Getting ready for Disney

My family and I are getting very excited about our upcomming Disney Cruise aboard the Disney Magic to the Eastern Caribbean. We are checking Cruise Critic's forums on a daily basis to get and share ideas with others. I have started wathcing youtube videos of disney cruises with my 5 year old DD. We have even found some unbelievable deals to stay on property at Disney World the day before and after with prices below $100 per night at moderate resorts.

Could NCL and BOA be Sued?

I know it might be the lawyer in me over thinking the end of the NCL compass rewards program. It may just be resentment I feel after I made a decision to incur additional debt though my NCL credit card at a higher interest rate then other cards, in order to obtain the credit to cruise NCL once every year and a half. However, it occurs to me that at least theoretically, BOA and NCL may have just opened themselves up to a class action lawsuit.

If many other credit card users of NCL obtained their credit card with the expectation of incurring interest charges, for the sole purpose of the compass rewards program, and those Debtors did in fact incur high interest rates and make purchases on their BOA/NCL card, one could raise a claim for Promissory Estoppel. In plain English, this means that if you reasonably rely on a promise made by another, and the promisor has reason to know or actually knows of your reliance on their promise, and you suffer to your detriment as a result of your reliance, you should be placed in the same position had you not relied on the promise.

I know to most people this may just sound too litigious. Hey, I am an attorney, and I don’t think I would pursue such a claim, but what if, what if, hundreds of thousands of BOA/NCL credit card users did rely to their determent on the Compass Rewards program. Think of what World points may have just started.

Just food for thought.

Disney Vacation 2009

Check out photos from our family trip to Disneyworld in January, 2009. We stayed at the Tropical Polynesian Resort, in some very NOT SO TROPICAL weather. Vicki loved the characters, Test Track and the Goofey Roller Coaster. Not so much, the Haunted Mansian, but we will always have Mr. Silly Pants (Vicki's name for her haunted ghost) to remember it by.

A bad marketing idea of NCL

As a bankruptcy Attorney, I am more then familiar with the financial difficulty facing many businesses. However, in a time where creative marketing may mean the difference between survival and liquidation, I believe Norwegian Cruise Line ("NCL") and Bank of America ("BOA") made a big mistake.

I know I used my Bank of America, NCL MasterCard much more then any other card, as a result of the great return on investment. My wife and I have cruised three (3) times in the last five (5) years on NCL, even though we much prefer Carnival. I must say, my incentive to incur interest payable to BOA is significantly diminished as a result. In the same vein, I will be much less likely to cruise NCL in the future, as out of pocket, I would rather pay towards Disney or Carnival with the family.