Don't Miss Out on Your NCL Status Perks!

  So, you’ve made it to Platinum status (or maybe even higher) with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). What should you make sure to take advantage of so you don’t miss out on any of your perks? I’m here to talk you through it today.

 Your benefits begin before you ever board the ship, so keeping these things in mind can save you money, improve your experience or both! As soon as you join the Latitudes Rewards Program, after your first cruise, you are eligible to book future cruises with extra rewards points associated. Typically you receive 1 point per cruise night in a regular room. If you book a Suite or a room in the Haven, you’ll get an extra point per night, but you’ll pay for that point with a much higher room cost. What you may not know is that you can receive a free extra point per night, moving you up in status twice as fast, by booking a member cruise. You can find these when searching by choosing “More” and “Past Guest Offer.” I’ve gotten a great deal of my points this way, and it doesn’t cost you any extra. In fact, the cruise I’m on right now, that I booked for a super low fare, also had a past guest offer associated with it - that was my tipping point in the decision process actually. 

 When you’re booking, you’ll have the chance to sign up for NCL’s Free at Sea program. They’ve gotten smart and made this more of an a la carte system where you can choose to add the beverage package at $20 pppd* in gratuities and/or the dining package at $20 pppm* for a number of meals dependent on the length of your cruise, or you can skip both and just get the free Wi-Fi minutes and $50 off shore excursions for each port. I typically skip the beverage package entirely and I only add the dining package for sailings longer than a week because, as I’ll discuss later, you already get 2 free specialty meals once you have Platinum status or above.

 As you prepare for your cruise there are a few benefits you can use as well. For members with a Platinum status or above, you can book your dining reservations 125 days in advance instead of the 120 days that everyone else gets. This gives you first dibs on the premium reservations and the ability to plan your cruise exactly the way you like it. I’ll give you a little insider secret though, you can usually book pretty much any restaurant at any time if you visit the dining reservations station as soon as you board. These do fill up fast, but I’ve been able to get in almost exactly when I wanted to (within 15 minutes). This works for one or two people, but if you have a larger group the early dining reservations are really helpful. You’ll want to make sure you have at least 2 reasonable dining reservations in place, as a backup, to use your Platinum free meals once on board. You also get first choice of shore excursions at one year out, if you’ve booked that far in advance which I haven’t often done but I’m trying to more. In addition, you can receive a discount on these which will not show in the listing but should appear on the checkout screen. Silver - Platinum members get 10% off, Sapphire - Diamond members receive 15% off and Ambassadors get 20% off. This is in addition to the $50 off for each port, which only applies to the primary person on the reservation. We've booked this for me if I'm the primary and my husband has used it when he was going ashore without me without any difficulty. Finally, the website says you can book entertainment 26 days prior to the cruise, but I’ve never seen this option and realistically you can get your entertainment booked for whatever your preference is upon boarding as well.

 You’ve gotten to the port and you’re ready to board your cruise – don’t forget to keep your eyes out for the Latitudes Rewards Priority Check-in! I practically walked onto this cruise by heading to this line, but do the math. In Miami last winter I sized up the size of the Priority line with only one check in agent and realized that the regular line with 20 agents would go much faster. It turned out to be pretty equal as someone who got into the priority line at about the same time I got into the regular line exited right behind me, but do be aware that numbers matter.

 Once you get on board, your first stop (after your muster station of course) should be the Cruise Next desk. No, you’re not signing up for your next cruise before this one leaves the port, you’re signing up for your Latitude Rewards perks. Once you’ve gotten to Platinum, this includes the Behind the Scenes ship tour and the Wines Around the World Tasting. As a warning, the ship tour will take place EARLY the next morning, usually before 8am, and will require a fair amount of walking, stairs and close-toed shoes. There is no accessible option for this, but if your body can handle it, it’s a pretty fascinating behind the scenes look at how the cruise ship runs. The Wines Around the World is a fun wine tasting experience which encompasses about 3 reds and 3 whites from different parts of the globe. There’s staff there to talk you through each one and teach you about their special qualities. At Sapphire you unlock dinner with the officers. You don’t get to book this right away, but you indicate your interest and then the staff puts together groups for the different nights. This dinner will take place in the main dining room with the standard menu, but they will cover wine with your meal. You will be paired with several other cruisers and two different ship officers to dine with. I’ve really enjoyed the chance to spend an hour or so with a staff member and learn about their backgrounds and lives as well as their experience on the ship. You’ll be gifted a group picture from your experience as well. I haven’t gotten to Diamond status yet, at the end of this cruise I’ll have 213 points towards the 350 required, but I read that you unlock another bookable experience, the Sail and Sustain Mixology Experience – so be sure to sign up for that if you’re eligible. You’ll also receive an invitation to the Latitudes Cocktail Party. This typically takes place the second evening, though I’ve seen it held as early as 11 am as well – strange time for a cocktail party if you ask me! At these parties the senior officers make an appearance and often the captain will give a brief introduction. The cruise director inspires a little fun and what gets many of the guests there is that the bar is open and free. So, if you haven’t purchased a drink package – which I hardly ever do – here’s one of your opportunities for a free beverage of your choice.

