You're the owner of NCL and can make ONE change....

[markf]

• As  a point of  reference, I have cruised a few times in Haven and  few  times in Yacht Club MSC.  
• No  contest, MSC has  figured  it out, with maybe the exception of  cabin size--price  is better, service  is better, food quality  and ambience--much better  on MSC, perhaps not  on the regular MSC  but  comparing  Haven to Yacht Club, no contest

[barb65]

On the mega ships, more seating in the Atrium to watch the shows.

[Sotermarler]

I’m with the Coke people, dump the Pepsi contract. 

 

[AllyG47]

If I could make one change, I would allow passengers to bring non-alcoholic liquids on board - pop, water, juice, etc. I love Pepsi but I know people who are addicted to Coke (yuck, it tastes like drinking straight sugar) and would probably like to bring their favorite brand on board with them. Also, I don't usually like the taste of the water on the ship and they charge an arm & a leg for bottled water on board. It would be nice to bring my own cheap bottled water on board with me. There are also families that would probably like to bring juice boxes on board for their kids. I personally think the liquids ban is stupid and not safety related what-so-ever. They just don't want people bringing rival brands of pop on board and they can price gouge bottled water so they can make a bigger profit.

[Two Wheels Only]

15 minutes ago, AllyG47 said:

They just don't want people bringing rival brands of pop on board and they can price gouge bottled water so they can make a bigger profit.

 

It's the alcohol smugglers that are the real problem. 

 

One solution would be to allow cans of soda/juice. There's canned water but most people wouldn't bring it. 

 

People bring bottles of Coke onboard and nobody from NCL cares. The soda machines (past security) in the terminal usually have Coke products which people can buy and bring onto the ship. 

[marktwothousand]

Eliminate the whole DSC system.

Eliminate 4 PM sailaways and push it to 5 or so. It can be a bit of a rush to make the ship on time.

Add happy-hour bars to the studio lounges on all ships.

put one of the nicest newest ships on the Greek side.

phase out the Epic. Perhaps it would

be better as a replacement, bigger version of “Pride of America”. 

[pspercy]

9 hours ago, NLH Arizona said:

- Come up with a system to stop chair hogs at pool, in Atrium and theatres.

- Put a door on the pool deck smoking cubes, to stop folks from standing outside while smoking.

- More non-smoking areas in the casino, crew to check for smokers in non-smoking area and those smoking, but not playing.

- Have crew member watching for diapered/non potty trained children in kiddie pools.

- Add DSC into fare.

- Tent cards on buffet tables telling folk no card or game playing during mealtimes and then enforce it.

- Change the Haven or suite designated restaurant's lunch menus daily or offer different specials.

 

 

Great idea 🙂

As for smoking, how about NO indoor smoking, casino and elsewhere, works for =X=

 

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Eliminate the whole DSC system.

Eliminate 4 PM sailaways and push it to 5 or so. It can be a bit of a rush to make the ship on time.

Add happy-hour bars to the studio lounges on all ships.

put one of the nicest newest ships on the Greek side.

phase out the Epic. Perhaps it would

be better as a replacement, bigger version of “Pride of America”. 

No ship in the NCL fleet could qualify as a replacement for POA.  They are not US built.  Even POA, which was half built in the US, had to get an act of Congress to get a PVSA waiver, and that was only possible since the US government would have owned the half built ship (for the full price) due to granting construction loan guarantees, which NCL paid off.

[PATRLR]

Eliminate the DSC, add it to the fare and promote NCL as the "no tipping" cruise line, ala HAL in the 80s.

[Trimone]

Bring back cruising of yesteryears, I remember the NCL Dream, the launch of the Jewel, we went on it’s 2nd cruise, the service, etticate, feeling special, nowadays it’s like a holiday camp 

[marktwothousand]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

No ship in the NCL fleet could qualify as a replacement for POA.  They are not US built.  Even POA, which was half built in the US, had to get an act of Congress to get a PVSA waiver, and that was only possible since the US government would have owned the half built ship (for the full price) due to granting construction loan guarantees, which NCL paid off.

Why does POA have to be US-built?

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, markf said:

• aDD  $50  to thwe  cruise fare per  person and  stop nickle diming  people 

First part been done many times over.  Second part not.

[Peachypooh]

Eliminate the bidding process. I think it causes uncertainty for those bidding and a feeling of

overpaying for those who direct book the upper end cabins. That said, I know some people

would not be able to afford the upper end cabins without it so don't want to take that away

from them.

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

"Eliminate the bid process for suites/Haven to prevent direct bookings from subsidizing bids."

