Goodbye Escape Haven, Hello Divina Yacht Club!

[BritChickBN1]

These increased fees that NCL/FDR have incorporated have left a very bad taste in my mouth. I actually lost sleep over this last night, which is ridiculous considering the fact that I'm supposed to be planning a wonderful vacation for my husband and myself.

 

We got a great price for our Escape Haven Penthouse Suite by booking early, but only got the $300 OBC that is now part of the Freestyle Promotion and not the UDP, UBP, or prepaid DSC.

 

We wouldn't have been hurt too much by NCL's increased fees, but it's the way they were just shoved upon us with no warning and how it's really going to impact family cruisers that upsets me the most.

 

In the Yacht Club on Divina we'll pay $170.32 more and get a larger cabin and balcony and everything that the Haven offers, as well as unlimited beverages and free access to our mini bar contents that have COCA COLA (!) products and snacks inside. Plus, we'll get $200 OBC. Oh yeah, and free room service.

 

So I'm just curious.....is anyone else jumping ship from NCL?

 

 

Bye!!!!!

[fshagan]

Good breakdown but bad math. A $10 drink tip used to be $1.50 making it $11.50 now it is $1.80 making it $11.80.

 

Pesky decimal points. :P

 

Yeah, it .30 not .03 difference.

 

I tried to be dispassionate because there's so much emotion tied up in the issue that it is hard for a new comer to get the actual facts.

[fshagan]

Thanks for laying this out. I also have only cruised on Disney, 4 times, and wasn't quite sure if the additional fees being discussed were something vastly different then what I have already been used to.

 

We are booked for the Getaway for April 2016. The same or similiar itinerary on DCL would cost us about $4500 more than what we are paying on NCL (Free friends and family promo, so no charge for our kids!). Additionally, DCL never has anything like a UBP or UDP promotion offer. Our bar bill typically runs us a few hundred dollars by the end of each DCL cruise. So, the free UBP we received with our booking is extremely significant for us.

 

The room service fee, while annoying, would not be noticed by us. All we ever order is coffee and pastries anyway, which, so far at least, they aren't charging for. Yet.

 

I always upped the tips to the bartender, from 15% to 18% or 20% if the service was good, so an extra 3% on drinks would not be a problem. And since we have the free UBP, its really not going to be a problem since the 18% is included with the promo!

 

So, unless something outrageous is significantly increased, I can't see canceling our NCL 2016 cruise. I at least want to see what its all about first.

 

As someone pointed out, I screwed up the math on the difference between 15% and 18%, and you would pay .30 more not .03 for a $10 drink. Sorry about that ... but with the promos, the gratuity is included and you don't have to worry about it anyway. I think the rest of my summation is correct and I hope it helps you.

 

There are some strong emotions running on the forum that cloud the issue if you're just trying to compare costs. There are accusations of "double dipping", "breach of contract" and other things that sound bad, but I believe what I've stated is the entirety of the changes so far.

[Demonyte]

There are accusations of "double dipping", "breach of contract" and other things that sound bad, but I believe what I've stated is the entirety of the changes so far.

 

No you haven't - you didn't mention the reason for those accusations in any of your posts:

 

For years and years NCL told us that all restaurant staff rotates around the ship and they all are covered by the service charge ($12pppd). Then first they raised the service charge, and couple of weeks after that they added a new 18% auto-gratuity on top of that to speciality restaurant cover charges and when we started to question that, they started claiming that speciality restaurant staff is no longer covered by the newly raised service charge like they were before.

 

So to sum it up, NCL first raised the service charge, then reduced the people covered by it and added another charge for those people supposedly removed from the service charge pool. How this was done and communicated has rightfully caused an uproar here and it really looks like double dipping to many of us here.

 

All in all while FDR has said in an interview that he wants to get extra $50 per week from the passengers, all these new changes and charges have raised the cost of our regular spending a lot more (for example my regular bar receipt (rum+mixer) is now about 20-30% higher than it used to be).

 

This is why for the first time ever we didn't for example purchase a new FCR (not planning any new NCL cruises) or visited any speciality restaurants on our recent cruise (except for the comped Platinum vouchers).

