luv2kroooz

Yes, Norwegian makes it exceptionally difficult to use your onboard credit on things of value to you. They will allow it to be used on things that have very little value to them. It would be nice if you could use it to pre cruise to buy an upgraded dining package in advance of your cruise. It would be nice if you could use it to pre-book shore excursions on the NCL website. Other cruise lines allow this, but not NCL. With NCL, they show you how much onboard credit you have right beside the screen that shows you everything you can prepay for. Of course, other cruise lines allow onboard credit to be used in the casino, used against the daily service charge, etc. NCL, not surprisingly, is very very restrictive. Good luck and have a great cruise.

This week will be 2nd guest sails free; next week will be a flash sale 50% off each guest. 🥱

I don't even think NCL will be around in a few years. They are a prime candidate to be bought out by competition. I could see the cash cow MSC scooping them up quickly.

I think people are just tapped out with tips, gratuities, surcharges, and fees. You can add us to the list, by the way. We used to offer a cash tip of $1 or $2 when we received good bar service. But, a couple is now paying $40 per day service charges, plus $43.60 per day for beverage charges, plus more when we dine in specialty dining. At some point, the spigot runs out of water and, for us, we have reached our max. Candidly, we will be considering a reduction to the $40 per day service charge and intend to pay at the $32 per couple per day which is more accurately aligned with industry standards. We don't believe NCL is passing the recent service charge increase along to their crew, anyway.

I, too, would not believe NCL, and I don't mean that in a snarky way. But, you are free to ignore my opinion if you think I am wrong. There have been numerous, well documented instances of more than a few itineraries where NCL has communicated changes to booked guests but continued to market the original itinerary to prospects. NCL is currently in an extreme cash conservation mode. They are saving cash by reducing time in the ports of call and increasing the amount of time spent sailing so that they can save money by sailing at slower speeds. These itinerary changes are made in the name of port congestion, unforeseen circumstances and green initiatives. I would use the website of the port that is managed by the port authority as my guide.

Jewel class of NCL have the best free outdoor pools.

Probably could get something similar at java blue, if you can't bring it onboard.

Me too. Early Alaska season are giveaways as are some of the longer runs through the canal and transatlantic. We have cruise next to burn and are seriously considering. Problem is....airfare. Talk about high prices. Ugh.

....and "leading the industry" with recurring, last minute itinerary changes in the name of green initiatives, unforeseen circumstances and port congestion. Here's one for next week's sailing on Norwegian Joy. They eliminate Roartan and make a 6 am arrival in Cozumel. https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-makes-another-itinerary-change/95803

Good question. I don't know. We would never book air through a cruise line, just like we wouldn't book our travel insurance through the cruiseline. But its the same with shore tours...all the lines push using them for the shore tours....convenience, safe tour operators, blah blah blah, etc. Then you read the fine print and realize the tour operators are third party independent contractors with no relationship to the cruise lines. It is a dirty, deceptive business. You really need to be an educated, informed traveler and take steps to look out for yourself....a great benefit of being part of cc community.

Princess and Royal policy. NCL buys the ticket then you are on your own. Industry stated standard appears to assist valued guests. Guests who book air travel through Princess Cruises will be automatically enrolled in the Princess Late Arrival Protection program. If, on the day of travel, guests miss or will miss their original port of embarkation due to airline delay or an airline service disruption, such as flight cancelation or flight re-routes, Princess will work with the airlines to find a reasonable alternative to provide flights to the next appropriate port at no additional air cost to the guest. Guest purchasing airline tickets through Air2Sea who experience travel disruptions do indeed receive assistance. With our Assured Arrival program, we have a dedicated group of professionals in the Emergency Travel Team standing by to provide air re-accommodation, and to provide hotel and ground transportation if needed. Even though we monitor your flights, we ask that you check with the airline while at the airport prior to contacting the Emergency Travel Team. The Emergency Travel team will work with you to find accommodations on the next available flight. In some instances, same day viable flight options may not be available, and in those instances we accommodate you to the next available port where you may legally join the ship.

Totally agree with the fact pattern you present. Weather happens, port strikes happen, mechanical issues happen. Safety is of highest importance. What is being reported here is knowingly marketing ports of call that NCL has no intention of going to. That's a 180 difference from an unforeseen itinerary changes due to weather.

