Does NCL keep notes on guests?

[Georgia_Peaches]

OK - Have to ask... What is a "Tin Foil Type"? Is that like a conspiracy theorist?

OK, glad I'm not alone in that...was just about to ask the same question.

[dogboy]

Three cruises in three years they had no clue to my habits or likes. Still waiting for those little marshmallows in my hot chocolate.

[ClarkBHM]

In no way do I think they are actively looking up every single guest, but a good company would want to keep tabs on their customer preferences, especially suite passengers who are spending $$$. If a passenger requested extra pillows on their last cruise, just take a minute to ensure that there are extra pillows already in the room when they arrive. Easy to do. Happy customer.

 

I'm pretty sure they also keep tabs on "bad guests." You get in a fight on board the ship? They are going to know. You do it on multiple cruises and you might suddenly find yourself unable to book a new cruise.

[Medtech2]

OK - Have to ask... What is a "Tin Foil Type"? Is that like a conspiracy theorist?

 

I once worked for a research PhD trying to develop vaccines and he had tin foil on every window....;p

[davy jones]

Count yourself lucky - I get the daily Princess, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity emails. Same old repeat. However, when our NCL cruise was delayed one day NCL never sent an email to us.

Princess and Royal send the most.

[Warm Breezes]

I did wonder on our last NCL cruise on the Escape if my being a cruise critic member who writes reviews helped me get a lounger on our angled balcony. It was our first angled balcony and I had seen pictures on here from other members who had had angled balconies that were able to get loungers by asking for them, so I did. My room stewardess was insistent that they don't do that even after I told I had seen pictures of it being done. A couple hours after our cruise critic meet and greet where we signed in with our cabin numbers and cruise critic name, I suddenly had a lounger on my balcony after being told more than once that I couldn't get one because it just wasn't done. The funny thing is that when we were walking back to the ship in Roatan I noticed the angled balcony 2 floors above ours had a lounger on it too....

 

[graphicguy]

I have no idea whether they track passengers. They’d be foolish not to.

 

If you’ve taken any cruise(s) with them, they already know your....

 

-Name

-Age

-Address

-Phone number

-email address

-Credit Card used

-amount you have spent, both for the cruise and on board

-they know what you spent your onboard expenditures on

 

 

As far as greeting you by name, if you hang out at a certain bar, your bartender is probably going to try to remember your name and your drinks, as that should lead to a tip.

 

When your steward greets you by name, they have a record of all the names for your cabin on a written sheet attached to their roll cart. It behoves them to remember your name as that could lead to a tip, also.

[buffcurmudgeon]

I once worked for a research PhD trying to develop vaccines and he had tin foil on every window....;p

 

 

 

I’ve found that lining your baseball cap with aluminum foil will protect you from most alien intrusions and NCL mind control.

 

 

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[PelicanBill]

From what I've seen NCL (and probably the others) are way behind on data mining. The system mentioned that allows them to take notes on you while aboard is linked to your shipboard account, not your myNCL and I've seen no evidence they keep that data. To be honest, their Chief Data Privacy Officer would have a hard time with keeping notes which are opinions of crew members and simply doing this without explicit permission for EU Citizens is a violation of law in most EU countries. I think the concierge and staff of the Havens probably keep personal notes to provide a high level of service. Outside of the ship, NCL keeps advertising the cruise I have booked to me. Dopes. And when I booked it, they pulled up contact information for me and my family that was old and did not have my Latitudes numbers. I asked if they could confirm my Latitudes numbers. Oops, they said, there aren't any. Are you sure you've cruised with us before? I read my number. Huh, they said. and then, Oh, there you are. And restarted the booking with my correct customer profile. So, overall evidence is - nope they don't.

 

Reminds me of my experience with Disneyworld. I once remarked that after 25 or more hotel stays, they should know who I am and how often I have been there, and I could get something other than the talk that treats me like a first time visitor every time. They improved a little... then they automated check in and you don't even stop at the desk any more. So much for that. How long before they send us our ID card ahead of time and we just scan in and board the ship when we arrive?

[buddylover]

I have no idea whether they track passengers. They’d be foolish not to.

 

If you’ve taken any cruise(s) with them, they already know your....

