NCL "nickel and dimes" - Why?

[14ersco]

The only problem we have is getting into the main dining rooms without a wait. Now this only occurs during peak times of year and on the popular destination cruises. So if you can avoid those times of year (we can't) then you should not have this issue. On the other cruise lines with traditional dining they have to make sure there is a dining room seat for every 2 passengers (2 assigned seating's per night). On NCL to make room for all of their specialty dining options the main dining rooms were made smaller and there is only about 1 seat for every 3 passengers in the main dining rooms

 

Then during the cruises on which the ships are packed and there is a wait to get into the main dining rooms people say NCL is forcing people into the specialty (fee) dining to get a table at the time they want to eat. The waiting issue has been compounded with parts of the main dining rooms being held for suite guests to show up whenever; of course if you are in a suite there is never a wait.

 

We have learned to work around the issue and use our "wait for a table" times to do something else on the ship.

[njhorseman]

The only problem we have is getting into the main dining rooms without a wait. Now this only occurs during peak times of year and on the popular destination cruises. So if you can avoid those times of year (we can't) then you should not have this issue. On the other cruise lines with traditional dining they have to make sure there is a dining room seat for every 2 passengers (2 assigned seating's per night). On NCL to make room for all of their specialty dining options the main dining rooms were made smaller and there is only about 1 seat for every 3 passengers in the main dining rooms

 

Then during the cruises on which the ships are packed and there is a wait to get into the main dining rooms people say NCL is forcing people into the specialty (fee) dining to get a table at the time they want to eat. The waiting issue has been compounded with parts of the main dining rooms being held for suite guests to show up whenever; of course if you are in a suite there is never a wait.

 

We have learned to work around the issue and use our "wait for a table" times to do something else on the ship.

 

 

When we take a cruise with traditional dining we always choose the second seating. Our solution to NCL dining room waiting time is to eat dinner at approximately the same time we would on a traditional cruise, 8:30pm. We've never had to wait for a table at that time. If we want to dine at an earlier hour, we're willing to wait 15 or 20 minutes...just as we might at a restaurant at home.

[sottovoce]

NCL has more surcharge restaurants. Some seem odd to me to charge for, e.g. Tex Mex.

You also have to pay to go bowling.

Those are the only 2 that come to mind.

I suppose they could offer no choice in restaurants. Would that make you happier? Try to find Tex-Mex food on other mass-market cruise lines. You likely won't. So, if paying a surcharge offends you, just make believe it isn't there. Then it will be just like cruising on another mass-market cruise line. It's really hard to believe that someone would complain about having more restaurants to choose from.

 

All mass-market cruise lines--including HAL and Celebrity--"nickel and dime," to use the trite phrase too often seen here. If you don't want to be "nickeled and dimed," cruise Seabourn or Silverseas. You'll be "thousanded" instead.

[TomTN]

Quick question - does NCL charge extra for prunes & prune juice at breakfast?.................if so this might cause a few problems as i'm travelling with my mother inlaw

 

On our recent Jade cruise I had to ask for prune juice. Many of the servers did not even know they had it. Someone was always kind enough to get it for me.:)

[mmceachn]

Actually, I was on the Crown Princess two weeks ago. The hard ice cream in Sprinkles has been replaced with soft serve and it is free.

 

There is a small charge for the gelato in the international cafe

[MsTabbyKats]

Why? Because there are some who wish to dine better than the Queen of England. Some cruisers wish to dine on surf and turf every night. A sirloin steak isn't good enough for them. Some have to have eggs benedict every morning. What is wrong with a egg muffin sandwich?

 

When I asked girls out for dinner, I noticed who chose the most expensive item on the menu and who didn't... Cruise lines are no different. If you wish to dine on surf and turf everynight, pay more for it. If you wish to drink the most expensive glass of wine, pay more for it. I am on a budget cruise and cannot afford everyone's expensive tastes. If you have to have caviar, don't look towards me to pay for it....

