NCL depriving us of simple pleasures

[Hondu]

I think all of these ideas to get our point across are good... not purchasing FCC, don't spend much onboard, remove DSC (if that is your wish to do so), cancelling cruises. However, my concern is that we are only a small percentage of cruisers out there. If new cruisers and those that aren't users of CC don't do anything (because they are totally unaware of these changes), will anything we do as CC members actually get the attention of anyone at NCL?

 

In 2011, I had only cruised twice and had no idea that these little inconveniences that we are discussing would make me write on a cruise message board. There are a lot of people out there filling ships that have no clue why they should care that "freestyle" is changing.

 

Correct. On my recent Epic cruise, I talked to several people in the Studio Lounge who had never heard of CC even though they normally use the Internet.

[justcake]

I completely agree with the original poster. I have been a loyal NCL cruiser for many years although I do try different lines at times. I am platinum on NCL and was looking forward to sailing with them for many years to come but the recent changes have made me think twice. I also think that NCL prices have gone up quite significantly in the past year or so for just the basic cruise fare. I decided to book the Celebrity Summit to Bermuda this year instead of the Breakaway (which I love) because the NCL price was just way too high. (this is an added cruise for the year which we always like to go with the lowest fare) I've always wanted to try Celebrity and I love Princess as well so maybe with all of these changes one of those two lines will become my new favourite.

 

As for those who are complaining about people complaining, I'm not complaining but rather sharing my opinion on the changes that NCL is going through. I personally like being able to go to O'Sheehan's at night and bring wings back to the room. I also enjoy grabbing a snack and having it available in my room if I want. The other issue is the buffet. I noticed on the Breakaway that there were very few seats available for the # of passengers. If you can't remove food from the buffet it will be a nightmare. Also, I receive very poor service in the Main Restaurant and had to take my dessert to go because I was going to miss the show I wanted to see. This will no longer be an option either. Too many changes IMHO that I don't know if I will sail NCL again. But never say never.

[luvtheships]

There's no reason why people should not voice their opinion but telling people to cut down on doing the things they enjoy while on vacation, it isn't going to happen.

 

Well that's why the dsc thing would work

 

Pax dont need to cut out their enjoyment but cutting the dsc WILL get ncls attention

 

Btw I fully agree that cash tips should be handed out wherever possible in place of dsc

 

Of course the back room crew may or may not lose out but they should not be in the dsc to start with....another thing that ncl will take notice

 

This doesn't need to happen for more than a couple of cruises

 

In other words the pax go on dsc strike so to speak...and it won't interfere with their gambling

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[PhDUnderTheSea]

Good morning and thank you for all the responses to my venting.

 

Firstly, I am most put off by these changes because it amounts to the company not treating us as adults. We feel like we are now misbehaved children and can only have enjoyment in small doses, prescribed ways, and in whatever fashion the company deems acceptable, and when they deem acceptable. It is the opposite of the ethos of Freestyle.

 

Secondly, and I do not mean to brag, but if Mr. DelRio is looking for affluent guests I would guess that we are probably in the top 5% of NCL cruisers. We each are solidly into six figure territory; no kids. If our health continues we can expect to work for another 25 years. We maintain multiple households and like I said, we travel about 15 weeks per year. Cruising is actually among the lowest cost vacations we take because our land vacations tend to be secluded or adventurous. Clearly we can afford to have any of a multitude of experiences that strikes our fancy. While Royal Caribbean does not have the suite amenities that NCL does, they also treat us like smart adults and there is no pandering or patronizing.

 

I will reserve my final judgments until after our cruise. At that time I'll reflect and iterate on my thoughts and then pass them on to the company. I do not want to have some sort of fight or difficulty with a vacation company before I experience the changes. I really don't want to fight with them at all. I'd rather just go away than go away mad. Someone else will be thrilled to take our money and provide us the experiences we seek.

