Not Happy with Liquor Up Charges

[plode682]

14 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I have done just this as I have an upcoming cruise in a few weeks, their reply has no compassion or explanation, they simply gave me a list of what is included now.

I have also now passed my concerns to a UK BBC consumer program called "Rip of Britain - Holidays".

 

The list is actually quite useful and shows what is now covered and I post it below FYI.

I know for a fact that Knob Creek is an upcharge drink, even though it is listed on this page.  

[sparkmaster]

2 hours ago, blcruising said:

 

Why do you think that is the case?

 

Look at what NCL is doing, from the beginning. Back a few years ago they came out with this free UDP,  just pay the gratuities. Every cabin category got the option of picking perks. Back in 2015 even studio cabins got 2. Then the sailaway rates come out, without the perks. Ostensibly these are last minute, heavily discounted rooms. In reality, they're what any other cruise line would call standard priced rooms, repackaged to think they're different. So now you have 2 classes of drinking passengers; those with free UBC (not really free, but w/e) and those without. 

 

Then NCL does two things. First, they widen the range between sailaway and standard (perks included) fare categories. Take a look at just about any cruise on NCL's website. Excepting last minute or otherwise strange voyages, there is a huge spread between standard and sailaway rates. Example: early march sailing on the Getaway, sailaway is $899 pp, standard is $1299pp. NCL is making $800 more from those two customers off the top. This doesn't count the gratuities (lord knows where those actually end up), which are another $277.20 from the same couple. Boom, NCL just generated an extra $1000+ of revenue for giving away a "free" perk. 

 

Now take a look at the other drinking demographic, the sail away non-UBPers. They want to have a drink or two at dinner, sure. A few frozen drinks, perhaps a mixed before dinner beverage, a glass of wine etc. NCL's core demographics are middle class folks who are somewhat price sensitive. So Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway take a peek at the drink menus and just about fall over. They want a drink, but paying for one glass of wine each is going to be almost (or over) $20. Even more for just about any sort of mixed drink. So they may pay for the drinks, or they may not. But they're surrounded by people who have the UBC and are having a fantastic time not giving one care about the price of most drinks. And here Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway are, nursing their one drink because they really really don't want to drop a jackson on another round. As they sit there, they do the math and see that 2 rounds of drinks a day will be more than the "charge" for the UBC (the explicit gratuity), and they remember that they're on a sailaway rate, which to them is a deeply discounted room. So next time, they know they want to do the UBC to save money and have more fun, not counting the near grand they're going to drop to "upgrade" to the higher fare class.

 

The UBC perk makes money for NCL. It makes more money than people who pay for their drinks individually (or else why do it?). It promotes all day drinking (and the ancillary revenue that comes with this), and increases fun levels for most guests. They don't want people to count their pennies while they drink. By increasing drink prices across the board, they seek to increase the pain of those buying drinks individually, and drive them to fare categories that include perks.

 

The big thing to look at here is the increasing price of certain mid and high level liquors outside of the UBP zone positions them for this new premium beverage package that includes everything. 

 

tl;dr, NCL making the UBP to seem more valuable than paying for individual drinks, making them more money and positioning their premium package for marketing

[Aesop081]

4 hours ago, blcruising said:

 

Why do you think that is the case?

Without any supporting evidence I will state it's because they pay next to nothing for their alcohol.  Everyone is coming at this from a retail POV.  They buy booze for export, for sale out of the country, in massive quantities, from if not the manufacturer then pretty close.  The cost for their alcohol is pennies per serving.  See earlier post I made with links to wholesaler pricing for "LARGE" lots of alcohol. Lower end Vodka was 2 to 3 dollars a bottle, Grey Goose was 5 if you bought more than 35, less for larger lots.

Most will take the UPB with the elevated room pricing plus 20 percent service charge and they have you sunk in for 140 plus room price difference per person per week, before up charges, specialty mugs, sampler menus etc.  Now they can get another 210 per week per person out of a lot of people since there is a very real belief by many that UBP was free so what the hell for the perception of better booze. (taste is an individual experience)  At the end of the day they make a guarantee of hundreds per passenger.  Some can drink that much.  A lot don't.  On the balance, I think if they're doing this, they are making money.

[newmexicoNita]

7 hours ago, sparkmaster said:

 

Look at what NCL is doing, from the beginning. Back a few years ago they came out with this free UDP,  just pay the gratuities. Every cabin category got the option of picking perks. Back in 2015 even studio cabins got 2. Then the sailaway rates come out, without the perks. Ostensibly these are last minute, heavily discounted rooms. In reality, they're what any other cruise line would call standard priced rooms, repackaged to think they're different. So now you have 2 classes of drinking passengers; those with free UBC (not really free, but w/e) and those without. 

