sweetride

Last time we left out of NYC I did a search for cruise parking and found a place one block down that was cheaper and it is a normal parking garage so you can leave it there as long as you want

oh that's too bad.

 

I was just on the Divina, and the card slot didn't affect the AC or TV.

That is a much smarter setup. We were in a hotel in Amsterdam a few months ago and the AC was also tied to the key card. So I did what I normally do and every time we got back to the room they had removed it. I don't think the room ever went under 75-80*

We have a 4 dinner UDP on our Dec. Dawn cruise. Can't seem to find specialty restaurant menus on NCL website. Am I looking in the wrong place.

Go back one page to the list of threads, on the top right is a "search this page" or something like that. Type in "dawn menu" and there will be threads. You will have to search through, but its your best bet

it doesn't have anything to do with the AC.

It does on the BA at the least and I don't know why it wouldn't be the same on all of them. We gave it a shot on the first night, came back from dinner to a room that was muggy as hell and it took all night to get it cool again and I couldn't sleep.

I might consider buying if it drops below $30 and Del Rio is fired. But CCL might attempt a takeover or merger if it falls too low. (Another one of my predictions from a year ago.)

 

I also believe that if Kevin was offered his job back he would flip them the bird.

 

What is hard to believe, even on the NCL CC forum, is that people are posting complaints about stock updates on the stock thread. SMH.

Show me a thread on this forum where people aren't complaining. They could be giving away free OBC and people would be complaining that its not enough.

I appreciate you taking the time to read it. I can't believe it has been a few months already. I need to plan my next cruise. Lol

Haha I normally say that on the drive home from the port. I think I could do a back to back and the day back in Boston would make me ask when we were leaving again

I know this review is a couple months old, but I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to do it. You did a great job and answered some key questions for me.

Still not a good day for cruise lines:

 

NCL (.90%)

CCL (1.16%)

RCCL (1.36%)

I guess people must be revolting against Royal's updated, WAY better beverage package :rolleyes:

Too late to bring Kevin back. He already has a job.

 

I would add that NCLH stock has dropped some more since this morning, but I don't want to upset some people.

It's a job, he could leave whatever one is at and come back if the offer was good enough. It's not like he has a lifetime contract wherever he is now.

I hate to say I told you so (well, not hate, exactly), but when those changes caused me to cancel my cruise last September, I speculated that in 9 months to a year, the stock would fall because NCL would start losing its loyal customer's future bookings. Nothing speaks like revenue. No matter how well you invest or manage a business, the bread and butter is sales.

 

I do not think that Del Rio will get the hint. It will take a shareholder revolution to convince him and his followers who continue to ignore the evidence that constantly devaluing the on-board experience while raising prices across the board is a bad idea. The focus shift from customer experience to on-board spending is back-firing. As it should.

I don't think he'll get the hint. He'll be fired and given a severance package of $50M to leave while the company says they decided to take things in a different direction. Maybe they'll bring back Kevin

When the changes started to pile up, I stopped cruising on NCL. You just don't know if you are going to get the same product you book anymore. Instead, I have done land vacations. I booked an RCI cruise for 2017.

 

The recent stack decline has a lot to do with revenue not meeting expectations. I hope that the stock holders demand change to make NCL attractive again. I would love to cruise the 2014 NCL again.

 

Here is an article regarding its downgrade to Sell.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-norwegian-cruise-line-nclh-123712034.html

If we're dreaming, I want to sail the 2009-2010 NCL again

Daily updates really aren't necessary. This is a big picture issue.

Don't worry, they'll only get posted when the stock goes down :rolleyes:

Lots of people think its going up, lots think its going down. That's how the market works. I am not going to value his opinion any more than anyone else who works at the company because if he had a negative outlook on what he is doing, he'd be tanking his job and company. It doesn't mean he is right, it means he THINKS he is right. As of now, the stock price does not say he is right and that is what matters

I mostly agree with you, but NCL is no longer promoting the term "Freestyle", according to none other than Andy Stuart:

 

From: https://skift.com/2016/06/07/why-norwegian-cruise-line-is-spending-400-million-to-update-old-ships/

 

 

 

We can now agree that NCL is no longer "Freestyle" but tells people to "feel free" because feelings are more important than reality.

I "feel" like my credit card has been violated when I have to pay them big city prices for drinks and food, essentially making the ship a floating hotel, a really expensive hotel

NCL is moving toward a Las Vegas resort hotel model, only one that moves at sea. It is aimed at non-traditional cruisers, younger demographics, with families.

The problem with that is for the ridiculous prices they're pushing now, you can get a nice suite in Vegas and have one hell of a great week there, much better than if you went on a cruise to say Roatan.

