changes for Platinum Plus latitude members

[DMH15]

Would the Plat Plus discount apply to a day pass to the spa? We like to go spend a day or possibly two there during the week but not enough to buy the weekly pass.

 

 

No. Signature treatments only.

 

 

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[NoDayButToday00]

Agree with the we didn't include the coupon with our Platinum laundry and they took it just by writing Platinum on the strip. Also agree with the if we wanted a 2nd laundry they would have accommodated that too.

 

As far as capacity of Le bistro? Le Bistro was empty during our latest Gem trip and we basically could get any reservation we wanted minus the last night. From our previous trips, this was the most requested restaurant. Not even close this time.

 

My biggest gripe is the loss of a bottle of wine. We don't sail with others but those of you that do should be raising cane over the loss of dinners? I worked this hard for a level and am screwed because I am in a cabin with others? That is lunacy.

[newmexicoNita]

First of all to the OP: you are complaining about the food in Cagney's and tying it into the new latitude program: I don't see the connection. I am just happy they have added Cagney's to the list. Sorry your meal was sub par. What a disappointment. We were at Le Bistro about a year or so ago and experienced poor service. We did use the free voucher they gave us and had wonderful service. Stuff happens. I felt the buffet on our last cruise had gone downhill pretty badly, but a buffet is still a buffet and not meant to be gourmet.

As for bad meals in your favorite specialty dining room or how crowded it might be; wow; on the Epic in November all the speciality dining rooms were moderately of completely full and the food was very good. In our case, our favorite happened to be le Bistro and we enjoyed the new menu. But that is simply a matter of opinion. Food is objective.

Laundry bag: we have always only received a letter in our cabin about 1 bag, but we have also just written, like others say, Platinum on our laundry bag and never been charged for the second bag. I got this hint, right here on CC.

The bottle of wine, is a disappointment for many, including us, but on the other hand with UBP, which so many of us have, it certainly isn't going to be a big deal. It is just nice to have that extra bottle to bring back to the cabin for a night cap or whatever.

I am not happy or sad about the changes in the program and I am PPI just look at it as a chance to get a few freesbys. Nothing more. ;p;p

[BirdTravels]

Laundry bag: we have always only received a letter in our cabin about 1 bag, but we have also just written, like others say, Platinum on our laundry bag and never been charged for the second bag. I got this hint, right here on CC.

 

Yes. Prior to the change and after the change, it is one free bag of laundry per platinum member. If you have two platinum members, two free bags (just write the member's name and "PLATINUM" for the amount due. It is stated that way in the terms and conditions.

[boopsahoy]

So,,, your complaint about Latitudes is a bad dinner at Cagney's????

 

Our opinion is totally the opposite. We have sailed 5 times since the Le Bistro menus changed in November 2015. On our most recent cruises, we have left our Platinum Le Bistro certificates unused because we don't like the new menus. We rather pay to eat at Cagney's than use the free certs at Le Bistro.

 

They have ruined Le Bistro-we would eat there 3 or 4 times a cruise Last cruise We actually cancelled reservations. Everything that was good was removed from the menu OR the recipe was changed...no more cream in the mussels? No more duck just shredded meat? Seriously? And the cones are gone...

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Re: spa discounts. It is signature items only, but on the Dawn the spa manager said she also includes it on Swedish massages. So, it pays to ask if you are interested in a non-signature item.

 

For all the heartburn over the plat changes, I will say that the 60 minutes of free internet per member was nice. I'm not a big internet user on ships,mbut it was nice to check in with the kids and situation at home. And if we were flying it would have been a treat to checkin and get boarding passes without buying an Internet package.

 

We too have never been charged for a second bag of laundry. Maybe just luck, but that's been our experience

[hawkeyetlse]

We don't sail with others but those of you that do should be raising cane over the loss of dinners? I worked this hard for a level and am screwed because I am in a cabin with others? That is lunacy.

"Worked this hard"???

 

There have always been per stateroom benefits and per person benefits. Obviously it's better for the customer if benefits are per person, but if NCL states up front that something is per stateroom, on what grounds would you "raise Cain" and demand that they make it per person? Because it was like that a year ago?

 

If you want to maximize the per stateroom benefits, don't put 3 or 4 people in a room.

[newmexicoNita]

Re: spa discounts. It is signature items only, but on the Dawn the spa manager said she also includes it on Swedish massages. So, it pays to ask if you are interested in a non-signature item.

 

For all the heartburn over the plat changes, I will say that the 60 minutes of free internet per member was nice. I'm not a big internet user on ships,mbut it was nice to check in with the kids and situation at home. And if we were flying it would have been a treat to checkin and get boarding passes without buying an Internet package.

 

We too have never been charged for a second bag of laundry. Maybe just luck, but that's been our experience

great to know they might they might vary on the spa, as we are both inclined to give it a try this time around. I have used the spa before, Pat never has.