 

MSC sounds kind of interesting (I read couple of pages of Gambee's review yesterday) but so far we are happy with switching over to Celebrity - apparently they have had similar big changes there too but there I don't feel betrayed (maybe a poor choice of word but I don't trust NCL anymore) and we like the more refined feel and better food/drink offerings compared to NCL.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Demonyte

[rvsullivan]

No you haven't - you didn't mention the reason for those accusations in any of your posts:

 

For years and years NCL told us that all restaurant staff rotates around the ship and they all are covered by the service charge ($12pppd). Then first they raised the service charge, and couple of weeks after that they added a new 18% auto-gratuity on top of that to speciality restaurant cover charges and when we started to question that, they started claiming that speciality restaurant staff is no longer covered by the newly raised service charge like they were before.

 

So to sum it up, NCL first raised the service charge, then reduced the people covered by it and added another charge for those people supposedly removed from the service charge pool. How this was done and communicated has rightfully caused an uproar here and it really looks like double dipping to many of us here.

 

All in all while FDR has said in an interview that he wants to get extra $50 per week from the passengers, all these new changes and charges have raised the cost of our regular spending a lot more (for example my regular bar receipt (rum+mixer) is now about 20-30% higher than it used to be).Perhaps my math is off (could be!) but wouldn't you bar bill be 3% higher? Used to be 15% now 18%?

 

This is why for the first time ever we didn't for example purchase a new FCR (not planning any new NCL cruises) or visited any speciality restaurants on our recent cruise (except for the comped Platinum vouchers).

 

MSC sounds kind of interesting (I read couple of pages of Gambee's review yesterday) but so far we are happy with switching over to Celebrity - apparently they have had similar big changes there too but there I don't feel betrayed (maybe a poor choice of word but I don't trust NCL anymore) and we like the more refined feel and better food/drink offerings compared to NCL.

Although I'm not upset about all of this the way a few are, the post concerning MSC made me go look. To book MSC for the two cruises I have scheduled in an equivalent suite, would cost me over 50% more than my current two booking with NCL. On top of that I would have to book airline flights that I don't currently have to. Doesn't work out too well. I would like to hear if you can find a good deal with MSC that matches NCL pricing.,

Edited April 17, 2015 by rvsullivan

[grandsix]

What a foolish mistake on the part of the new NCL management with take aways and nickel and diming. They do not realize that all of the major major cruise lines are all about the same. Maybe better. When people sail other lines they will see.

Once NCL starts losing some of their devoted guests, it will take a long time to turn things around.

[Cruise4Real]

Since this thread is about "all" the added fees, and also a little bit about math :) I would just mention (since I don't think it has been in this thread) that along with increasing the auto-gratuity on drinks from 15 to 18 percent, NCL also increased the base drink price about 7 percent. The net result was that for those without UBP, total drink costs increased by about 10 percent.

[Iluvcruising2]

We are trying the Yacht Club on the Preziosa at the end of this year.

 

Should be fun. Watch out for my review!

[NLH Arizona]

For years and years NCL told us that all restaurant staff rotates around the ship and they all are covered by the service charge ($12pppd).

And since the inception of the 18 percent gratuity in the specialty restaurants, they say they are now not included in the DSC, at least when they work in non-complimentary dining venues.

[fshagan]

No you haven't - you didn't mention the reason for those accusations in any of your posts:

 

I satisfied the poster's request for more information about the charges. The reasons people are upset are varied, and I listed some of my observations about the reasons people have given. You have clarified why you are posting about it, but I have heard various other opinions; perhaps you have not and that's OK. You only have to have your own reasons.

 

For someone comparison shopping the difference between their current choice, DCL, and NCL with the new charges, is as I have stated. The reason for the new charges may be important to that person, but that's not the question they were asking.

[zonap]

What were the issues?

 

To start, the waiting area at the terminal in Miami for Haven guests was much too small, leaving a large number of guests standing and waiting until we could board. Once we did board, we were brought to the Epic Lounge, which, like the terminal waiting area, was much too small for the large number of Haven guests brought up at 1 time; again, there was insufficient seating, insufficient food (they were bringing around sliders & fries), and David (concierge) had to shout to be heard.