 

Then NCL does two things. First, they widen the range between sailaway and standard (perks included) fare categories. Take a look at just about any cruise on NCL's website. Excepting last minute or otherwise strange voyages, there is a huge spread between standard and sailaway rates. Example: early march sailing on the Getaway, sailaway is $899 pp, standard is $1299pp. NCL is making $800 more from those two customers off the top. This doesn't count the gratuities (lord knows where those actually end up), which are another $277.20 from the same couple. Boom, NCL just generated an extra $1000+ of revenue for giving away a "free" perk. 

 

Now take a look at the other drinking demographic, the sail away non-UBPers. They want to have a drink or two at dinner, sure. A few frozen drinks, perhaps a mixed before dinner beverage, a glass of wine etc. NCL's core demographics are middle class folks who are somewhat price sensitive. So Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway take a peek at the drink menus and just about fall over. They want a drink, but paying for one glass of wine each is going to be almost (or over) $20. Even more for just about any sort of mixed drink. So they may pay for the drinks, or they may not. But they're surrounded by people who have the UBC and are having a fantastic time not giving one care about the price of most drinks. And here Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway are, nursing their one drink because they really really don't want to drop a jackson on another round. As they sit there, they do the math and see that 2 rounds of drinks a day will be more than the "charge" for the UBC (the explicit gratuity), and they remember that they're on a sailaway rate, which to them is a deeply discounted room. So next time, they know they want to do the UBC to save money and have more fun, not counting the near grand they're going to drop to "upgrade" to the higher fare class.

 

The UBC perk makes money for NCL. It makes more money than people who pay for their drinks individually (or else why do it?). It promotes all day drinking (and the ancillary revenue that comes with this), and increases fun levels for most guests. They don't want people to count their pennies while they drink. By increasing drink prices across the board, they seek to increase the pain of those buying drinks individually, and drive them to fare categories that include perks.

 

The big thing to look at here is the increasing price of certain mid and high level liquors outside of the UBP zone positions them for this new premium beverage package that includes everything. 

 

tl;dr, NCL making the UBP to seem more valuable than paying for individual drinks, making them more money and positioning their premium package for marketing

agree with most of what you are saying. The only exception is your remark about paying $20 or more for a glass of wine if you do not have a drink package of some kind. You can get many wines cheaper than that even with gratuities. Otherwise you are right on. 

[_Mr.G_]

8 hours ago, sparkmaster said:

Then NCL does two things. First, they widen the range between sailaway and standard (perks included) fare categories. Take a look at just about any cruise on NCL's website. Excepting last minute or otherwise strange voyages, there is a huge spread between standard and sailaway rates.

 

Now take a look at the other drinking demographic, the sail away non-UBPers. They want to have a drink or two at dinner, sure. A few frozen drinks, perhaps a mixed before dinner beverage, a glass of wine etc. NCL's core demographics are middle class folks who are somewhat price sensitive. So Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway take a peek at the drink menus and just about fall over.

 

"Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway" This will be us for the next 10 day NCL cruise!

 

And it is exactly like you say: We just compared the total price for a room with UBP vs. without UBP. The price difference is 470,- Euro per person or 940,- Euro for a couple (= 1080,- USD incl Gratuities). And we asked ourselfs: Will we have drinks for 1080 USD? (and how much fun can you have with 1000 USD outside the ship ...)

 

Even if we would spend 900 USD on drinks on bord (which we won't do), we just save some money over the UBP.

Edited January 31, 2019 by _Mr.G_

[luv2kroooz]

8 hours ago, sparkmaster said:

 

Look at what NCL is doing, from the beginning. Back a few years ago they came out with this free UDP,  just pay the gratuities. Every cabin category got the option of picking perks. Back in 2015 even studio cabins got 2. Then the sailaway rates come out, without the perks. Ostensibly these are last minute, heavily discounted rooms. In reality, they're what any other cruise line would call standard priced rooms, repackaged to think they're different. So now you have 2 classes of drinking passengers; those with free UBC (not really free, but w/e) and those without. 

