New to NCL, Can someone explain the good and bad of current Promotion?

[Jimbo]

I have a  regular Balcony Cabin on hold on the new ship Prima. 7 day cruise

Is this a good deal or is there a lot of restrictions associated with the FREE items listed below. There was an additional charge on my invoice for the Open Bar(Beverage Service charge) ($277) and Specialty Dining (Dining Service charge) ($35.60)........I assume these charges were for tips...........Dining, can you go all 7 nights to the speciality Dining Venues are is there a limit how many nights you can go? Wifi seems limited to150 minutes per guest, Is that right? Talkto me about the air fare, 2nd passengers flies free if I use NCL air, so is the first persons air price going to be sky high?

 

So over all is this a good deal or not?

 

GET ALL FREE OFFERS

Free Prepaid Gratuities too

•  

• FREE OPEN BAR

  Save up to $1,400 on all the spirits and cocktails, wines, draft beer, juice and soda for all guests 21 years or older.

• FREE SPECIALTY DINING

  Save up to $180 on meals at our Specialty Dining venues for Guests 1 & 2.

• FREE EXCURSIONS

  Save $50 per tour with Shore Excursion Credits.

• FREE WIFI

  Save up to $200 on internet you can use throughout the ship.

   

   

  

  FREE AIRFARE FOR 2ND GUEST

  Buy our airfare for one guest, and the second guest flies FREE. Offer includes roundtrip flights to and from where this cruise departs. Airfare is refundable under our risk-free cancellation policies.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Jimbo

[BirdTravels]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I have a  regular Balcony Cabin on hold on the new ship Prima. 7 day cruise

Is this a good deal or is there a lot of restrictions associated with the FREE items listed below. There was an additional charge on my invoice for the Open Bar ($200 something) and Specialty Dining $35.60........I assume these charges were for tips...........Dining, can you go all 7 nights to the speciality Dining Venues are is there a limit how many nights you can go? Wifi seems limited to150 minutes per guest, Is that right? Talkto me about the air fare, 2nd passengers flies free if I use NCL air, so is the first persons air price going to be sky high?

 

So over all is this a good deal or not?

 

GET ALL FREE OFFERS

Free Prepaid Gratuities too

•  

• FREE OPEN BAR

  Save up to $1,400 on all the spirits and cocktails, wines, draft beer, juice and soda for all guests 21 years or older.

• FREE SPECIALTY DINING

  Save up to $180 on meals at our Specialty Dining venues for Guests 1 & 2.

• FREE EXCURSIONS

  Save $50 per tour with Shore Excursion Credits.

• FREE WIFI

  Save up to $200 on internet you can use throughout the ship.

   

   

  

  FREE AIRFARE FOR 2ND GUEST

  Buy our airfare for one guest, and the second guest flies FREE. Offer includes roundtrip flights to and from where this cruise departs. Airfare is refundable under our risk-free cancellation policies.

The “current promo” has not changed in several years. And we have sailed under the promos dozens of times. 
 

The beverage package is an excellent deal. The package covers the first $15 of any drink (and for standard bar drinks, it is hard to exceed $15). If you go over $15, you pay the difference + tip. Two drinks at a time. No limit. Start the day with a mimosa and move up from there. Try the foo foo drinks that you would never pay for in your local bar. 
 

Dining package, you likely got 2 dinners (balcony and above).  Any specialty restaurant. Multiple appetizers, one entree, desserts. Great deal to eat at a specialty restaurant. The Prima will have the newest in the fleet. 
 

ShoreEx as stated. $50 off per cabin per port. Use or lose at each port. 
 

Wi-Fi is 150 minutes of Wi-Fi. Can be upgraded to unlimited. 
 

Air. Usually reasonable prices for passenger 1. But they will pick the flights [cheapest]. Usually ok on day of cruise. Could be latter on disembarkation. We have used it, but you are not in control. Good deal if you understand that you could be returning late. You can pay to deviate and come in early or leave late. 

[Two Wheels Only]

https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

Edited May 14, 2022 by Two Wheels Only

[Jimbo]

10 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The “current promo” has not changed in several years. And we have sailed under the promos dozens of times. 
 

The beverage package is an excellent deal. The package covers the first $15 of any drink (and for standard bar drinks, it is hard to exceed $15). If you go over $15, you pay the difference + tip. Two drinks at a time. No limit. Start the day with a mimosa and move up from there. Try the foo foo drinks that you would never pay for in your local bar. 
 

Dining package, you likely got 2 dinners (balcony and above).  Any specialty restaurant. Multiple appetizers, one entree, desserts. Great deal to eat at a specialty restaurant. The Prima will have the newest in the fleet. 
 

ShoreEx as stated. $50 off per cabin per port. Use or lose at each port. 
 

Wi-Fi is 150 minutes of Wi-Fi. Can be upgraded to unlimited. 
 

Air. Usually reasonable prices for passenger 1. But they will pick the flights [cheapest]. Usually ok on day of cruise. Could be latter on disembarkation. We have used it, but you are not in control. Good deal if you understand that you could be returning late. You can pay to deviate and come in early or leave late. 

