gilladj

If you own NCL stock you will get OBC on all of your NCL cruises. The amount depends on the length of the cruise. One our next cruise (16 day Panama Canal) we are getting $250 OBC. 

We always do the math. Our last two cruises with NCL (7 day Caribbean Nov 2018 and 19 day Panama Canal Jan 2019) we did inside sail away because we are always looking to cruise for about $100 per person per day. We are platinum so we get some specialty dinning, laundry and internet anyway.

I just talked my wife into another Panama Canal cruise (16 day) next month because with the free air and prepaid gratuities promotion (things we would have to pay out of pocket for) we are sailing for $104 per person per day in a Balcony! On top of this great rate we also get a 5 meal dining package, drinks package, 250 minutes of internet and $100 OBC. Because we have sailed so much to so many places we now choose our cruises based on the deal more than the destination or ship.

When I have the drink package I drink. When I don't have the package I bring some wine on board (pay extra for corkage) and maybe buy a bottle or two on board. No drink package means we will go to the Latitudes party and use our platinum benefits that include 2 bottles of wine per cruise (one in our cabin and one at Cagney's). 

Set your budget, get out your calculator and do the math. Above all, have a great trip!

Peace,

Doug

I have never booked cruise line air fare before in over 30 years of cruising. We recently booked the promotional free air, cuz, well it was free! We sail from LA and debark in Miami. We are 33 days from sailing. I have my cruise docs with flight plan but not flight times or numbers. 

Because my cruise docs indicate we will be flying Chicago => Salt Lake City => LAX I have figured out that we will be flying Delta leaving Chicago at 6:00 am and arriving LAX at 10:00 am or noon depending on what connecting flight we are given.  

My question is, how will NCL inform us of our actual flight number and times along with a record locator? We are 33 days out. I am not concerned but would like a definitive answer to how NCL communicates the details and when they should be expected.

Thanks!!

The ocean is an unpredictable place. No matter when or where you cruise you can encounter rough seas or smooth seas. Classic example is the roughest seas we have ever encountered was a Mexican Riviera cruise on Carnival, years ago. Thing were crashing off the shelves int he duty free shop. Some of the smoothest seas were while going around Cape Horn! This was on a 31 day San Diego to Buenas Aires cruise on NCL in October of 2015.

It is best to be prepared with seasickness remedies. I get seasick in rough seas and have the Trans Derm Scop patches that work for me. I use them rarely but I am prepared.

I would make your decision about ocean cruising based on where you want to go and what you want to see and experience. We use cruising to sample locations to determine if we want to do land based travel in that country or area.

We have only done one river cruise, also on Royal Viking, so understand that you will be rubbing elbows with a lot more people but the ocean cruise ships are such larger too. Given that you have done Royal Viking cruises you could probably afford a more premium cruise line than NCL. Going this route may take some of the mass market feel out of your experience. We avoid the mega ships that attempt to be a destination in and of themselves.

We like NCL for the price, casual atmosphere, and lots of on board activities. We also like their loyalty program and the perks it offers.

I say jump into ocean cruising, but do your research on the line and ship you choose and be prepared for the possibility of rough water.

Enjoy!

Previously each platinum member received 2 dinners for 2. With 2 members in the cabin you netted 4 evenings in a specialty restaurant. This benefit used to be per latitude member not per cabin.

If I cruise with a cabin mate that is not platinum I get the same specialty dining benefits. The net effect is that with two platinums in a cabin, one person gets no specialty dining benefit. Your benefits are diluted when platinums cruise together.

What do the specialty dinner benefits cover?

 

This benefit offers two dinners for two at a specialty restaurant for Platinum, Platinum Plus and Ambassador guests. Each stateroom will receive a voucher in their Welcome Back card on embarkation day for:

• - One dinner for two at Cagney’s or Le Bistro with a bottle of wine
  
• - One dinner for two at Moderno or La Cucina
  

This benefit is no longer delivered per guest but now delivered per stateroom. Service charges are included in this benefit.

