Booking on foreign website to save money

[Samaya]

Samaya, you are always so helpful! Thank you for all of that info. So from what I'm seeing, if I HAD to cancel over 31 days out it would just be 10% of the cost, which I think is also the deposit. So I'd lose out on the deposit.

I didn't end up paying but I'm still keeping it as an option. My husband is a little leery of booking a vacation over a year out...

Hi CalDisneyMomof2 and thank you.

Yes, that's the way I read it, just 10% and to verify that take a look at item 2 Payment where it states for cruises of 6-days or over....

2.5 Full payment must be credited on mentioned Norwegian account no later than 30 days before the date of travel without further prompting by Norwegian. If a reservation is made within 30 days of the commencement of the holiday, full payment will be immediately due after receipt of the confirmation, provided the security note has been delivered. For Garden Villas (category H1/S1) and upper suite staterooms (categories H2-H9, S2-S7, S9, SA and SB) full payment is due 90 days before the date of travel. Delivery by Norwegian of the complete and specified travel documents is concurrent with payment in full. For bookings made less than 14 days prior to sail date, only credit card payments will be accepted by Norwegian.

Consequently, for most categories you only pay 10% deposit and the 90% balance no later than 30 days before travel.

I might well side with your husband on this and look to book nearer the date or even leave it for another year and in the meantime just monitor the prices and conditions and also check out any possible deals at...
http://www.ncl.eu/hot-deals/

You might well find a deal nearer to your planned date and also some deals might only show up on certain countries web-sites and not others so compare against other sites/currencies such as...
http://www.norwegiancruiseline.com.au/hot-deals/

You both need to feel comfortable when making such a commitment so check all the various conditions and FAQ's on each of the country sites as that might highlight a possible problem such as not being able to purchase a special deal.

But please also bear in mind that when booking in a non-US dollar currency, unlike UK-Expedia where you pay the full amount upfront you only pay a small deposit with the remainder possibly up to a year or more away, over that time there could well be a large swing in the exchange rate which might result in having to spend more and if you're lucky less.

Thus, if you can book a last minute deal currency fluctuations will be less of a worry.

Hope it all works out and happy planning......

Samaya

 

[Samaya]

Before reading your post I had never been on any of the NCL web sites, so out of curiosity I just quickly compared one of their last minute deals and the USA site does seem cheaper.

So just to make sure can you please re-check to see if you get the same prices as those I've quoted below which are per person and for two-guest in a room?

On ncl.com
7-Day Glacier Bay from Vancouver Aug 31 - Sep 07, 2015
Inside - $549
Oceanview - $599
Balcony - $1,149
Mini-Suite - $1,699
Suite - $2,599
http://www.ncl.com/cruises/7-day-gl...rentPage=1&&itineraryCode=SUN7VANKTNJNUSGYSWD

Whereas on ncl.eu
7-Day Glacier Bay from Vancouver Aug 31 - Sep 07, 2015
Inside - € 619,00 (Approx. $673)
Oceanview - € 709,00 (Approx. $770)
Balcony - € 1.289,00 (Approx. $1,400)
Mini-Suite - € 1.699,00 (Approx. $1,845)
Suite - € 2.769,00 (Approx. $3,006)
http://www.ncl.eu/booking.php?stage=sailing_details&cruise_package_id=2079401

Plus on the USA site there might be extras included like..

Specials

Choose between;

• 
  
  • Ultimate Beverage Package
  • Free Stateroom Gratuities
  • Four nights of Specialty Dining
  • 250 Free WiFi Minutes
  • Free 3rd & 4th Stateroom Guests

Not sure if that choice is included on the EU site, it might be but I've run out of time and must get a move on so hope to check back this evening.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Before reading your post I had never been on any of the NCL web sites, so out of curiosity I just quickly compared one of their last minute deals and the USA site does seem cheaper.

So just to make sure can you please re-check to see if you get the same prices as those I've quoted below which are per person and for two-guest in a room?