Thanks for the info...............have  Prepaid Gratuities always been included too when cruising with NCL?

 

Will we be missing a lot by not book a Suite for Haven.

Neither my wife or I are really Spa people..............so what would we be missing by not booking a Haven Cabin ?

Edited May 14, 2022 by Jimbo

[Jimbo]

7 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

How do you use , that Cruise First. How do you apply for that? $150

[FLAHAM]

Prepaid gratuities are rarely if ever included by NCL with your fare on US bookings.  However , on occasion an outside travel agent may offer them as an incentive for booking with that agency.  Any passenger may prepay gratuities or have them added to his or her bill day by day during the cruise.  I have heard they are included on British bookings.

Edited May 14, 2022 by FLAHAM

[Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Prepaid gratuities are rarely if ever included by NCL with your fare.  However , on occasion an outside travel agent may offer them as an incentive for booking with that agency.  Any passenger may prepay gratuities or have them added to his or her bill day by day during the cruise.

Okay, then that must have been included by the agency I'm holding the cabin with, it's on the invoice.

FREE PREPAID GRATUITIES INCLUDED!

[Biffire]

The beverage package: You are paying around $20 per person for estimated tips. It entitles you to drinks up to $15. If you go top shelf and exceed $15, then you pay the difference and extra tips.  In most cases if you each will drink 2-3 drinks per day it is worth it. If not, you can decline the package. If you search this forum there have been many threads about this subject. I always take the package and am happy with it, others decline, it is all about how many drinks you anticipate enjoying on your vacation.

 

The dining package is usually for two meals for both passengers. It would be nice to get seven, but not with this package. You can certainly buy additional nights if you wish. $35 bucks is worth 2 nights specialty dining in my opinion.

 

I try to disconnect on a cruise so I don't have much to say about wifi, wifey uses it to check in with our son, but that is about it.

 

I would never use the free airfare, as I like to control when we fly and on which airlines, so can't help much there.

 

$50 shore excursion for one person per port, can't save them up, must use or lose each port. It is free and if you plan on taking an excursion it is a good deal.

If you don't want any of these options you can book sail away prices, but we enjoy the perks and don't do that. When you see the cost difference between the sail away and a room booked with the free at sea options you will see the true cost of the "free" at sea promotion.

No such thing as a free lunch, but in my opinion, we accept the promotion and enjoy the perks.

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

[Sand and Seas]

Good information above.  Since you asked about dining for 7 nights, you should know there is a variety of complimentary dining aboard.   Two nights of specialty would be good along with the many other free dining venues aboard.  

 

Here is a link to NCL's page for Prima.  This ship has a number of Complimentary dining venues:

https://www.ncl.com/cruise/prima/dining-bars

[MeHeartCruising]

Based on responses so far (all good), I see a couple possible gaps in interpretation.  

 

With the Free-as-Sea promotion, if you choose to include the dining and drinking portion of that promo, the  charge you see added is for the gratuities related to just those packages.  In other words, you don't need to further tip a bartender or a waiter in the 2 specialty restaurants you chose to use with your promotion.  Of course, you are free to leave additional gratuities, if you feel so inclined. 

 

In addition to those gratuities, NCL uses a Daily Service Charge (aka Discretionary Service Charge) to cover the rest of the employees you will interact with -- cabin stewards, kitchen staff, laundry room crew, etc.  This is added to your on board account daily or it can be pre-paid if you wish.  It sounds like your travel agent may have covered that with their own promotion (unless that item on their invoice is referring to the gratuities associated with the drink/dining packages.

 

Your dining promotion probably includes 2 specialty dining dinners.  You are free, however, to eat in a specialty restaurant every day of the cruise if you desire.  Those beyond 2, will cost you.  There are plenty of free/included dining options too, so you don't have to choose a pay restaurant.

 

The drink package is a great deal if you drink multiple drinks a day.  The exact number which is the "pay off" point depends on the type of drinks you drink.  Generally if you are going to drink 5, 6, 7 or more drinks per person/per day, then getting the drink package part of the promo makes sense.  But if you are only going to drink 2 drinks per person, it's probably cheaper to opt out of the drinks portion of the promo and just pay for them as you go (plus tip).

 

As for the airfare portion of the promo, don't you see the price of the 1st person's airfare when you book the trip?  You can see it if you book on NCL's website.  It has you enter your airport of choice and then the airfare price shows up.  If you're using a travel agency website, do a mock booking on NCL.com for your ship and you should be able to see flight pricing.

Edited May 14, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Based on responses so far (all good), I see a couple possible gaps in interpretation.  

 

With the Free-as-Sea promotion, if you choose to include the dining and drinking portion of that promo, the  charge you see added is for the gratuities related to just those packages.  In other words, you don't need to further tip a bartender or a waiter in the 2 specialty restaurants you chose to use with your promotion.  Of course, you are free to leave additional gratuities, if you feel so inclined. 