Benefit entitles each guest to one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert of your choice. Entrée items up to $20 are covered. For items over this amount, an upcharge will be added to your onboard account. Any entrée item under $20 includes one side. For any entrée item over $20, sides are at an additional cost. Entrée items Cote De Boeuf Pour Deux in Le Bistro, is a shared dish and will be treated as two entrées.

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-faq/what-do-specialty-dinner-benefits-cover

Wow! Thanks for the post and the URL so I could see it for myself on the NCL website. I will have to cancel some dinner reservations once I get on board.

Leave it to NCL to punish two loyal platinum members for traveling in the same cabin. My prediction is that service charges will soon be added if you wish to redeem member benefits. We are also Elite with Celebrity. Deleting the benefits to loyal platinum guests shrinks gap between these two competing programs.

Again thanks for the info.

Some of these responses have me concerned. My wife and I are both Platinum. I had been planning on each of us getting the dinner perk coupons. This would allow us to dine 4 times per cruise. If this is not the case then Platinum Latitude members who cruise together are getting less than a platinum member traveling with someone without that level of loyalty.

I have learned that NCL's policies often make no sense to me so anything is possible. Can a Platinum or higher CC'er with recent experience with this please clarify?

We sail on a 22 day TA out of Venice on 10/29 I have made dinner reservations on the assumption that we get 4 complimentary dinners.

Thanks!

You could always try booking via Europe or UK on the premium all inclusive where everything is included.

For me - Since 2014 we have cruised on Epic, Jade, Sky (immediately following 2 weeks on Equinox to the partyship was a bit of a giggle hah) , Getaway, Solstice and as mentioned Equinox. All time favourite - hands down = Getaway. We are booked on Epic for our next three but wish it was Getaway that worked for us - Epic is a close second though. Solstice I preferred to Equinox - just had a better vibe.

Celebrity are sneaking in the charges too. World Class bar drinks were extra - and on port days there was no free sit down service lunch available whereas on NCL you have at least one MDR every day as well as O'Sheehans on top of the buffet.

Entertainment - again - hands down to NCL -

I got fed up with the bartenders being the stars of the show on Celebrity martini bar - as for waiting for a drink - found that was probably one of the worst.

Aquaclass Persian Gardens V NCL thermal suites - HUGE win for NCL - I was sorely disappointed in Celebrity's spa area although we were in Aquaclass and BLU would be one of the key reasons we would cruise with X again WHEN we are older.

Not for now.

NCL do have a lot of wee add ons. However - the base price is very reasonable - and then its all choices. Dining packages are immense value and although Le Bistro doesn't quite match Murano - the Italian on NCL we found was way better than the Italian on Celebrity.

Each has its own pluses - and like you we were long time Celebrity cruisers.

I think the main reason is choice - never bored on NCL - and there is always something for everyone. Too much FabbaAbba for me on X - LOVED Solstice for our Alaska cruise and wouldn't have had it any other way. For a port intensive cold weather trip we felt Solstice was perfect. For anything else, no, our first choice would be Norwegian.

Hope you get the deal you are looking for -

Which ship are you thinking of?

The above is a very thorough comparison. I am Platinum on NCL and Elite on X so have cruised both and most recently on extended cruises on both.

X has been our favorite but they have begun to price themselves out of that spot for me. I love the casual atmosphere on both. Don't need a tie or sport coat on either.

Loved X's drink package perk because they don't charge the silly tax and it includes water, canned soda and specialty coffee. I think NCL naming their drinks package "Ultimate" is absurd when it excludes these things. On the up side for NCL they still offer the drinks perk even on repositioning cruises. X stopped doing that.

As mentioned above X's specialty dining is outrageously priced.I would never consider purchasing theirs. NCL's UDP is a good deal and better yet if its a perk. But for those pesky taxes they charge again.

Lots more activities on NCL and we do partake when on NCL. When on X we do more reading.

NCL's loyalty club offers more things we actually value, free bag of laundry, free minutes of internet, free specialty dining. X only offers some internet minutes and bag of laundry.