 

After the Haven area tour and a quick lunch at the Epic Club, we found David and made reservations for dinner at Cagney's for the first night. He told us he'd make it, that it'd be no problem, and then we never heard from him again that day. Assuming we had reservations (for an early dinner), we went to Cagney's right when they opened, and were told that they had no reservations for us. Thankfully, we went early so we could be seated (when we finished eating and were leaving, there was a wait).

 

Oh, and one other thing - on Day 1, the Haven pool and hot tubs were not available to use - so daughter was very disappointed.

 

That's how Day 1 went. By Day 2, we found out that most shows were booked solid and there were only standby seats. Thankfully later in the week, David was able to work some magic and got us in to see Cirque Dreams and Blue Man Group. But throughout the rest of the week, we noticed that at the Haven concierge desk, the people working the desk didn't always know and just took messages to pass on to David, or just dialed the phone for us to other places onboard, like the spa (if I knew that's all they'd do, I could've done that from my cabin by myself).

 

Butler (Jomar) was ok. One time for room service he wasn't available, so got regular room service attendant and couldn't get anything other than basic room service menu items (e.g., no french fries with our burger, hot dogs and sandwiches - only chips), and then not even salt & pepper were brought up with the trays throughout the week. But he did bring a few extra treats for our daughter - like a bowl of M&Ms that really made her day.

 

Now, did any of this totally ruin our trip? No, but we felt this Haven experience just wasn't up to par compared to previous NCL suite experiences (Dawn, Gem, Jewel). So, to us, the question is really - why did we pay so much extra?

[NLH Arizona]

To start, the waiting area at the terminal in Miami for Haven guests was much too small, leaving a large number of guests standing and waiting until we could board. Once we did board, we were brought to the Epic Lounge, which, like the terminal waiting area, was much too small for the large number of Haven guests brought up at 1 time; again, there was insufficient seating, insufficient food (they were bringing around sliders & fries), and David (concierge) had to shout to be heard.

 

After the Haven area tour and a quick lunch at the Epic Club, we found David and made reservations for dinner at Cagney's for the first night. He told us he'd make it, that it'd be no problem, and then we never heard from him again that day. Assuming we had reservations (for an early dinner), we went to Cagney's right when they opened, and were told that they had no reservations for us. Thankfully, we went early so we could be seated (when we finished eating and were leaving, there was a wait).

 

Oh, and one other thing - on Day 1, the Haven pool and hot tubs were not available to use - so daughter was very disappointed.

 

That's how Day 1 went. By Day 2, we found out that most shows were booked solid and there were only standby seats. Thankfully later in the week, David was able to work some magic and got us in to see Cirque Dreams and Blue Man Group. But throughout the rest of the week, we noticed that at the Haven concierge desk, the people working the desk didn't always know and just took messages to pass on to David, or just dialed the phone for us to other places onboard, like the spa (if I knew that's all they'd do, I could've done that from my cabin by myself).

 

Butler (Jomar) was ok. One time for room service he wasn't available, so got regular room service attendant and couldn't get anything other than basic room service menu items (e.g., no french fries with our burger, hot dogs and sandwiches - only chips), and then not even salt & pepper were brought up with the trays throughout the week. But he did bring a few extra treats for our daughter - like a bowl of M&Ms that really made her day.

 

Now, did any of this totally ruin our trip? No, but we felt this Haven experience just wasn't up to par compared to previous NCL suite experiences (Dawn, Gem, Jewel). So, to us, the question is really - why did we pay so much extra?

I can certainly see why you might never cruise NCL again, as we all have our breaking point.

 

BTW, my November cruise was out of Miami and they must have used a different room for Haven/Suites, because it was quite big, not to mention that they had passengers coming and leaving at different times, so it was never crowded. Can't speak to the food, because I didn't eat any. Maybe the room I was in was being used for something else during your embarkation.

 

Hopefully you passed your disappointments along to the proper departments during your cruise.

