What benefits do you get as a group?

[msg12188]

We are currently at 7 cabins which is 1 away from be a group. We decided that none of us wanted to take the freebie so we will be dividing the 1 passenger free fare among us all. Are we entitled to some other perks by becoming a group?

[bakerintn]

with a group of 20 or more adults, booked as a group, you can get an all-inclusive liquor package.

 

here is the link to the various packages offered:

 

http://www.ncl.com/csimages/299/431/BeveragePackage.pdf

[njhorseman]

with a group of 20 or more adults, booked as a group, you can get an all-inclusive liquor package.

 

here is the link to the various packages offered:

 

http://www.ncl.com/csimages/299/431/BeveragePackage.pdf

 

 

Looks like the main beneficiary of those packages is the cruise line. :D

[calicruising]

When you have a group, starting at cabin 1, there are amenities allotted. A certain number of amenity points are assigned per cruise. You can pick out your amenities from a list utilizing those points. For example, if your cruise has 8 points associated with it, you can use 7 of them for a $100 onboard credit per cabin and then use the other 1 point for a bottle of wine or something else.

It is in your best interest to contact the groups department and find out if your cruise has amenity points and if so, book the group cruise and then you can pull all of the individual reservations into it. They will get the amenities associated with the group. The earlier you acquire the group booking, the highest amount of amenity points there are.

With regards to the Freebie, as you call it. Remember that it is only 1 berth(bed) per number of cabins needed for the freebie. So, if yours is 1 for 8 cabins sold.. that is 1 bed.. not 1 cabin. In addition, the cabin will be the one that sold the most in your group and you will still have to pay the port charges, taxes and fees. Bottom line is that sometimes it is more cost effective to take those amenity points and get the onboard credits or other choices.

I hope that this helps.

Happy Sailing!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lorihawkins@surfree.com

 

We are currently at 7 cabins which is 1 away from be a group. We decided that none of us wanted to take the freebie so we will be dividing the 1 passenger free fare among us all. Are we entitled to some other perks by becoming a group?

[maggiecatenjay]

When you have a group, starting at cabin 1, there are amenities allotted. A certain number of amenity points are assigned per cruise. You can pick out your amenities from a list utilizing those points. For example, if your cruise has 8 points associated with it, you can use 7 of them for a $100 onboard credit per cabin and then use the other 1 point for a bottle of wine or something else.

It is in your best interest to contact the groups department and find out if your cruise has amenity points and if so, book the group cruise and then you can pull all of the individual reservations into it. They will get the amenities associated with the group. The earlier you acquire the group booking, the highest amount of amenity points there are.

With regards to the Freebie, as you call it. Remember that it is only 1 berth(bed) per number of cabins needed for the freebie. So, if yours is 1 for 8 cabins sold.. that is 1 bed.. not 1 cabin. In addition, the cabin will be the one that sold the most in your group and you will still have to pay the port charges, taxes and fees. Bottom line is that sometimes it is more cost effective to take those amenity points and get the onboard credits or other choices.

I hope that this helps.

Happy Sailing!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lorihawkins@surfree.com

 

 

 

I am in the midst of a group..... well for a nice substitute word.... cluster-saga. I plan to visit our most unhelpful travel agent to try to straighten out the mess but want to go in there armed with as much info as possible. I assume the # of points is assigned (in stone) by NCL?

 

 

Is this chart currently applicable for American cruises/bookings?

http://www.ncl.co.uk/ukgroups/group_offers.html

Is my TA obligated to tell me how many points NCL assigned to our group? Our bride has the discretion to spend/allocate them however she wants, right? Not the TA? This might solve this whole darn (!?) issue!!

 

I read your post three times slowly to understand... This is the part I don't 'get:'

 

So, if yours is 1 for 8 cabins sold.. that is 1 bed.. not 1 cabin. In addition, the cabin will be the one that sold the most in your group and you will still have to pay the port charges, taxes and fees. Bottom line is that sometimes it is more cost effective to take those amenity points and get the onboard credits or other choices.

Could you clarify? Sorry. Duh.

Thanks so so so much in advance.

Clare,

Quincy, Massachusetts

 

[msg12188]

When you have a group, starting at cabin 1, there are amenities allotted. A certain number of amenity points are assigned per cruise. You can pick out your amenities from a list utilizing those points. For example, if your cruise has 8 points associated with it, you can use 7 of them for a $100 onboard credit per cabin and then use the other 1 point for a bottle of wine or something else.

It is in your best interest to contact the groups department and find out if your cruise has amenity points and if so, book the group cruise and then you can pull all of the individual reservations into it. They will get the amenities associated with the group. The earlier you acquire the group booking, the highest amount of amenity points there are.

