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mafig
Cruiser
| Joined: | Thu Nov 1st, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 11 |
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Posted: Wed Jan 9th, 2008 06:24 pm | 26th Post |
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Just to get back to you on Best Price Cruises. Their email to me via cruise compete does say no hidden booking fees.
Pretty sneaky. The key word is "booking" because they do charge a cancellation fee. Always good to call.
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hstrybuf
Founders
| Joined: | Sat Jun 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Kansas |
| Posts: | 19960 |
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Posted: Thu Jan 10th, 2008 12:34 am | 27th Post |
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mafig wrote: Just to get back to you on Best Price Cruises. Their email to me via cruise compete does say no hidden booking fees.
Pretty sneaky. The key word is "booking" because they do charge a cancellation fee. Always good to call.
You are so right! Those cancellation fees are understandable, but with a good agency, you shouldn't have to pay those unless you're known to frequently book and then cancel.
____________________
Deb - Research, research, research!
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
Liberty 10/07; Miracle 10/06; Navigator OTS 10/04; Legend 04/04; Grand Princess 09/03; Dawn Princess 01/03; Enchantment OTS 10/02; Destiny 01/02; Sensation 10/99
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mrdawson
Funnel Deck Cruiser
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Posted: Thu Jan 10th, 2008 02:10 am | 28th Post |
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| I have cancelled a booking with BPC and did not have to pay a cxl fee...BUT, I booked directly with them and not through cruise compete..
____________________
Mike
So many Pots....so few spoons!!!!
CTT Master Pot Stirring Advisor
1/09 X Solstice Eastern Carib
6/09 Mariner OTS Mex Riv
5/10 CTT Azul Sensatori AI Party, Riviera Maya
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QueenAurelia
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Jan 23rd, 2008 05:41 pm | 29th Post |
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I just discovered why I don't get any upsell calls from NCL when I book with Bestprice. I was visiting my Latitudes lady just a week or two ago to get my status adjusted and she showed me all my information on screen for my cruise.
Bestprice had put down a wrong latitudes number, a ridiculous address and a telephone number composed mostly of zeros.
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Awaiting Surgery
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hstrybuf
Founders
| Joined: | Sat Jun 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Kansas |
| Posts: | 19960 |
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Posted: Thu Jan 24th, 2008 01:36 am | 30th Post |
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QueenAurelia wrote: I just discovered why I don't get any upsell calls from NCL when I book with Bestprice. I was visiting my Latitudes lady just a week or two ago to get my status adjusted and she showed me all my information on screen for my cruise.
Bestprice had put down a wrong latitudes number, a ridiculous address and a telephone number composed mostly of zeros.
 Have you called them on this? A huge mistake or an intentional error?
____________________
Deb - Research, research, research!
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
Liberty 10/07; Miracle 10/06; Navigator OTS 10/04; Legend 04/04; Grand Princess 09/03; Dawn Princess 01/03; Enchantment OTS 10/02; Destiny 01/02; Sensation 10/99
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QueenAurelia
Cruiser
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Posted: Thu Jan 24th, 2008 07:11 am | 31st Post |
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I think they can't be bothered and don't have the time to get things right. I am still fighting to find out what they did with my future cruise reward of $250 which seems to have vanished into thin air.
I think BPC is OK if you have no special needs, just book the straight cruise, no benefits or further discounts or alterations.
____________________
Awaiting Surgery
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mrdawson
Funnel Deck Cruiser
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Posted: Sat Jan 26th, 2008 05:08 am | 32nd Post |
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QueenAurelia wrote: I think they can't be bothered and don't have the time to get things right. I am still fighting to find out what they did with my future cruise reward of $250 which seems to have vanished into thin air.
I think BPC is OK if you have no special needs, just book the straight cruise, no benefits or further discounts or alterations.
I have booked them with future cruise credits, had 4 seperate onboard credits, changed my dining times after booking and linked to 2 other bookings without incident....so as with all TA's, sometimes mistakes are made but other times Transgendered Trolls waiting for surgery aren't as lucky as I!! :rule::nina:Last edited on Sat Jan 26th, 2008 05:11 am by mrdawson
____________________
Mike
So many Pots....so few spoons!!!!
