New format for silver/gold/plat/plus coupon packet

[dexddd]

The number of platinums and platinum pluses onboard will vary a lot. I imagine that on some cruises out of Miami, for example there are regularly hundreds of Platinums and there will be quite a few pluses. I've certainly been on some cruises with lots.

 

On the other hand, I've been on some cruises where there were only a handful of platinums onboard. This seems to be especially the case in Europe.

 

I note the comment about them being very strict about entry to the priority boarding area, and not allowing people in your party who aren't platinum. I certainly hope they use common sense here when it comes to kids. Our son our be platinum (platinum plus after our next cruise), but has no status due to his age. It would be surprising if they don't let us through, but you can't rule anything out. I suspect I would kick up a fuss about that one. :)

 

How far is he from turning 18? Our DD turned 18 in January and her status still shows "Child". I've emailed them 2 times with no response. I'll have to call them.

[KeithJenner]

How far is he from turning 18? Our DD turned 18 in January and her status still shows "Child". I've emailed them 2 times with no response. I'll have to call them.

 

He's only 12, so that's not an issue for us now. I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you.

[Cruising...our happy place]

Georgia, thank you for your 10 points! Although it is a little item, my DW and I are happy that the service charge is included in the Latitude meals at the 4 restaurants. It was always confusing for us between what was covered in the SDP and the Latitude meals. Of course, we know we can tip extra for the special service....

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[logan25]

The actual statement is:-

Benefit entitles each guest to one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert of your choice. Entrée items up to $20 are covered. For items over this amount, an upcharge will be added to your onboard account. Entrée item Côte De Boeuf Pour Deux in Le Bistro, is a shared dish and will be treated as two entrées. In Cagney’s where side dishes are not included in the entrée price but as a la carte items, an upcharge will be added to your onboard account.

 

So NO side dishes covered in Cagneys!! :mad:

 

Ok, I take back my gratitude for now making Cagney's an option for Platinum meal benefit. Now I judge it to be chintzy!

[Maraprince]

Is a regular coffee/tea included with dessert in Le Bistro as part of the new Platinum benefit? What about an ice tea?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I started a reply but it vanished so I apologize if this is partially duplicated.

 

I think if there was a child he would be admitted with his parents. The folks I saw turned away were all adult parties.

 

I know what the website says regarding Cagneys, but that was no tour experience. We all know that what is printed and how things work in real life are not always the same.

 

It will be interesting to see how many people are in each category. I look forward to seeing it. We will be back onboard in April and I will ask, at least for that sailing. At some of the parties, they have announced it, but the rep said this time she did not have all the stats due to the changes.

 

BTW, the 60 minutes of free internet is a pretty nice perk- not as good as that extra bottle of water, but not bad :rolleyes: I don't remember if I said you need to go to the Internet cafe to have the manager activate your minutes. And it is per person not per cabin.

 

It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks go.

[casofilia]

Is a regular coffee/tea included with dessert in Le Bistro as part of the new Platinum benefit? What about an ice tea?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

 

It always was so I don't see that changing; coffee/tea are part of a meal. We have always been able to get them with any meal anywhere on the ships. Never drank iced tea but have seen it provided in the same way as tea/coffee.

[candygirl27540]

We were on the Feb.3rd cruise out of NOLA as well and my husband and I are Platinum. We boarded with 2 couples who are not. I asked the agent guarding the Gold/Plat check in line if they could check in with us since one of our party has cognitive problems and was told yes.:)

 

The line at the Cruise Next desk was at least 10 deep when we arrived so later in the day I went back to get the number for the concierge to change a dinner reservation ( which btw is still listed as a perk ). You would have thought I'd asked for the Captain's private cell number! The rep at the desk referred me to the main restaurant number 050. I explained that as a perk for loyalty I am "entitled" to access the services of the concierge. She very reluctantly gave me the number. I then called the number and left a message about changing our reservation.

Much later I received a phone call from the main number, 050, to assist me. While it was not the concierge desk I did appreciate that someone from that dept. made an effort to help me.

 

When it was time to get our luggage tags ( which are not delivered to your cabin anymore) I again had to go to the Latitudes desk to receive them. The rep very snottily asked for my card to prove I was Plat and then proceeded to give me 2 tags. I politely asked for 2 additional tags for my husband and was told he needed to come personally and show his card! I told her he was not available at the moment and would she please check her records to verify his status. She informed me that was not possible. I said nothing but I'm sure she knew I was not a happy camper!

She watched me as I immediately went to the other side of guest services and picked up a " note to Tony" the Hotel Director . I then went right back to her and copied her name from her tag and as I was walking away she called me and said "Wait, here are your tags."

 

For the person who asked about laundry it was still the paper bags and only 1 per stateroom.

Edited February 14, 2017 by candygirl27540

[NMLady]

I've now emailed our PCC to see if he knows or can find out.

I'll post answer tomorrow night.

 

Our PCC did not have exact numbers but said that Platinum-Plus members were about a thousand.

 

 

That's several hundred more than I thought.

