry Christmas

Edited December 19, 2011 by MagnoliaBlossom

[Glen&Kathy]

I had the same problem. There was no redemption offer for $150 OBC, just $100 for 10K. However, after many calls and hours spent on the phone, a $50 OBC for 5K magically appeared. You just need to choose both to get to $150. PITA but it worked. Hope this helps.

[Pookiepotpie2]

We got the NCL Mastercard we have enough points for the $150 OBC our cruise is in early March would I have enough time to contact BOA and have the OBC for that cruise? I have also been reading about taking the cash should I just ask BOA for the $120:confused:

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Pookie, only you can decide what the right financial move is, but if you plan onusing your ncl card enough to rack up 10,000 points in the future and can afford to wait until you have 25,000 points, then you will take the best advantage of your points. However, if you are not goingtouse the card much, then you may want to take the lesser percentage and redeem now.

 

If you are choosing to redeem now, then you will bebetter to take obc for $30 more. You have time.

 

Enjoy!

[Pookiepotpie2]

Thanks Magnolia I appriciate your suggestions. I will call to find out when the points expire. I think we would do better to keep earning points and redeem on another cruise :)

[AttilaTheFun]

Sorry to repeat, but has anyone:

 

1) successfully received an onboard credit in recent history when redeeming their NCL points?

 

2) successfully redeemed for a $150 onboard credit - I can only find OBC starting at $100 for 10,000 points - no mention of $50 for 5,000 points (even though the credit card was promoted as getting $150 in onboard credits for 15,000 points)

 

This card sounds like a scam otherwise! I may have to cut my losses and just get the $120 cash back option.

[JerseyGem]

It's not a scam, but it's also not a great credit card! However, we did just this week call and redeem 5000 points for a $50 OBC for our cruise later this month. I couldn't figure out how to do it online, so we called NCL. They quickly sent an email confirmation.

 

You will not see (nor will you receive) an OBC for $150.00. You will receive one for $100 and a second one for $50. Don't ask me why- that's just the way it's been for quite awhile.

 

We basically only use the card for purchases with NCL (to get double points). So we usually don't have a massive number of points (like many who use the card more often and can then receive free cruises, etc). But our final bill from this month's cruise (doubled in points) should get us a nice OBC on our next cruise.

[AttilaTheFun]

It's not a scam, but it's also not a great credit card! However, we did just this week call and redeem 5000 points for a $50 OBC for our cruise later this month. I couldn't figure out how to do it online, so we called NCL. They quickly sent an email confirmation.

 

You will not see (nor will you receive) an OBC for $150.00. You will receive one for $100 and a second one for $50. Don't ask me why- that's just the way it's been for quite awhile.

 

We basically only use the card for purchases with NCL (to get double points). So we usually don't have a massive number of points (like many who use the card more often and can then receive free cruises, etc). But our final bill from this month's cruise (doubled in points) should get us a nice OBC on our next cruise.

 

Thanks for the info! I've read a few horror stories with the onboard credit not showing up once onboard though - have you successfully received the onboard credit while on the ship in the past?

[JerseyGem]

"Attila"- I certainly understand your concern (and frustration). I was not able to redeem points online (as I had in the past) for the same reason as in your earliest post. BOA's redemption site just didn't seem to merge with the NCL site. (I did blame myself, since I'm not a great computer person- so thanks for posting that you also had trouble- I feel redeemed LOL).

 

The $50 redeemed this week does show on my "Confirmation-Guest Copy" in addition to the confirmation email that we received from the person with whom we spoke (at NCL). Of course I'll take both with me and check onboard part way through our cruise. The last time we redeemed points was on an NCL cruise 12/10 (redeemed by phone call to NCL); the points redemption worked perfectly.

 

As for calling NCL, we had to use their Group Department (our TA has us in a group booking), so the number we called won't work for you. If you're a Latitudes member, I would call that number (on the back of your card; the number on my card- which is quite old- is 800-343-0098). Others have called 866-954-4077 to redeem points (this number is from a thread about redeeming points).

 

When we called, the NCL rep initially told us to go to the BOA website to redeem points. We had to firmly tell her that we had tried that and it didn't work- now we expected her to redeem them for us. Good luck!

[AttilaTheFun]

"Attila"- I certainly understand your concern (and frustration). I was not able to redeem points online (as I had in the past) for the same reason as in your earliest post. BOA's redemption site just didn't seem to merge with the NCL site. (I did blame myself, since I'm not a great computer person- so thanks for posting that you also had trouble- I feel redeemed LOL).

 

The $50 redeemed this week does show on my "Confirmation-Guest Copy" in addition to the confirmation email that we received from the person with whom we spoke (at NCL). Of course I'll take both with me and check onboard part way through our cruise. The last time we redeemed points was on an NCL cruise 12/10 (redeemed by phone call to NCL); the points redemption worked perfectly.

 

As for calling NCL, we had to use their Group Department (our TA has us in a group booking), so the number we called won't work for you. If you're a Latitudes member, I would call that number (on the back of your card; the number on my card- which is quite old- is 800-343-0098). Others have called 866-954-4077 to redeem points (this number is from a thread about redeeming points).

 

When we called, the NCL rep initially told us to go to the BOA website to redeem points. We had to firmly tell her that we had tried that and it didn't work- now we expected her to redeem them for us. Good luck!

 

Thank you, very helpful advice!

[Carmelita]

Ok, so I phoned to redeem 10,000 x 2 to go on our onboard account for a March 4-10 cruise. The NCL rep was very helpful and did say there had been problems in the past. It took awhile but she says it has been done. The extra $200 is not showing up on my online "vacation summary" but I do have a revised confirmation email from the rep that has - in very small print - WorldPoints Add-ons: 2 World Points $100 On-Board Credit Certificate.

Do you think this will be sufficient to make it onto our onboard account?

 

thanks

[JerseyGem]

Carmelita- Yes, I think that will be sufficient. Take that email with you when you cruise and visit the purser's desk part way through the cruise to verify that they have it credited to your onboard account.

 

(Don't try to go to the purser's desk- AKA guest services- on the first day- too hectic! Also, do it on a "work day" for NCL headquarters in case the ship needs to contact the main office.)