With regards to the Freebie, as you call it. Remember that it is only 1 berth(bed) per number of cabins needed for the freebie. So, if yours is 1 for 8 cabins sold.. that is 1 bed.. not 1 cabin. In addition, the cabin will be the one that sold the most in your group and you will still have to pay the port charges, taxes and fees. Bottom line is that sometimes it is more cost effective to take those amenity points and get the onboard credits or other choices.

I hope that this helps.

Happy Sailing!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lorihawkins@surfree.com

Yes, I realize that it is only 1 passenger/berth vs. 1 free cabin as I was a travel agent in the past. We booked directly through NCL and were advised once we had the 8 that they would pull it into the group. I guess I will have to speak to my PCC to find out what else we will be entitled to.

[calicruising]

Sorry, I was not aware that you had previously been a travel agent, so I was trying to help explain how it works. Contacting your PCC is a good idea. If you did not book a group initially, then it is possible that the amenity points have come down though.

Good Luck

 

Yes, I realize that it is only 1 passenger/berth vs. 1 free cabin as I was a travel agent in the past. We booked directly through NCL and were advised once we had the 8 that they would pull it into the group. I guess I will have to speak to my PCC to find out what else we will be entitled to.

[calicruising]

Maggiecatenjay.. could you please write to me directly at lorihawkins@surfree.com so I can explain all of this to you. I went to the website you provided to try and get the email address for you.. but not sure if that is correct since you sign the post Clare. LOL If it is correct, please let me know since I have an entire explanation prepared for you.. :)

Thanks,

Lori

[garycarla]

Maggiecatenjay.. could you please write to me directly ...since I have an entire explanation prepared for you.. :)

Thanks,

Lori

 

So, this is a secret to the rest of us?

[maggiecatenjay]

So, this is a secret to the rest of us?

 

I appreciate Lori's offer and have 'taken her up on it,' the poor thing.

 

I suspect I will need to give her specific details unique to my cluster of a messy situation. Rest assured that I will post a synopsis (minus any of my personal information) at a later date.

 

Gary, how are you coming with your "After 5k posts" summary for newbies? I've been looking for it and forward to it every day!

 

Clare

[calicruising]

LOL. No, but she has her own issues with her own group, so I thought it would be simpler doing it that way.

 

So, this is a secret to the rest of us?

[garycarla]

...

Gary, how are you coming with your "After 5k posts" summary for newbies? I've been looking for it and forward to it every day!

Clare

 

I have started it a few times, but then get sidetracked with another trip or another glass of wine or something. Soon.

 

I am thinking we need to ask the board to replace the current FAQ sticky as is not only full of the wrong type of stuff, but old, way too long and really rather useless.

[mylesf]

I am in the midst of a group..... well for a nice substitute word.... cluster-saga. I plan to visit our most unhelpful travel agent to try to straighten out the mess but want to go in there armed with as much info as possible. I assume the # of points is assigned (in stone) by NCL?

 

 

Is this chart currently applicable for American cruises/bookings?

http://www.ncl.co.uk/ukgroups/group_offers.html

Is my TA obligated to tell me how many points NCL assigned to our group? Our bride has the discretion to spend/allocate them however she wants, right? Not the TA? This might solve this whole darn (!?) issue!!

 

I read your post three times slowly to understand... This is the part I don't 'get:'

 

So, if yours is 1 for 8 cabins sold.. that is 1 bed.. not 1 cabin. In addition, the cabin will be the one that sold the most in your group and you will still have to pay the port charges, taxes and fees. Bottom line is that sometimes it is more cost effective to take those amenity points and get the onboard credits or other choices.

Could you clarify? Sorry. Duh.

Thanks so so so much in advance.

Clare,

Quincy, Massachusetts

 

 

After reading your posts, I understand that you will contact another blogger through her/his direct email address. Sorry to repeat what you have been told through that but to answer some of your questions: The points are assigned by sail date, can vary but are not set in stone. Your travel agent can work back through their NCL business development manager to ask for additional points. They have to justify them and still is not a "given" but there is a good possibility it would be approved.

 

Not sure if your TA is obligated to tell you how many points are assigned to your sail date but it really is not a big secret. You could call NCL and ask in a "what if" situation and they will give you that information. As far as how the points are used that can depend on the bride (group leader), the TA only and/or a combination of the two. Some TA's will give the full points back to the group others will use some of the points for additional commission for managing the group. This is the same for the earned free berth, could go back to the group or the TA could take the berth. These questions are all things that should be worked out with the TA prior to booking the group so everyone is aware of how the earned points are going to be applied.

[hmk012]

I was just in charge of a group last month and this is what we got. We had 18 cabins so we got 2 "Tour" Credit(you'll get 1 if you get 1 more cabin), every cabin got a bottle of wine, soda package for everyone in the group and we had a 1 hour open bar happy hour for everyone!