MissJessicaB

But it happens everywhere. I think Disneyland sells a 15 ounce bottle of water for $2.79, which would equate to over $5.50 for a liter of water.

This is true but then again you spent maybe 8 hours at Disneyland. I'm spending two weeks on the Breakaway later this year and so the inflated prices add up to be quite prohibitive after a while.

I've got no skin in the game, because I don't care if they allow folks to bring water/soda on or not, but I have to say that I thought your email was very well written, it was very polite and professional while getting your point across.

Thank you! I think I could perhaps have been a little stronger on the consequences of not changing the policy such as lost customers, but I think that's strongly implied anyway and I didn't want to sound either threatening or hysterical.

Great email Jessica! Please let us know if you receive a response!

Thank you! <3

You seriously don't know if the water in the cabins and around the ships is purified and drinkable? If not, wouldn't you ask here first, rather than ask the VP of Passengers Services?

1. Please be nice. I was trying to help by writing a polite email of concern, and you picked out one part of it to be sarcastic about?

2. I asked because there were people who were concerned about what was added to the water if anything - Chlorine, Sodium etc. - as it has medical implications for them.

3. Asking someone in charge to get an answer on the record is better than someone on the forum's "I think it's X."

4. It's also entirely relevant if they think that the tap water is perfectly adequate and that bottled water is a luxury. Sure we may disagree, but it's useful to understand where they are coming from.

I emailed the contact you provided above.

It was on my cell phone so please forgive any terrible errors.

Dear Ms. Ewart,

 

I'm writing concerning the recent change in beverage policy on NCL Cruises. I apologize if I'm writing to the wrong person. If that's the case, please let me know if there is someone you suggest contacting instead.

 

My wife and I cruised with NCL on the Gem last year and are due to leave on the Breakaway later this year. We're big fans.

 

I understand the need to reduce the number of people tediously assigned to checking for rule breaking, as well as the need to control the ships' revenue stream, but as you may have seen there are a number of loyal customers not happy with the change, particularly due to the high price of purchasing bottled water on board. I understand some other lines have rules limiting beverages brought on board but they also have significantly lower prices on the bottled water so it doesn't impact them as significantly.

 

Based on the above, it's obviously many people's hope that even if NCL doesn't reverse the policy, there could be some movement on the price of bottled water?

 

While I'm writing, may I ask what the condition of the tap water in the cabins and around the ship is? Is it drinkable/purified/chlorinated etc?

 

In any case, thank you for your time and anticipated response.

 

Sincerely,

Jessica B*****

Actually I've been beaten to the complaints idea: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2373894

Anyone wanting to take an active role in changing things may want to head there. Numerous calm rational emails or calls is going to be the best bet at effecting any kind of change.

Well everyone seems pretty uniformly outraged with a few exceptions. Any thoughts on how we go about voicing complaints directly to NCL? I would assume that they are far more likely to change things if we actually contact them in a coordinated way rather than just post on a forum.

Email? Phone? Pen and paper?

Edit: I assume the aim of complaining would wither be to get the policy reversed or to get them to sell water at a reasonable price.

The latest rule has changed as you can see above.

Their FAQ says it's under the guise of reducing the amount of staff needed to inspect all the luggage for smuggled alcohol since people often hide it in other containers such as water bottles.

Seems legit to a point but its a slap in the face of people who don't break the rules who now have to shell out for their quite pricy water bottle packages.

My wife got hooked on the virgin daiquiris on the Gem! She loved the peach ones.

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Some of the posts were rather lovely and definitely give me an insight into what everyone sees in cruising! I'm definitely getting hooked as well :)

<3

If they switch to a la carte, does it make sense to buy a dining package?

Good question!

From: https://www.ncl.com/specialty-dining-package/faq

• The Supper Club - $15 USD
  
  
• Ocean Blue - $15 USD
  
  
• Bayamo - $15 USD
  
  
• Cirque Dreams/Illusionarium - $10 USD regular seats/$15 USD premium seats/$35 USD VIP seating on Breakaway
  
  
• Sushi -$7 USD
  
  
• Raw Bar - $7 USD (does not include Seafood Plateau. If ordered, the upcharge is to be waived)
  
  
• Pincho Tapas Bar - $7 USD
  
  

It does make sense to buy the package in my opinion. You can use it at many of the a la carte restaurants still thankfully. The a la carte pricing is more for someone who wants less meals with more flexibility.

For anyone who later finds the thread - it was resubmitted and answered here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50368409&posted=1#post50368409

Here's the NCL page dealing with it:

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/gem/whats-on-board/specialty-dining

We took the Gem last year when more of the restaurants (if not all) were based around cover charges. Now some of them are cover charge, and some are a la carte, meaning you pay per item like a normal restaurant.

The cover charge was generally a flat fee that you pay, and then when you are at the restaurant you order to your heart's content and don't pay any extra* other than alchohol. We dined at Cagneys (it's a la carte now FYI) and ordered two appetizers each and a main court and a dessert and it was all included.

(*it's possible that crazy expensive items have an additional surcharge, for a hypothetical example, filet mignon topped with lobster, topped with truffle topped with gold leaf etc)

Yes, you can most certainly decline any of the pictures that the ship photographers offer to take. I haven't had a single picture taken on any of my last several NCL cruises.

