Earning Rewards

The NCL credit card is best for transactions made directly with Norwegian Cruise Line but earns WorldPoints® Rewards on all purchases:

Earn 3 points for every dollar spent on Norwegian purchases, 2 points per dollar spent on eligible air and hotel purchases and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards members may earn 25% to 75% more points on eligible charges.

These are great earning rates for transactions with Norwegian Cruise Line, such as your actual cruise fare and any onboard charges. However, the other purchase categories aren’t particularly competitive.

New cardholders can also earn 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days of account opening.

Redeeming Rewards

The Norwegian Cruise Line Mastercard earns WorldPoints rewards, which are best used toward awards with NCL. Options include:

• Onboard credit. All redemptions for onboard credit are valued at a flat rate of 1 cent per point. Redemptions begin at 5,000 points (for $50 credit).
• Discounts on cruise fare. You can use points to reduce the cost of your cruise fare at a flat rate of 1 cent per point.
• Stateroom upgrades. There are options to redeem points for a better room within your stateroom category (for example, booking an oceanview cabin and receiving a more premium oceanview) as well as upgrading from one category to the next (booking an oceanview and upgrading to a balcony).
• Free cruises. Only select cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean or Mexican Riviera are available for redemptions.

When redeeming for upgrades or free cruises, the value of your redemption will vary based on the precise costs of that sailing.

Full category upgrades, like going from an oceanview to a balcony, cost 30,000 points for cruises longer than five nights. Therefore, when the cost to upgrade with cash is $300 or less, you’d be better off redeeming your WorldPoints for a discount on the cruise fare and booking your preferred room directly. When the cost is higher, though, there’s some room for strategic arbitrage and getting an impressive return on your points.

The ability to redeem points for a free cruise is where you could potentially get an oversized return for your points—assuming you want to travel to the Bahamas, the Caribbean or Mexico. Redemptions could be worth more than 1 cent per point, especially if you’re traveling on peak dates or new ships where cruise fares are typically higher. Some sailings or dates may be excluded.

Rewards Potential

Forbes Advisor uses estimated spending amounts to simulate the number of points you might earn from this card in one year. Based on data from multiple government agencies, our research shows that a household earning in the 70th percentile brings in $127,200 of income and can reasonably charge $40,398 to a card annually across the following categories:

Norwegian Cruise Line World Mastercard* Rewards Potential