[AEckhardt]

I just booked a YC3 for Feb 2017! I never booked that far out, but with only two of those rooms on the Divina, I wanted to lock it down! I still have at least 1 more cruise on NCL, which I plan on enjoying thoroughly, and I'm planning a few more between now and the MSC. I used to run straight to NCL. Now I'm clearly more open to other options. I know each line has their quirks, but after sampling a few others I'll have more appreciation for one over another.

[ExpatBride]

I'm taking my first and last NCL cruise in June. I don't do business with companies I don't like and trust and the fact that NCL hasn't communicated the changes directly to booked passengers has left a bad taste in my mouth. Had it not been for CC, I'd have boarded the ship expecting free room service. $7.95 isn't going to break me, but I just don't like the way this has been handled (or not).

 

I don't book on price alone, so I have no reason to go back to NCL.

Edited May 10, 2015 by ExpatBride

[jame_g]

Yes. We've also been unhappy with NCLs changes and egotistical CEO. We will be spending our travel dollars elsewhere. Since NCL had been our preferred line, that means land-based vacations for our immediate future. I refuse to spend my money with a business that merely views me as a "captive audience" to take advantage of.

Edited May 10, 2015 by jame_g

[DebJ14]

We usually sail suites on RCCL and Princess.

 

We gave the MSC Yacht Club a try last month. It was fabulous! Although the YC 1 cabins are the same size as a Carnival standard balcony, the cabin seemed larger thanks to lots of mirrors. They give you a large bottle of Pellegrino and a large bottle of still water and it is replaced before you even finish it. The contents of the mini bar, include sodas, hard liquor, sodas, Pringles, nuts etc and it is complimentary and replaced twice daily. The bedding was super comfortable, softest sheets ever and a memory foam mattress, the towels were large and the toiletries were replaced often. Room service is 24 hours and is complimentary. There was a fruit plate in the cabin on embarkation, which was refreshed often, and we also got new napkins and silverware daily. We got goodies on several nights including chocolate covered strawberries. There was also a bottle of Sparkling wine on ice on embarkation.

 

When we arrived at the MSC Yacht Club tent they re-taged our bags and a Butler escorted us through security and up to the Yacht Club check in. Oh, and the Butler took our carry on bags. There were juices, water and pastries in the waiting area. Then, the head butler came and escorted those ready to get onto the ship. Again, he took our carry on bags. We were delivered to the Yacht Club Concierge Lounge where we met with the Maitre'D for Le Muse and selected our dining time. Then our assigned Butler took our carry on bags and showed us to the cabin and then showed us around the Yacht Club area. The bags arrived by about 1pm.

 

The Butler arranged to meet us about 10 minutes before dinner and he escorted us to the restaurant using the "inside route" and also gave us a lesson on using the Elevator Key cards to change the direction of the elevator and to make it an express to Deck 15. It was very helpful as we often saw people puzzled when the elevator did not stop at 15 because they did not know how to use the key card. They had declined their escort to dinner and thus missed the elevator lessons.

 

The Top Sail lounge was wonderful. There were food presentations all day long. Continental breakfast in the am, sandwiches, high tea, appetizers before dinner, desserts after etc. The list of complimentary beverages is long. There are a few premium liquors available for an upcharge. Our main waiter in the Topsail lounge was wonderful. He was a butler on Celebrity for 15 years and knew how to provide personable, but unobtrusive service. Loved the Aperol Spritzers!

 

The private pool and hot tops were very nice and there were tons of loungers and towels available. Bar One up by the pool was great. There was a shaded area for dining. There was a small buffet for breakfast and they would make eggs to order. For lunch there were several entrees and a small salad bar. It was a very convivial place and table sharing was common. Several butlers also provided drink service by the pool and they came around often.

 

You could have all meals in Le Muse starting with luncheon the first day. We had the same waiter for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, although not necessarily the same tables. The waiters quickly learned your preferences and after the 2nd day I didn't even have to place a breakfast order since he knew what it would be. They put a bottle of either sparkling or still water on the table for you every meal. Also, house wines were poured at lunch and dinner and you could always get a Bloody Mary or Mimosa at breakfast too, or whatever you wanted. Our service was wonderful from the waiter, assistant and Maitre'D. Lots of hugs and kisses at our last morning breakfast.