[karoo]

Maybe they could have a sign up sheet displayed on a table outside the door with the time/date etc to stop passengers having to wait in long lines. Easy enough to check on the latitude status when people enter the party as it is displayed on the keycard. On the two cruises I did in January there was no 'dining with officers' advertised in the Freestyle Daily so maybe it will only be for Platinum Plus or above. It was really hard also to see the Cruise Next consultants onboard unless you were prepared to stand and wait in a long line something I'm sure passengers don't want to do on their first day of embarkation.

Quick question-Is this just ship specific e.g. the mega ships or is it across the fleet?

[Aturnee]

I think the dinner with the officer is a nice perk. I have been chosen to do this when it was offered in the daily or through Cruise Critic sign up. Apparently this is another reason to line up at Cruise Next office. Has anyone done this under the new perk?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Maybe they could have a sign up sheet displayed on a table outside the door with the time/date etc to stop passengers having to wait in long lines. Easy enough to check on the latitude status when people enter the party as it is displayed on the keycard. On the two cruises I did in January there was no 'dining with officers' advertised in the Freestyle Daily so maybe it will only be for Platinum Plus or above. It was really hard also to see the Cruise Next consultants onboard unless you were prepared to stand and wait in a long line something I'm sure passengers don't want to do on their first day of embarkation.

Quick question-Is this just ship specific e.g. the mega ships or is it across the fleet?

 

I was told the roll out rules were fleet wide, but I'm sure that will change. I find it hard to believe that when they prepare those trifold for delivery to the room they do not know when the part is. Certainly they could put a label or small insert (the trifold is about 5 X 5 when folded) with the info. I fully appreciate reducing printed material, but this is ridiculous. You could tear the dNg thing in half for an rsvp slip to drop in a box at the desk.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

CandyFirl, we sailed together. Did you attend the CC meeting?

 

Amazing how different the sMe cruise can be for two people. I called for the concierge number, too, and got it with no problem. Maybe because we were plat plus?

 

 

I didn't think about having to go get tags because we do all carryon,mbut you're right. Not honoring your request for additional tags was just rude and uncalled for. Not to mention a waste of everyone's time. Jeez.

[xriva]

I have yet to grasp the reason for attending. With 75% of the passengers having the UBP there is no longer the incentive to get a couple of free drinks, and the canapes - well let's just say with all the food on the ship if that is why you are attending there is something wrong with you. The officers clearly don't enjoy it (at least based on the looks on their faces).

 

It is a thing of the past that has run its life and needs to go the way of the steamship.

 

 

I always thought it was an interesting concept, but it depends on the Captain. I've noticed some Captains are brand ambassadors who love meeting people and some drive the ship. If you get a driver, the party is less interesting, because the crew follows the Captain's lead.

 

Plus, there are multiple parties - the CC Meet & Greet, the Latitudes party and the Captain's cocktail party are all very similar, the difference is the amount of alcohol in the drinks. So, it can't be much fun for the senior staff to have to go through the motions several times, and often with some of the same people.

 

It can be fun, but I don't think they need all the parties.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[logan25]

We were on the Feb.3rd cruise out of NOLA as well and my husband and I are Platinum. ... For the person who asked about laundry it was still the paper bags and only 1 per stateroom.

 

 

Thank you for the current information. Many of us have been assuming it is still one per Plat member. Hubby is not going to be happy about the cutback.

 

 

NCL giveth and NCL taketh away

[KeithJenner]

Thank you for the current information. Many of us have been assuming it is still one per Plat member. Hubby is not going to be happy about the cutback.

 

 

NCL giveth and NCL taketh away

 

 

 

It's not an assumption. The T&Cs state that it is per member.

[casofilia]

Statement is:

 

Laundry Service

50% on one bag for Gold, one complimentary bag for Platinum and above

So if both of you are Platinum then there are 2 bags. That is my reading of it.

Edited February 15, 2017 by casofilia
Typo

[KeithJenner]

It's actually clearer than that.

 

"Platinum, Platinum Plus and Ambassador members receive complimentary bulk bag laundry service which provides each Platinum, Platinum Plus and Ambassador member with one (1) bag of bulk bag laundry service per member, at no cost."

[lettienets]

Since the new point system just started and all the waiting in line on the first day at the Cruise Next desk... maybe the Latitude consultants will start complaining about the logistics ... Hopefully something will be done about it. How can one person do all that between arrival onboard and 9pm.

I have never had dinner with an officer, done the Behind the Scenes tour and would like to attend the loyalty party, don't drink but like to meet people, so I will get stuck in a long line.

 

Also you have to see the computer guy to get your extra internet minutes. What a hassle when first on the ship.

 

For a cruise line advertising freestyle there is far too much booking that has to be done. Terrible. I bought 3 cruise next and am having a hard time using them now before expiry. Something else for a holiday seems to pop up.

 

Sent from my BLU STUDIO 6.0 HD using Tapatalk

[KeithJenner]

Our PCC did not have exact numbers but said that Platinum-Plus members were about a thousand.

 

 

That's several hundred more than I thought.