 

I have no problems with more modest food choices such as table wine, or hot dogs one might find at a church social. But there are those around us who drink like a fish. I say let those who drink like a fish pay for their drinks....

 

I'm with you. I'm happy people chose to pay for "the royal treatment". It subsidizes my plebeian cruise.

 

We don't drink, like to pick our food at the buffets, hate waiting for service, have my own masseuse at home, don't play bingo, don't bring fancy clothing that I need to be photographed in etc.

 

It's not that I'm cheap....I really don't like any of these "extras".

 

We do excursions...so that and tips are the only things above the fare that we pay for.

 

The people who complain should sail with an "all inclusive" line....where they're paying for things they'll never use.

[dvdisney]

I'm getting mixed signals. Can anyone tell me if there is a 24hr ice cream and a 24hr pizza station on the SKY?

Is it free? Granted, I'd be willing to shell out some nickels and dimes for it.

 

THANKS!

[billie5]

Gosh, I took a Celebrity cruise and all the food was free, all the drinks -- soft drinks, liquor, whatever -- were free, all the excursions were free, ...., so I guess NCL does nickel and dime.

 

Of course, I could have taken four NCL cruises for the cost of the Celebrity cruise! :)

 

Bill

[ShedQueen77]

Gosh, I took a Celebrity cruise and all the food was free, all the drinks -- soft drinks, liquor, whatever -- were free, all the excursions were free, ...., so I guess NCL does nickel and dime.

 

Of course, I could have taken four NCL cruises for the cost of the Celebrity cruise! :)

 

Bill

 

Soda and alcohol are free on Celebrity? I thought those were a package you had to buy? :confused:

[njhorseman]

Soda and alcohol are free on Celebrity? I thought those were a package you had to buy? :confused:

 

 

No, they are not free on Celebrity, nor does the typical Celebrity cruise cost four times the price of a comparable NCL cruise. Perhaps the poster meant to say Crystal.

[iheartbda]

No, they are not free on Celebrity, nor does the typical Celebrity cruise cost four times the price of a comparable NCL cruise. Perhaps the poster meant to say Crystal.

I think you're correct. If not, we sure as heck missed out on a lot of free stuff on X.

[ShedQueen77]

I think you're correct. If not, we sure as heck missed out on a lot of free stuff on X.

 

No kidding! lol I looked at Celebrity before booking NCL and I didn't see that much of a price difference. :)

[sparks1093]

I'm getting mixed signals. Can anyone tell me if there is a 24hr ice cream and a 24hr pizza station on the SKY?

Is it free? Granted, I'd be willing to shell out some nickels and dimes for it.

 

THANKS!

 

You can get pizza at Longboard's almost any time (at least 23 hours) and ice cream is available most of the day. No nickels or dimes needed.

[MrLee]

Gosh, I took a Celebrity cruise and all the food was free, all the drinks -- soft drinks, liquor, whatever -- were free, all the excursions were free, ...., so I guess NCL does nickel and dime.

 

Of course, I could have taken four NCL cruises for the cost of the Celebrity cruise! :)

 

Bill

 

When was this? I had to pay for all of those things on my Celebrity cruisr. :confused:

[Sparkylok6]

You can get pizza at Longboard's almost any time (at least 23 hours) and ice cream is available most of the day. No nickels or dimes needed.

 

You can order pizza from Room Service and the delivery is free, with the exception of the tip that you give to the delivery person. On Princess, however, they charge $3 for delivery.

 

Every mass market line has there differences, but at the end of the day I have found that they are more alike than different.

[Sparkylok6]

[quote name='SPMorrissey']Last time I went on Princess and Celebrity they allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine for free.[/quote]

I have read on the Princess boards that there are passengers who bring more than 1 bottle each - sometimes a case or two. I personally brought 1 bottle of Champagne and 2 bottles of wine and didn't have a problem.

You only pay corkage on Princess if you bring it to the Dining Room. We didn't, we had an awesome AFT balcony and invited 2 other CC couples that we had met onboard for pre-dinner drinks and cheese and crackers (from the buffet).