 

I too am happy about the internet. We rarely use it, but certainly will on this cruise.

[newmexicoNita]

They have ruined Le Bistro-we would eat there 3 or 4 times a cruise Last cruise We actually cancelled reservations. Everything that was good was removed from the menu OR the recipe was changed...no more cream in the mussels? No more duck just shredded meat? Seriously? And the cones are gone...

I still maintain, it is simply a matter of opinion. I never got th mussels until our last cruise. I always got escarot, but decided museels this last cruise: I absolutely loved them. The only problem, there were too many. :cool:

[cage keeper]

I knew this was coming but it is always a bit of a surprise when benefits are reduced or changed. We were on the Pearl Mar 3-10. No longer does each PP Latitude member get 2 le Bistro dinners with a bottle of wine. Now it's one dinner at Cagney's or le Bistro and the other dinner is at Moderno or La Cuccina. I think you are limited to 1 bottle of wine. Also 1 bag of free laundry per cabin and it used to be 2. Seems the new CEO keeps chipping away at all the benefits. We've been on close to 18 NCL cruises and this is the first time our Cagney's dinner was awful. Service very bad and the usual filet was tough. Sat for over 45 minutes before the soup came and then the entrée came almost an hr later. Our reservations were at 7 and a bit after 9 we left before coffee and dessert. A lady came over and asked if all was ok and I said no as we have waited so long. The restaurant was close to empty! New staff and they didn't know which end was up. The lady did give us another voucher but we didn't use it at Cagneys and Cagney's used to be our favorite! ( sigh )

 

Sad to hear. Hope we have better luck on our upcoming cruise as I booked it first night and last.

[mypleasure]

We have just returned from our cruise. Husband is Platinum (now PP) and I was PP going in. We had UDP and UBP so meals and bottles of wine were of no concern to us at all on this occasion. As it was a 15 night cruise laundry was. We got our first bag of laundry with no issues, as we were in a suite it was a huge bag too. Our room steward raised a concern about the second bag as it was thought by him to be a per room benefit not a per person benefit. A quick word with the concierge and it was confirmed as PER PERSON and picked up and returned next day.

After a few days of the cruise we got a copy of our account and saw shore excursions were charged at full price. Took the time to visit the desk and one of the staff very patiently amended every shore ex to show one person with Platinum discount and one with Platinum Plus discount. While chatting as he did this he said that it would happen automatically for cruises booked after the programme changed but cruises booked earlier would have to be done on board manually. So something for some people to keep a look out on.

Overall I am happy with the new program. Will see how it goes for future cruises but I feel I get more for my new status. I always found 2 meals at Le Bistro was good but I don't mind the new way as we tend to eat at most of the specialities anyway and it might encourage some to try something different. I agree that this change was brought in to balance the load across the restaurants and to encourage usage of some of the others. I understand that some will be unhappy when they see a change that affects them and that some are unhappy just because something changed but for me it all worked out and we had a great cruise with just 2 minor glitches that were sorted out with the staff very easily.

[jvsnana]

We have just returned from our cruise. Husband is Platinum (now PP) and I was PP going in. We had UDP and UBP so meals and bottles of wine were of no concern to us at all on this occasion. As it was a 15 night cruise laundry was. We got our first bag of laundry with no issues, as we were in a suite it was a huge bag too. Our room steward raised a concern about the second bag as it was thought by him to be a per room benefit not a per person benefit. A quick word with the concierge and it was confirmed as PER PERSON and picked up and returned next day.

After a few days of the cruise we got a copy of our account and saw shore excursions were charged at full price. Took the time to visit the desk and one of the staff very patiently amended every shore ex to show one person with Platinum discount and one with Platinum Plus discount. While chatting as he did this he said that it would happen automatically for cruises booked after the programme changed but cruises booked earlier would have to be done on board manually. So something for some people to keep a look out on.

Overall I am happy with the new program. Will see how it goes for future cruises but I feel I get more for my new status. I always found 2 meals at Le Bistro was good but I don't mind the new way as we tend to eat at most of the specialities anyway and it might encourage some to try something different. I agree that this change was brought in to balance the load across the restaurants and to encourage usage of some of the others. I understand that some will be unhappy when they see a change that affects them and that some are unhappy just because something changed but for me it all worked out and we had a great cruise with just 2 minor glitches that were sorted out with the staff very easily.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how your cruise went!

I am in the same boat with the shore excursion credit, so I will definitely take care of it onboard.

[old nutter]

While chatting as he did this he said that it would happen automatically for cruises booked after the programme changed but cruises booked earlier would have to be done on board manually. So something for some people to keep a look out on.

 

So are they not working the shore excursion charging processes in line with the benefit Ts and Cs - Oops - not sure that is legal trading??? Or are we only talking about some sort of grandfathering of benefit for shore excursions booked before Feb 3 - big difference in the population affected for each of these scenarios.