 

Then NCL does two things. First, they widen the range between sailaway and standard (perks included) fare categories. Take a look at just about any cruise on NCL's website. Excepting last minute or otherwise strange voyages, there is a huge spread between standard and sailaway rates. Example: early march sailing on the Getaway, sailaway is $899 pp, standard is $1299pp. NCL is making $800 more from those two customers off the top. This doesn't count the gratuities (lord knows where those actually end up), which are another $277.20 from the same couple. Boom, NCL just generated an extra $1000+ of revenue for giving away a "free" perk. 

 

Now take a look at the other drinking demographic, the sail away non-UBPers. They want to have a drink or two at dinner, sure. A few frozen drinks, perhaps a mixed before dinner beverage, a glass of wine etc. NCL's core demographics are middle class folks who are somewhat price sensitive. So Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway take a peek at the drink menus and just about fall over. They want a drink, but paying for one glass of wine each is going to be almost (or over) $20. Even more for just about any sort of mixed drink. So they may pay for the drinks, or they may not. But they're surrounded by people who have the UBC and are having a fantastic time not giving one care about the price of most drinks. And here Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway are, nursing their one drink because they really really don't want to drop a jackson on another round. As they sit there, they do the math and see that 2 rounds of drinks a day will be more than the "charge" for the UBC (the explicit gratuity), and they remember that they're on a sailaway rate, which to them is a deeply discounted room. So next time, they know they want to do the UBC to save money and have more fun, not counting the near grand they're going to drop to "upgrade" to the higher fare class.

 

The UBC perk makes money for NCL. It makes more money than people who pay for their drinks individually (or else why do it?). It promotes all day drinking (and the ancillary revenue that comes with this), and increases fun levels for most guests. They don't want people to count their pennies while they drink. By increasing drink prices across the board, they seek to increase the pain of those buying drinks individually, and drive them to fare categories that include perks.

 

The big thing to look at here is the increasing price of certain mid and high level liquors outside of the UBP zone positions them for this new premium beverage package that includes everything. 

 

tl;dr, NCL making the UBP to seem more valuable than paying for individual drinks, making them more money and positioning their premium package for marketing

I understand what you are saying, and I don't disagree with the theory. But it is all smoke in mirrors when you  peel away all the bull****.

 

Your post assumes customers will support the program in the long run vs. just foregoing alcohol while at sea. I think that NCL's customers are smart. They can recognize the lack of value in paying $1,077 per couple, $535 each using your example sailing, to drink on a seven day cruise. That is $75 per day which is a high cost for a basic beverage package that is quite restrictive compared to the competition. If they want top shelf, coffee, water, now they have the "opportunity" to add another $35 per person per day. So now we are at an industry leading $110 per  person!! This is the cost per person per day of getting a cabin assignment and premium beverage package for the sailing you referenced, in addition to the base fare, taxes, etc.

 

If NCL is preying on first timers for a one time boost to revenue, then have it and good luck sustaining that in the long run.  Many experienced cruisers and comparative shoppers can quickly see that there is little value to perks marketed as "free". I guess time will tell.

 

Edited January 31, 2019 by blcruising

[luv2kroooz]

1 minute ago, _Mr.G_ said:

 

"Mr. and Mrs. Sailaway" This will be us for the next 10 day NCL cruise!

 

And it is exactly like you say: We just compared the total price for a room with UBP vs. without UBP. The price difference is 470,- Euro per person or 940,- Euro for a couple (= 1080,- USD). And we asked ourselfs: Will we have drinks for 1080 USD? (and how much fun can you have with 1000 USD outside the ship ...)

 

Even if we would spend 900 USD on drinks on bord, we just saved some money over the UBP.

Oops, you guys said what I said. You just beat me to it by a minute or two. Plus, have a few drinks in port or do a day pass at a resort. You'll still get to enjoy your favorite beverage and not feel ripped off. In the process. Win-win situation.

[erdoran]

DH insists on Haven so we don't have the sailaway option.  He also insists on booze on vacay.  I tend to be cheap, so if it were up to me, I'd do a sailaway balcony (or higher if there was a minimal price difference) and deal with the location, probably not buy booze on the cruise at all, not bother with specialty restaurants (plenty of good food at free restaurants), and we always do our own air, so the only value  to us in the "perks" is the wifi and perhaps the $50/port excursion credit - but for our upcoming sailing, we have predominantly non-NCL excursions, only two are NCL, so that's $100 value plus the $125 for the wifi = $225, and the wifi credit is worth less, because without it I'd upgrade internet pre-trip at 15% discount.  Sailaway is a no-brainer for us. 

