Deceptive cruise offer by Norwegian

On certain of its cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines offers "half price" for the third and fourth occupants of a cabin. Logically, this would mean that if a family were to take their two children on a cruise, then the price for each of the two children would be half of the fare of the two adults. In fact, the two children do NOT pay half of the adult fare, but pay half of something called the "revenue calculation" fare which, of course, is a much higher amount. So on a currently advertised cruise in which the adult fare is $900, the children's "half fare" ended up being $675 rather than the $450 any logical shopper would expect. This is a blatantly dishonest offer that is being made by Norwegian Cruise Lines and prospective cruisers should be aware of the fact before booking on the NCL web site.:mad:

You are free to decline the discount and shop elsewhere. :cool:

On certain of its cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines offers "half price" for the third and fourth occupants of a cabin. Logically, this would mean that if a family were to take their two children on a cruise, then the price for each of the two children would be half of the fare of the two adults. In fact, the two children do NOT pay half of the adult fare, but pay half of something called the "revenue calculation" fare which, of course, is a much higher amount. So on a currently advertised cruise in which the adult fare is $900, the children's "half fare" ended up being $675 rather than the $450 any logical shopper would expect. This is a blatantly dishonest offer that is being made by Norwegian Cruise Lines and prospective cruisers should be aware of the fact before booking on the NCL web site.:mad:

Are the adult fares still showing $900 even after the children's is $675? Because if I take $900 for each adult, $450 per child and then divide the total by 4 people, it averages $675 per person.

I can understand what the OP is saying here. You're browsing cruises on NCL.com, and see the offer. You click on the particular itinerary expecting to see one thing, but then seeing another. I can see how that can come off as deceiving.

However, I can see how they figure that price, as the poster above me said. They must average it out among the 4 passengers. I mean, I assume that's how they figure that, by using the method listed above?

Are the adult fares still showing $900 even after the children's is $675? Because if I take $900 for each adult, $450 per child and then divide the total by 4 people, it averages $675 per person.

You got it. Confusing, perhaps. Deceptive, I don't think so.

On certain of its cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines offers "half price" for the third and fourth occupants of a cabin. Logically, this would mean that if a family were to take their two children on a cruise, then the price for each of the two children would be half of the fare of the two adults. In fact, the two children do NOT pay half of the adult fare, but pay half of something called the "revenue calculation" fare which, of course, is a much higher amount. So on a currently advertised cruise in which the adult fare is $900, the children's "half fare" ended up being $675 rather than the $450 any logical shopper would expect. This is a blatantly dishonest offer that is being made by Norwegian Cruise Lines and prospective cruisers should be aware of the fact before booking on the NCL web site.:mad:

Actually i think you'll find that your final total is $2700 which you would expect for 2 adults @ $900 each and 2 addl passengers @ $450 each.

The way they do the pricing though is they average out that $2700 so that each of the four passengers pays $675. Although that is $225 per 3rd/4th passenger more than you expected, it is also $225 per adult LESS than expected. So the final price is what you'd expect to pay. Confusing but not really deceptive since you end up paying what you expected to pay with the half price offer.

Are the adult fares still showing $900 even after the children's is $675? Because if I take $900 for each adult, $450 per child and then divide the total by 4 people, it averages $675 per person.

Thanks, you are one that can understand the system. They are getting 50% off. Or at least it appears they are. All they have to do is look at the final price and devide by 4. I do understand how the OP could think she/he the advertising is deceiving, but it really isn't.

You got it. Confusing, perhaps. Deceptive, I don't think so.

Actually, the op is correct .

We booked for my sister -originally booked without the UBP/ KSF promo

She was in a balcony room

her first 2 fares were 1280 pp and the half price ( ahem) for the 3rd was 799 dollars.

This is not half of the first two, but it is half of the special fare of 1599 for the 3rd and so on.

Prior to the KsF promo the third person in the room was 599 dollars. The first 2 fares were unchanged.

As the PCC explained it the prices for the 3rd passenger, etc change when they have a promo .

No kidding.

This was a booking for Getaway.

Prices for 3rd and up are pretty much never the same as the price for 1st and 2nd person - so why would the discount for 3rd and up be calculated from prices of 1st and 2nd pax to begin with? Definitely not deceptive or fraudulent.

I just booked 2 cabins for an Alaska cruise with 4 in one cabin and 3 in the other. The promo was 3rd and 4th passenger free. Indeed, all that was charged for the 3rd and 4th passengers were port fees and the first 2 were charged the advertised rate. As the port charges must be paid regardless of the what the cruise line charges for passage, this is exactly what I expected would be charged based on the promotion offered.