 If you haven’t made your dining reservations yet, or you couldn’t get *quite* the times you wanted, your next stop should be the dining reservation center. On Breakaway Plus class ships this is usually in the Teppanyaki restaurant. A great deal of tables are held in reserve for onboard reservations so they will hopefully be able to accommodate your preferences. I like to book my first specialty restaurant for early in the cruise as one of the free specialty dining vouchers for Platinum and beyond comes with a bottle of wine. You can drink what you’d like at that first meal and then have them tag in and save it for you for another meal (or two or four). I usually only have one glass with a meal so I can get my bottle to last me 5 meals on a solo cruise! The other thing you’ll want to cover with the dining reservation agent is any food allergies you might have. These should have been reported to NCL through the special needs form at least 30 days prior to sailing, but it’s always a good idea to double check that it (they) is (are) listed on your account. Once there, every hostess and wait staff can see your allergy and keep their eye out to take care of you.

 If you are so inclined, you’ll want to make any spa reservations for your cruise on embarkation day as well in order to ensure your preferred times and treatment availability. Remember, with your Latitudes Rewards status you can get discounts on Signature Spa Treatments while the ship is in port. Silver gets 15% off, Gold gets 20% and Platinum and above will receive 25% off – which may seem like a bargain until you see the prices 😬.

 Now it’s time to talk about Wi-Fi. What, I didn’t book my Wi-Fi before my cruise? Isn’t it cheaper that way? Yes and No. Prior to your cruise you can upgrade your More at Sea minutes to an unlimited plan for a discounted rate of just under $16 per day. Your discount (15% for Platinum, 20% for Sapphire and 25% for Diamond and above) is only good on the $30 per day standard price, making it $24 per day for a Sapphire member, which doesn't sound nearly as good as $16. Why didn’t I book before the cruise for the discounted price? Because I prefer the sweet price of $0. When I booked, I got $100 in onboard credit (a frequent promo you can receive through a variety of booking agents) as well as $100 credit from my Shareholder benefit, so because I waited until I was on board to sign up for my Wi-Fi package it was covered by my onboard credit. Onboard credit is a finicky beast I will cover in a future post but suffice it to say this is a seriously beneficial use of it! The pre-cruise price us usually still available for the first day of the cruise, and they will often have other sales/discounts available the first couple of days. While I didn’t receive a discount through my status, this is a much better deal anyone can get.

 

 When you get to your room you’ll notice bottles of water (1 per person for Gold and Platinum members and 2 per person for Sapphire and above) and your shore excursion tickets as well as a small flyer with your Latitudes Rewards perks listed and tear-off vouchers for your dining and laundry. Yes, as a Platinum member or higher you get FREE LAUNDRY on the ship! In fact, you get one bag per member in the room per week. So on our two-week Panama Canal cruise last February my husband and I got four free bags of laundry. This is no small benefit as laundry costs on the ship are exorbitant and being able to pack lighter and launder clothes on board is a huge plus. If you zoom in on the image above, you’ll see that they charge $1.95 per item to launder underwear and socks (I don’t pay much to buy them in the first place) and $7.95 to wash a nightgown for example. Our last bag of laundry – just socks, underwear, t-shirts and one pair of jeans – would have been $67 without this perk. In addition, we will usually run a final bag or two, two days before we disembark so that we take mostly clean laundry home with us – a wonderful bonus! Just keep in mind the turn-around time and make sure to turn in your laundry at least two mornings before you’ll need it. You can usually find a laundry bag and slip on the top shelf of you closet and if you need more, or its not there, just ask your helpful room steward.

 At some point, usually early on in your cruise, you’ll receive a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. These are one of the things I look forward to on my cruise, but one time they never arrived for me. I checked in at the Cruise Next desk and they were sent up right away, but they were only ½ strawberries since they were running low at that point in the cruise, so if you haven’t received them by the third day I’d check on them if I were you.

 While you’re on the ship you’ll enjoy discounts at the duty-free shops (10% for Bronze and 15% for Silver and above) as well as at the photo gallery (20% for Silver, 25% for Gold and 30% for Platinum and above). As with any discount ever, you need to be vigilant and make sure they are applied. In the photo gallery, as with shore excursions, the discount will not be reflected until the checkout page.

 If your cruise has any tender ports and you do not have shore excursions booked for them, be sure to pick up your priority tender tickets for Gold members and above. This can be a great way to start your time ashore.

 And, as sad as disembarkation is, it is made so much simpler when you have priority. Once you've achieved Gold status or above your priority luggage tags should be delivered to your room. If you haven't received them by the afternoon of the day before, just stop by Guest Services and they can grab them for you. You'll see that this puts your disembarkation very early in the process, perhaps 7 or 7:30 am, but don't worry. That doesn't mean they're kicking you off the ship early! It just means that your luggage will be ready for you to pick up whenever you want to get off. I very much like to enjoy my last morning in my room, leaving by the time they ask us to have it empty, and then partake in a final vacation breakfast in one of the restaurants. The breakfast options and their hours of operation will be printed on your disembarkation flyer. However, if you have an early flight to make, this enables that as well!

Here's the Thing: Yes, it takes a while to achieve status in a loyalty program, but by choosing longer cruises that have extra points available you can get there faster than you might think. And once you've gotten Platinum status or above with NCL you've got it for life! Unlike Airline or Hotel status that you have to qualify for every year, your cruise status sticks with you for good. And it greatly improves your cruise experience with priority lines, free food and drinks and lots of discounts.

 *pppd - per person per day

   pppm - per person per meal