 

Not that I mind Haven, heck no!!  But for the savvy cruiser, sailaway is a good value.  Like some of the other folks said, for a week, saving at least $800/cabin or even more - I've seen $700 price differences, so that's $1400, plus the $480 DRINK SERVICE CHARGE plus gratuity (it's stated as  not all gratuity), makes it $1880 difference with that model, $1280 for $400 difference in fares.

 

I'm sure NCL didn't lower fares to come up with sailaway rate; rather they raised them to add perks, and left original fares alone.

 

[senseib]

11 hours ago, blcruising said:

 

Why do you think that is the case?

Several reasons:

• Each transaction is easier since there is no need to sign anything unless there is an up-charge
• Bookkeeping is easier since there is less chance of bookkeeping errors
• Fewer disputes about the charges at the end of the cruise
• Upfront payment so fewer end-of-cruise situations where the customer is unable to pay
• Known minimum income flow (there could always be more with up-charges)
• Less cases of customer sticker shock at the end of the cruise

 

[erdoran]

1 minute ago, senseib said:

Several reasons:

• Each transaction is easier since there is no need to sign anything unless there is an up-charge
• Bookkeeping is easier since there is less chance of bookkeeping errors
• Fewer disputes about the charges at the end of the cruise
• Upfront payment so fewer end-of-cruise situations where the customer is unable to pay
• Known minimum income flow (there could always be more with up-charges)
• Less cases of customer sticker shock at the end of the cruise

 

So if it is such a good thing for NCL and they WANT customers to use UBP, then there should be a financial incentive, not a disincentive, and $120/day/pp is NOT an incentive.  

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, erdoran said:

DH insists on Haven so we don't have the sailaway option.  He also insists on booze on vacay.  I tend to be cheap, so if it were up to me, I'd do a sailaway balcony...Not that I mind Haven, heck no!!

 

Are you familiar with MSC's Yacht Club?  It would be the happy medium to keep DH happy since they provide a similar ship within a ship concept and at a price point that would make the frugal part of your personality happy.  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/MSC-Yacht-Club.aspx

[erdoran]

5 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Are you familiar with MSC's Yacht Club?  It would be the happy medium to keep DH happy since they provide a similar ship within a ship concept and at a price point that would make the frugal part of your personality happy.  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/MSC-Yacht-Club.aspx

I'm interested and have been rummaging their website; unfortunately it is IMPOSSIBLE to find YC rooms that we'd want without going cruise by cruise, which is really tedious and time consuming.

 

Question - for their status match, do they upgrade?  I'm holding off because we'll hit platinum on our upcoming cruise, so I was going to wait until after that, but if they'll upgrade an existing match then I'm in.

[bkrickles1]

There's a lot of arithmetic going on in this thread. Lol!

I guess the value that one gets can be perceived differently by each of us.

I booked the Encore for next January and compared my deal against just about every other cruise going out of Florida at the same time and I believe the value I'm getting is the same or better than everything else I looked at.

There's 3 of us going on a 7 day in a balcony cabin and I took every perk (6 I believe), including the free air and I'm paying $3600. I'll have to add DSC and 1 specialty dining pkg for my daughter to join us but I couldn't find more value with any other cruise. UBP even after the changes is great for my wife and I, SDP for 3 meals, 250 wifi, $50 shore excursion credit (which we probably won't use), friends and family sail free, and especially the free airfare. No other cruise line offers me more for the money and I continue to look every couple of days to see if anything changes. And I'm going on a brand new cruise ship.

I''m pretty pleased with my deal, now of course others who are wine drinkers or higher end liquor drinkers have a dilemma and I guess that's where the math comes in. 

I guess the worst part of all these changes is that you have to crunch numbers to make sure you're getting the vacation you hope for and it should be simpler. Sometimes I think it was better in the old days, before packages, and you just pay as you go.

[senseib]

21 minutes ago, erdoran said:

So if it is such a good thing for NCL and they WANT customers to use UBP, then there should be a financial incentive, not a disincentive, and $120/day/pp is NOT an incentive.  

 

NCL wants customers to take the UBP perk which is 19.80 per day.  

[erdoran]

Just now, senseib said:

 

NCL wants customers to take the UBP perk which is 19.80 per day.  

and $400-$700 extra for a non-sailaway cabin, plus $119.80/day for additional pax in the cabin beyond 2.

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I'm interested and have been rummaging their website; unfortunately it is IMPOSSIBLE to find YC rooms that we'd want without going cruise by cruise, which is really tedious and time consuming.

 

Question - for their status match, do they upgrade?  I'm holding off because we'll hit platinum on our upcoming cruise, so I was going to wait until after that, but if they'll upgrade an existing match then I'm in.