CTT Master Pot Stirring Advisor
1/09 X Solstice Eastern Carib
6/09 Mariner OTS Mex Riv
5/10 CTT Azul Sensatori AI Party, Riviera Maya
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gsc500
Super Cruiser
| Joined: | Wed Jan 24th, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 1500 |
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Posted: Mon May 5th, 2008 07:59 pm | 33rd Post |
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I've used BPC before on-line. That was before I had the NCL future credits and the NCL CC for rewards credit. No problems the 2 times I used them previously. But no changes or cancelations were necessary either. They were mostly last minute cruises.
They frequently have the lowest quote now that I have discovered cruisecompete. However, because I have been booking months and years in advance lately, I haven't used them again.
I got another good quote from them so I wanted to do some more investigating.
I called to verify cancelation fees, to ask about booking specific cabins, and to ask about using the NCL CC rewards.
For those that are interested:
In order to get a specific cabin NOT listed on the choices in the website, you have to book on-line to get the best price and call back to change the cabin to your choice. Thus, we will have used up your one free change. Fees apply if you make any further cabin changes, etc. Obviously, your cabin is subject to availablilty when they call NCL to make the cabin change and someone could have booked it in the meantime. If you cancel, there will be a cancelation fee. No additional fees if you UPGRADE your cabin for the same sailing though.
If you would prefer, you can call to have a live TA make your booking to ensure getting that specific cabin but higher rates will apply.
She did talk me through how to apply the NCL future cruise credit (or whatever it's called) for the deposit though and it's not complicated. If you need to do this, call and ask. Since it's a "trick" to the system, I don't want to post it publicly.
When I started to ask about applying the NCL Bank of America cruise rewards to the cruise fare, she started to sound rude (to me). She said I needed to ask the CC company about it. I explained that I did and knew how it worked on their end but just wanted to verify that they knew about the program and how to apply it. She told me that they would only apply 80% of it since they discount so steeply to begin with. I explained that the rewards certificates were like cash and would not affect commissions. She stated that no further discounts were permissible since they were rock bottom. I again stated that it wasn't a discount but a form of payment. She told me to check with the CC company. I said I wanted to check with someone at the TA. She said it would be applied 80%. Bottom line, there was no one else at the entire company that she would let me speak to to verify this. Round and round we go... I thanked her politely for her time and said good-bye.
I didn't copy down all the fees applicable but they weren't high and you got the first changes free. It's a reputable company if you are happy with a cabin being shown and don't have any special circumstances that would require a TA's intervention. If you do, they give it to you once free and you pay for the rest. I think it is a fair policy. They keep their fares so low by requiring as little as possible the higher human labor costs.
Based on my situation though (want an AFT balcony) and the lack of a satisfactory answer to the NCL CC rewards certificates, I guess I will pay a tiny bit elsewhere.
Last edited on Mon May 5th, 2008 08:08 pm by gsc500
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cruisingfromMN
Frequent Cruiser
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Posted: Wed May 28th, 2008 06:30 pm | 34th Post |
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gsc500 wrote: I've used BPC before on-line. That was before I had the NCL future credits and the NCL CC for rewards credit. No problems the 2 times I used them previously. But no changes or cancelations were necessary either. They were mostly last minute cruises.
They frequently have the lowest quote now that I have discovered cruisecompete. However, because I have been booking months and years in advance lately, I haven't used them again.
I got another good quote from them so I wanted to do some more investigating.
I called to verify cancelation fees, to ask about booking specific cabins, and to ask about using the NCL CC rewards.
For those that are interested:
In order to get a specific cabin NOT listed on the choices in the website, you have to book on-line to get the best price and call back to change the cabin to your choice. Thus, we will have used up your one free change. Fees apply if you make any further cabin changes, etc. Obviously, your cabin is subject to availablilty when they call NCL to make the cabin change and someone could have booked it in the meantime. If you cancel, there will be a cancelation fee. No additional fees if you UPGRADE your cabin for the same sailing though.