 

Finally, I read in a lot of threads, the same 2 or 3 people popping up to tell others that these changes don't matter, go away, NCL is the diet police for your own good, etc. That is utter nonsense. I get the creeping feeling that these are NCL employees or professional internet spammers hired by an ad agency affiliated with NCL. It strikes me as particularly odd that people need to constantly tell others that this does not matter and should not matter to anyone else. Well, it matters to us. It does not matter if you vacation once in 10 years and save up vigorously, or are fortunate enough to vacation 10 times in one year and the money is no impact; NCL has deprived us of something we take great pleasure from and I will not fight them. I will leave. They have broken our trust. Once trust is broken it is nearly impossible to regain. I have seen otherwise intelligent colleagues ostracized from our intellectual community, and to their own negative financial impact, for losing the trust of the community and industry. I am watching the same story unfold here.

 

Best-

 

Steve

[NLH Arizona]

I get the creeping feeling that these are NCL employees or professional internet spammers hired by an ad agency affiliated with NCL.

Just as I get a creeping feeling that someone that's only posts on NCL threads is to complain about these changes (never posted on them before), is an employee of NCL's competition or an internet spammer hired by their competition. Creeping feelings work both ways! Edited May 10, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[Barb Nahoumi]

If ever a comment should get a thumbs up.. this would be it.

 

Like Button

[maywell]

I think all of these ideas to get our point across are good... not purchasing FCC, don't spend much onboard, remove DSC (if that is your wish to do so), cancelling cruises. However, my concern is that we are only a small percentage of cruisers out there. If new cruisers and those that aren't users of CC don't do anything (because they are totally unaware of these changes), will anything we do as CC members actually get the attention of anyone at NCL?

 

In 2011, I had only cruised twice and had no idea that these little inconveniences that we are discussing would make me write on a cruise message board. There are a lot of people out there filling ships that have no clue why they should care that "freestyle" is changing.

 

 

Correct. On my recent Epic cruise, I talked to several people in the Studio Lounge who had never heard of CC even though they normally use the Internet.

 

 

I wish there was a like button and way for these 2 comments to be sticky - Because people on the CC forums in general forget that they are just the extremely minuscule part of the vocal minority of the cruising population of any cruise line. For every one CC poster that sails on a cruise ship, there at least hundreds if not thousands that don't know about the CC forums and its website - The general cruising public doesn't know half the information like we do regarding anything. I wish people here would remember that - the complaints / thoughts here may not reflect those of the majority, people here may claim they are not sailing on NCL anyway, but what about them? Because its take alot people to still buy fares and push stock prices up for NCL to still be in the black.

[Miss Pat]

I can feel for the dedicated fans who have built up their history with NCL only to discover now that they're being treated as children. We've only got 5 cruises with NCL & switched mainly to Princess since 2006.

I wonder if this latest move to milk the dollars from their passengers will go over as big as they assume- which I somehow doubt. I'm sure other cruise lines are also watching closely & will follow suit if it takes off.

I know one thing for sure----we will never consider NCL again in the future & we sail about 60 + days each year.

[mickeysgal]

Good morning and thank you for all the responses to my venting.

 

Firstly, I am most put off by these changes because it amounts to the company not treating us as adults. We feel like we are now misbehaved children and can only have enjoyment in small doses, prescribed ways, and in whatever fashion the company deems acceptable, and when they deem acceptable. It is the opposite of the ethos of Freestyle.

 

Secondly, and I do not mean to brag, but if Mr. DelRio is looking for affluent guests I would guess that we are probably in the top 5% of NCL cruisers. We each are solidly into six figure territory; no kids. If our health continues we can expect to work for another 25 years. We maintain multiple households and like I said, we travel about 15 weeks per year. Cruising is actually among the lowest cost vacations we take because our land vacations tend to be secluded or adventurous. Clearly we can afford to have any of a multitude of experiences that strikes our fancy. While Royal Caribbean does not have the suite amenities that NCL does, they also treat us like smart adults and there is no pandering or patronizing.

 

I will reserve my final judgments until after our cruise. At that time I'll reflect and iterate on my thoughts and then pass them on to the company. I do not want to have some sort of fight or difficulty with a vacation company before I experience the changes. I really don't want to fight with them at all. I'd rather just go away than go away mad. Someone else will be thrilled to take our money and provide us the experiences we seek.

