Platinum behind the scenes watered down.

[jdvmd]

I'm sorry to read this is a situation on some ships.

 

The tour offered onboard Norwegian Dawn in November was very (and I do mean VERY) extensive, with great presentation by all crew we interacted with along the way. It never once felt rushed, and the time on the bridge was much longer than I've had on any ship tour on any line.

 

I really enjoyed the experience. :)

 

.

We had the exact same experience. We actually left the BTS tour as it approached the three-hour mark on the Dawn. Had another event to get to. It was extremely thorough and interesting.

[CruisinMaterial]

On the Norwegian Star tour last month, we did have an abbreviated tour. Barnacle Boy was on the same sailing as I was. We had a 90 minute tour which consisted of a galley tour, laundry, theater and bridge tour. Our portion of the tour was not taken down the I-95 but rather walked the Promenade Deck to get from aft to forward. Our section of the tour was conducted by Lisha, the future cruise consultant.

 

I've done a Behind-The-Scenes tour which was extremely extensive twice on the Norwegian Jewel. I was informed when there are not enough Platinum members on the ship then they put you on the regular FULL ship behind the scenes tour with the paying passengers. I guess that's where the differences are. The full behind the scenes tour takes you to the prep kitchens, the trash / environmental areas, more extensive below decks tour than the ones for Platinum members. Since I've seen these areas on other ships, unless it's a new ship they're all the same anyway. :cool:

[CruisinMaterial]

I can understand the perk being watered down due to an influx of platinum members joining the top tier, that is a given, after the revamping of the program. But regardless of the quantity the experience should be consistent across the fleet for all platinum members.

 

It would be like some ships giving a full bottle of wine and others a carafe. Or some a full meal at Cagney's and others only an entree. Or some a regular size laundry bag and some a smaller one.

 

Water it down? Maybe? But do it across the fleet.

 

A suggestion which isn't new to Cruise Critic... Norwegian needs a new higher tier for people to attain and keep the perks but move them up. Give a complimentary dinner in LeBistro but move the ship tour to the higher tier and keep it a full tour. Maybe the new tier could also have a second dinner somewhere like the Italian place (don't want them to spend too much money)!!! ;)

[DMH15]

A suggestion which isn't new to Cruise Critic... Norwegian needs a new higher tier for people to attain and keep the perks but move them up. Give a complimentary dinner in LeBistro but move the ship tour to the higher tier and keep it a full tour. Maybe the new tier could also have a second dinner somewhere like the Italian place (don't want them to spend too much money)!!! ;)

 

I can see your point and agree with you. But believe a lot of people would scream that they did not get what was promised.

 

Makes me wonder if the pencil pushers and consultants predicted how many of us would skyrocket to platinum under the new system. I know I did. I book long cruises, a year ahead and in a suite. I guess what I have paid might be commensurate but I have to admit it was easy, if not cheap.

 

 

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[jdvmd]

On the Norwegian Star tour last month, we did have an abbreviated tour. Barnacle Boy was on the same sailing as I was. We had a 90 minute tour which consisted of a galley tour, laundry, theater and bridge tour. Our portion of the tour was not taken down the I-95 but rather walked the Promenade Deck to get from aft to forward. Our section of the tour was conducted by Lisha, the future cruise consultant.

 

I've done a Behind-The-Scenes tour which was extremely extensive twice on the Norwegian Jewel. I was informed when there are not enough Platinum members on the ship then they put you on the regular FULL ship behind the scenes tour with the paying passengers. I guess that's where the differences are. The full behind the scenes tour takes you to the prep kitchens, the trash / environmental areas, more extensive below decks tour than the ones for Platinum members. Since I've seen these areas on other ships, unless it's a new ship they're all the same anyway. :cool:

We are platinum and did get a very extensive tour. There were several on our tour that did pay the $55. They were first time cruisers.

[CruisinMaterial]

I can see your point and agree with you. But believe a lot of people would scream that they did not get what was promised.

 

Makes me wonder if the pencil pushers and consultants predicted how many of us would skyrocket to platinum under the new system. I know I did. I book long cruises, a year ahead and in a suite. I guess what I have paid might be commensurate but I have to admit it was easy, if not cheap.

 

People would scream for sure if things were moved from the tier level. They could differentiate between the type of Behind the Scenes tour though. One would be the longer - close to 3 hour tour. The other for the Platinum tier would be the 90 minute tour. :cool:

 

I agree with doing longer cruises I didn't see Gold tier at all. I jumped from Silver to Platinum when the re-organized the Latitudes program. It's nice to be rewarded for longer voyages but now we need something new to get or make the points more difficult to accrue. :cool:

[barnacle_boy]

In 2009, RCI's C&A underwent a similar reduction in benefits that removed Diamond members' Concierge Lounge access to alleviate overcrowding problems. Obviously this provoked a huge backlash, and although RCI ended up backpedaling a little by offering a nightly happy hour in another public room, Diamond members did not regain their Concierge Lounge privileges. It’s inevitable, given the current situation of overcrowding of Platinum Latitudes members, which will only continue to worsen with time, that NCL will have to make a similar choice in the near future. If we can take anything away from the 2009 C&A mess, it’s that NCL will probably receive a great deal of criticism from affected Latitudes members, but will push through anyway with few, if any, long term repercussions.

[insidecabin]

Cruise lines really need to learn to promote perks that scale well.