If you would prefer, you can call to have a live TA make your booking to ensure getting that specific cabin but higher rates will apply.
She did talk me through how to apply the NCL future cruise credit (or whatever it's called) for the deposit though and it's not complicated. If you need to do this, call and ask. Since it's a "trick" to the system, I don't want to post it publicly.
When I started to ask about applying the NCL Bank of America cruise rewards to the cruise fare, she started to sound rude (to me). She said I needed to ask the CC company about it. I explained that I did and knew how it worked on their end but just wanted to verify that they knew about the program and how to apply it. She told me that they would only apply 80% of it since they discount so steeply to begin with. I explained that the rewards certificates were like cash and would not affect commissions. She stated that no further discounts were permissible since they were rock bottom. I again stated that it wasn't a discount but a form of payment. She told me to check with the CC company. I said I wanted to check with someone at the TA. She said it would be applied 80%. Bottom line, there was no one else at the entire company that she would let me speak to to verify this. Round and round we go... I thanked her politely for her time and said good-bye.
I didn't copy down all the fees applicable but they weren't high and you got the first changes free. It's a reputable company if you are happy with a cabin being shown and don't have any special circumstances that would require a TA's intervention. If you do, they give it to you once free and you pay for the rest. I think it is a fair policy. They keep their fares so low by requiring as little as possible the higher human labor costs.
Based on my situation though (want an AFT balcony) and the lack of a satisfactory answer to the NCL CC rewards certificates, I guess I will pay a tiny bit elsewhere.
Shoot! I've been looking to book with them but I'll be using Bank of America certificates for an Aug. 18th cruise in which I don't even have the certificates in hand yet. This sounds complicated but they are $58 pp cheaper than booking direct with NCL, plus are giving a $50.00 obc.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
____________________
NCL:
Dream: Caribbean 1997
Majesty: Caribbean 1999
Star: Hawaii 2002
Star: Hawaii 2004
Spirit: Caribbean 2005
Star: Alaska 2005
Star: Mexican Riviera 2006
Jewel: Mediterranean 2006
Star: Mexican Riviera 2007
Sky: August 2008 back to back
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mrdawson
Funnel Deck Cruiser
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Posted: Wed May 28th, 2008 09:34 pm | 35th Post |
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gsc500 wrote: I've used BPC before on-line. That was before I had the NCL future credits and the NCL CC for rewards credit. No problems the 2 times I used them previously. But no changes or cancelations were necessary either. They were mostly last minute cruises.
They frequently have the lowest quote now that I have discovered cruisecompete. However, because I have been booking months and years in advance lately, I haven't used them again.
I got another good quote from them so I wanted to do some more investigating.
I called to verify cancelation fees, to ask about booking specific cabins, and to ask about using the NCL CC rewards.
For those that are interested:
In order to get a specific cabin NOT listed on the choices in the website, you have to book on-line to get the best price and call back to change the cabin to your choice. Thus, we will have used up your one free change. Fees apply if you make any further cabin changes, etc. Obviously, your cabin is subject to availablilty when they call NCL to make the cabin change and someone could have booked it in the meantime. If you cancel, there will be a cancelation fee. No additional fees if you UPGRADE your cabin for the same sailing though.
If you would prefer, you can call to have a live TA make your booking to ensure getting that specific cabin but higher rates will apply.
She did talk me through how to apply the NCL future cruise credit (or whatever it's called) for the deposit though and it's not complicated. If you need to do this, call and ask. Since it's a "trick" to the system, I don't want to post it publicly.
When I started to ask about applying the NCL Bank of America cruise rewards to the cruise fare, she started to sound rude (to me). She said I needed to ask the CC company about it. I explained that I did and knew how it worked on their end but just wanted to verify that they knew about the program and how to apply it. She told me that they would only apply 80% of it since they discount so steeply to begin with. I explained that the rewards certificates were like cash and would not affect commissions. She stated that no further discounts were permissible since they were rock bottom. I again stated that it wasn't a discount but a form of payment. She told me to check with the CC company. I said I wanted to check with someone at the TA. She said it would be applied 80%. Bottom line, there was no one else at the entire company that she would let me speak to to verify this. Round and round we go... I thanked her politely for her time and said good-bye.