 

 

It's bad enough that all sorts of stuff is always hidden in the ad-speak and you have to scratch around the Ts and Cs to find the real details - even very significant exceptions such as the "per cabin/per person" stuff for the meals. If we can't trust the small print as well things could get a bit juicy. Not sure how non-CC members (most passengers, I suspect) would ever know that they were due discounts so wouldn't even know to chase round the ship to get what was due to them. This could be quite a lot of cash for the NCL back pocket until it settles down to cruises booked after Feb 3 - if that is what is meant, not just for any shore excursions booked before the change!!! It would be very easy to sort if the local supermarket tried this sort of stuff on, but who monitors potential sharp practices involving cruise companies?

[KeithJenner]

So are they not working the shore excursion charging processes in line with the benefit Ts and Cs - Oops - not sure that is legal trading??? Or are we only talking about some sort of grandfathering of benefit for shore excursions booked before Feb 3 - big difference in the population affected for each of these scenarios.

 

 

It's bad enough that all sorts of stuff is always hidden in the ad-speak and you have to scratch around the Ts and Cs to find the real details - even very significant exceptions such as the "per cabin/per person" stuff for the meals. If we can't trust the small print as well things could get a bit juicy. Not sure how non-CC members (most passengers, I suspect) would ever know that they were due discounts so wouldn't even know to chase round the ship to get what was due to them. This could be quite a lot of cash for the NCL back pocket until it settles down to cruises booked after Feb 3 - if that is what is meant, not just for any shore excursions booked before the change!!! It would be very easy to sort if the local supermarket tried this sort of stuff on, but who monitors potential sharp practices involving cruise companies?

 

This is very different from the local supermarket trying things on.

 

Remember that for people who are effected by this, this is an additional benefit that they were unaware of when booking (except for those who rushed to book a cruise between the announcement and the start of the new program I suppose. They are getting more than they expected when they booked.

 

Also, NCL isn't advertising a lower price and then charging something higher. The system, or details you are given onboard,. shows the full price, even for those who booked after Feb. The difference is that if you booked after that date then the discount is automatically applied at checkout.

 

All you have to do to get your discount is ask for it onboard. If you don't know about the discount then you won't ask for it, but also you will have paid the advertised price. I can't see any legal issues at all.

[Budget Queen]

I expected cuts a while ago. There are multiple thousands of platinum's and sorry, it is not that hard to get. I qualified when it used to be 14 cruises needed.

 

I go on cruises for itinerary, only, mix and match cruise lines, depending on my priority. I don't "work for" any insignificant perks, to me.

 

All the perks have costs involved. I'd rather have overall lower rates.

[old nutter]

This is very different from the local supermarket trying things on.

 

Remember that for people who are effected by this, this is an additional benefit that they were unaware of when booking (except for those who rushed to book a cruise between the announcement and the start of the new program I suppose. They are getting more than they expected when they booked.

 

Also, NCL isn't advertising a lower price and then charging something higher. The system, or details you are given onboard,. shows the full price, even for those who booked after Feb. The difference is that if you booked after that date then the discount is automatically applied at checkout.

 

All you have to do to get your discount is ask for it onboard. If you don't know about the discount then you won't ask for it, but also you will have paid the advertised price. I can't see any legal issues at all.

 

Sorry, but I may not have been clear. I was not referring to any kind of retrospective discount before the changes and I think my use of the word "booking" may have been confusing. The situation I was suggesting may be an issue, refers to those who have fully paid for their cruise but not yet boarded and want to purchase shore excursions before they depart. At that point, the time they booked for the cruise is largely irrelevant (except maybe to the NCL computer systems of course for other reasons!). The excursion would be a new purchase and the latitudes status of the person should be whatever it is at the time of that purchase and any benefit accorded to that status should be applied just before payment.

 

According to the Latitude Ts and Cs, if purchasing an excursion ahead of departure using myNCL (ie pre-paid), the price shown when the purchase is started would be the full price and the relevant discount according to their latitudes status would be applied at the checkout. Therefore, the final price would be either 10 or 15% lower than the price shown at the start when it is paid for if booked by someone who is Platinum or Platinum Plus at the time of that item purchase. NCL would be advertising a price and according to their relevant Ts and Cs, this price should be reduced by 10 or 15% when paid for by either Platinum or Platinum Plus people. Anyone who is Platinum or Platinum Plus buying that excursion before boarding the ship would have expected the final price to be 10 or 15% lower than the one shown at the start of the purchase process, so IF that discount is not actually applied, the price paid would be higher than that advertised by combining price and discount. If the relevant discount is applied there is clearly no problem. However, it appears from previous posters that the discount is not being applied by the computer systems for pre-paid excursions as described in the Ts and Cs and some sort of manual kludge involving OBC is having to be made on-board for those who ask for the correction.