 

This has really killed most of our interest in suites/Haven on NCL for us.

We don't mind paying for something that is of value to us, but to know that many/most others are paying far less... but this new approach started annoying us more and more, as we learned that more and more of the suites/Haven were being sold this way, for much less than we were paying.

(No, we wouldn't want to cruise in a regular sized cabin on NCL, so "trying to bid" is out, lest we don't get it.)

 

We've since switched to Oceania, and for a similar price (or less), we  can get a lovely PH suite, and enjoy the ambiance of the entire ship much, much more.

If we take the kids/grands again, we'll probably switch back to NCL for just that cruise.

 

NCL beancounters are in charge here, but if there are enough others like us (and there may not be, of course), then the "full price" suite cruisers will, well, keep jumping ship.

 

GC

They can't lower MSRP of suites now otherwise suite bid winners can't feel they got a great deal vs xx% off vs listed suite rate.

[shof515]

5 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Why does POA have to be US-built?

 

So it can do cruises around Hawaii islands without stopping a distinct foreign port of call due to various laws like the PVSA and Jones Act

[Peachypooh]

58 minutes ago, Trimone said:

Bring back cruising of yesteryears, I remember the NCL Dream, the launch of the Jewel, we went on it’s 2nd cruise, the service, etticate, feeling special, nowadays it’s like a holiday camp 

The last couple of times we cruised I thought to myself that it was like a floating  summer camp for adults.(we cruise when school is in session.) Some people like that and some people don't. I can't decide.

[shof515]

8 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Eliminate 4 PM sailaways and push it to 5 or so. It can be a bit of a rush to make the ship on time.

 

Depending on the next port of call,  the ship has to travel a long distance to get there on time. A late sailaway can effect arrival time at the next port of call. Then some people will complain why does this ship get to xyz port at 2pm, etc, etc..sometimes you cant win

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, shof515 said:

 

So it can do cruises around Hawaii islands without stopping a distinct foreign port of call due to various laws like the PVSA and Jones Act

Actually, since the itineraries are closed loop, a foreign flag ship would only have to call at any foreign port, not a distant foreign port.  The closest foreign port to Hawaii is Fanning Island, in the Republic of Kiribati, 700nm south of the Big Island.  Norwegian Star used to do this itinerary, alternating 10 and 11 day itineraries that included 2 days each way to Fanning.

 

For MarkTwoThousand:  In order to do the all Hawaii itineraries that the POA does, it needs to meet the PVSA requirements of being: 

1.  US built

2.  US owned

3.  US flag

4.  US crewed

 

Any ship that does not meet all of these requirements cannot sail strictly between US ports.  Canada has similar cabotage laws called the Coastal Trading Act, which limits sailings between strictly Canadian ports to Canadian flag vessels.

 

Escape or any other NCL vessel, doing a Hawaiian itinerary would either have to start/end in Vancouver, or on the West Coast of the US and include a port call in Canada or Mexico, or go to Fanning Island.

[CruisingNole]

Add specialty coffees and bottled water to beverage package like every other cruise line does. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

21 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

"Eliminate the bid process for suites/Haven to prevent direct bookings from subsidizing bids."

 

This has really killed most of our interest in suites/Haven on NCL for us.

We don't mind paying for something that is of value to us, but to know that many/most others are paying far less... but this new approach started annoying us more and more, as we learned that more and more of the suites/Haven were being sold this way, for much less than we were paying.

(No, we wouldn't want to cruise in a regular sized cabin on NCL, so "trying to bid" is out, lest we don't get it.)

 

 

 

GC

We booked our H5 suite outright.  How is it that you can tell who is there because of the bidding process and who is there because they paid the premium?  I think the more accurate assumption would be that some people paid less...not many/most.  For me, as long as I get what I paid for, I really don't care about anyone else or how they got there.  

[don't-use-real-name]

Often see a port call at Ensenada, Mexico - the USA cruises to Hawaii - near but not far but it satisfies

the requirements.

 

Wonder how long these ancient useless PVSA and Jones are going to be around.

We (USA) don't have many if any cruise ships of any size for the present cruise market and we don't show

any signs of wanting to build our own ships. I can see maybe protecting the cargo market but we sure have

a disdain for the passenger market. Longshoremen don't have a beef as they are the ones doing the dock

work on foreign vessels on our turf.

If we would show some gumption to build our own ships and work the cruise and shipping markets fine

but it sure doesn't make sense to hold the cruising public hostage to these rules that in these days have no merit.

Just my opinion. 