I didn't copy down all the fees applicable but they weren't high and you got the first changes free. It's a reputable company if you are happy with a cabin being shown and don't have any special circumstances that would require a TA's intervention. If you do, they give it to you once free and you pay for the rest. I think it is a fair policy. They keep their fares so low by requiring as little as possible the higher human labor costs.
Based on my situation though (want an AFT balcony) and the lack of a satisfactory answer to the NCL CC rewards certificates, I guess I will pay a tiny bit elsewhere.
huh??? unless that is new its not how I did it...they charge you an extra 10 or 15 bucks from the internet rate to book by phone so I just called them and told them the cabin I wanted, booked it and it didn't use up a change...that was for my Oosterdam cruise in Jan 08 which I booked with BPC by phone in Aug 07
____________________
Mike
So many Pots....so few spoons!!!!
CTT Master Pot Stirring Advisor
1/09 X Solstice Eastern Carib
6/09 Mariner OTS Mex Riv
5/10 CTT Azul Sensatori AI Party, Riviera Maya
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mrdawson
Funnel Deck Cruiser
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Posted: Wed May 28th, 2008 09:40 pm | 36th Post |
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I don't know about all the NCL certificates and all that but I use them almost exclusivley and have never had an issue...even when I booked by phone when I wanted an aft cabin that wasn't listed online, one call and booked no problemo...in fact I just switched my Solstice booking to them last week cause I had to book exclusivley with Celebrity last summer cause they were only booking Captains Club members for the first 2 weeks and BPC couldnt book them yet...I just transfered my X booking to BPC and got $100 OBC and a bottle of vino!!
____________________
Mike
So many Pots....so few spoons!!!!
CTT Master Pot Stirring Advisor
1/09 X Solstice Eastern Carib
6/09 Mariner OTS Mex Riv
5/10 CTT Azul Sensatori AI Party, Riviera Maya
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gsc500
Super Cruiser
| Joined: | Wed Jan 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1500 |
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Posted: Wed May 28th, 2008 11:11 pm | 37th Post |
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mrdawson wrote: gsc500 wrote: I've used BPC before on-line. That was before I had the NCL future credits and the NCL CC for rewards credit. No problems the 2 times I used them previously. But no changes or cancelations were necessary either. They were mostly last minute cruises.
They frequently have the lowest quote now that I have discovered cruisecompete. However, because I have been booking months and years in advance lately, I haven't used them again.
I got another good quote from them so I wanted to do some more investigating.
I called to verify cancelation fees, to ask about booking specific cabins, and to ask about using the NCL CC rewards.
For those that are interested:
In order to get a specific cabin NOT listed on the choices in the website, you have to book on-line to get the best price and call back to change the cabin to your choice. Thus, we will have used up your one free change. Fees apply if you make any further cabin changes, etc. Obviously, your cabin is subject to availablilty when they call NCL to make the cabin change and someone could have booked it in the meantime. If you cancel, there will be a cancelation fee. No additional fees if you UPGRADE your cabin for the same sailing though.
If you would prefer, you can call to have a live TA make your booking to ensure getting that specific cabin but higher rates will apply.
She did talk me through how to apply the NCL future cruise credit (or whatever it's called) for the deposit though and it's not complicated. If you need to do this, call and ask. Since it's a "trick" to the system, I don't want to post it publicly.
When I started to ask about applying the NCL Bank of America cruise rewards to the cruise fare, she started to sound rude (to me). She said I needed to ask the CC company about it. I explained that I did and knew how it worked on their end but just wanted to verify that they knew about the program and how to apply it. She told me that they would only apply 80% of it since they discount so steeply to begin with. I explained that the rewards certificates were like cash and would not affect commissions. She stated that no further discounts were permissible since they were rock bottom. I again stated that it wasn't a discount but a form of payment. She told me to check with the CC company. I said I wanted to check with someone at the TA. She said it would be applied 80%. Bottom line, there was no one else at the entire company that she would let me speak to to verify this. Round and round we go... I thanked her politely for her time and said good-bye.
