Good thing I took a screenshot of T&C for UDP

We got home a few days ago from our Breakaway to Bermuda cruise. We booked 10 months out and got UDP as a promo. Shortly after booking things were changing at NCL. Lots of people were worried if they would get what they paid for at booking when sail date came. It was suggested to take a screenshot of Terms and Conditions of UDP to have with you just in case. I was looking forward to trying the lobster in Le Bistro so I was prepared with my screenshot if they tried to charge extra. No problem. But when I went to Ocean Blue on the Waterfront for a lobster roll there was a problem. According to the T&C cruises sailing after July 3 2015 a 25% discount applies to all a la crate and entertainment based dining and select Specially Restaurants including Ocean Blue on the Waterfront. So I order my lobster roll and ask about the discount. The guy at the window has no idea what I'm referring to. He calls over a women also working there. Same response. She says "Let's call Madame". Madame says she knows of no such discount and to take it up at Guest Relations. After I ate my lobster roll, which was excellent I made my way to Guest Relations. A very nice and polite man listened to my complaint but said he knew nothing of this discount. I showed him my screenshot which clearly had the Norwegian Cruise Line logo at the top of the page listing the T&C and the 25% discount. He was very surprised to see this document. Made a few phone calls and copied down what it said. Asked me if there was some way to print a copy for him. I didn't think so as I did not have an Internet plan. It was on my photos. He said he would get back to me when he heard from the higher ups. Next day we had reservations I at Ocean Blue for dinner, which I was told was a $15 pp up charge for UDP. Ok that works better for us than 25% off so we agree to that. We come to the entrance to give our cabin # and the person there is the Ocean Blue manager Ruxandra Nica. I explained to her my situation and said I had not heard back anything from Guest Relations. She was aware of this and asked to see the screenshot. After a little back and forth about the terms she agreed to remove the charge for the lobster roll as a courtesy but it would be a one time only thing. I agreed and we went on to have an excellent dinner. It was the best dinner of the week all around-service, food, presentation. Really good. So what is my take on all this fuss? It was only a matter of a few dollars for that one lobster roll but if I had gotten what I was entitled to we would have had several more that week as it was delicious. All the people who were involved with resolving the issue were polite and tried to be helpful. I can find no fault there. What I can't understand is how NCL can just arbitrarily change what they offer at booking and final payment and just take it away and say" Sorry, we are not honoring that now". If I did not have the screenshot I would have no proof it ever existed! And people working on the ship have no clue what upper management is doing and putting on their website! I would have had to spend a great deal of time at Guest Relations if I wanted to use that discount at Cirque or Wine Lovers or other a la carte options. I wonder how many people even know about this. Our last four cruises have been with NCL and their product has been a good fit for us but My faith in them to continue to provide this product has taken a hit. We will see which direction they are going before we sail with them again.

I'll be interested to hear of others experience with the a la carte discounts as well. Thanks you for sharing your experience with this!!

For Ocean Blue, with UDP, $15 is better than 25% off by my calculations. I heard from an NCL phone rep (of course that's not reliable) that people with UDP would only be charged $15 plus 18% gratuity on the $15 for Ocean Blue and Illusionarium and Bayamo and Supper Club on the new Escape ship. But the posted terms and conditions just say 25% off. I guess time will tell.....

I also received the UDP before the change, but I don't have a screen shot of the terms, can that be found anywhere on this site? I don't sail until February so it's more likely I will have issues by then.

Also, they didn't ask you when you booked? Is there anyway to prove when you booked?

Thanks.

I also have the UDP and sale in December. I should have saved those terms and conditions.

For Ocean Blue, with UDP, $15 is better than 25% off by my calculations. I heard from an NCL phone rep (of course that's not reliable) that people with UDP would only be charged $15 plus 18% gratuity on the $15 for Ocean Blue and Illusionarium and Bayamo and Supper Club on the new Escape ship. But the posted terms and conditions just say 25% off. I guess time will tell.....

Sailing January on the Escape and just booked the dinner show and Bayamo with UDP. Can confirm that the charge for each was $15. This is probably a savings over the price of an a la carte dinner at Bayamo with discount. Not sure about the dinner show. Maybe the regular cover minus 25% would have been less, who knows.

But they should still be honoring the 25% discounts at a la carte venues for things like the sushi bars and lobster roll windows. The 7 day UDP cost significantly more than say, a 5 day SDP. Under UDP, If you want to go to dinner at a sushi place one night instead of an included restaurant, you should not have to pony up a la carte prices with no discount for it on top of what you paid for the UDP. And the T&Cs clearly state there should be a 25% discount. They should honor those terms right through my sailing, not just until a new package is rolled out.

I also received the UDP before the change, but I don't have a screen shot of the terms, can that be found anywhere on this site? I don't sail until February so it's more likely I will have issues by then.

 

 

 

Also, they didn't ask you when you booked? Is there anyway to prove when you booked?

 

 

 

Thanks.

No one asked when I booked. I took the screenshot right from their website. Everyone I spoke with acted like they had never seen or heard of it before.

Do you still have the screenshot? Would you mind posting it here for people who haven't cruised yet?

I am not very tech savvy. What's the best way to do that?

You can do it with Dropbox or Google Docs or an image sharing service like Flickr or Photobucket… If you already have an account set up with one of those sites.

But as far as the 25% discount on à la carte dining goes, this is still in the current T&C of the UDP, so people could simply take a screenshot of the NCL website as it appears right now: Ultimate Dining Package.