Since you're experienced Haven customers, I hope you currently have a reputable TA that can do the legwork for you regarding the tedious procedure in procuring what you're looking for.  The status match program is just ok.  Unless you match to their black, which you won't even after hitting platinum you really don't get a whole lot.  The only perks you got at black that were worth anything, IMHO, were a specialty dinner for two and a chocolate ship.  But, they don't nickle and dime, and the best drinks package that includes all but their super premium drinks is included and it also includes high end gelato and chocolate on their newer ships like the Seaside.

Later this year, the Ocean Cay private island will be opening that will be the primary reason that we will be looking to book a cabin for early 2021.  There will even be a section of Ocean Cay reserved just for Yacht Club, so they will be extending the concept on their private island.  That's customer service.

Edited January 31, 2019 by SNJCruisers

[senseib]

1 minute ago, erdoran said:

and $400-$700 extra for a non-sailaway cabin, plus $119.80/day for additional pax in the cabin beyond 2.

 

There is rarely a $400-$700 difference for a non-sailaway cabin and there are other perks included in the difference.  But it's really how the math works for each person and their priorities.  If a cruiser wants to take the risks of a sailaway cabin (like a bad location, obstructed view, wrong side of the ship, etc.) and don't plan to have many adult beverages then it makes sense and it will be a great cruise.  If cabin location is important then non-sailaway makes sense with the added benefit of several perks and it will be a great cruise.

[TrinaLC]

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

DH insists on Haven so we don't have the sailaway option.  He also insists on booze on vacay.  I tend to be cheap, so if it were up to me, I'd do a sailaway balcony (or higher if there was a minimal price difference) and deal with the location, probably not buy booze on the cruise at all, not bother with specialty restaurants (plenty of good food at free restaurants), and we always do our own air, so the only value  to us in the "perks" is the wifi and perhaps the $50/port excursion credit - but for our upcoming sailing, we have predominantly non-NCL excursions, only two are NCL, so that's $100 value plus the $125 for the wifi = $225, and the wifi credit is worth less, because without it I'd upgrade internet pre-trip at 15% discount.  Sailaway is a no-brainer for us. 

 

Not that I mind Haven, heck no!!  But for the savvy cruiser, sailaway is a good value.  Like some of the other folks said, for a week, saving at least $800/cabin or even more - I've seen $700 price differences, so that's $1400, plus the $480 DRINK SERVICE CHARGE plus gratuity (it's stated as  not all gratuity), makes it $1880 difference with that model, $1280 for $400 difference in fares.

 

I'm sure NCL didn't lower fares to come up with sailaway rate; rather they raised them to add perks, and left original fares alone.

 

 

 

In your shoes, i’d Run -not walk- to an MSC YC booking. 

[TrinaLC]

59 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I'm interested and have been rummaging their website; unfortunately it is IMPOSSIBLE to find YC rooms that we'd want without going cruise by cruise, which is really tedious and time consuming.

 

Question - for their status match, do they upgrade?  I'm holding off because we'll hit platinum on our upcoming cruise, so I was going to wait until after that, but if they'll upgrade an existing match then I'm in.

 

What do you mean “find the YC rooms you want”?  There are a couple - royal and family - that are hard to find but if you are going to limit yourselves to those I’d still say worth the time. 

[CruisingIsBest]

25 minutes ago, senseib said:

 

There is rarely a $400-$700 difference for a non-sailaway cabin and there are other perks included in the difference.  But it's really how the math works for each person and their priorities.  If a cruiser wants to take the risks of a sailaway cabin (like a bad location, obstructed view, wrong side of the ship, etc.) and don't plan to have many adult beverages then it makes sense and it will be a great cruise.  If cabin location is important then non-sailaway makes sense with the added benefit of several perks and it will be a great cruise.

Rarely? It's almost always that difference or more! My next NCL cruise in October on Bliss, I did the sailaway mini and have a confirmed cabin in one of the giant balconies on deck 8, MX. It's $2098. The mini right next to mine, same exact cabin, M6 which they market as a mini with a large balcony, is $3898!! The least expensive Mini on the cruise is $2998. A sailaway balcony is $1898. The next lowest priced balcony is $2798! So now you pick your perks and with the UBP, your around $3074 before taxes. The drink package is the highest priced, and one of the worst of all the lines as they don't even include bottled water or coffees. So you have to be a big booze drinker to make this work. I can spend a few hundred bucks on drinks. buy internet and a specialty package and still be ahead of that $900+ difference! So what people are saying about the average drinkers taking the perks is absolutely correct...the perks scheme is pure profit for NCL. When other lines like Princess or Celebrity do the drink packages, the cabin rates remain pretty much the same... you actually get a perk. Not with NCL and their clever advertising. 