We leave in a few weeks for a 22 day TA on NCL Star and will sample their drink package for the first time. From everything I have read I will be please except for having to buy my specialty coffee.

In my view, both are fine experiences but their are these subtle differences.

We have been cruising for decades. During the working days we gradually increased cruise length to 10 days bit doing longer cruises was difficult with children and work. Towards the end of our work life we began to expand our horizons doing a a 24 day Trans-pacific on Celebrity. From that moment on we were hooked on longer cruises. Since that we have done a 31 day from San Diego to Buenas Areas with NCL. Then a 35 day circumnavigation of New Zealand and Australia. On October 29th we board the NCL Star for a 22 day from Venice to Miami. I have a hard time getting excited about any cruise unless it is at least 14 days.

We have never been bored. We always have enough time to actually try every aspect of a ship that interests us. Longer cruises are often more than one cruise cobbled together so your shipmates sometimes change during your time on board. With /celebeirty and NCL did a good job of keeping the entertainment varied.

It's not different from renting a condo some place for 2, 3 or 4 weeks. Always plenty to do with different towns to do it in. Even with the longer cruise we are always sad to see them end.

Repositioning cruise are often priced very competitively so they can be a bargain as well.

Give it a try.

This is great. I was unaware of this. I will be calling my broker on Monday!

Thanks for the response.

We are sailing on the Star in October and are now within 90 days. We have both a UDP and we are Platinum so have complimentary dinners too. I can book/reserve Cagney's, La Cucina, Le Bistro and Moderno. Teppanyaki shows up as an option but has a message "Not available to book".

Anyone have any idea what is going on. It this a technical problem or do you have to wait to board to book Teppanyaki.

Thank you!

Just finished a long (31 day) cruise on NCL Sun. Last X cruise was December 2014 (14 day). In a word the difference is selection. There are some things that just do not make the menu in the MDR on NCL. Shrimp and lobster for instance.

My wife loves the shrimp cocktail on X and orders it most nights. No such thing in 31 nights on NCL. Was the food good on NCL, absolutely! We felt the food at the Buffet on NCL was as good if not a little better than X. But S class ships have the best buffet layout.

On NCL we liked the fact that they used the Brazilian specialty restaurant for a scaled back breakfast and lunch venue. We also liked that the sports bar offered comfort food from 5 pm to 3 am every evening. On the long cruise we ate here 2 evenings just for a change of pace. Burgers, Fish n Chips, wings, nachos. I think they had a salad option too.

NCL also won the MDR service contest for us. We dine Select on X and have found that the service was inconsistent. Even when seated at the same table often with the same wait staff. The wait for different courses was all over the place. Even when we asked for coffee with desert (because it wasn't offered) it was forgotten or came so late that we were finished with desert and readying to leave. NCL in both MDR's was consistently good. Not perfect but better than our experience with X.

We ate in 2 specialty restaurants on NCL (we were treated by friends) and the service and food were quite good. At the cover charge of $19.99 plus 18% gratuity seemed like a decent value and a nice change of pace on a long cruise. Celebrity's fee for their specialty restaurants are too high for me to even consider. We have a 35 day cruise coming up in February on Solstice and I will look for a deal on specialty restaurants. Their standard prices are nuts.

That's my take.

Happy sailing

It has been weeks since I can get into my reservation to shop for shore excursion, order luggage tags and print eDocs.

I have waited twice to speak to a reservation agent about my inability to access my reservation. The first time I waited about 15 minutes to speak to a very courteous agent who told me to us Firefox (not Internet Explorer) Don't use the MyCelebrity feature only look up your booking using the reservation #. Don't use the back button and beside to sign out don't just close the window. REALLY!:eek:

I still was unable to access my reservation. I called again today. I was on hold for nearly an hour before I was able to speak to an agent. He said some of the same things and also that they have known bugs that their IT staff is working on. He told be an ETA for the fix was at least a week away! REALLY!:eek:

I am an IT guy and I would have lost my job had I installed software that has these kinds of flaws in it.