Does your screenshot say something different from what is current stated in the part about "Sailings on or after July 3rd, 2015"?

The T&Cs vary depending on when you booked. Use the way back machine to get an exact copy.

Here is what NCL currently displays for UDP terms:

http://www.ncl.com/udp/faq

Now you punch that into the way back machine and you get this:

`

https://web.archive.org/web/20150601000000*/http://www.ncl.com/udp/faq

Noe find the date you booked and click the previous entry. There you are. T&Cs from when you booked. Print them and keep with the rest of your paperwork.

I suspect that the most recent version is being used because NCL took it upon themselves to unilaterally change the terms. Whenever it says for sailings before and after, you can bet that they are attempting to invalidate the previous terms. That is why the % discount at premium venues is not being honoured, but the flat rate is.

Here is what the terms said, for example, on February 8, 2015, for à la carte dining:

A la carte priced restaurants and Ocean Blue are not included in the Ultimate Dining Package, but will be discounted 20% for those purchasing the package.

Here is what they say right now, for sailings happening right now:

A 25% discount applies to all a la carte and entertainment based dining and select Specialty Restaurants (Not included in the Ultimate Dining Package).

I don't know about you, but personally I would not be fighting to get a lower discount and NCL can unilaterally invalidate the previous terms all they want in this case.

The problem the OP encountered is not that NCL is failing to honor the previous terms of UDP at the time of booking (although that problem has also been reported by other cruisers in other threads). They are failing to honor the current terms of the UDP as they are currently stated on the website, and trying to apply the current SDP terms to UDP holders instead.

I also received the UDP before the change, but I don't have a screen shot of the terms, can that be found anywhere on this site? I don't sail until February so it's more likely I will have issues by then.

 

Also, they didn't ask you when you booked? Is there anyway to prove when you booked?

 

Thanks.

https://www.ncl.com/udp/faq

The manager of Ocean Blue said I would be credited the cost of the lobster roll as a "one time only courtesy". The 25% would NOT be honored for any further lobster rolls as it was not currently being offered. I think she intended for me to understand no other a la carte venues would be honoring it either. They credited me the full cost of the lobster roll. My screen shot quotes the "For sailings after July 3, 2015.

Yup - this is why I will no longer be cruising Norwegian - if I pay for something I expect to get it. No switch and bait.

The manager of Ocean Blue said I would be credited the cost of the lobster roll as a "one time only courtesy". The 25% would NOT be honored for any further lobster rolls as it was not currently being offered. I think she intended for me to understand no other a la carte venues would be honoring it either. They credited me the full cost of the lobster roll. My screen shot quotes the "For sailings after July 3, 2015.

We came down with colds on the last day of the cruise so I am trying to catch up on things. Do you know what number to call?

We came down with colds on the last day of the cruise so I am trying to catch up on things. Do you know what number to call?

Post Cruise Guest Relations 1.866.625.1164.

Thanks for calling, as it might help others not having to endure what you did.

Thanks!

I called the number and spoke to Thomasina. She listened to my tale and took my email address. I received a link on the email to a form that I filled out. It indicated that they would respond within 10 business days. I am not expecting nor do I want some sort of restitution as I would not be able to claim I was charged for something I didn't receive. But there were places We would have dined ( I would definitely have gotten more lobster rolls- they were very good!) and Wine Lovers and Cirque would have been enjoyed if we had the discount. Add in a stop at the Raw Bar and it adds up to a pretty good chunk of change. It just doesn't sit well with me that people have to be very careful to document everything and spend their vacation time getting in lines to dicker with Guest Relations or department managers over promised promotions that go up into thin air by the time you sail. There has to be a way to keep track.

Wine Lovers and Cirque would have been enjoyed if we had the discount.

I want to be sure to say that everyone on the ship was polite and tried to be helpful. They just seemed unsure of how to deal with it. Like they had never heard of the discount. And in the end someone must have made the decision to deny honoring it.

The T&Cs vary depending on when you booked. Use the way back machine to get an exact copy.

 

Here is what NCL currently displays for UDP terms:

 

http://www.ncl.com/udp/faq

 

Now you punch that into the way back machine and you get this:

`

https://web.archive.org/web/20150601000000*/http://www.ncl.com/udp/faq

 

Noe find the date you booked and click the previous entry. There you are. T&Cs from when you booked. Print them and keep with the rest of your paperwork.

 

I suspect that the most recent version is being used because NCL took it upon themselves to unilaterally change the terms. Whenever it says for sailings before and after, you can bet that they are attempting to invalidate the previous terms. That is why the % discount at premium venues is not being honoured, but the flat rate is.

I wasn't able to get the T&C's info I needed from the way back machine for my two cruises I booked on 5-11-15 and 6-1-15. Can you help with some more instructions on how to use the site? I would like to print these and take with us. Thanks.

Here are the scans of the Old T&C. I have two versions. One is slightly crooked, but is a copy of my original so its cleaner (original is wrinkled) and the second is a scan of a copy so its straight but a little less clear. I can try to get a better scan of the original later, but these should work.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4F_QF_O1OjKbklFQ2llSjV6OEk/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4F_QF_O1OjKVlF6NVZPWjFjVkE/view?usp=sharing

6&8

I wasn't able to get the T&C's info I needed from the way back machine for my two cruises I booked on 5-11-15 and 6-1-15. Can you help with some more instructions on how to use the site? I would like to print these and take with us. Thanks.

To the best of my knowledge, the current posted T&Cs apply for those dates. That is about when I booked as well.

http://www.ncl.com/udp/faq