 

Finally, I read in a lot of threads, the same 2 or 3 people popping up to tell others that these changes don't matter, go away, NCL is the diet police for your own good, etc. That is utter nonsense. I get the creeping feeling that these are NCL employees or professional internet spammers hired by an ad agency affiliated with NCL. It strikes me as particularly odd that people need to constantly tell others that this does not matter and should not matter to anyone else. Well, it matters to us. It does not matter if you vacation once in 10 years and save up vigorously, or are fortunate enough to vacation 10 times in one year and the money is no impact; NCL has deprived us of something we take great pleasure from and I will not fight them. I will leave. They have broken our trust. Once trust is broken it is nearly impossible to regain. I have seen otherwise intelligent colleagues ostracized from our intellectual community, and to their own negative financial impact, for losing the trust of the community and industry. I am watching the same story unfold here.

 

Best-

 

Steve

 

Bravo. Thank you for this post.

 

We too have had enough. Will take this next cruise which is way to close to do anything about at this point. But no more - it will be our 3rd and final cruise with NCL. I'm done. There are too many other lines out there that we've already experienced that can hand us an equal or better experience. Back to Celebrity and Royal we go.

[hondorner]

Not sure who would be hurt most by not buying the Future Cruise Credits, unless one intends to never sail NCL again. As long as there's a chance of sailing again in a four year period, the FCC is too good a deal to pass up. I spend $250 on the FCC, and get an immediate benefit of $100 on my current cruise. That reduces my cost for the FCC to $150 net. But, when I apply it to the future cruise, it still counts as $250! That's lowering the cost of the future cruise by$100, at the loss of .0005 interest at current rates....

 

I wish I could invest $150 and get a return of $250 every day!

 

Sure, NCL gets the use of your money for a few years, but again, at current interest rates, that's peanuts -- and it eventually costs them $100!

 

Since I have every expectation of continuing to sail with NCL as long as they have Freestyle dining and dress code and competitive rates, I'd be foolish to give up the FCC. I only expect the food and the itineraries to get better under Del Rio, based on my experiences with Oceania and Regent.

[dna529]

Good morning and thank you for all the responses to my venting.

 

Firstly, I am most put off by these changes because it amounts to the company not treating us as adults. We feel like we are now misbehaved children and can only have enjoyment in small doses, prescribed ways, and in whatever fashion the company deems acceptable, and when they deem acceptable. It is the opposite of the ethos of Freestyle.

 

Secondly, and I do not mean to brag, but if Mr. DelRio is looking for affluent guests I would guess that we are probably in the top 5% of NCL cruisers. We each are solidly into six figure territory; no kids. If our health continues we can expect to work for another 25 years. We maintain multiple households and like I said, we travel about 15 weeks per year. Cruising is actually among the lowest cost vacations we take because our land vacations tend to be secluded or adventurous. Clearly we can afford to have any of a multitude of experiences that strikes our fancy. While Royal Caribbean does not have the suite amenities that NCL does, they also treat us like smart adults and there is no pandering or patronizing.

 

I will reserve my final judgments until after our cruise. At that time I'll reflect and iterate on my thoughts and then pass them on to the company. I do not want to have some sort of fight or difficulty with a vacation company before I experience the changes. I really don't want to fight with them at all. I'd rather just go away than go away mad. Someone else will be thrilled to take our money and provide us the experiences we seek.

 

Finally, I read in a lot of threads, the same 2 or 3 people popping up to tell others that these changes don't matter, go away, NCL is the diet police for your own good, etc. That is utter nonsense. I get the creeping feeling that these are NCL employees or professional internet spammers hired by an ad agency affiliated with NCL. It strikes me as particularly odd that people need to constantly tell others that this does not matter and should not matter to anyone else. Well, it matters to us. It does not matter if you vacation once in 10 years and save up vigorously, or are fortunate enough to vacation 10 times in one year and the money is no impact; NCL has deprived us of something we take great pleasure from and I will not fight them. I will leave. They have broken our trust. Once trust is broken it is nearly impossible to regain. I have seen otherwise intelligent colleagues ostracized from our intellectual community, and to their own negative financial impact, for losing the trust of the community and industry. I am watching the same story unfold here.