I leave in 5 weeks for a 35 day cruise with them and they are keeping me from buying shore excursions and booking specialty dinning.

HEY Celebrity FIX YOUR WEB SITE before you change anything else!

Phew...I feel better now..:o

It has been a week of trying. I was finally able to print my express pass but I cannot see either reservation to order shore excursions for our approaching B2B.

I am about to call X unless someone has a tip on how to get their web site to work.

We have cruised NCL 5 times and X 3 times. We just returned from a 31 South American Odyssey NCL cruise on the aging Sun and had a fabulous time. Our last X cruise was just over a year ago (14 days on Eclipse). We leave on the Solstice in February for a 35 day cruise.

Here are my observations:

MDR food was fine on both but some basic things one would expect or hope for were missing on NCL. i.e. no shrimp cocktail, ever for 31 days. Shrimp in general was a rarity. No matter the cruise line of longer voyages food in the MDR will be a little monotonous.

Productions shows were better on NCL. Guest entertainers were a mixed bag on both lines.

Speciality Restaurant surcharges are far more reasonable on NCL ($20 - $30) vs. X $40+

Cruise staff hands down goes to the fun group we got to know on the NCL Sun.

NCL's drink prices are outrageous. They have a beverage package they call the Ultimate Beverage package which excludes way more than it includes. The name "Ultimate" is false advertising. X's drink prices aren't cheap but I usually get the classic package as a perk.

NCL's shore excursions again are exorbitant. Every cruise line gouges here but NCL has taken that to the new level of absurdity.

After this most recent NCL cruise we became Platinum. This entitles us to some discount laundry and a meal in a specialty restaurant. After our upcoming X cruise we will be Elite and look forward to those perks.

Comparing cost is a little bit harder. The approaching 35 day cruise was about $1800 per person more than I paid for the 31 day on NCL but on X I also received drink package, pre-paid gratuities, plus $800 OBC. I booked this cruise over a year ago so I have not really paid attention to the new pricing yet. Once we get home in March I will be looking at a TA in the fall.

If you like casual dress you will like NCL better. Even with the new Chic dress code on X NCL is more casual. One of the main dining rooms on the Sun allowed shorts at dinner. No one was sloppy and no one wore ball caps but is was laid back.

I have found that my wife and I are fine with most any cruise line as long as we know what to expect. I hope these observations help.

We just got off the Sun December 5th in BA after 31 days. As others have said she needs a refresh but we liked the ship.

We had not sailed NCL since 2010 and had read many negative reviews about the ship and cruise line. We found none of the negatives to be true.

The food was fine. I liked the option of wearing shorts to dinner in the Four Seasons restaurant and liked the Seven Seas that enforced the no shorts dress code for better views and service.

The comfort food offered in the sports bar from 5:30pm to 3:00 am was good and a nice change after too many full dinners.

The entertainment was solid with some of the best production shows we have seen. The other entertainment was hit and miss.

We especially enjoyed Riley Haupt in the Windjammer lounge. The observation lounge is a great quiet indoor space during the day with easy deck access overlooking the bow.

One of my complaints about NCL are the outrageous drink prices. I you are a wine drinker they have wine packages that can get the cost of modest wines down to $26 per bottle including gratuity. I brought a bunch of wine on board and paid the corkage fee. Now that I know about the packages I would hassle with that again.

If you are a latitudes member go the cocktail parties. The free booze flows freely but the options are limited to wine, beer, a rum punch and a blueberry cocktail that was my favorite.

Another complaint about NCL is the outrageous cost of their show excursions.Every cruise line marks these up but here NCL goes overboard.

Where NCL does well compared to other cruise lines is the cost of their specialty restaurants. $20 for La Cochina (Italian) or Le Bistro (French) and $30 for Cagney's (Steakhouse) and Tepenyaki (Japanese)

We had a Balcony cabin on Deck 10. We had enough room to store all of our stuff for a 31 day cruise. Room under the beds for suitcases. Two chairs and a very small little table on the balcony.