Prices for 3rd and up are pretty much never the same as the price for 1st and 2nd person - so why would the discount for 3rd and up be calculated from prices of 1st and 2nd pax to begin with? Definitely not deceptive or fraudulent.

We cruise in H4 almost exclusively .

Price for 3-5 is always 599-699. For the KSF they were 349.

NCL discounted the usual fare for our 3 kids.

On the same cruise-

When we booked the balcony cabin initially, the price for the 3rd and 4th passenger was less than when it was re-booked ( a matter of days ) to include the free UBP and the KsF.

I am not saying it should be half off the 1st and 2nd passengers price - none would cruise in a suite ever

But it should be half off what the price was the day before - NCL doubles the price of passengers 3 and on so that they could take 50% off

if it truly is half off the fare, explain why the 3rd and 4 th passenger 's fare is more than passengers one and two? If passenger one and two are 1200 each, are you telling me that passengers 3 and four have a fare of 1600 dollars each? That makes the cost of a balcony more than a penthouse!

Not on this planet - not until NCL has a half price sale!

And it is not a case of a full ship blah blah blah- it had 98% availibility when we booked

For certain categories NCL is practicing deceptive pricing .

We experienced it first hand.

All the discounts, promotions, special prices, etc., mean nothing.

Add up all your fixed costs and estimated spending, including all the discounts, etc., divide the total by the number of passengers, then divide again by the number of days. This is your net bottom line price per passenger, per diem. Use this number to compare to similar numbers with various cruises on the same cruise line, other cruise lines, etc., for any number of passengers and any number of days.

Prices for 3rd and up are pretty much never the same as the price for 1st and 2nd person - so why would the discount for 3rd and up be calculated from prices of 1st and 2nd pax to begin with? Definitely not deceptive or fraudulent.

Yes I agree that the 3rd/4th are never the same as the first 2.

I guess you would have us believe that the price for the 3rd/4th is more expensive than the first 2 pax?

Pricing the Breakaway for Bermuda on 8/16/15 for a category BA cabin the price of the first 2 pax is $1529pp and the 3rd/4th are priced at $949.50pp with the 50% off.

So in essence are we to believe the price of the 3rd/4th persons would really be $1900pp?

It's as deceptive as it gets.

If you price it out for 2 in the BA the price for the first 2 pax is also $1529.

Price for 2 pax is $3436. Price for 4 pax in the cabin is $5685.

Bill

Are the adult fares still showing $900 even after the children's is $675? Because if I take $900 for each adult, $450 per child and then divide the total by 4 people, it averages $675 per person.

Whenever I'm pricing out cruises, I always use this method to ensure it is actually 50% or free for 3rd the 4th. It always works out to be accurate.

Also, don't forget if you choose a deck that has a little bit higher price (sometimes the inside says $412 and then if you want mid ship it goes up to like $452), then your original price will be slightly higher in the end.

NCL's method is way less confusing than RCCL...their website grinds my gears.

I had the same problem, was attracted by an offer that offered 50% for third passenger, but when I got the details, turns out the third passenger was costing a lot more than passenger one and two, so of course 50% of that amount was about the usual cost for a third passenger. I certainly felt duped.

We have cruised numerous times on numerous cruislines, including a number of cruises on ncl and the third passenger rate has always been less than passenger one and two. So in my view, this was indeed a deliberately deceptive "promotion"!

As the author of the original post, I am quite surprised that several of those who replied came to the defense of the cruise line, even employing some remarkable mathematical gymnastics in order to do so. Here are the facts which you can check if you want to go to the NCL web site and do your own calculations. Take, for example, the June 19-26, 2016 cruise on the Epic. We can ignore the port charges, as they will be the same per passenger regardless of how many persons occupy the cabin and regardless of the fare that they pay NCL. If two adults take the cruise, the price is $899 x 2 for a total of $1798. At the bottom of the chart, it states clearly: "Extra Stateroom Guests are Half-Price." In the school I attended, half of $899 would be $449.50. So the total fare to be paid by the four occupants should be $899 + $899+ $449.50 + $449.50 for a total of $2697. So now, let's go ahead and change the number of guests on the web site to FOUR. The NCL website calculates the new fare automatically, and it comes out to $3137 (again ignoring the port charges). That is $440 more than $2697. If you accept the fact that the two adults are still paying $899 apiece, then the two kids are paying $669.50 each and NOT $449.50. Call it what you want but I call it deceptive and dishonest. So, let me ask the stout NCL defenders: If you took your family out to dinner to a buffet in which the adults pay $18.00 per meal, and the kids eat for "half price", how would you react when you got the check and the restaurant charged you $15.00 for each child because they declared that the kids pay half the price of something called the "revenue calculation"? Based on the responses to my original post, I guess some folks would think that was just fine! :)

Once upon a time, NCL would run specials where the 3rd. and 4th. (or additional) pax should sail for as low $99 + taxes/fees/port charges + DSC. That was, of course, many, many, many moons ago but surely, old-timers like us remember.

