NJ7

Does anyone know if NCL is doing something different with the soda package for 2019. I have multiple cruises booked and none are showing the soda package option.

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Interested to see what they actually get done. We are sailing July 8th

What about Sierra Mist or whatever Pepsi's Seven-UP wannabe is? That's caffeine-free. Also, there should be root beer on board (I think.)

 

So, there may be a couple of choices - if your family member only wants Diet Caffeine-Free Coke, then it's an issue.

 

(Time to get flavor packets and ask for club soda. Or diet club soda.)

If they had diet Sierra Mist that would work but they don't have that on board. The flavor packets might be a solution - will need to test that out. just googled it - and since there are no sugars in club soda - that actually might work. Thanks for the suggestion!

This year I booked 6 cruises - 5 on NCL and 1 Disney. Next year I am still cruising and traveling a lot - but don't have any cruises on NCL.

It has just been a combination of so many things - I don't like a lot of the changes. Looking at each one separately- none of them are that big a deal. But when they all come together - it has definitely negatively impacted my cruise experience with NCL. Since I am not one to pay for something I don't like - I have been exploring different options.

I have a family member who can only drink diet decaf beverages so I usually bring a few caffeine free diet sodas with us - now we won't be able to do that - and then my family member will complain to me the whole cruise about how NCL doesn't offer any caffeine free diet beverages other then tap water - no thank you - love my family member but don't want to spend my vacation listening to them complain about the beverage options.

When we sailed on the Pearl out of Seattle last year they were checking the times (not sure if they are still doing this) but I would select the early time and then get there whenever you want after that.

I have sailed on NCL ships out of NYC the last 3 years in March, and last 2 years in early November and late December - of those 7 cruises the warmest sail away weather were the ones in December - so it's all very unpredictable. :)

The first March trip we had some rough seas - on our last March trip we had sail away snow flurries but the seas were pretty average as compared to the others. So again it's kind of hit or miss year round - or at least that has been my experience.

Pretty much all of our 7 cruises we had cooler weather until about midday day 2 and the last sea day was chilly as well. We usually make sure to have pants and a sweatshirts for the days getting on and off in NYC and then also for the first and last sea days.

If I remember correctly NCL's long term agreement with NYC ends at the end of 2017. I am sure NCL is looking at what options that presents - relocating the BA and Gem or at least working it to gain leverage to negotiate a new deal.

I hope NCL keeps both the BA and the Gem (who the majority of the time sails from NYC) in NYC. I love not having to catch a flight to go on a cruise:)

They won't have TNT as the tv offerings are quite limited, but certain sporting events are picked up by the sports channel provided. If it's not on the "sports" channel, check the "special feed" channel. I have been on the BA & Pearl 5 times in the past year, hitting up against: NCAA tourney, baseball playoffs, NBA championship, NFL playoffs and most of the time, I have found a game on the "Special Feed" channel. There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which playoff or tourney games they showed - so no guarantee they will be showing the OKC games. But if you turn on the sports channel and it is showing soccer or cricket (which seems to be the case the majority of the time) - try the "special feed" channel.

It depends. Have been on the BA stopping in Port Canaveral 6 times and if a RCI ship is in the same day the BA seems to goes to pier 6 but if there is not a RCI ship in then BA has docked at the newer RCCL pier 1. Pier 1 is great because it is easy access to the Cove area.

Do the blonde lady and white guy with long Weird Al-esque hair still do Howl at the Moon? What are their names? They blew me away in December. Incredible show they put on.

Lori and Neil left the BA after the New Year's cruise. Lori was actually retiring - had an amazing last night performance on 1/2. Not sure who is doing Howl at the Moon now.

I am on Breakaway this week - it thermal suite is closed because they are replacing the floor. They are hoping they will finish by Saturday. All other spa services are available.

I don't see the pricing model as cryptic and complex.

 

The price is simply what they are offering at a point in time. If you feel the price justifies the offering, then book the cruise. If you don't feel it is a value, then simply move along...find another alternative or wait to book until the price falls within your budget. Simple.

