Premium all inclusive scrapped?

[Suzieanna]

Is this true?   Has a formal announcement been made yet? 

[Steff79]

you mean the premium all in in Europe or?

free at see  starts in germany at April, 2nd. then premium all incl will be gone. i´m not sure but i think then in complete europe?

 

you can choose 2 of 5 perks for 99 Euro.

service charge will not be in the cruise price anymore.

 

next step for higher prices? we will see.

Edited March 25, 2019 by Steff79

[TrumpyNor]

4 minutes ago, Suzieanna said:

Is this true?   Has a formal announcement been made yet? 

 I hope so, as the socalled Premium All Inclusive has made NCL cruises very expensive for cruises booked through NCL Europe. I just did a google search, and found several German websites that stated that the "obligatory" package will be terminated April 1st, and be replaced with the "Free at Sea" that you currently get when booking through NCL in the USA.

[TrumpyNor]

There is actually a press release about it on ncl.com/Europe:

https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/press-releases/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-gives-consumers-more-choice-with-Free-at-Sea-in-Europe

Edited March 25, 2019 by TrumpyNor

[ziggyuk]

Yes, it has been scrapped from 2nd April:

 

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/ncl-ditches-premium-all-inclusive-fare-17458

NCL ditches Premium All Inclusive fare

Norwegian Cruise Line has axed its Premium All Inclusive fare option and introduced a new offering for the UK and Ireland.

 

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/327529/ncl-scraps-premium-all-inclusive-after-two-years

 

Edited March 25, 2019 by ziggyuk

[tartantiara]

We have booked for 2021 under the old package, will that still stand or will we be changed over to the new deal ? We have a concierge room booked for four of us 

[ziggyuk]

I wonder if the DSC is still included in the new offering, it was before even on the sail away price (non all inclusive).

 

It says Gratuities and service charge are included when choosing the UBP perk but there is no mention of the DSC.

 

£99 for 7 days of UBP and one other perk looks a good deal and less than we pay right now for the all inclusive (assuming the DSC is not another extra from now on).

[Steff79]

in a german board a ta wrote that the dsc is not in the cruise price anymore. But nobody knows the prices in April. but i will look at the price for some interesenting cruises for me to compere the new price in April. i don´t think the new prices with all costs will be cheaper but we will see.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Steff79

[ziggyuk]

Hope that's not the case, both "all inclusive" and "just sail" currently include the DSC, I assumed it would be a lot simpler in the future with "just sail" being the only price in each cabin category (with optional 2 perks @ £99), if they remove the DSC I hope the "just sail" reduces proportionally.

It will be interesting after 2nd April for sure.

[Steff79]

i don´t think that you can take two perks with a just sail cabin. i think just sail cabin are in the us market without perks too.

 

with the two perks for 99 Eur we are losing only the bottle water per day and the coffe in restaurants ( and internet?). i don´t think that the price for the same value is going down ( complete costs: cruise price, dsc and 99 for two perks). NCL want to make more money not less. But we will see what will happen in April.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Steff79

[KeithJenner]

On 3/25/2019 at 10:01 PM, tartantiara said:

We have booked for 2021 under the old package, will that still stand or will we be changed over to the new deal ? We have a concierge room booked for four of us 

Existing bookings will still stand.

[ziggyuk]

12 minutes ago, Steff79 said:

i don´t think that you can take two perks with a just sail cabin. i think just sail cabin are in the us market without perks too.

 

I don't think they pay for the perks in the US do they? did I get that wrong? I thought in the US you got more perks based on cabin level or you could just opt out of perks with a just sail rate.

 

I hoped in Europe, as they are charging 99 pounds/euros for two perks it might just be a bolt on to the just sail rate of cabin only.

 

It would make it simple if there was only one price per cabin type with the option to pay for the perks as an extra.

[fabnfortysomething]

6 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I don't think they pay for the perks in the US do they? did I get that wrong? I thought in the US you got more perks based on cabin level or you could just opt out of perks with a just sail rate.

 

I hoped in Europe, as they are charging 99 pounds/euros for two perks it might just be a bolt on to the just sail rate of cabin only.

 

It would make it simple if there was only one price per cabin type with the option to pay for the perks as an extra.