Thank you for the info! :) The pics were awfully expensive but in the end we bought one of pics from mine and my wife's 10 year anniversary (though we were asked if we were sisters at least a dozen times on this trip!:rolleyes:).

Forgive me if this has been asked. I see quite a few people with super long signatures detailing the dozen or more cruises they have gone on, and I wonder what keeps you coming back to a cruise rather than a more traditional plane & hotel vacation?

We've cruised once, and are immensely excited about our next one despite it being 5 months away, but I wonder if in 5 years, I'll have a signature a mile long or whether I'll have taken a break from it.

For those that do cruise so much, do you like to shake things up with different itineraries and ships and even cruise lines a lot, or do you tend to cruise in the same areas over and over? Do you ever get bored? Do you miss staying in one place and exploring in depth?

Looking forward to hearing responses from enthusiasts :)

I did this accidentally once, but if you want to prevent the embarkation photos, just wear a green shirt. Green shirt + green screen = head and no torso. Of course, my wife made them fix it in Photoshop.

 

I think wearing a green shirt and saying, "You don't want to fix this" would probably work.

I've been on one NCL cruise before but I forget - Do they take no for an answer? I get that it's their job, but that would be irritating.

The one glaring example that happened to me was when I used my Platinum meal certificate for the free meal at Le Bistro as I have done for many years.

 

I have usually ordered the mushroom soup, escargot, tenderloin, and dessert. On my last cruise, I ordered the usual items and was told I could have only one of the apps but not both.

 

I realize it is a petty item, but I also realize it was a slap in the face for those who have attained Platinum status on NCL. Those who accept the meal package as a booking bonus are entitled to order multiple apps. When eating at the buffet or MDR, multiple apps are never questioned.

 

My personal feeling is that the current management is doing petty things to show long time cruisers that they are not appreciated, and I got the message loud and clear, so have diverted the majority of my cruising budget to other lines. I cruise 6 to 8 times per year, and so far this year have made the one cruise on NCL and four other cruises on other lines.

 

I hope Del Rio and company are happy since they have convinced me to do this.

That is strange. You'd think that they would reverse it and be more restricting with people who they gave it to as a one off promotion, rather than the long time cruisers who show loyalty.

On the Gem last year we bought the meals individually via surcharge and the waitress encouraged multiple appetizers when we asked for advice between two choices at Cagney's. We were utterly stuffed and I didn't even finish my steak as a result! :D

I will stick up for NCL in general but I think the NCL & Dime argument is twofold

1. It costs more in the end. I'm not sure this is true, but sitting down and working out every nickel and every dime according to the average person's tips, meals etc is definitely not something I'd care to do and it probably works out about the same if not in NCL's favor.

2. The feeling of being pestered for money. My first cruise was with NCL and I wasn't quite sure what was normal and what wasn't. I just remember feeling a little poor and in two minds about what we would pay for and what we wouldn't. All inclusive vacations tend to be attractive to those seeking a peaceful no decision rest, and having to pull out the metaphorical calculator isn't ideal. There's something nice about being told "don't worry, it's all included, just have fun."

Personally I think the latter is more of a valid argument than the former but ultimately it probably won't deter me from taking NCL in the foreseeable future.

My wife and I (CC name: Rebeccathegeek) will be on this cruise! Super excited that there was a G&L roll call in addition to the other one. The G&L meeting we went to on the Gem last year was empty, so I'm glad to see Breakaway's 4000 passenger count has a bit more variety! :)

I'm so glad you posted this. I joined the board feeling really thrilled about our upcoming NCL Breakaway cruise in October but a lot of the threads had me feeling kinda down about it. I was planning on posting a thread asking people what they love about NCL but this sorta fits the bill :)

I've been on one previous NCL Cruise and we both loved it. The food was lovely, especially in the specialty restaurants but even in the main dining room. I also just liked the great variation in entertainment. We generally had to pick which thing we wanted to do most, rather than got bored. Sipping a drink in the lounge listening to good live music was a really nice chilled out highlight.

If you have never tried another cruise other than ncl you should try another

cruise line don't put all your eggs in one basket there are some super great ships out there Rccl,princess,among others really just try another you will see the difference.

Totally. I plan on eventually trying most, if not all of them. Maybe after I get a raise and more vacation time ;)

NCL has some amazing things going for it despite my agreement with the money issues. The Gem was my first cruise and I knew very little about cruising so I was surprised that certain amenities and flexibility given by NCL wasn't the norm across the industry. Set dining times sorta horrified me at first!

Bottom line is if you don't like the product, then don't use the product...no one is forcing you to cruise NCL. Lot of whining here.

I agree with the general advice there, but on the other hand we are all members of a cruising message board so we've got quite an interest in the good the bad and the ugly parts of cruising. Seeing posts like this with lots of differing opinions definitely help me in choosing between cruise lines. I've only ever cruised on NCL and I have another booked in October/November (Still excited despite the issues!), and I'm considering switching lines. This definitely opens my eyes up and forces me to consider other lines.