[ebay33]

I'd hire a customer service staff to monitor Cruise Critic 24 hours a day.  I've seen a few NCL staff responses on CC, but they should be on here full-time monitoring posts and topics for questions and correcting misinformation.

[AKR2011]

Fix disembarkation. It is a MESS in some ports (Manhattan and New Orleans for sure). Slow it down if needed, and don't let anyone on the ship until later if necessary. OR resign the ports, and make it easier for people to get off and have a waiting area for their transportation.

[CruiserEK]

Fix the Elevator and Stairs layout on future new-build ships: The newer ships built should have additional elevators and stairs in the middle of the ship. The Epic (except for the topmost decks), the Breakaway and Breakaway + class ships only have elevators and stairs in the fwd and aft parts of the ship. It is kind of a pain in the neck when you are midship and you need to get to a midship deck above or below you. I know the Epic has the escalator and the other ships have one set of stairs in the atrium area (which at times are blocked by photo takers). I think they could do better.

 

Fix the website: Their website has been a bit buggy over the years. I have had an issue with the reservation disappearing a day or two before the cruise, I still have favorites saved from over two years ago that I cannot remove, and the biggest issue I have had is with trying to book a voyage. There are times that they advertise a price, and when I click on it, the price advertised is either sold out or not available. Sometimes it shows the prices but the cruise is sold out. If it is sold out, then just say it is sold out before I waste my time trying to book a voyage.

 

There should be better singles rates and singles arrangements for non-Studio cabins: I have noticed especially on Caribbean voyages that Studio cabins usually cost more than interior, oceanview, and sometimes balcony and mini-suite rates. It is kind of a turn off to cruise on some of their ships when a tiny Studio cabin is $1100 and a slightly larger interior cabin is $800 for a weeklong voyage. But if you go with the interior cabin you lose out on the privileges of the Studio passengers. I don't really see any options for singles on their older ships. Correct me if I am wrong on this as it is been awhile since I last cruised with them. Things could have changed. I think they can improve on attracting more singles cruisers and corner an barely tapped market.

[bob brown]

2 hours ago, CruiserEK said:

Fix the Elevator and Stairs layout on future new-build ships: The newer ships built should have additional elevators and stairs in the middle of the ship. The Epic (except for the topmost decks), the Breakaway and Breakaway + class ships only have elevators and stairs in the fwd and aft parts of the ship. It is kind of a pain in the neck when you are midship and you need to get to a midship deck above or below you. I know the Epic has the escalator and the other ships have one set of stairs in the atrium area (which at times are blocked by photo takers). I think they could do better.

 

Fix the website: Their website has been a bit buggy over the years. I have had an issue with the reservation disappearing a day or two before the cruise, I still have favorites saved from over two years ago that I cannot remove, and the biggest issue I have had is with trying to book a voyage. There are times that they advertise a price, and when I click on it, the price advertised is either sold out or not available. Sometimes it shows the prices but the cruise is sold out. If it is sold out, then just say it is sold out before I waste my time trying to book a voyage.

 

There should be better singles rates and singles arrangements for non-Studio cabins: I have noticed especially on Caribbean voyages that Studio cabins usually cost more than interior, oceanview, and sometimes balcony and mini-suite rates. It is kind of a turn off to cruise on some of their ships when a tiny Studio cabin is $1100 and a slightly larger interior cabin is $800 for a weeklong voyage. But if you go with the interior cabin you lose out on the privileges of the Studio passengers. I don't really see any options for singles on their older ships. Correct me if I am wrong on this as it is been awhile since I last cruised with them. Things could have changed. I think they can improve on attracting more singles cruisers and corner an barely tapped market.

I agree with your first two paragraph's.   

As for solo traveler's...NCL is the best cruise line by far for solo's.   They brought back the practice of newbuild's having solo cabins, and while other's have copied and even gone further, by offering solo balcony cabins, only NCL has the exclusive, key card accessed studio lounge, with arguably the best coffee served on the ship, as well as free expresso and latte drinks.

But most of all, they have a dedicated member of the cruise activities staff, conducting a nightly get together for all solo travelers on the ship in that or some other lounge, where they make introduction's, run party games, maintain sign up sheets for specialty restaurant dinners, shore excursion's, show's, and other activites.   At the end of the party, all who don't have other plans are invited to join the group for dinner in a main dining room, where they have a couple of large tables reserved.  It is listed in the Freestyle Daily, and is usually from around 5:30 to 6:00 or so, in the evening...

 

In addition, if you have the flexibility to wait for a last minute booking, they often have dropped the fare substantially, and don't charge a single supplement.