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Targeted credit card holders can earn $200 in statement credit during a limited-time promotion with Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Norwegian Cruise Lines Amex Offer
Here’s the offer I received: use your card to spend at least $1,000 across one or more eligible purchases on your eligible Amex card and receive a one-time $200 statement credit.
Purchases must be made at NCL.com or by calling 1-888-438-7114. Manual enrollment is required, terms apply, and the offer expires on April 13, 2025. You have any number of ways to trigger this offer.
- By making a new booking and spending at least $1,000
- If you have an existing booking, make a payment of $1,000 or even buy 2x$500 fully refundable onboard credits for a current booking (René does this all the time). The onboard credit is given back to you when you check-out.
- Items such as pre-paid shore excursions and drink packages should also trigger the credit — just make sure you buy them through NCL.com or the phone number provided.
Mrs. Carley is an authorized user of that card and has her own Amex account. She, too, was targeted, so we added it to her card. So, we can use one of my cards to pay $1,000 toward a cruise and one of hers for another $1,000 — and earn back $400!
Norwegian Cruise Lines Amex Offer Exclusions
The offer specifically excludes the following:
- purchases onboard
- Norwegian gift cards
- shore excursions
- transportation to and from the ship
Happy earning and sailing!
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Chris, thanks for highlighting this deal! I received a similar offer on my AmEX Gold (personal) card – Spend $1,000+ get $250 back. I have a cruise booked in 2024 and went ahead and paid me pre-paid service charges which were just over $1k. The added benefit is that it locks in the $25pp/day amount. The past few years these seem to be going up annually.
@DLPTATL – Remember you can, when you pre-pay those with NCL like you did, you can request them back last day and then pay out cash to those you want to who took care of you on the cruise.
Not familiar with this…so if I today or anytime before April 13 buy 2X$500 on board credits for my upcoming cruise this summer, then when I am on board I can request a cash-out and they’ll hand me $1,000 cash? Did I get that right?
@Bill – Mostly correct. This is fully refundable OBC so the last day of the cruise you can go to the finance desk and get cash back. Now do keep in mind if you have billed things to your account those charges will lower what you get back. Clear?
This is also one of the reasons I pre-pay everything like the daily gratuities and shore excursions I want so that there are ZERO charges to my onboard account.
Lastly, if I am going to buy any Cruise Next credits I cash out first because I want to earn points for buying the certs i.e. have them bill to whatever card I have for my default onboard billing and not have the pull from my refundable credits.
René – Good point on cashing out for tips. I’ve never done that before. I generally tip on top of the auto gratuities in cash for butlers, housekeepers, and any special dining/lounge staff. Per your previous suggestion in another post, I’m now thinking about bringing along small gifts for the team servicing our cabin.
@DLPTATL – Most times I just let it go but some sailings I almost never visit main dining (who spit tips) and specialty already have 18% built in so then I like to just tip cash directly to all who help me.
I only have the American Express® Green Card. Can I apply for another card to take advantage of this offer
Kind of a risky proposition, honestly. If you weren’t targeted on your Green Card, you might not be on a new card.
But if you’re itching to a get a new Amex Membership Rewards card, then maybe?
Between P2 and I, we have the Amex Platinum, Amex Gold, and 2 Amex Bonvoys. Didn’t get the offer. 🙁
Thanks for the explanation and the idea. You said you cash out on the final day…is that simply a personal preference to wait until the final day? Can’t you cash out any day (or is waiting until the final day the optimal means to assure it’s not credited back to the credit card)?
@Bill – You know I have never tried sooner and have always just been told you need to come the final day. They will not credit back to your card ever anything left over including any canceled shore excursions.
Where can you find those $500 refundable OBC? I just tried to buy them for my upcoming cruise but the NCL rep said they don’t have them. Was she mistaken? Would appreciate a link or other info.
@Pete – You simply log in to your account and your reservation on NCL.com. Then look for “Explore and Plan” then “Gift and More” then finally look for “$500 On-Board Credit Certificate”. You can buy two of these max per cabin no matter how many are in the cabin.
My chat with NCL pasted below. Seems you’re not guaranteed a cash refund. But a workaround to avoid AMEX from clawing back the $200 benefit is to change cards while on cruise. your thoughts?
I see you are inquiring about onboard credit.
correct
If you purchase this on your own via the Gifts and More tab, if you have any left over at the end of the sailing, it will be refunded back to card used.
can it be refunded as cash?
2:21 PM
One moment.
2:21 PM
Unused portions of Onboard Credits will be refunded to the guest at the end of their cruise and applied towards their preferred method of payment onboard.
2:23 PM
So whatever you select as your onboard payment preference on step 6 of your online check in is what it will go back to.
Alyssa
can i request a cash refund?
You can review at Guest Services, but there’s no guarantee that can be done.
Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
2:25 PM
will a refund only be issued at the end of the cruise, or can I request a cash refund at anytime?
Only at the end of sailing.
Alyssa
are you certain?
Yes, I am.
I double checked with a supervisor.
2:26 PM
A colleague of mine asked for a cash refund and received it. So I’m unclear whether it can be done today.
Very odd, I have never heard of guests getting a cash refund of their onboard credit mid cruise.
Per our supervisor: Unused portions of Onboard Credits will be refunded to the guest at the end of their cruise and applied towards their preferred method of payment onboard.
2:27 PM
Can I change my preferred method of payment while on board?
2:28 PM
You can change it to Cash onboard via Guest Services. You will the provide that cash amount to apply to your onboard account.
A cash deposit may be placed on the onboard account in the following amounts:
Less than 7 days – $150 USD per person
7 day cruises – $300 USD per person
More than 7 days – $450 USD per person
So when you go to Guest Services, you will need to provide this cash amount to be placed on your onboard account.
Alyssa
I’d like to buy in advance a $500 OBC. But if i don’t use the OBC, I would like it to be refunded in cash. Are you saying that’s not possible?
2:30 PM
If you select CASH as your onboard payment preference and you place that deposit that I listed above, then it would be refunded as cash.
But you have to place a cash deposit.
2:30 PM
Alternatively, if I buy the OBC on advance on one credit card, and during the cruise change my preferred method to another card, will the unused OBC be credited to the first card or to the last card on file?
2:32 PM
It goes to whatever your payment method is on your file when you debark the cruise. Refunds cannot be made until the day of disembarkation for any excess.
2:32 PM
So if I change cards, the unused OBC will NOT be credited to the card I purchased the OBC, but to the card I change it to while on the cruise?
As advised above:
Unused portions of Onboard Credits will be refunded to the guest at the end of their cruise and applied towards their preferred method of payment onboard.
It is going back to whatever card you have on file at debarkation as your preferred payment method.
@Peter – I have 400+ nights on NCL and dozens and dozens of cruises – you get CASH back next to last day. Period.
I have walked off with cash almost every sailing.