I liked the premium package as it made things simple but obviouslyenough  people complained to change their mind

I read it that the DSC will need to be paid in addition again-I actually liked it being included as prevented the old reducing DSC arguments

 

the "free" perks in USA of UBP and Dining package attract an additional cost of 20% of value of package if purchased outright whereas presume paying £99 covers it all

 

how to complicate a simple situation lol

 

as the expression goes cant please all the people all of the time  

[Georgie562]

On 3/25/2019 at 12:56 PM, TrumpyNor said:

 I hope so, as the socalled Premium All Inclusive has made NCL cruises very expensive for cruises booked through NCL Europe. I just did a google search, and found several German websites that stated that the "obligatory" package will be terminated April 1st, and be replaced with the "Free at Sea" that you currently get when booking through NCL in the USA.

 

Oh do not worry. They will find different ways to nickel and dime you 😉😉

[ighten]

Looks like the UK site already doesnt know whats happening - if you try to book a just cruise price on the page where you confirm your room it clearly says "service charge included" - then when you get to the payment page it throws a "service charges not included" into the cost page.

 

 

[BaWBarmy]

In theory the prices should be equivalent to those for US customers. Then two perks, but no gratuities, for £99 and the DSC. In the US the prices are lower but they have to pay gratuities on things like the UBP and SDP.

 

If the cost of lower prices is losing the bottled water and Speciality coffee then I can live with that. You can get a WiFi package as one of your £99 at Sea perks. If however the price plus the £99 perks and the DSC is equivalent to what we pay now then I'd feel a little annoyed as we'd be paying more than the regular US price but have had parts of the All Inclusive package removed.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the prices are come Monday.

[marktwothousand]

We can guess and speculate about where this will all go, and where prices will land, but I am sure whatever the change is, it will end up in higher costs for the consumer. Nothing like this is ever truly done for the benefit of the consumer.

 

Even if the UK/Eur sees lower prices in the short term as a result of removing all-in, I am sure it won't last long, and prices for UK/Eur residents will be equal or slightly higher than US prices, as their markets are used to paying a little more for things. The plan here is ultimately to make more money for NCL.

[ziggyuk]

We can only conclude NCL have decided an All Inclusive fare was a failure they only introduced it 2 years ago and now it's gone, I felt sure they would roll it out everywhere.

[cloud_nine]

I really liked the all inclusive fare - it made us switch from RCI to NCL this year as you got a lot more for your money than you did with RCI. If this change doesn't lessen the cost of the cruise by much (and as others have said I can't see it) we'll end up going back to RCI.

[ighten]

Be interesting to see what the like for like price is on the just cruise offers come Monday - i'm wondering if I should book now and take the free grats as its a lat offer that ends March (though as I said earlier the web site now tells you two different things as you make the booking (first it tells you clearly as you select that grats are included then when you come to pay it says they are not) so who knows - probably not any of NCLs CS staff - who arent even aware of the change when you speak to them)

[cloud_nine]

I wonder what their response would be if you rang up. Whether they'd be able to get the grats included since the all inclusive offer is still clearly ongoing until the end of the month. But like you said if they don't know what's going on either, who knows!

[marktwothousand]

I wonder if many UK/Eur customers will ask to have their DSC removed as tipping isn’t as conventional there as it is in America. 

[havenfan]

11 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I wonder if many UK/Eur customers will ask to have their DSC removed as tipping isn’t as conventional there as it is in America. 

In the UK and, I believe, on the continent, the convention is to include service in the quoted price.  Which, I'd assumed, was why NCL UK included the DSC in the quoted price.  Is it clear yet that the DSC will not be in the European quoted prices as of April 01?

Edited March 28, 2019 by havenfan

[ighten]

14 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I wonder if many UK/Eur customers will ask to have their DSC removed as tipping isn’t as conventional there as it is in America. 

Wouldnt have thought so as most understand the diff between straight tipping and what the grats/service charge are for when cruising.. Besides I believe with NCL its a bit of a convoluted to even do so and can only be done afterwards.

 

@Haven -not sure about that as not many actually do include it. Its often optional to pre pay upfront with most cruise lines though - but no we wont know until April (it may be one of the perk choices)

 

Re the Just Cruise according to an agent if you book before April this price includes the daily service charge - the Uk website is a little disordered because they are in the process of prepping it for April so some pages are giving conflicting info when your making a booking. I'll see what it says when I get my final invoice lol

Edited March 28, 2019 by ighten

[cloud_nine]

I imagine they will. It happens a lot on cruises out of the UK. Guest Services on RCI is always a mile long with people removing grats. Makes it a nightmare to get to speak to someone at GS if you've got an actual problem to be addressed.