luv2kroooz

No.

Most companies that care about customer service and are focused on customer satisfaction do not behave this way. You know that because you've been told it before by this community over and again. Yet, for some reason repeatedly choose too drum up the old call center ... Pre approved response...mantra. so sad. Oh well.

Of course you don't. Price drops would happen much closer to sailing after final payment is due. If they dropped prices now, everyone with refundable deposits could just cancel and rebook at the lower fare.

They'll be sailing to Alaska with lots of vacancy if they don't drop their prices. The Alaska market has so much capacity among all lines in the industry it is amazing. Might be the softest market out there, actually. There will always be last minute capacity somewhere, resulting in deep last minute discounts in an attempt to fill ships.

Untrue on multiple fronts. Educated, budget minded consumers want the most "bang for their buck" and will naturally gravitate to the offering that meets their needs. Don't confuse facts for complaints.

That is fair. The point I was trying to make is that they are replacing their free production shows with a pay to play game show. Great advice. Candidly, I don't intend to watch Wheel of Fortune let alone pay for it. For us, NCL now loses on entertainment when compared to Princess or RCL. They are more on par with Carnival now.

Correct. This is proprietary information that is not publicly released by the cruise line. Just curious why the heightened interest in the stats?

.....and I almost forgot....replacing included quality Broadway entertainment with pay-to-play Wheel of Fortune. No thanks.

They are asking if the dailies from the Alaska itinerary will be different from a Mexican Riviera cruise, not if the dailies will change daily.

I think they change the menus multiple times per year. It is tough to keep up with everything. There was a time that shrimp cocktail was an upcharge, then it moved to the crab cake upcharge. Now it looks like the filet of beef is a $10 upcharge. And the drink menu posted above from NCL website is outdated. A more recent one is attached. I love the $22 Chambord. Maybe they give you the entire bottle!! Joy_A-List_2023.pdf

Thank you. We have fun on all cruises.

Interesting. Do you trust good reviews?

Better said ...if you want more, you could just find a different cruise line. We enjoy beverage packages. We have recently found better overall pricing and value on Princess for a more inclusive experience. If we sail on NCL, we have to pay an extra dollar or two for each shot of Grey Goose, Woodford Reserve, Bailey's, Grand Marnier, coffee, water, etc. Then, we have the confusing VAT taxes on NCL which I've stopped trying to figure out. Somehow Princess is able to include all of this in their package at no additional upcharge. This is the stuff that gives NCL the reputation for the nickel and dime leader while other lines have the perception of being more inclusive. They can't just put a $15 price tag on these spirits and include them. Nope, they have to list them at $16 or $17.... enough to squeeze that extra dollar or two out of their unsuspecting customers at every turn.

Yep, you should be fine. The general complaints are very limited beverage package with exclusions for water, Starbucks, certain wines and spirits that are commonly available shoreside at reasonable prices. Then you have limited specialty dining, whereby if you want a certain dish such as lobster or a certain appetizer, you have to pay more for it. Then, if you want to use a certain area of the sundeck, called Vibe, that is an upcharge. If you want to ride a go cart, or play an arcade game, or have fresh squeezed juice, etc., you have to pay extra. That is the type of stuff I have seen. The experience is more akin to..." If you want it, you have to pay extra for it" instead of " welcome to our ship, it is your home for the next x days. Please enjoy it to the fullest."

If you've sailed 4 years ago, please adjust your expectations downward. The cruise experience in the overall industry has severely degraded on multiple fronts - entertainment, staffing, training, etc. The cruise lines are generally charging more because they can while delivering less. This doesn't mean you should not book the cruise, though. We used to cruise 4+ times per year, but since Corona, we have sailed only twice and only when we find a last minute cruise with space available. We don't find overall value in the cruise space these days. While we don't mind paying more if we get more, we outright reject the idea of paying more for less, so we spend our vacation dollars very intentionally elsewhere.

Pre COVID on the Escape, yes, there was a costume party in Spice and a haunted house walkthrough.

Thank you for contribution and for sharing your well thoughts out opinion. 🤣🤣

Boarding time is typically 5-6 hours after the ship docks in the AM.

Totally agree. NCL said new cutting edge shows were coming to "enhance" the onboard experience. Translation....we are going to copy what Carnival Cruise Lines has been doing for years.

No. End of discussion.

Depends. Northern route vs southern route for the crossing??? Southampton to NYC might feel different than Southampton to Miami.

Escape. It is more representative of the NCL experience.

Sorry to hear. Share some details later to give context to your experience and help others.

You've missed the point. The point is that inside spaces on Prima and Viva feel significantly more crowded in cold weather on a comparative basis due to the poor design of this class of ship. So, yes, Gem, Pearl, and Jewel also get crowded when the weather is cold, yet their design handles passenger flow much better than Viva/Prima, leading to a better passenger experience.

See above post...This is effectively how it works - "buy" the two deposits at $250 each, billing to your on-board account as $500, then get $250 in OBC that offsets the cost of one, making the net purchase price $250.