[KeithJenner]

Sorry, but I may not have been clear. I was not referring to any kind of retrospective discount before the changes and I think my use of the word "booking" may have been confusing. The situation I was suggesting may be an issue, refers to those who have fully paid for their cruise but not yet boarded and want to purchase shore excursions before they depart. At that point, the time they booked for the cruise is largely irrelevant (except maybe to the NCL computer systems of course for other reasons!). The excursion would be a new purchase and the latitudes status of the person should be whatever it is at the time of that purchase and any benefit accorded to that status should be applied just before payment.

 

According to the Latitude Ts and Cs, if purchasing an excursion ahead of departure using myNCL (ie pre-paid), the price shown when the purchase is started would be the full price and the relevant discount according to their latitudes status would be applied at the checkout. Therefore, the final price would be either 10 or 15% lower than the price shown at the start when it is paid for if booked by someone who is Platinum or Platinum Plus at the time of that item purchase. NCL would be advertising a price and according to their relevant Ts and Cs, this price should be reduced by 10 or 15% when paid for by either Platinum or Platinum Plus people. Anyone who is Platinum or Platinum Plus buying that excursion before boarding the ship would have expected the final price to be 10 or 15% lower than the one shown at the start of the purchase process, so IF that discount is not actually applied, the price paid would be higher than that advertised by combining price and discount. If the relevant discount is applied there is clearly no problem. However, it appears from previous posters that the discount is not being applied by the computer systems for pre-paid excursions as described in the Ts and Cs and some sort of manual kludge involving OBC is having to be made on-board for those who ask for the correction.

 

I think I understood what you are saying.

 

I just don't think that it's a major issue, especially legally. The discount is being given, you just have to ask them for it. Nobody is seeing one price online and then being charged more than that. If they are aware of the discount then they will likely not go through with the process, assuming you can only get the discount onboard (which to wording "onboard discounts on shore excursions" kind of suggests anyway). If they aren't aware of the discount then they haven't been misled by advertising.

 

Onboard, people will question the costs if the discounts aren't being applied, just like most people have to do at our local Supermarket, and they still keep doing it. :)

 

I'm not saying it is ideal by any means, and I'd much rather they had applied it to old bookings. The fact that they haven't suggests to me that there are technical problems with doing so. Of course they could just be hoping that people don't know about the discount and they pocket the difference.

 

What they really should do is make it a bit clearer on the website. There is a similar problem with the internet minutes, but it is specifically stated on the notes to the tier benefits that they need to be manually claimed for old bookings. There should be something similar for the shorex discount.

[old nutter]

I guess you are right in the end. I think we have just got used to NCL hiding major elements of offers in the small print and it is worrying to find that even the small print is no longer to be relied on.

 

That phrase "onboard discounts on shore excursions" doesn't actually appear anywhere in the Ts and Cs and that bit at the end of the shore excursion section that says: If a guest pre-booked shore excursion before embarking on the cruise, the applicable discount will have already been applied to the price." seems to indicate that the final discounted price should have been sorted out at the time the excursion was purchased beforehand. This implies that If it hasn't been applied when you pre-booked you will not get anything back on board and getting money back once on board is never an easy matter, even if you have proof that you are entitled.

 

End of rant.

[elruth]

I am the OP and I think part of the reason for the poor service in Cagney's was due to the cruise being the first one after the refurbishment. A poster once said to avoid the first cruise as it involves a change of staff and other adjustments.

 

Before you jump down my throat re: the Platinum Plus changes and how could I possibly complain?? I will mention that the little box of 4 Godiva chocolates is no longer a perk. That may be a deal breaker for some. LOL

[newmexicoNita]

I am the OP and I think part of the reason for the poor service in Cagney's was due to the cruise being the first one after the refurbishment. A poster once said to avoid the first cruise as it involves a change of staff and other adjustments.

 

Before you jump down my throat re: the Platinum Plus changes and how could I possibly complain?? I will mention that the little box of 4 Godiva chocolates is no longer a perk. That may be a deal breaker for some. LOL

I will agree, part of the service problem could have to do with the first cruise out of dry dock or what ever. The 2 worst cruise we have taken were out of dry dock one of them and the other new embarkation port. That was the Epic last November. As for any other gripes you had, I still think you are over reacting. Remember, as I have said often, this is a free program; enjoy what you get. :p

[BirdTravels]

I am the OP and I think part of the reason for the poor service in Cagney's was due to the cruise being the first one after the refurbishment. A poster once said to avoid the first cruise as it involves a change of staff and other adjustments.

 

I agree. We have been on a couple of 1st cruise after dry docks. Our observation was that on embarkation, the line of new crew checking in was longer than the passenger line.

 

Still,,, it is always excited about being on a a "new" ship.