On ncl.com
7-Day Glacier Bay from Vancouver Aug 31 - Sep 07, 2015
Inside - $549
Oceanview - $599
Balcony - $1,149
Mini-Suite - $1,699
Suite - $2,599
http://www.ncl.com/cruises/7-day-gl...rentPage=1&&itineraryCode=SUN7VANKTNJNUSGYSWD

Whereas on ncl.eu
7-Day Glacier Bay from Vancouver Aug 31 - Sep 07, 2015
Inside - € 619,00 (Approx. $673)
Oceanview - € 709,00 (Approx. $770)
Balcony - € 1.289,00 (Approx. $1,400)
Mini-Suite - € 1.699,00 (Approx. $1,845)
Suite - € 2.769,00 (Approx. $3,006)
http://www.ncl.eu/booking.php?stage=sailing_details&cruise_package_id=2079401

Plus on the USA site there might be extras included like..

Specials

Choose between;

• 
  
  • Ultimate Beverage Package
  • Free Stateroom Gratuities
  • Four nights of Specialty Dining
  • 250 Free WiFi Minutes
  • Free 3rd & 4th Stateroom Guests

Not sure if that choice is included on the EU site, it might be but I've run out of time and must get a move on so hope to check back this evening.

Hi Samaya - I'm looking at a very specific cruise and departure port. My husband's job only has two weeks next summer that allows him to take off an extended period of time (he works for a Major League Baseball team) so we can do 8/7/2016 or 4th of July weekend but we'd rather be home for that because shortly after is the MLB All Star game that'd we'd like to be home for since it's nearby this year.

So I'm looking at 8/7/2016, Balcony. I can't imagine doing an Alaskan cruise without one! And we'd like to depart out of Seattle because I have lots of Jetblue points thus making our flights free or almost free.

Total cost on US site is $5,923.64 Including taxes without the free add on or $6,059.72 WITH the unlimited beverage because they include service charges. The EU website is €4,396. It also includes the beverage package even though it doesn't list it on check out- it's listed on my itinerary.

 

[Samaya]

Hi CalDisneyMomof2,

With being so restricted on travel dates then you've really found an amazing saving and when adding the almost free flights and only needing to pay a 10% deposit right up until 30-days out then it's a no-brainer. Once booked I would be tempted to monitor not only the €-$ exchange rate but also for any price reductions and if that happens look to see if you can apply those savings and if not you might be able to upgrade for just a little more. There's a €50 rebooking fee, but if the invoice total increase there seems to be no charge. See 6.2 Booking Changes: http://www.ncl.eu/helpful-informati...ooking-conditions/booking-conditions-2015-16/

Good luck to your husbands team, hope they have a great season and I believe you have an Expedia/Disney trip to look forward to so hope all's going to plan with that.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Hi CalDisneyMomof2,

With being so restricted on travel dates then you've really found an amazing saving and when adding the almost free flights and only needing to pay a 10% deposit right up until 30-days out then it's a no-brainer. Once booked I would be tempted to monitor not only the €-$ exchange rate but also for any price reductions and if that happens look to see if you can apply those savings and if not you might be able to upgrade for just a little more. There's a €50 rebooking fee, but if the invoice total increase there seems to be no charge. See 6.2 Booking Changes: http://www.ncl.eu/helpful-informati...ooking-conditions/booking-conditions-2015-16/

Good luck to your husbands team, hope they have a great season and I believe you have an Expedia/Disney trip to look forward to so hope all's going to plan with that.

Thanks! I hope others see this post too so they can save like I hope to. I think we're going to do it but just not THIS soon. Maybe the next couple of months. I need to make sure our November WDW trip is all taken care of first Thank you, Samaya! It's because of you that I even thought to check the foreign cruise website.

 

[Samaya]

I wonder if the main reason for such a pricing difference is due to the strength of the dollar and the weakness of the Euro; looking at the charts a Euro € was worth $1.339 12-months ago while today its only worth $1.111.

That's a 17% drop in the exchange rate and to your advantage, so while the Euro remains weak there's certainly some big savings when booking a vacation that's been priced in Euro's.
http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=EUR&to=USD&view=1Y

Hope you can make a NCL cruise work for you and happy planning for November, fast-passes next so good luck with those.