At our request out room steward emptied the refrigerator which is small. It helps a few bottles of soda plus a bottle of wine.

If you have specific questions please ask and i will do my best to give you my perspective.

My father-in-law used to say people who talk about the good old days, don't really remember what the old days were like. Now he was talking about growing up in northern Wisconsin as one of 11 children born to Swedish immigrants. Sleeping with his brother not because there were not enough beds but rather to stay warm.

OK what has happened to cruising isn't the same thing but... There are very few things that cost the same thing I paid 15 years ago. Cruising is one of those things. With everything costing more why should I be surprised when quality erodes as prices remain flat.

I frankly am glad for many of the changes. No midnight buffet, smaller portions, plenty of adequate food available with the option to upgrade if I am willing to pay more. Our culture is more casual so the new dress code is to be expected and X is one of the last mass market lines to go this route.

Every cruise line has to figure out ways to increase revenue because the base price of a cruise simply will not provide profitability.

Having just gotten off a 31 day NCL cruise with a 35 day cruise on X in 9 weeks I already have noticed how the different lines differ in approach.

NCL has low speciality dinning costs $20 - $30 but their cocktails and shore excursions are exorbitant. On X specialty dinning is priced higher I think up to $45 but drinks are more reasonable and shore excursions too.

Then there is bingo and art auctions and fitness classes. All of these profit centers are required because the base price of a cruise is still a bargain.

If you want the "finer" things or the things you miss I am sure there is a cruise line out there who still has it but the base price will be higher often much higher.

Keeping the lower base price allows the customer to control what and when they will upgrade their experience. So to me the good old days were nice but the realities of cruising today ain't bad either.

Did you get a confirmation from your TA when you booked. Always check your confirmation and make sure the specifics (perks) are listed there.

If you have no proof of the perk(s) you at should at least have a booking date that should help your case.

Oh and I would get a new TA.

As a business consultant it is clear to me what X is positioning themselves to do. The "new" Standard package will become the drink package perk in the future. This will allow X to extract more revenue form people willing to upgrade to Classic and even more revenue for upgrading to Premium. This new package also reduces the cost of the free perk they offer.

Business is a game of balancing increasing revenue without damaging customer satisfaction. No changes are introduced expecting no negative reaction. What a business hopes is the negative will not be enough to change the customers purchasing decision.

So get ready for this change. Be ready to assess if the price X is charging with any associated perks still represent good value. I board the Solstice in 9 weeks for a 35 day B2B and am hoping I will get the classic as my drink perk since I booked a year ago. But X can do whatever they want.

The game is on!

I have organized a tour for the port of Puerto Montt Chile on our 31 day NCL Sun cruise in November. Puerto Montt is a tender port.

The tour company our group of 18 to depart on the same tender if possible.

Can anyone tell me how NCL handles tender tickets? Will they give me 18 tickets? Does the entire group need to go somewhere together to get the tickets.

It has been several years since I have cruised NCL and just can't remember how they handle tendering.

Any help would be appreciated.

It is an American phenomenon with our craziness around coffee. below is an image of a box of little individual cups containing the coffee creamer. These come in a variety of flavors here.

Sorry to appear totally dim, but what exactly is a flavoured coffee creamer?

Here in NZ you will find a variety of coffees but AFAIK all made (unless black) with steamed milk.

We will be in Auckland for a couple of days before boarding a 35 day cruise on Celebrity. We really enjoy flavored creamer in our coffee and I am hoping I can buy some while in Auckland.

Seems kind of silly but when we are gone that long...and I would prefer not to have to pack it.

Thanks!

I found it interesting that NCL decided to call their drink package the Ultimate Beverage Package that did not include some pretty basic things (i.e.water, fresh juices and specialty coffee).

Sailing on the Sun this fall around South America and would consider the package if not for these exclusions. It just doesn't sound very "ultimate" to me.

Just saying...

Thank you everyone. Yes I will be heading for an international flight. You have presented enough caution for me to stick with the later flight.

Thank you again for all the responses.

Peace,

Doug