 

It's a little lower than I'd have guessed.

 

 

If we assume that there are 1,000 and each one sails for two weeks a year (some will be more than that, some won't sail at all) then that means that on average there would be about 38 onboard all the ships at any time, or nearly 3 per ship.

 

 

The OP stated that there were 11 on their cruise.

 

 

It could be that their ship is on a route that has a higher than average number of repeat cruisers (European itineraries are likely to have a lot less in my experience, for example), but that would still suggest to me that a thousand is a little low.

 

 

Not far off though.

[KeithJenner]

It's no great surprise, but some of these early reports of how things are working don't agree with the FAQ's and T&Cs of the new program. Hopefully things may resolve themselves over time.

 

Specifically:

 

 

The T&C's state one laundry bag per member, not stateroom.

 

 

The free internet minutes are supposed to be automatically added to your account. When you log in, they will be allocated to you.

 

 

Perhaps most significantly, the F&Q's say about the cocktail party "Simply present your keycard to attend".

 

 

We shall see how this goes over the coming weeks.

 

Edit: Actually, some of this looks like it will improve over time anyway. The notes to the tier benefits does give a little more information regarding the internet benefit. If says that for reservations made after Feb 3rd the free minutes will be automatically added. I assume then that this is similar to the shore excursion credit where it seems that their systems can't cope with backdating this, so things will be an issue for those of us who have quite a few cruises booked. At least we get our extra latitudes points though.

 

 

I'm a little unclear about the cocktail party though. I assumed that people were having to go to the CruiseNext office to register for the party. If it is just to find out the time and place then hopefully a notice on the door will resolve this reasonably well, although a note in the room would be easier.

[Maraprince]

Since the new point system just started and all the waiting in line on the first day at the Cruise Next desk... maybe the Latitude consultants will start complaining about the logistics ... Hopefully something will be done about it. How can one person do all that between arrival onboard and 9pm.

I have never had dinner with an officer, done the Behind the Scenes tour and would like to attend the loyalty party, don't drink but like to meet people, so I will get stuck in a long line.

 

Also you have to see the computer guy to get your extra internet minutes. What a hassle when first on the ship.

 

For a cruise line advertising freestyle there is far too much booking that has to be done. Terrible. I bought 3 cruise next and am having a hard time using them now before expiry. Something else for a holiday seems to pop up.

 

Sent from my BLU STUDIO 6.0 HD using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Since the new benefits only recently kicked in, I am sure things will come to a head very soon because there is no way in the world that one or two reps can handle the long lines the first day of a sailing without creating unhappy passengers. How can a ship as large as the Breakaway handle all this on the first night? Just too many things to address on the first night! Some passengers who have traveled a great distance grab a quick bite and then head to their cabins and just fall asleep. So, if you do not wait on a long line the first night you are missing out on quite a lot of things.

 

 

Give it a month and I would really be surprised if the "old" way of leaving the invites in the cabin does not return. Also, just provide "coupons" in the cabins to be completed for the new various special perks and dropped off in a box outside the Latitude rep's office if you want to attend the event. Painless and no long lines.

 

 

It seems that NCL really, really, really wants to push the next cruise certificates as much as possible and feels it has a captive audience by making it mandatory to wait on line for the new benefits and get a sales pitch at the same time. But the reps are only human and can only spend a very limited amount of time with each passenger whose primary goal is the benefits first.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[Sand and Seas]

 

It seems that NCL really, really, really wants to push the next cruise certificates as much as possible and feels it has a captive audience by making it mandatory to wait on line for the new benefits and get a sales pitch at the same time. But the reps are only human and can only spend a very limited amount of time with each passenger whose primary goal is the benefits first.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

 

Those of us who are Platinum and above already know the benefit of purchasing the CruiseNext certificates. We have been using them for years! We love to get the discounted certificate to book our next cruise, so the individual sales pitch really isn't necessary.

 

Just a side note, I booked another cruise last week and the Plat Plus Internet minutes were automatically added to my amenity invoice.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Sand and Seas
correction

[Maraprince]

Those of us who are Platinum and above already know the benefit of purchasing the CruiseNext certificates. We have been using them for years! We love to get the discounted certificate to book our next cruise, so the individual sales pitch really isn't necessary.

 

Just a side note, I booked another cruise last week and the Plat Plus Internet minutes were automatically added to my amenity invoice.

 

 

 

Yet another reason for not having to stand on a long line to register for everything else!:D

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[dexddd]

Those of us who are Platinum and above already know the benefit of purchasing the CruiseNext certificates. We have been using them for years! We love to get the discounted certificate to book our next cruise, so the individual sales pitch really isn't necessary.

 

Just a side note, I booked another cruise last week and the Plat Plus Internet minutes were automatically added to my amenity invoice.

 

That is where I was coming from when I was not happy about getting a call in our room one afternoon asking why we only purchased one and did we know that two was a better deal? Yes, I know, I have known, and they advertise it how many times a day?

 

 

The reason I only bought one and not two is I can't trust NCL that far out.