 

-Name

-Age

-Address

-Phone number

-email address

-Credit Card used

-amount you have spent, both for the cruise and on board

-they know what you spent your onboard expenditures on

 

 

As far as greeting you by name, if you hang out at a certain bar, your bartender is probably going to try to remember your name and your drinks, as that should lead to a tip.

 

When your steward greets you by name, they have a record of all the names for your cabin on a written sheet attached to their roll cart. It behoves them to remember your name as that could lead to a tip, also.

EXACTLY, I am in complete agreement with you!! For sure the stewards know your name as that is the level of "customer service" we all expect (and of course, they have a list of our names before we board) which certainly leads to passenger satisfaction and TIPS....same with bartenders, the wait staff etc. As far as other information being 'tracked' by the cruise lines, I am sure they do.....in the minimum for "marketing" purposes (how do you think they know who to offer "casino freebies" and "cruise rates" to?) Conversely, if a passenger created problems or damage to the ship, then those 'banned' would be kept track of as well. In this day and age of computers, it would be silly to think that they DON'T "track" information about passengers.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I think none of us would have the worst notes, I have seen some behavior strange behavior on cruises from even those in the most expensive cabins (there was a woman”who was in the Haven with us last year who refused to go to the drill day 1 because her sons wanted an ice cream - we still call her “that ice cream lady”).

 

Reading these posts I also thought that the notes would vary w us depending on the person - On our last cruise, we had a horrible Butler who was worse than no help. He got zero $ from us. However the night Butler got a very handsome tip and the room steward, a very friendly young man, got an extra large tip also. As for the concierge on that ship... we follow each other on Instagram :D

 

* for the record, not tin nor red baseball hatted.

 

These children will grow up thinking that rules are not for them.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I'm sure that they note passengers who constantly ask for DSC to be reduced or removed.

[Capitan Obvious]

In all fairness, we all sit on this site making and comparing notes on cruise lines, ships, itineraries, ports, etc. I have to imagine that the cruise lines do the same.

 

I'm picturing an online forum for executives of the various cruise lines where they can discuss cruisers, service charge withholding, compensation demands, chair hog complainers, alcohol smuggling, etc

 

It is called CruiserCritic. ;p

[beerman2]

I'm with you. They never cease to amaze me when they can already know your name as you first enter your room. Each week a whole new group of guests for each cabin steward to know. Very impressive. Must be taught some technique. I have trouble remembering my neighbor that I've know for years.

Often wondered myself, but could actually be simpler than first thought.

 

Clipboard/manifest makes it very easy to call you by name the first day.

 

Just a thought!!!!

[lenquixote66]

Some of the tin foil types here will tell you that they do but I doubt it. Too many passengers and too many risks if the information were to ever get out. Possible but doubtful.

 

 

A zero percent chance in my opinion.

[em-sk]

From what I've seen NCL (and probably the others) are way behind on data mining. The system mentioned that allows them to take notes on you while aboard is linked to your shipboard account, not your myNCL and I've seen no evidence they keep that data. To be honest, their Chief Data Privacy Officer would have a hard time with keeping notes which are opinions of crew members and simply doing this without explicit permission for EU Citizens is a violation of law in most EU countries. I think the concierge and staff of the Havens probably keep personal notes to provide a high level of service. Outside of the ship, NCL keeps advertising the cruise I have booked to me. Dopes. And when I booked it, they pulled up contact information for me and my family that was old and did not have my Latitudes numbers. I asked if they could confirm my Latitudes numbers. Oops, they said, there aren't any. Are you sure you've cruised with us before? I read my number. Huh, they said. and then, Oh, there you are. And restarted the booking with my correct customer profile. So, overall evidence is - nope they don't.

 

Reminds me of my experience with Disneyworld. I once remarked that after 25 or more hotel stays, they should know who I am and how often I have been there, and I could get something other than the talk that treats me like a first time visitor every time. They improved a little... then they automated check in and you don't even stop at the desk any more. So much for that. How long before they send us our ID card ahead of time and we just scan in and board the ship when we arrive?

 

On the privacy front, I am not certain EU rules would apply. The ship is officially under the regulation of the flag it flies, Bermuda. The corporate offices are Miami.

 

A good example of using data for check in is American Express business lounges. If I check in at a location I have been to before they say welcome back, if its a new location they take a few minutes to ask me if I need an overview of the layout.