 

"Understanding" pricing does nothing.

 

A cruise can be $500

 

A cruise can be 50% off $1000 ($500)

 

A cruise can be 1/3rd off $750 ($500)

 

Bottom line is that the cruise is $500 and what the "regular" price is doesn't matter. The only price in play is the one that you have to pay. The rest is meaningless advertising meant to confuse the unaware consumer. IOW, it doesn't matter what the price "could" be, it only matters what the price IS.

 

 

And you ALWAYS have the option to simply NOT book. At any price.

You are correct consumers always have the choice not to purchase - for example for cruises where I have 3 or 4 people booked - I choose cruises where the 'free' promotion was offered and got some great deals.

I actually agree with most of your post above - my only issue is when something is being advertised - that changes things a bit legally. And I wouldn't be surprised if this was already sitting on some lawyers desk out in CA (where most class action suits for deceptive advertising are born) - I guess we will all find out in a few years. Lol

 

If you really honestly believe NCL is operating in an underhanded way, then simply sue them...

What is sad is that it will probably come to that at some point and someone will sue them. The airline industry advertised in much the same way for years and over the past ten years they have been subject to much scrutiny over how they market and price through various legal actions which resulted in changes.

The cruise industry is not above or any different from any other retail or service provider. I worked in the travel industry for years - back when I started brochure prices were actually included in brochures :). Now most lines only provide "Starting at" rates to consumers - making the actually price a "phantom" for the average consumer. This was done so that they could fluctuate rates based on demand - they used to only be able to lower rates but now if demand is high they can raise their rates - kudos to the industry for taking advantage of basic capitalism principles - but what this has resulted in is a cryptic and complex pricing model that the average vacationer would not and should not have to understand.

And I fully agree with you that consumers should be educated - but who is going to assist with that education - not the cruise lines :).

Nooooooooo! :eek:

Very disappointing - wonder how they are going to handle this for those of us who pre purchased thermal spa but aren't staying in the Spa cabins. Hoping they refund quickly or as OBC. Would at least like to have the money back to spend in a different way during our vacation.

You need to understand how pricing and promotions work in the cruise industry. "Seems like false advertising" is not the same as "false advertising". "Seems deceptive" is not the same as "deceptive". Not understanding ("seems") is not indicative of deception.

 

 

If you don't feel that the price offered is a fair price, then simply do not make the booking. It doesn't get any easier than that.

I don't know about that - seems what NCL did hear is very similar to what Sears is having to deal with now on the retail side ----- a number of class action suits have been filed for similar things --- would not be surprised if NCL gets added to the list at some point.

Law360, Los Angeles (August 26, 2015, 8:07 PM ET) -- A Sears Holdings Corp. unit was slapped with a putative class action on Wednesday in California federal court accusing the retailer of falsely advertising “phantom markdowns” of products in its stores and online based on original prices that were never actually offered.

The suit claims that Sears Roebuck & Co. continually misled customers into thinking they were receiving discounts by advertising prices for items purportedly on sale by comparing them with false prices that were presented as the regular or original price.

“The advertised discounts overstated and did not represent a bona fide price at which defendant formerly sold the merchandise and were nothing more than mere phantom markdowns, because the represented former prices were artificially inflated and were never the original prices for merchandise sold at defendant’s retail stores and/or on its Internet website,” the complaint said.

Named plaintiff Joshua Teperson also contends that the original prices cited by Sears did not match prevailing market prices within three months of the allegedly false ads, in violation of California business law.

I worked in the travel business years ago and while I have seen some "creative" promotions - I too thought something was a little fishy with the 1/2 off promo for 3rd/4th passengers - I took a number of screen shots when I was planning my cruise in case I needed to refer back -

Example: from website 2/10/2015 mock booking balcony

Freestyle Choice Plus– Automatically get free or half price 3rd & 4th stateroom guests plus apply any promo code below for a bonus offer!