I didn't copy down all the fees applicable but they weren't high and you got the first changes free. It's a reputable company if you are happy with a cabin being shown and don't have any special circumstances that would require a TA's intervention. If you do, they give it to you once free and you pay for the rest. I think it is a fair policy. They keep their fares so low by requiring as little as possible the higher human labor costs.
Based on my situation though (want an AFT balcony) and the lack of a satisfactory answer to the NCL CC rewards certificates, I guess I will pay a tiny bit elsewhere.
huh??? unless that is new its not how I did it...they charge you an extra 10 or 15 bucks from the internet rate to book by phone so I just called them and told them the cabin I wanted, booked it and it didn't use up a change...that was for my Oosterdam cruise in Jan 08 which I booked with BPC by phone in Aug 07
For an extra $10-$15, I think it would be worth it to book by phone if you had a cabin preference. :thumbsup:
Of course, the woman that I spoke with didn't tell me that the price difference was so minimal. Only that the on-line prices are only available if you do everything on-line and the phone in's were HIGHER.
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mrdawson
Funnel Deck Cruiser
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Posted: Wed May 28th, 2008 11:23 pm | 38th Post |
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| Yes it was...thought I don't remember exactly I think it was $15.....They took down the aft I wanted, called HAL and grabbed it and called me back...done!
____________________
Mike
So many Pots....so few spoons!!!!
CTT Master Pot Stirring Advisor
1/09 X Solstice Eastern Carib
6/09 Mariner OTS Mex Riv
5/10 CTT Azul Sensatori AI Party, Riviera Maya
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gsc500
Super Cruiser
| Joined: | Wed Jan 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1500 |
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Posted: Wed May 28th, 2008 11:30 pm | 39th Post |
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mrdawson wrote: I don't know about all the NCL certificates and all that but I use them almost exclusivley and have never had an issue...even when I booked by phone when I wanted an aft cabin that wasn't listed online, one call and booked no problemo...in fact I just switched my Solstice booking to them last week cause I had to book exclusivley with Celebrity last summer cause they were only booking Captains Club members for the first 2 weeks and BPC couldnt book them yet...I just transfered my X booking to BPC and got $100 OBC and a bottle of vino!!
I have used them in the past and had NO problems. I also wouldn't hesitate using them in the future depending on the circumstances. They do have some awesome rates.
However, since I couldn't get a straight answer from them regarding the NCL certificates, I didn't want to take a chance over a small amount of savings. I do have a friend that uses BPC AND I know she has the NCL credit card so obviously, she seems to be able to use them.
Perhaps if I spoke with an ACTUAL agent, they could have given me the "real"scoop of how to use the NCL certificates. I spoke with some woman in customer service (or something like that) who gave me the above run around answer. I DID ask her if there was someone else I could ask about it, maybe with experience in applying the certificates and she told me there was no one else who I could talk with, she was the final authority or something like that.
If someone else who has first hand experience in using BPC AND the NCL compass reward certificates (100% credit applied) successfully would post, that would be GREAT. So that we know that it IS possible.
And since the booking by a TA via the phone is only $10-$15 extra, maybe the cruise fare using NCL certificates is only higher by a small amount also. I have no clue because the woman I talked to just told me I would only get an 80% credit on the certificates so I didn't pursue the issue. 80% of a $500 certificate is only $400 so I lost $100 of the value of the certificate already. It doesn't sound right to me but I couldn't get any other answers from her or an opportunity to ask anyone else at BPC.
Just passing along MY experience regarding specifically BPC and the NCL compass rewards. Would love to hear other posters' experience in using the NCL certificates with BPC or other TAs.
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KerCar
Casual Cruiser
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Posted: Sat May 31st, 2008 08:18 pm | 40th Post |
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gsc500 wrote:
She did talk me through how to apply the NCL future cruise credit (or whatever it's called) for the deposit though and it's not complicated. If you need to do this, call and ask. Since it's a "trick" to the system, I don't want to post it publicly.
I just purchased a $250 freestyle reward certificate on my last cruise and was hoping I would be able to use it to book online with BPC. Thanks for posting this info
____________________
Kerry
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