[jskinsd]

I put on a beard and wear a hat, raincoat and sunglasses to conceal my identity. They got nothing on me.:evilsmile:

[Sweetnspicy]

I put on a beard and wear a hat, raincoat and sunglasses to conceal my identity. They got nothing on me.:evilsmile:

 

 

:'):'):'):')

[dcipjr]

I put on a beard and wear a hat, raincoat and sunglasses to conceal my identity. They got nothing on me.:evilsmile:

(scribbles) "wears bizarre outfits"

[Trimone]

After employing an ex employee of NCL, they informed me the meeting before boarding consists of denials, like the toilets on deck 9 are probermemtal, just tell them we are aware and dealing with it? After they have been useless for weeks, she atually said, “if you knew what goes on you would never cruise with NCL” having got cruises booked she never let on, just smiled!

[amygutman]

I can tell you from personal experience, the answer is YES - but for us it's been incredibly positive. They know our spending / tipping habits, our restaurants of choice, our itineraries of choice - what our son likes, how many CruiseNext certificates we buy, and how much we spend in the casions. They know I'm a vegan, my husband is not, and that we love rum punches and cafe lattes with almond milk.

 

Creepy? No. It's good business. It has allowed us to have minimal "throw mud at the wall" advertising, and little fuss when booking cruises or while on the cruise. On our last cruise, the CruiseNext director actually spent about an hour with me asking how to improve the overall NCL cruiser's experience - I felt she was not giving us just a cursory amount of time (we were purchasing CruiseNext certificates), but actually wanted to know what did and did not work. Some things are just as frustrating for the staff as for cruisers - how many complaints do you think they get weekly about the size of the atriums or the pools? Not fixable, but maybe so on the next iteration of cruise ships (and from the prelim diagrams we have seen online...they have tried to address both problems).

 

The management's rapid resolution of an issue we were vocal about on our first cruise was only picked up because we were "tracked" as potential suite guests - and it has paid off for both the company and our family.

 

Amy

[PelicanBill]

On the privacy front, I am not certain EU rules would apply. The ship is officially under the regulation of the flag it flies, Bermuda. The corporate offices are Miami.

 

Actually, I can tell you it does apply. It's my business and it's been my life for the last year. The cruise lines do business in Europe, and collect data for EU citizens. I may test this theory and see if NCL is prepared. Upon request, I can ask what data they keep about me, and tell them to delete it if I want. Data can only be collected about me with my consent, except for transactions for which I automatically consent by making a purchase. So data about my purchase is permitted, but keeping a record of my preferences by studying the history of where I chose to dine is not. Keeping a record of my shore excursion purchases is allowed, but creating summary data or reports that shows I like boat and snorkel excursions is not. It would also be inappropriate for anyone to have access to a report of my past purchases for the reason of seeing "what I like." It's subtle but the EU does not permit a company to track a person in any way without explicit agreement. (It's the reason you see all the opt-in notices for cookies on web sites now.) Here's the summary version:

 

Who does the GDPR affect?

The GDPR not only applies to organisations located within the EU but it will also apply to organisations located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, EU data subjects. It applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location.

[PelicanBill]

I can tell you from personal experience, the answer is YES - but for us it's been incredibly positive. They know our spending / tipping habits, our restaurants of choice, our itineraries of choice - what our son likes, how many CruiseNext certificates we buy, and how much we spend in the casions. They know I'm a vegan, my husband is not, and that we love rum punches and cafe lattes with almond milk.

...

 

Amy

 

Amy, can you tell me an example or two of how you could tell they had this information which could only have been from prior cruises? I am interested because in 3 cruises I saw no sign of such recognition. It would not surprise me if they have been doing this for high rollers and frequent Havens guests who spend $10K or more a year with them... but no sign I can see. I am going to be a PIA next trip and ask at Customer Service, and my waiters, and my Cabin Steward what information they have.

[Got No Real Name]

The Ritz-Carlton is well known for taking extensive notes on their guests so that they can anticipate needs and generally provide an exceptional experience for their guests. Does anyone know whether NCL does the same thing? I would think that they could easily do this and would want to, especially for those passengers who are travelling in suites.

 

 

Yes they do and I was able to find your notes, man I never!

[notalandlover]

Yes they do and I was able to find your notes, man I never!

 

 

 

I pray they didn't take notes of me during the White Hot Party.