 

Shore excursion tickets were delivered to the cabin with a letter telling you when to meet in the Concierge Lounge. After everyone got the tour stickers, a Butler escorted each tour down to the pier and in Bermuda, the Butler escorted us directly to the bus and made sure everyone had a seat. We went a back way and jumped the line to get off the ship.

 

Debarkation was super easy. All other areas of the ship had to vacate their cabins at 7am and report to a designated waiting area. YC guests could stay in the cabin until 8 or even later and we waited in the Top Sail lounge to get off. You could go when you wanted up until 10am. We had a later flight so we told our Butler we would leave at 9:45. He collected us, took our carry on bags, and escorted us to the front of the line at the gangway. We were off the ship, collected the luggage, through customs and in a taxi in about 7 minutes. Best embarkation and debarkation we have ever had in 55 cruises.

 

The new ship, Seaside, that MSC will bring to Miami in 2017 will have more actual suites in the YC area and the restaurant will be in the same area instead of having to go to the back of the ship. We will definitely sail MSC again, but only in the YC.

Also, the cabins, balconies and the casino were totally non-smoking. First time I never smelled smoke on a cruise!

 

The shows on MSC were the best we have ever seen on any cruise ever. There was a full production show every night. The singers could actually sing without screeching. They also offered an afternoon opera on the last sea day and the last show was a classical tribute with ballet and opera. There was also a Michael Jackson show, a Frank Sinatra show, Wunderland and a Pirate themed show. There are no obstructions in the showroom and we had no trouble finding a seat. We fell into a pattern of seeing the show at 6:45, heading to the Topsail Lounge for Cocktails and appetizers at 7:30 and then heading to dinner at 8:30. Dinner was a leisurely affair. Then we sometimes went back to Topsail for a nightcap and then it was time for bed.

 

The Divina was the cleanest, most well maintained ship we have ever sailed. It was absolutely spotless. It was the most relaxing cruise we have ever taken and we wished we could have brought our waiter and Butler home with us. We never had to ask for anything as they anticipated our needs.

 

The public areas of the ship were beautifully decorated, but we did not spend much time there since we hardly ever left the YC. We did hit the buffet once for lunch when we got back from an excursion after Le Muse closed. They had a good selection and what we had was very tasty. The list of daily activities was very long. We took Italian lessons and enjoyed trying it out on our waiter. By the way, on the sea days throughout the ship we saw probably the best dressed crowd we have seen on a cruise in a long time. Perhaps, that is because there were lots of Europeans onboard. It was refreshing. The stores carry more designer goods than other lines, and they had a nice selection in the stores.

 

We met people on the tours who said we were nuts to spend the extra money for the YC, but then again they had no idea what they were missing. They could not have been more wrong. For us YC is the way to go.

 

We came home and changed our NCL cruise in Jan. from an SF to a Haven 2 bedroom. We got the UDP, UBP, OBC, and Free gratuities and are bringing our adult son for just the taxes and insurance. Hopefully it will seem more like the Yacht Club since we won't be nickeled and dimed for everything.

 

FYI Gratuities on MSC, even in the YC, were $12.00 per day, but we ended up tipping lots extra to the Butler, his assistant, our favorite Concierge, Waiter, Asst. Waiter, Maitre'D, Pool Butlers and our favorite Topsail Lounge Waiter.

 

We had to fly to Miami from Texas to take this cruise. The cruise was on sale at $500 off + $200 OBC. We also found First Class air on United for only $637. Our week in the YC even with the airfare was $724 less than our upcoming cruise on the Jade in the Haven. Over $6000 for the Haven for a week, VS 4000 + 1276 airfare to Miami. We wouldn't be doing the Haven if we had to pay air, but we can drive to the pier in Houston (an hour away).