 

Best-

 

Steve

 

Well said. I plan to enjoy my first suite experience in November on NCL, but after that it may be time to have other cruises or land vacations that don't make us feel like children.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[DMH15]

Well that's why the dsc thing would work

 

Pax dont need to cut out their enjoyment but cutting the dsc WILL get ncls attention

 

Btw I fully agree that cash tips should be handed out wherever possible in place of dsc

 

Of course the back room crew may or may not lose out but they should not be in the dsc to start with....another thing that ncl will take notice

 

This doesn't need to happen for more than a couple of cruises

 

In other words the pax go on dsc strike so to speak...and it won't interfere with their gambling

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Too many of us would not stiff the crew. I could not do that.

[kessdarln]

Love your positive spin. I have to wonder if people took Freestyle too far. For example, a simple request to make an effort to dress up a smidge for one of the main dining rooms over the other - I noticed people stopped bothering... people became too comfortable treating the ship too casual... business casual became ragged shorts and flip flops - just saying, that's something I noticed different on NCL over several years, and different from other lines like HAL. I saw it as an opportunity to dress for dinner, clean up some, have a girls night out... something I don't get that opportunity much in my world. When I do the 1 night cruises on HAL I always bring a dress :-)

 

 

Not sure who would be hurt most by not buying the Future Cruise Credits, unless one intends to never sail NCL again. As long as there's a chance of sailing again in a four year period, the FCC is too good a deal to pass up. I spend $250 on the FCC, and get an immediate benefit of $100 on my current cruise. That reduces my cost for the FCC to $150 net. But, when I apply it to the future cruise, it still counts as $250! That's lowering the cost of the future cruise by$100, at the loss of .0005 interest at current rates....

 

I wish I could invest $150 and get a return of $250 every day!

 

Sure, NCL gets the use of your money for a few years, but again, at current interest rates, that's peanuts -- and it eventually costs them $100!

 

Since I have every expectation of continuing to sail with NCL as long as they have Freestyle dining and dress code and competitive rates, I'd be foolish to give up the FCC. I only expect the food and the itineraries to get better under Del Rio, based on my experiences with Oceania and Regent.

[luvtheships]

Too many of us would not stiff the crew. I could not do that.

 

I know that and agree....but it one if the few things that ncl would immediately notice

 

Of course guest services needs to know exactly why the dsc is being removed

 

A harsh tactic yes.....but would get ncls attention quickly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[PhDUnderTheSea]

I have to wonder if people took Freestyle too far.

 

Thank you for your comments. Having cruised many different lines I find they are not that different in structure and that Freestyle is more a marketing differentiation than anything else in reality. It's really not "Freestyle" it's just "no set dining times". Like all other cruise lines events happen at preset times and you are free to participate or not.

 

Further, I do not see the point in blaming guests for wanting what has been advertised to them. It is on NCL to deliver on their promises and advertising. I think we all know not all travel is perfect or exactly what the brochure says, but many hosts make the attempt for it to be that way. NCL seems to openly, and with contempt for their guests, to be challenging guests to go ahead, we dare you to try to get what you paid for.

 

I contacted our travel agent, who is a dear friend, and she suggested that in order to avoid some of these troubles that we upgrade to the Haven. However, we got such a great price on our standard balcony that the upgrade is cost prohibitive. She persisted with the line of reasoning "Come on, you only live once." With that reasoning I responded jokingly "Then perhaps I shouldn't waste my time to sail NCL at all?" Which she already knows is the plan going forward after this cruise.

 

Whether we pay $1000 or $20,000 for an experience, I do expect to be treated like a capable adult, and not a toddler.

 

Best-

 

Steve

[Cuizer2]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6382

 

(5:15 p.m. EDT) -- Norwegian Cruise Line has reversed a policy prohibiting passengers from taking food from restaurants to their cabins, effective immediately, President and Chief Operating Officer Andy Stuart told Cruise Critic.

 

The decision came in response to feedback from Norwegian's passengers, who were unhappy with the concept when it rolled out earlier this month. At that time, Norwegian said it had asked passengers to refrain from taking food from restaurants, including the main buffet, to eat elsewhere in the interest of keeping its cruise ships clean.

