UKstages

NCL has a list. once again, for those that are suggesting white noise machines and ear plugs… if those are effective, you don’t have one of the prima cabins afflicted with this problem. the noise is loud, incessant and like nothing you have ever experienced on any other ship.

by which, i assume you mean it’s a topic that only you are permitted to discuss in this forum? you just stated your thoughts quite clearly. respectfully, if you use the google machine, i think you will find that there is an abundance of articles explaining why the great labor shortage is a myth. there is no labor shortage; there is a surplus of greedy employers. NCL is apparently one of them. that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cruise NCL, it doesn’t mean they are evil overlords… it just means they decided to cut costs by cutting staff and reducing cleaning services for most cabins. i haven’t made any claims. kindly direct your attention to paragraphs seven and eight in this article from travel weekly. they quote del rio, who explains that NCLH will leave “no stone unturned” in its quest to reduce costs. the article then cites doing away with twice-daily cleaning as one such measure, along with the elimination of 9% of its onshore workforce. https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/NCLH-reducing-marketing-spend# this article from cruise radio refers to the elimination of the second daily housekeeping service as “obviously a cost cutting measure,” but then goes on to quote NCL boasting of the positive impact to the environment and its conservation of water, energy and its commitment to sustainability and the use of fewer chemicals… except, apparently, in suites and the haven. https://cruiseradio.net/norwegian-to-reduce-cleaning-service-most-cabins/ also explained in these articles is the consolidation and elimination of stateroom attendant roles, which NCL has never asserted had anything at all to do with inability to find staff. now, was there something else… did you want me to pick up your dry cleaning on my way home?

as mentioned upthread, the comparison to a land-based hotel is not apt, unless check out time at that land-based hotel is 9:30 am. most hotels have checkout times of 11 am or noon. also, at any given time, there are a certain percentage of elite members of the hotel’s loyalty program who actually enjoy the privilege of late checkout, often as late as 2 or 3 pm. in addition, it would be rare for all the guests in a hotel to check out en masse on one day. many of the rooms assigned to one housekeeping person on a given day are simply refreshed and not prepared for a new guest. also, not for nuthin’, but most of the largest land-based hotels do not have three or four thousand rooms. most do not have even two thousand rooms. NCL’s checkout time is usually around 9:30 at the latest, many guests are out of their rooms by 8 am, NCL offers no late checkout option for elite latitudes members… and most importantly, all NCL guests check out at virtually the same time on the same day. so, to point out that hotels don’t guarantee rooms will be ready until 3 or 4 pm doesn’t mean much when you remember that they had two fewer hours to make those rooms ready, since checkout time is generally 11am and they have some people staying till midafternoon. if we want to make an apples to apples comparison to a land-based hotel (and I don’t see why we would), the only metrics that matter are number of hours available for turnaround, current occupancy levels, number of rooms in the hotel, and, most importantly, the number of rooms each attendant is expected to clean, and how many of those will be prepared for new guests, as opposed to the current occupant. of course, none of this matters much if the hotel or cruise line has hired the correct number of employees and given them a proper workload based on historical occupancy and performance data, as well as the tools necessary to get the job done.

you have the basic concept down, but just to clarify… there are two “vouchers.” that’s the platinum benefit. so there are two vouchers, each good for a dinner for two people. if there are two platinum latitudes members in the same cabin you will get one set of two vouchers.

sadly, you’ve fallen prey to a myth… that somehow a magical shortage of labor has developed in the “job marketplace.” there is no shortage of labor… there is a shortage of companies willing to fairly compensate employees. if you pay them fairly and provide good working conditions, people will apply for jobs. it really is as simple as that. NCL did indeed make a conscious decision to cut staff. they did indeed have a choice and they exercised that choice. they decided to reduce housekeeping services and terminate employees or not renew contracts and to not rehire people for those employees that naturally attritted. the notion that NCL is responding to some sort of imaginary employee market condition is absurd.

starbucks’ “been there” series of collectible mugs emphasizes cities and the starbucks brand takes a back seat in positioning. same thing here… the ship is the star and the starbucks brand is secondary.

they have a getaway mug, but no breakaway? what is one to make of that? the prima mug reportedly has dynamic images of people standing in the indulge food hall and the buffet, as well as a couple wide awake in bed trying to figure out what is rattling inside their cabin walls. there’s also a beautiful scene of isafjordur to remind guests of all the missed ports and an image of a solo violinist to represent the many entertainment options onboard.

words have meaning. they are not “short staffed.” they made a conscious and deliberate decision to reduce staff and give each cabin attendant additional cabins, resulting in a delay in ship-wide cabin readiness.

all are welcome. my thoughts as to how well accepted they will be depends upon their behavior. but that goes for the seniors and the adult kids, as well. kids will be kids and grandparents will be grandparents and baby boomers will be baby boomers. nobody wants to see any of them pee or poop in the pool or pick up items from the buffet in the horizon lounge with their fingers, then put it back. nobody wants to be subjected to the audio from their phones or tablets as they watch videos, nobody wants to trip over them as they run through the haven restaurant or the courtyard.

interesting. I had no trouble booking dining reservations a few weeks ago, but this past week, whenever i try to book excursions i get an error message telling me to log out and try again. an error message saying to call CAS or excursion team would be more helpful.