Tenders can be a pain, but it means you are getting into a small port...very scenic. A New England/Canada cruise is a nice change from the Caribbean. And we really enjoyed Quebec City. The 11 day run is a really nice cruise. I recommending spending at least 1 extra night post cruise. enjoy.

So sorry to read about your situation. Over and again, we read stories like this. And, over and again, we read about how NCL misrepresents things to customers and then couldn't care less. It is a lesson learned, albeit a tough one. If we choose to sail with NCL, we get very good travel insurance knowing that NCL has earned a reputation of having the worst customer service in the industry. It doesn't help that they are in severe debt with cash flow issues. I hope you can get some resolution from your insurance claim.

But the final price can be whatever you want it to be. Outside of us on CC, I doubt most couples are going to paying $280 per week in service charges. We were looking at pricing for an upcoming cruise. When we considered the base fares as a percentage of total price included taxes, service charges, beverage charges, the base fares was like 40% of the cruise. This model is broken and needs "rejiggered". I would be predisposed to lower the $20 down to $16, which is more consistent in the industry. I simply don't believe NCL is giving the recent increase to the hard working cruise. NCL is always talking about keeping up with standards in the industry.....or maybe they just say that when it matches a policy they want to implement.

Ouch!

Well said. This example is ours....we have a certain amount of disposable income budgeted for vacations and honestly could afford to cruise multiple times over and are Sapphire with NCL and top tier with other cruise lines. But, we are also value based vacationers, actively seeking to get the most bang for our buck at all times, but more importantly during these times of inflation. That doesn't mean cheap, it means we are are looking for value in a product, often times paying more to receive more. Value can be perceived differently from cruiser to cruiser - I want a drink package...you hate alcohol, I think an industry leading, $20 service charge is excessive for what you get, but someone else would gladly pay $25. I guess we are no longer part of Norwegians target market, as FDR stated they are looking for what he described as an "affluent traveler". Better said, he wants people who don't care about how they spend their money. They exist here in CC, too. I have to wonder if there are enough affluent travelers to fill his ships. I mean at some point, just move to Regent or other luxury lines. We haven't sailed NCL since pre Corona and have nothing booked. We've found greater value at land based resorts in and out of the US and on competing cruise lines like Princess and Carnival. We are actively looking to dump our 4 NCL cruise next certificates and are starting to see some limited deep discounting which is what will be required to bring us back on board to use our FCC. What we won't do is pay ridiculous cruise pricing coupled with what we perceive to be rip-off level onboard pricing for spotty Wifi, excursions if they don't change the port, service charges, and food and drink that I see for many of the offerings in exchange for the severe degradation of service that we see and hear about. An educated consumer is NCLs worst customer!

I listened to the call. Despite the rosy word salad tossed-up by the executives, the Director of Investor Relations, Jennifer Johns verbalized the significant risks associated with the forward looking statements that involve risks and materially uncertain environment in which the company is currently operating. This has been standard disclosure, but I don't recall them verbalizing this on the prior calls. Can you imagine what results might have been had the not made significant, material cutbacks to onboard service and 10% of their shoreside operations?

I dont think anyone disputes this. The question asked is whether or not they are advertising itineraries and ports of call that they have no intention of operating. Are they exercising their right to do exactly what you've posted?

Wow, sounds pretty severe to me.

Wow, sounds pretty severe to me.

Anyone who wants to compensate the crew in a very direct, personal way is free to do so.

Glad it has worked out! While transferable, I believe the FCC retains its original expire date in 2023. You may already know that, but it wasn't clear to me from your post and wouldn't want you to be disappointed.

The other thing to be aware of ...NCL port fees can be way more expensive than other lines. We were looking at NCL Jewel back to back (14 days total) to Alaska in May. Base fares are decent, but port charges are $330 per week, so $660 for the 14 days. However, a voyage of the glaciers 14 day cruise on Princess has slightly higher base fares, but port charges of only $445. Also, Princess offers us a $250 shareholder OBC on a 14 day voyage whereas NCL offers $100. So, in this example, Princess comes out ahead from a pricing standpoint. So, yes, you really have to compare total fare after all taxes, fees and net of any amenity benefits that may be of interest to you.

Eat breakfast before 730, lunch after 130, and dinner after 8.