Edited May 10, 2015 by DebJ14

[coldflame]

Although I'm not upset about all of this the way a few are, the post concerning MSC made me go look. To book MSC for the two cruises I have scheduled in an equivalent suite, would cost me over 50% more than my current two booking with NCL. On top of that I would have to book airline flights that I don't currently have to. Doesn't work out too well. I would like to hear if you can find a good deal with MSC that matches NCL pricing.,

 

Truthfully MSC is only a "steal" deal if you live within driveable distance of Miami (their only US port for the next 3-5 years) or if you were already traveling to FL for a cruise. But if you are sailing out of a close-by NCL port, MSC's value begins to diminish rather fast.

[SissasMomE]

I just booked a YC3 for Feb 2017! I never booked that far out, but with only two of those rooms on the Divina, I wanted to lock it down! I still have at least 1 more cruise on NCL, which I plan on enjoying thoroughly, and I'm planning a few more between now and the MSC. I used to run straight to NCL. Now I'm clearly more open to other options. I know each line has their quirks, but after sampling a few others I'll have more appreciation for one over another.

 

I'm not locked in yet, but the yacht club seems to be our next cruise as well. Still up in the air between this and Celebrity. We'll see ...

[DebJ14]

Truthfully MSC is only a "steal" deal if you live within driveable distance of Miami (their only US port for the next 3-5 years) or if you were already traveling to FL for a cruise. But if you are sailing out of a close-by NCL port, MSC's value begins to diminish rather fast.

 

For us, even including First Class Airfare, the MSC YC was still cheaper than our upcoming cruise in the Haven from a port we can drive to.

[MsTabbyKats]

I'm not a Haven or Yacht Club person...but:

 

We were on the Divina in December 2014. We were on the Gem last week.

 

There is no comparison....I'd pick the Divina.

 

The entertainment was better (really really good...top notch professional daily)...the food was better (pizza like in Brooklyn, 50 years ago)...the ship was beautiful (crystal staircase in the atrium), the people were more sophisticated (really knew how to dress well...casually)....just to completely different experience.

 

After that cruise I was afraid I'd be unhappy with NCL...and I was. It has nothing to do with room service, carrying food out of the buffet...or price. It was just....nicer.

[SissasMomE]

I'm not a Haven or Yacht Club person...but:

 

We were on the Divina in December 2014. We were on the Gem last week.

 

There is no comparison....I'd pick the Divina.

 

The entertainment was better (really really good...top notch professional daily)...the food was better (pizza like in Brooklyn, 50 years ago)...the ship was beautiful (crystal staircase in the atrium), the people were more sophisticated (really knew how to dress well...casually)....just to completely different experience.

 

After that cruise I was afraid I'd be unhappy with NCL...and I was. It has nothing to do with room service, carrying food out of the buffet...or price. It was just....nicer.

 

I've been reading the reviews on the MSC board, and it does appear to be more upscale than NCL. I also like the idea of daily entertainment as opposed to just one headlining show.

[CruisinMaterial]

The recent changes to NCL have largely not impacted what I do as a solo cruiser but that being said, most North America lines do not sail short itineraries to Brazil but MSC does so I've recently found myself looking at them. The Divina looks amazing and the Seaside might build on that. If NCL doesn't watch out they could start losing business more business to MSC!

 

I did not realize how good the Yacht Club is. I will have to research how MSC is on singles fares. :)

[GORDONCHICK]

Since we have one coming up in 1.5 weeks, we're locked in at this point. However, we haven't canceled the Thanksgiving cruise yet. Much depends on how this one goes, but also, our next NCL cruise makes up platinum so DH is very reluctant to cancel it. But I keep reminding him that platinum won't do us one bit of good if we aren't sailing them anymore....

 

We also love X, and I'd love to sail one of their newer ships. But we like to drive to the departure port and there are no X ships sailing out of Galveston, Houston, or NOLA.

[skyfire53]

Have you all noticed that NCL doesn't seem to be responding to many of the threads any more????? I wonder if that is part of the "new" NCL attitude :rolleyes:

[dexddd]

Thanks everyone for the info. I looked at the YC3 on CDP and it showed 3 max (it actually shows 3 max for YC1, 2, 3) for their 2 newest ships but I'll have to go to the MSC site and look. I know there are sometimes inaccuracies between what is on CDP and the cruise line site in cases and vice versa.