Shame On You NCL

 

I want to start out this post saying that I am not a complainer, and I went through all the proper channels to have my issue resolved before resorting to this. I am a HUGE NCL fan. I've been on ten cruises with them, and I have four more currently booked. That said, I am VERY disappointed in the experience I had with them this week and felt the need to post this PSA.

Yesterday I was attempting to book a cruise that I have been wanting to take for a long time. It's a transatlantic from Miami to South Hampton, England. My husband encouraged me to take the cruise, even though I will be taking it by myself, more on that to follow in future posts. One of the main reasons I was booking it now was a Cruise Next Double Up promotion that was going on. Typically, you can only use one Cruise Next certificate on an inside stateroom, which was the category that I was wanting to book. On the current promotion, however, it allowed you to use two certificates on this type of stateroom. That would effectively cut my out of pocket in half, which made it a very viable option. 

I noticed that the cruise was about $175 less on Costco, so I called them up and attempted to book it through them. FYI, when you book through Costco you also get a Costco cash card and I'm able to use my Costco Visa for a double cash back award (through the Visa and my Executive Membership). The very helpful phone agent went through the entire booking with me but hit a hangup when NCL's system wouldn't allow him to book it, saying the cruise was full even though there were clearly plenty of rooms available. 

So, I attempted to book it myself on NCL's website and, hitting the same snag, ended up calling their reservation line. I spoke with Josh, a very friendly and helpful guy, who, unfortunately, was also unable to book and recommended that I try again tomorrow.

Excited about the cruise and wanting to try one more time, I popped up the website before I went to bed and low and behold, it let me book! As I was checking out, it said I could apply two Cruise Next credits to the room, and I checked the two I wanted to apply. I was forwarded to the confirmation page, and that's where things started going wrong...

On the confirmation page it said, "Your reservation is confirmed!" but it also said that I still owed the total amount for the cruise. I had paid $500 of it with Cruise Next credits and the remainder on my Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa so that I would have the travel protection it offers, but none of that was showing on the reservation. I checked in with my husband, and the expected amount had been charged to our card, and on the site it said that it could take 24 hours for payments to show up, so I figured I would be patient. 

An email popped into my inbox just before I fell asleep saying that my cruise was not booked but on hold and that it would be cancelled for non-payment after midnight if I didn't cover the remaining balance of $250. I was glad that most of the payments had been applied, but confused over the $250. I didn't want my reservation to be cancelled and lose my money though, especially after how difficult it was to get in the first place, so I paid the $250 on my credit card figuring that NCL could sort it out in the morning when the call center reopened.

I called them first thing this morning and was very disappointed to hear their response. Evidently, in the Terms and Conditions that one would have to jump through hoops to find, it stated that the Double Up promotion ended at 11:59pm Eastern on 11/25/2024. I had made my reservation at 9:12pm Pacific, which was 12:12am Eastern, causing it to be outside of the promotional window.

I shared with them that the promotion was still being advertised on their website this morning and that the system had told me I could apply the two credits, but they wouldn't budge. I also mentioned that I am a long-term loyal NCL customer who has paid tens of thousands of dollars to the company, and I would expect that they would honor what their site said on such a comparatively small amount. Again, they stuck to their guns and wouldn't apply the certificate.

In hindsight, this all feels even more shady. You see, the system blocked me from making the reservation until the promotion was expired. As soon as the Double Up promotion was off, it allowed me to book, but didn't tell me that it was off. In fact, it still told me that I was eligible. It feels like they didn't want people applying the promotion to this cruise, so they just blocked reservations until the promotion was over, even though the banner clearly states, "on any sailing."

Here's the Thing: It's $250. It's not the end of the world, but I'm really disappointed in NCL. Will I still use them? Yes. Will I still recommend them? Yes, but with a caveat. I will always have to tell people that NCL expects you to go on a scavenger hunt for Terms and conditions for every promotion they offer you. You cannot take them at face value. I was a HUGE fan, now not so much.