Sometimes, these deals for a typical 7 night sailing would be $199 - not as good but still, easy enough to calculate - then, when it went up to $299 p/p - not as good when you are squeezing 3 or 4 into those inside cabins on the Dawn/Jewel class ships. Some of the specials were supposed to be for "kids" only (of all ages ...)

The rest is history when the formula on how they "compute" the rates to come up these 50% off promo. Go back a few years on CC threads - it should be around & made for fun history lessons, then & now.

Most definitively very creative then and now ... (no comments)

As the author of the original post, I am quite surprised that several of those who replied came to the defense of the cruise line, even employing some remarkable mathematical gymnastics in order to do so. Here are the facts which you can check if you want to go to the NCL web site and do your own calculations. Take, for example, the June 19-26, 2016 cruise on the Epic. We can ignore the port charges, as they will be the same per passenger regardless of how many persons occupy the cabin and regardless of the fare that they pay NCL. If two adults take the cruise, the price is $899 x 2 for a total of $1798. At the bottom of the chart, it states clearly: "Extra Stateroom Guests are Half-Price." In the school I attended, half of $899 would be $449.50. So the total fare to be paid by the four occupants should be $899 + $899+ $449.50 + $449.50 for a total of $2697. So now, let's go ahead and change the number of guests on the web site to FOUR. The NCL website calculates the new fare automatically, and it comes out to $3137 (again ignoring the port charges). That is $440 more than $2697. If you accept the fact that the two adults are still paying $899 apiece, then the two kids are paying $669.50 each and NOT $449.50. Call it what you want but I call it deceptive and dishonest. So, let me ask the stout NCL defenders: If you took your family out to dinner to a buffet in which the adults pay $18.00 per meal, and the kids eat for "half price", how would you react when you got the check and the restaurant charged you $15.00 for each child because they declared that the kids pay half the price of something called the "revenue calculation"? Based on the responses to my original post, I guess some folks would think that was just fine! :)

Well said.

I noticed a lot of the NCL Cheerleaders gone in the last month or two, figured NCL laid them off with a lot of their other staff. I guess most of them got laid off.

You are correct, its 'deceptive'. :eek:

.. I am quite surprised that several of those who replied came to the defense of the cruise line, even employing some remarkable mathematical gymnastics in order to do so. Here are the facts ..

Sorry to say but it's you doing the remarkable mathematical gymnastics. I'm not saying that the non-discounted price for 3rd and up was reasonable, but it's you who is still insisting on comparing apples to oranges.

1st and 2nd passenger prices never have anything to do with 3rd and up prices so those are simply not comparable no matter how you try to twist it. Nowhere does it say that the price of discounted passengers would be 50% off from 1st and 2nd pax prices, you're making that incorrect assumption yourself.

Now if your complaint was that the 3rd and up prices are high, that would be a valid complaint (raising prices for promotions is what all cruise lines do time to time, not in anyway unique for NCL) but mixing 1st and 2nd prices here just shows that you are not familiar with how cruises are normally priced - a cruise is not a fixed price dinner that would cost the same for everyone.

This is all very confusing

Not confusing at all - the cruise lines post the fare for the first two pax. There is also a non published fare for guests 3+. Is that fare 1/2 of the pax 1 & 2 - NO. So on the cruises where the 3+ guests are at 1/2 fare - they adjust the initial fare to make up the difference.

On the cruises where the 3+ guests are free (which are few and far between) indeed the fare for those guests is 0.

Port fees and taxes are paid by all pax.

I have a cruise booked for 3 of us in a suite booked before the sail for free offer. My copy of the confirmation shows exactly how much I paid for my third guest - 499.00 (vs my 3000.00 pax 1&2 fare) The website likes to generate an average fare so it divides the sum total of the fares by the number of guests - it does tend to throw a monkey wrench into the calculation of the individual fares.

I did a mock booking after the sail free came out - low and behold, the new cruise fare was exactly the same as before the 1/2 guest 3+. I called my TA and he said they do this all the time - they keep the pax 1&2 rates the same and double the rates on guests 3+ so you actually stay the same.

Never in any of the ads does it say that guests 3+ sail for 1/2 of guest 1&2. It just says they sail for 1/2 of the going rate for guest 3+. The only time you would see a savings on these deals is on the cruises where they are Free.