I don't think we'll even know the extent of damage Del Rio has done until the end of 2017. There are still a lot of people sailing that booked well over a year ago when prices were still cheap. I do know that there are many people, who are not cheap customers and spend at least $1k ea, have said they will never sail NCL again because they're sick of the constant increases, nickle and diming and taking away things that used to be free in order to put a la carte restaurants in that serve the same thing (burgers at Mville by the pools). Personally, the straw that broke the camels back was the $18 martini. We have cancelled a couple of other cruises we had booked and only kept one because we were going with a large group of friends. We will definitely not be spending as much on board for that cruise. Drink prices are up 50%, so we will be drinking less. When we drink less, there will be less impulse buying and less "just one more round". If they can make it work, good for them, I just won't be a part of it. I know I am not alone, just how many others feel the same way is a question we won't know the answer to until at least next year

These are 2015 annual numbers from Cruise Market Watch. I provided a link a few posts ago.

Which don't come close to being current numbers because Del Rio started to gouge people in the spring. I am very curious how much higher the 16 annuals are

Here is per passenger cost from most expensive to least expensive using revenue to passenger market share ratio

 

Crystal 5.0

Regent 5.0

Oceania 3.8

Azmara 3.5

Seabourn 3.5

Cunard 2.88

Hal 1.46

Celebrity 1.35

Princess 1.11

NCL .91

Royal Caribbean .85

MSC .80

Carnival .38

What quarter are these numbers based on? This number can also be skewed because the higher end lines cater to singles and couples and the lower lines cater to families so the room cost is spread across more customers but minors in a room aren't paying for drinks and gambling

Show up whenever you want, check your bags at the curb as normal, and go to the suite and VIP line. They will check you in and bring you to the suite waiting area to either be brought on board or have a light snack while you wait to be brought on board.

I think what I am probably most interested in will be what they have done with the Spa :) It sounds like they were trying to bring her up to the standards of the Jewel Class.

There are pictures around of the spa all done. It is WAY better than it was before. I'll actually be buying a pass when I'm on her now

Does deck 6, same area as Le Bistro still have the cigar room?

Yes and it has been completely redone also

Not only is there no benefit, there are major downsides. Mainly the perks the TAs throw in with bookings. Our last booking for a suite we got an extra $550OBC on top of the $300OBC NCL gave us. Our TA is WAY more attentive than our couple PCCs ever were and has gotten us upgrades after final payment and OBC and upgrades for price drops before final payment.

Good luck. If its after final payment they drop the price to fill the ship and I haven't had any success getting anything except a room upgrade if the price dropped enough to offset the upgrade cost.

Hmmm.....do you think those machines at the front of the casino that you guide the Key through and try to win the $$$ hanging there counts as an arcade game? They have similar ones in the arcade that kids try to win an IPOD or something on. We have seen a lot of people swiping their key card again and again trying to win those.

They can try all they want, its a rigged game. So are the claw games in the arcade. They only let someone win once it takes in a certain amount of money (as much as $9999). They can also reset that clock at any point so it would never pay out. If you see something missing from the case someone didn't necessarily win it. The person with the keys can take items out to make it look like someone won

If you're on NCL, make sure you are calling the NCL Upsell Dept. # 1.800.625.4309. It is a totally separate department than the regular sales dept. The regular sales dept. will tell you they don't do upsells which is true.

 

Start calling 30 days out. If they have nothing available at the time you call. Make sure to ask to be added to the email list or call list. Once you are on the list you will begin to get emails etc. If I get an email and the price is still a little to high. I call them again and thank them for the email and ask them to contact me again if the price lowers. This keeps you in the loop of offers. But keep calling.

 

As another poster mentioned doing mock reservations on the NCL.com website to see what's available. This is also good advice. You will see what is available and if there is a cabin you really want to be in. Doing this regularly will also let see how well the cabins are selling after an upsell offer. If there aren't many left. You may want to take the available offer at that time. This is especially helpful when you are ready to purchase.

 

As an example, 30 days out from my cruise. I called the upsell dept. and asked to be put on the list. A few days later I received an email for an upsell but it was still a little out of my price range. I called and thanked them for the offer but mentioned that it was still a little high and would they contact me if the price lowers. At the time there were 8 cabins left on the deck I wanted to be in. A couple of days later I received a lower upsell. I checked ncl.com and there were 7 cabins left. Later that day I check ncl.com again and saw that there were now 3 cabins left and one was the cabin I wanted. I called right away. While I was on the phone the other 2 of the 3 remaining cabins sold. I was very happy with my upsell and glad to get it.

 

If you really want an Upsell offer. You really need to do a little bit of work to get it and the effort will be worthwhile. Waiting for an upsell deal without any effort on your part is like waiting to win Lotto.

Thank you very much for that. It is greatly appreciated. The way they do upsells have changed drastically since we last tried to get one. We're in a DOS on our next sailing with both villas sold so maybe one of the villas will bail and we can get in that ;-)