 

When the new rule went public, multiple threads were launched on the Cruise Critic message boards. Community members speculated, among other things, that the policy was an effort to force passengers to pay a newly instituted $7.95 room service fee if they wanted to eat in their cabins.

 

The reality, said Stuart, is the timing was coincidental.

 

"It was more about the guest experience, not about room service," Stuart said.

 

In fact, the decision to ban food came after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. President and CEO Frank Del Rio sailed a Norwegian ship and noticed numerous dishes in the hallways, as well as passengers carrying plates loaded with food, sloshing over the sides and onto the carpet, Stuart said. When Del Rio returned from his cruise, he spoke with Stuart, and they decided to ask passengers not to transport food.

 

Stuart said the conversation lasted about 2 minutes. There was no motive, he added, except "how do we fix this issue?"

 

The passionate response came as a surprise, said Stuart, adding the topic is "clearly important to guests." The cruise line has reverted to the previous policy; passengers can once again carry out food from all restaurants.

 

Further, crew onboard will fix the problem Del Rio identified by making more regular sweeps through corridors, picking up dishes and cleaning up spills.

 

"Obviously, this was an emotive issue for people," Stuart said.

 

Stuart lamented the fact some of the great things Norwegian Cruise Line has rolled out have been lost in the discussion of the policy. In particular, Stuart cited the success the line has seen on its ships since it eliminated the cover charge for its Asian restaurants -- 12 venues across its 13 ships. The number of diners in these restaurants averages 250 a night, up from 50.

 

He also pointed to the variety -- and volume -- of add-on deals Norwegian has offered, saying items such as a complimentary Ultimate Beverage Package or Ultimate Dining Package create value that makes cruising a more inclusive product.

 

"The number [of people] who booked during this time period, with a much more inclusive product than ever before, is astounding," Stuart said. Also this year, Norwegian announced, beginning in 2016, Norwegian Sky will be fully inclusive, allowing passengers to pay one fare that includes items like beverages and alternative dining.

 

--By Colleen McDaniel, Managing Editor

[Miss Pat]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6382

 

(5:15 p.m. EDT) -- Norwegian Cruise Line has reversed a policy prohibiting passengers from taking food from restaurants to their cabins, effective immediately, President and Chief Operating Officer Andy Stuart told Cruise Critic.

 

It all sounds like this decision was made by someone who has no concept of what people do on a vacation and didn't realize the rebellion that it would cause. How people like that rise into those positions really puzzles me.

[mickeysgal]

It all sounds like this decision was made by someone who has no concept of what people do on a vacation and didn't realize the rebellion that it would cause. How people like that rise into those positions really puzzles me.

 

Agreed.

I highly doubt this person sails like a common passenger subject to the very rules that they make. Rules are made to be broken by those that create them. They lose touch with what their customer base wants, needs, and expects for the price they pay for the cruise. Truly wish these execs would walk a mile in the average passenger shoes before hauling off and making inept decisions that taint people's opinions of NCL. Hard to win a customer back after they're gone.

[Miss Pat]

Hard to win a customer back after they're gone.

I believe this statement is especially true in the cruise business since most people stay dedicated to 1 or 2 cruise lines & hate to give up their built up benefits. Lose a customer to another cruise line & you'll probably never get them back.

It's a good thing for NCL that someone had the common sense to reverse this bad decision before it cost them big time.

[mugtech]

Gambling is going to be the big one... Get people to not gamble.. CAS is a big money maker. This is why the Hawaii cruise is so much more expensive, they don't have a casino.

 

American flagged ship, must pay USA wages.

No casino is just an extra benefit to non-gambling non-smokers.

[mking8288]

I believe this statement is especially true in the cruise business since most people stay dedicated to 1 or 2 cruise lines & hate to give up their built up benefits. Lose a customer to another cruise line & you'll probably never get them back.

It's a good thing for NCL that someone had the common sense to reverse this bad decision before it cost them big time.

It was NOT common sense in the decision reversal, rather financial sense when they began to see cancellations and drops in future bookings - including "feedbacks" they heard from their travel partners. Our TA's definitely listen to us & it was going to hit the commissions.