Pricing Details

Item Guest 1 Guest 2 Guest 3

Cruise Fare $1,619.00 $1,619.00 $1,099.50

Gov't Taxes,

Fees & Port

Expenses $138.49. $138.49 $138.49

Total per Guest $1,757.49 $1,757.49 $1,237.99

In this example the 1/2 price amount for the 3rd guest would mean that the non promo rate would have the 3rd passenger over $600 more then the 1st/2nd passenger rates.

I didn't really see any value in the 1/2 price promo (since it was either not calculating as 1/2off or it was 1/2off of some crazy inflated rate) - so this promo wasn't for me and I looked for cruises that had the 3rd/4th free where possible.

I'd like a throwback cruise that included horse racing. That was awesome. I only ever took one cruise that had that, but for some reason I really enjoyed it.

My friends and I took a high school graduation cruise (that is a throwback as well - as we were 4 - 18 year old girls traveling alone) and we purchased one of the horses at the auction. We had the best time dressing the horse up and we were like celebrities as we accompanied our horse to events and such. We won the grand prize at the end of the week and the winnings covered our bar bill and all other on board expenses we had - in fact I think we all took money home with us :). It was so much fun - loved horse racing!

I was on Pearl this past summer. We had an ocean view while my parents had a balcony - the OV was rather small with very limited space between the walls and the bed - bed was directly under window so it basically let light in but was not good for viewing anything else. Balcony room was an ok size with much better layout as compared to OV. Had small love seat sized seating which converted to 3rd person bed. Note that when used as a 3rd person bed - the bed extends into the room parallel to the main bed - making it more difficult to maneuver around the room or get to the balcony. Even still the balcony seemed better laid out in addition to the obvious perk of having a balcony.

Smoking areas include one side of the pool deck (deck 12 - seating available - bar nearby) the Sky bar (deck 13 - seating available - bar right there), one side of outdoor space on deck 7 (ashtrays placed on exterior walls - no seating), and the casino on deck 6.

Overall we really enjoyed the Pearl - the ship was very comfortable and had some great public spaces.

Hoonah and Alaskan Bush People

Called a few times and everyone is saying this is only 3.5 hours port time. Not sure what we can do in 3.5 hours - guess I am saving money on shore excursions that day :)

Booked this cruise a few months ago and itinerary included a stop in Bermuda from 11am-6pm. Was just on MyNcl looking to see what type of shore excursions there were (even though the trip is still a ways away) - and I saw under the Vacation Summary Bermuda is now scheduled from 11am-3pm. 4 hours - really - thinking maybe this is one of those fabulous NCL web glitches and when they updated all of the standard BA Bermuda cruises that is one off itinerary got grabbed by mistake. Hope that's the case since I am taking my 11 year old niece for her birthday which just happens to be the day in Bermuda - not sure what we could do in Bermuda with an 11am arrive and 3pm leave time. Basically we could get off the boat - walk down to look in one shop - say ok that's Bermuda and get back on the ship for a 3pm sail away.

Of course when I called to inquire the rep was looking at the same thing I was - so as far as they know it is 11-3 - holding out hope this is a glitch.

The 7nt BA cruises for 2015 Bahamas/Florida are back on the NCL website. Looks like it was just a glitch.

The 2015 7nt BA Bahamas/Florida cruises are back - looks like it was indeed just a glitch.

A friend of mine is riding in this and he just mentioned to me that they will be watching weather forecast closely - as conditions may be beyond a normal rain event (event is rain or shine but if severe weather they may reschedule) but as of now to early to forecast.

The 12/20 cruise was surrounded by cruise on 12/13 and 12/27 with the same Bahamas/Florida itinerary - wouldn't make sense for the 12/20 BA cruise to be part of a 14 day cruise. Thinking this is just an glitch - as all the 7 nt 2015 Bahamas/Florida cruises on BA just poof - disappeared from the booking pages. I would wait a day or two and check again.