when i was on the prima in may and june, i was shocked that the indulge food hall wasn’t open until 8 am, even when we called at a port at 6 am. and that has some bearing on this discussion because many people seem to believe that NCL adjusts buffet hours (especially for breakfast) to accommodate port arrivals. i haven’t seen that… in the buffet or indulge. as for what many people believe to be a very high operating cost to keeping the buffet open for snack service late at night… um, no. just… no. staff are in there anyway, cleaning and…sometimes, cooking. as for all this talk about “staff” and how they couldn’t possibly staff the buffet late at night…. um, it’s not like they’re going to add staff in the middle of a cruise to hold down the fort in the buffet. What 5hey can and will do is redeploy and make smart use of the staff they already have. that’s why your server from la cucina last night is working at the buffet tomorrow morning. and why the guy who made your table side guacamole at los lobos is serving your chicken parm three days later at lunch in the MDR. that is disappointing. of all the ports on the prima’s icelandic/nordic itinerary, that is one of the most spectacular.

replied in wrong thread. sorry.

this aligns precisely with what I was awarded on my most recent cruise. i will add that if you have any other nonrefundable OBC on your account, make sure it’s spent before you spend the OBC you’ve been given by the host. otherwise, you won’t receive the full value of the host’s OBC… because the other OBC you have on your account will be used first, as you attempt to accrue charges against the host’s reward. also, typically and technically, it’s not OBC in the traditional sense. your host will give you a dollar figure, then have you go shopping, then ask you to check back with him or her after you’ve made your purchases… after which the host will apply an equal credit directly to your bill. it’s all the same in the end, but you must check back with the host to ensure they have applied the credit. my experience has been that they do not deposit OBC into your account. if you have strong play, and don’t walk away a winner, keep track of your loss. you should have a good idea when you talk to the host of about how much you should be awarded. if he or she offers considerably less, you can raise an eyebrow and playfully suggest they run the numbers again. ultimately, it’s up to the host’s discretion, which is why it’s good to cultivate that relationship throughout the cruise… however, it’s perfectly OK to politely and playfully push back if you believe you’re being under-comped.

if it’s set up as two distinct cruises, yes, definitely… you get double benefits. full tier benefits apply to both legs of the cruise. there have been some mixed reports of two cruises being booked in one combined reservation and tier benefits not being doubled.

i suspect enforcement really has a lot to do with the ages and behavior of the minors or young adults.

no, i’m ruby… no desire to achieve anything higher. and since I’ve already hit 30K on this one trip, it’s likely i’ll be ruby again next year.. all I need do is earn an additional 5K tier on an upcoming 12-day caribbean itinerary on the joy. single line at dollars on this trip was 9/5 TDB, used as a sorbet of sorts in between losing sessions on UX, during which i played three line DDB.

oh, dear. it was a very simple question, only requiring a one word answer: tipper, tippee or both. no matter which of those three answers you chose, an essay would not have been necessary. although i, for one, would welcome hearing the details of your tipping philosophy and the devastating trail of demeaned individuals that lay in its wake. how long ago was this? there have been sea changes (pun intended) in the cruise industry in the last thirty years or so and what may have been true back then is almost certainly not true now. NCL’s own FAQ refers to compensation that includes salary and incentives. no mention is made of gratuities being split up and distributed directly to individual employees. there is lots of speculation, but the cruising public has no way of knowing whether their gratuities are funding new mattresses for crew cabins, pizza parties for those with positive “hero” cards or cash distributions for good performance reviews or other employee reward programs. it’s probably a mix of all of that. i hate to be cynical, but please remember that the cruise line controls the funds and there doesn’t appear to be any oversight. some of that gratuity fund is no doubt going to administrative costs associated with fulfilling the program… and that can be justified by applying it to almost any expense, even those only peripherally associated with employees. new uniforms? yup, that’s an employee incentive! cookies in the break room? yup, that’s an employee incentive! a hundred dollar bonus? well, yes, that’s an incentive, too.

and who is it that you believe is being demeaned… the tipper or the tippee?

gosh, I don’t think so.

first, it’s not a strip club. nobody is “holding out” dollar bills. second, who said anything about jumping a queue?

yes.

yes, as noted, the wording is confusing. this was debated extensively in a recent thread. third person gets a set of two vouchers. if third person brings a new friend, the vouchers are good for two people. If third persons dines alone, or is a third wheel with the other two people in the cabin, the third person’s vouchers are only good for one meal per voucher.

NCL, as far as i know, is unique among cruise lines in that they do not tell casino players what their specific offers are. they typically send an email or a snail mail piece, saying that you have an offer for a 7-day or 10-day or 12-day cruise, but they never tell you what cabin those offers are good for unless you call. so, now I call every month and ask what my current offers are… sometimes, it’s balcony, sometimes it’s club balcony, sometimes it’s haven. you can also have them look at your play and give you what they call a “customized” offer. but my casino comp offers have never appeared online in my account. not once. i sure wish they did! even better if they were bookable online!

thanks. but, for the record, i actually payed almost exclusively VP on my most recent trip… three-line UX at quarters and single-line at dollars. it was 21 days on the prima on a B2B and I earned just under 30K tier, with no VP handpays.

water in bottles or cartons is not included in the “regular” free at sea drink package.