I have a CAS booking on the BA in July, to add my mother during the half off "sale" the price was $949.50 (plus port charges), which btw is a lot more then passenger 1 & 2. Instead I booked her in her own room and she paid $300 (plus port charges), The wasted room only benefits my mother (for pricing) and the room steward since she probably will not even stay in that room so they will not have any cleaning to do.

RE: Bill and the 8/16 cruise. I also am booked on that date and before the 1/2 off sale the price of passengers 3-8 was $949.00 and went up 50 cents when the sale started to $949.50 (on the plus side I did have a slight price drop (on passenger 1 & 2) and was able to add a perk to that booking (though from the looks of that it is watered down already (UDP).

I just booked 2 cabins for an Alaska cruise with 4 in one cabin and 3 in the other. The promo was 3rd and 4th passenger free. Indeed, all that was charged for the 3rd and 4th passengers were port fees and the first 2 were charged the advertised rate. As the port charges must be paid regardless of the what the cruise line charges for passage, this is exactly what I expected would be charged based on the promotion offered.

Well that is because you booked under 3/4 pax free

The op booked under 3/4 pax half off

Totally different

IMHO the 3/4 half off is no great deal at all because they are getting half off an inflated brochure rate that nobody ever pays anyway for the 3/4 pax

I knew this going in to my last booking so I purposely found a cruise that was a true ksf and snagged an incredible deal

Fwiw and as I've said many times here Ncl is trying to lure the newbie cruiser that is none the wiser and will think the 3/4 at half off is a deal

It's not of course because its half off an artificially inflated price to begin with

Keep looking for a true ksf deal before you book.

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Not confusing at all - the cruise lines post the fare for the first two pax. There is also a non published fare for guests 3+. Is that fare 1/2 of the pax 1 & 2 - NO. So on the cruises where the 3+ guests are at 1/2 fare - they adjust the initial fare to make up the difference.

 

On the cruises where the 3+ guests are free (which are few and far between) indeed the fare for those guests is 0.

 

Port fees and taxes are paid by all pax.

 

I have a cruise booked for 3 of us in a suite booked before the sail for free offer. My copy of the confirmation shows exactly how much I paid for my third guest - 499.00 (vs my 3000.00 pax 1&2 fare) The website likes to generate an average fare so it divides the sum total of the fares by the number of guests - it does tend to throw a monkey wrench into the calculation of the individual fares.

 

I did a mock booking after the sail free came out - low and behold, the new cruise fare was exactly the same as before the 1/2 guest 3+. I called my TA and he said they do this all the time - they keep the pax 1&2 rates the same and double the rates on guests 3+ so you actually stay the same.

 

Never in any of the ads does it say that guests 3+ sail for 1/2 of guest 1&2. It just says they sail for 1/2 of the going rate for guest 3+. The only time you would see a savings on these deals is on the cruises where they are Free.

I find it interesting that there is even a fare that Ncl calls "unpublished" or " non published"

While I enjoy my Ncl cruises and have one booked and will probably book again......

Any company...Ncl.... Or whoever....

That can say with a straight face that they use an "unpublished fare"

Is laughable

Again..... Newbies won't know to ask these questions about fares and pricing

And that is what Ncl is aiming for

Frequent cruisers are the ones asking and as we realize Ncl is trying to rid themselves of their loyal cruisers

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We cruise in H4 almost exclusively .

Price for 3-5 is always 599-699. For the KSF they were 349.

NCL discounted the usual fare for our 3 kids.

On the same cruise-

 

When we booked the balcony cabin initially, the price for the 3rd and 4th passenger was less than when it was re-booked ( a matter of days ) to include the free UBP and the KsF.

I am not saying it should be half off the 1st and 2nd passengers price - none would cruise in a suite ever

 

But it should be half off what the price was the day before - NCL doubles the price of passengers 3 and on so that they could take 50% off

 

if it truly is half off the fare, explain why the 3rd and 4 th passenger 's fare is more than passengers one and two? If passenger one and two are 1200 each, are you telling me that passengers 3 and four have a fare of 1600 dollars each? That makes the cost of a balcony more than a penthouse!

 

Not on this planet - not until NCL has a half price sale!

And it is not a case of a full ship blah blah blah- it had 98% availibility when we booked

 

 

 

For certain categories NCL is practicing deceptive pricing .

 

 

 

We experienced it first hand.

Agree 100%

But posters will still say its not deceptive

And that is why for my next cruise I found a true ksf once I saw what Ncl was trying to pull

And as a bonus we got a great cruise and a true deal

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