You can also bring beer on Princess without a problem.

At the end of my cruise my Onboard bill was the same on Princess as it was on NCL.

[iheartbda]

[quote name='MrLee']When was this? I had to pay for all of those things on my Celebrity cruisr. :confused:[/quote]
Horse and I think billie5 is very confused.;)
We've done a fair number of Celebrity cruises and none of those things were free, like Horse says, they weren't 4 times the cost of an NCL cruise either and I'm talking comparable ships and same itinerary.

[scchasgal]

[quote name='billie5']Gosh, I took a Celebrity cruise and all the food was free, all the drinks -- soft drinks, liquor, whatever -- were free, all the excursions were free, ...., so I guess NCL does nickel and dime.

Of course, I could have taken four NCL cruises for the cost of the Celebrity cruise! :)

Bill[/quote]

Not in my lifetime has any of the above been free.

[billie5]

For goodness sakes, people, I am not confused, and I did not mean to say Crystal. I said I went on a Celebrity cruise and that is what I did.

I suggest you look up Celebrity's Xpedition. It sails only the Galapagos, and as far as I know it is the only all-inclusive Celebrity cruise. And it certainly does cost four times some NCL cruises of equal duration.

Of course, the typical Celebrity cruise is not all so different from NCL, nor did I say anything in that direction. I was trying to add a light comment to the thread, and assumed people who had cruised, or even looked at various cruise lines, would know the cruise I referenced was not typical.

It was, though, one of the two best cruises I have ever been on.

Bill

[billie5]

It is nice to know, though, that I have enriched the lifetime of Scchasgal! :)
Bill

[scchasgal]

[quote name='billie5']It is nice to know, though, that I have enriched the lifetime of Scchasgal! :)
Bill[/quote]

Glad you did too. Saying Celebrity without the specific 92 passenger ship that you sailed on was a little misleading you have to admit.

[billie5]

I don't think so. I said I have taken "a" Celebrity cruise, not "Celebrity cruises." Actually, I assumed people would figure it was a far-from-typical cruise, even if they had never heard of Xpedition. I guess I should have realized they would just assume I was wrong -- I mean, I am married.:)

The open bar and free excursions (each morning and each afternoon with always a choice of more energetic/less energetic versions) was great. Wish I could afford Crystal or Seaborne cruises.

Bill

[Planer's Edge]

[COLOR=Black]Sorry billie, you knew exactly what you were doing and got the response you were looking for. :rolleyes:

PE[/COLOR]

[MrLee]

[quote=Planer's Edge;23666464][COLOR=black]Sorry billie, you knew exactly what you were doing and got the response you were looking for. :rolleyes:[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]PE[/COLOR][/quote]

I thought exactly the same thing. :rolleyes:

Since this is the NCL board he/she would have to expect most of us wouldn't be that familiar with Celebrity options.

[njhorseman]

[quote name='billie5']For goodness sakes, people, I am not confused, and I did not mean to say Crystal. I said I went on a Celebrity cruise and that is what I did.

I suggest you look up Celebrity's Xpedition. It sails only the Galapagos, and as far as I know it is the only all-inclusive Celebrity cruise. And it certainly does cost four times some NCL cruises of equal duration.

Of course, the typical Celebrity cruise is not all so different from NCL, nor did I say anything in that direction. I was trying to add a light comment to the thread, and assumed people who had cruised, or even looked at various cruise lines, would know the cruise I referenced was not typical.

It was, though, one of the two best cruises I have ever been on.

Bill[/quote]

I'm Captain's Club Elite on Celebrity and NCL Latitudes Platinum, so I think I have a little bit of experience on both lines.

You said "Celebrity", which to anyone means the run-of-the-mill Celebrity cruise. No one would mind read that and assume it meant Celebrity Xpedition, which is operated differently than any other Celebrity cruise, and for all intents and purposes is a separate one ship cruise line.