 

The horse might be dead for not as some will be here - unsubscribe & don't read, simply - but the dog & pony show is continuing, the same COO/CEO are still in position and I've questioned Stuart's roles in all this from the onse - he was the "insider" that was promoted, but not FDR's first choice - that fellow is gone, keep that in perspective.

 

Six of us that typically take our 2nd. and major Fall vacation will still be packing our bags in September, except it's not going to be NCL - doing our part to help them save their Platinum perks. Not to worry, they will sell & fill the 3 cabins that's still outside final payment window - not even a tiny micro blip on their radar, will not be their captive audience.

 

When a business with poor ethics, break its good faith & good will and customer lose their trust, winning back isn't as simply as firing off another press release - it might work for others including those that never sailed on NCL preaching the gospel, great. "Another" travel partner is singing to us and we like it - and, we got choices.

[bangzoom6877]

American flagged ship, must pay USA wages.

No casino is just an extra benefit to non-gambling non-smokers.

 

Yes, for sure. I remember back in 2001 DH and I were considering the Norwegian Star for a Hawaii cruise, and it wasn't any more expensive than any other cruise but it wasn't an American flagged ship. One of the port stops was in the Republic of Kiribati, in the South Pacific. That was the one foreign port so it didn't have to be a US flagged ship. There was no casino on the ship at that time either so that didn't make a difference. It was the ship's registry that made the difference in price once they switched over to placing a US flagged ship in Hawaii.

[bangzoom6877]

It was NOT common sense in the decision reversal, rather financial sense when they began to see cancellations and drops in future bookings - including "feedbacks" they heard from their travel partners. Our TA's definitely listen to us & it was going to hit the commissions.

 

The horse might be dead for not as some will be here - unsubscribe & don't read, simply - but the dog & pony show is continuing, the same COO/CEO are still in position and I've questioned Stuart's roles in all this from the onse - he was the "insider" that was promoted, but not FDR's first choice - that fellow is gone, keep that in perspective.

 

Six of us that typically take our 2nd. and major Fall vacation will still be packing our bags in September, except it's not going to be NCL - doing our part to help them save their Platinum perks. Not to worry, they will sell & fill the 3 cabins that's still outside final payment window - not even a tiny micro blip on their radar, will not be their captive audience.

 

When a business with poor ethics, break its good faith & good will and customer lose their trust, winning back isn't as simply as firing off another press release - it might work for others including those that never sailed on NCL preaching the gospel, great. "Another" travel partner is singing to us and we like it - and, we got choices.

 

Exactly! We will go on our July Breakaway cruise with an open mind, and I'm sure our group of 11 people will have a wonderful time on our vacation. But none of us is tied to one cruise line, or even two cruise lines! We go where it is best for us at the time. If that happens to be NCL, great. If not that's fine too. We never buy future cruise credits on any cruise because we only cruise every other year and in two years a lot can change and the cruise line may not be the best choice for us at that time for whatever reason. We prefer the freedom to choose when it is time to plan and book. And we never say never...learned that lesson after our 2004 Dawn cruise when we said we would never sail NCL again. Then the reviews got better and better for NCL, and we found ourselves loving NCL two years later and again 5 years after that.

[ryty44]

14 and a half hours and we will be sailing away! I'm so ready for this break from reality!

[mickeysgal]

Exactly! We will go on our July Breakaway cruise with an open mind, and I'm sure our group of 11 people will have a wonderful time on our vacation. But none of us is tied to one cruise line, or even two cruise lines! We go where it is best for us at the time. If that happens to be NCL, great. If not that's fine too. We never buy future cruise credits on any cruise because we only cruise every other year and in two years a lot can change and the cruise line may not be the best choice for us at that time for whatever reason. We prefer the freedom to choose when it is time to plan and book. And we never say never...learned that lesson after our 2004 Dawn cruise when we said we would never sail NCL again. Then the reviews got better and better for NCL, and we found ourselves loving NCL two years later and again 5 years after that.

 

This is us, exactly. So much variety out there...we go where it fits us best at the moment...itinerary, ship, price, etc.