Now, as you said, if cabin choice is important, as it is with many, then you are spot on... you have no choice but go with the perk cabins... again, smartly played by NCL. You're also right that if the math does work out in your favor... you drink a really good amount, almost every day, you may work it to your favor. But unless you get a really great deal, like the single rates when they offer them, or the lower prices on older ships, if you're not a big drinker, you lose with the UBP and everyone is paying a bit of a premium even if they don't take the UBP as one of their perks. It's smart marketing for NCL! But the sailaway cabins are the only fares that match up more closely with other lines regular fares. The perks make it sound like such a fabulous deal, but it's not, and as someone said earlier, they will ride that wave as long as they can, probably for a long time because the public tends to be pretty ignorant when it comes down to the math. Eventually, consumers will take the time to figure it out on paper and see that it's really just a very well wrapped scheme. Good for NCL I guess. lol

[erdoran]

9 minutes ago, TrinaLC said:

 

What do you mean “find the YC rooms you want”?  There are a couple - royal and family - that are hard to find but if you are going to limit yourselves to those I’d still say worth the time. 

At this point I want to see pricing on royal.  May not go that route but want to figure out my options.  At the moment I have wasted far too long on their website, so it's off to the TA I go.  Many thanks for the feedback.

 

[macandlucy]

I'm sure there are bean counters going at this fast and furious and always. We always take the UBP, and I think, on balance, given their low liquor prices and what I order (generally pre mixed cocktails), and the amount I drink, they are probably making a buck or two off me with just the services charges. And then there are the pax who probably drink nothing but the top shelf stuff and lots of it, and maybe they are losing with them.

 

I do think NCL wanted people to take the package because not everyone drinks that much and liquor might loosen the purse strings a little and encourage people to buy other stuff, gamble, shop, partake in activities and eat in specialty restaurants. That's just my guess.  However, after the final tally, maybe the premium only big drinkers are drinking more, and the purse strings haven't loosened up that much after all, so, with the ever increasing need to improve the bottom line, they have to do this.

 

There is a limit, however, and I find my arguments pro NCL are getting weaker. The UBP, which used to include so much (compared to say, Celebrity's classic package) is suddenly not so attractive, and the fact that they don't include water and specialty coffees is starting to stick out even more. 

 

I imagine this latest change was probably a  good day at Carnival Corp's headquarters, and RCCL's.  New cruisers might not notice these changes, but some of us repeat cruisers do -- and one day the economy will change and there will be less new cruisers, and NCL is going to realize they needed us old loyals after all, and sadly, many of us might not be there when they do.

Edited January 31, 2019 by macandlucy

[Kmkub]

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

I'm interested and have been rummaging their website; unfortunately it is IMPOSSIBLE to find YC rooms that we'd want without going cruise by cruise, which is really tedious and time consuming.

 

Question - for their status match, do they upgrade?  I'm holding off because we'll hit platinum on our upcoming cruise, so I was going to wait until after that, but if they'll upgrade an existing match then I'm in.

This is where a TA is extremely helpful. Let them do all that legwork for you.

 

We waited for our loyalty match to be approved, because it gave us an extra 5% discount. You can't retroactively get the 5%. We are platinum on Princess, and MSC put us at gold status.

[Meekofigaro]

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

and $400-$700 extra for a non-sailaway cabin, plus $119.80/day for additional pax in the cabin beyond 2.

It all depends on the cruise, I have seen less of a difference to go from sailaway to a regular category on different cruises. 

My Greek isles cruise in October is actually the same price for sail away and the next step up for an inside, ocean view and balcony.

[luv2kroooz]

Awesome sailaway interior base fares for last minute cruisers who don't care about cabin location as NCL evidently continues to struggle to fill ships throughout its fleet. More competition coming online every year is great for consumers.

 

UBP cruisers subsidize this cabin dumping. Forego the liquor package and snag a last minute deal before they are gone.

 

Star, 14 day, 2/1, $699

Sun, 14 day, 2/2, $699

Escape, 14 day, 2/3, $699

Getaway, 7 day, 2-3, $449

Bliss, 7 day, 2-9. $549

Jade, 7 day, 2-17, $429

 

Edited January 31, 2019 by blcruising