 

In addition to those gratuities, NCL uses a Daily Service Charge (aka Discretionary Service Charge) to cover the rest of the employees you will interact with -- cabin stewards, kitchen staff, laundry room crew, etc.  This is added to your on board account daily or it can be pre-paid if you wish.  It sounds like your travel agent may have covered that with their own promotion (unless that item on their invoice is referring to the gratuities associated with the drink/dining packages.

 

Your dining promotion probably includes 2 specialty dining dinners.  You are free, however, to eat in a specialty restaurant every day of the cruise if you desire.  Those beyond 2, will cost you.  There are plenty of free/included dining options too, so you don't have to choose a pay restaurant.

 

The drink package is a great deal if you drink multiple drinks a day.  The exact number which is the "pay off" point depends on the type of drinks you drink.  Generally if you are going to drink 5, 6, 7 or more drinks per person/per day, then getting the drink package part of the promo makes sense.  But if you are only going to drink 2 drinks per person, it's probably cheaper to opt out of the drinks portion of the promo and just pay for them as you go (plus tip).

 

As for the airfare portion of the promo, don't you see the price of the 1st person's airfare when you book the trip?  You can see it if you book on NCL's website.  It has you enter your airport of choice and then the airfare price shows up.  If you're using a travel agency website, do a mock booking on NCL.com for your ship and you should be able to see flight pricing.

Since the drink package only costs about $20 per day, if you drink 2+ drinks a day, it’s worth it.

[Jimbo]

3 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Based on responses so far (all good), I see a couple possible gaps in interpretation.  

 

With the Free-as-Sea promotion, if you choose to include the dining and drinking portion of that promo, the  charge you see added is for the gratuities related to just those packages.  In other words, you don't need to further tip a bartender or a waiter in the 2 specialty restaurants you chose to use with your promotion.  Of course, you are free to leave additional gratuities, if you feel so inclined. 

 

In addition to those gratuities, NCL uses a Daily Service Charge (aka Discretionary Service Charge) to cover the rest of the employees you will interact with -- cabin stewards, kitchen staff, laundry room crew, etc.  This is added to your on board account daily or it can be pre-paid if you wish.  It sounds like your travel agent may have covered that with their own promotion (unless that item on their invoice is referring to the gratuities associated with the drink/dining packages.

 

Your dining promotion probably includes 2 specialty dining dinners.  You are free, however, to eat in a specialty restaurant every day of the cruise if you desire.  Those beyond 2, will cost you.  There are plenty of free/included dining options too, so you don't have to choose a pay restaurant.

 

The drink package is a great deal if you drink multiple drinks a day.  The exact number which is the "pay off" point depends on the type of drinks you drink.  Generally if you are going to drink 5, 6, 7 or more drinks per person/per day, then getting the drink package part of the promo makes sense.  But if you are only going to drink 2 drinks per person, it's probably cheaper to opt out of the drinks portion of the promo and just pay for them as you go (plus tip).

 

As for the airfare portion of the promo, don't you see the price of the 1st person's airfare when you book the trip?  You can see it if you book on NCL's website.  It has you enter your airport of choice and then the airfare price shows up.  If you're using a travel agency website, do a mock booking on NCL.com for your ship and you should be able to see flight pricing.

Charlotte to Houston...............Galveston Home port   I assume the $156 is to take you from airport to the ship and then back to the airport for 2 people round trip?

 

• Subtotal

  $2,884.70
• Gov. Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses

  $326.76
• Open Bar Gratuities

  $277.20
• Specialty Dining Gratuities

  $35.60
• Airfare

  $324
• Ground Transportation

  $156

Total Due

$4,004.26

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

Since the drink package only costs about $20 per day, if you drink 2+ drinks a day, it’s worth it.

Big savings since RCCL charges $65 to $80 a day for the drink package.

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Okay, then that must have been included by the agency I'm holding the cabin with, it's on the invoice.

FREE PREPAID GRATUITIES INCLUDED!

Free grats is an infrequent and short lived promotion. As is free taxes. 
 

Some big box travel agents give free ship to shore calling minutes, bingo cars, casino credit, photo package and more just for booking with them. 

Edited May 14, 2022 by BirdTravels

[MeHeartCruising]

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Since the drink package only costs about $20 per day, if you drink 2+ drinks a day, it’s worth it.

True.  But if one surrenders the drink package portion because they aren’t big drinkers, they should probably strongly consider not using the Free-at-Sea promos at all and instead going with the significantly cheaper Sail Away fares.  Granted, with Sail Away, you do not pick your own cabin and it’s not always available.   But for those that it fits, it’s a good thing - lower base fair and no Free-at-Sea up charge gratuities. 

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Charlotte to Houston...............Galveston Home port   I assume the $156 is to take you from airport to the ship and then back to the airport for 2 people round trip?

 

• Subtotal

  $2,884.70
• Gov. Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses

  $326.76
• Open Bar Gratuities

  $277.20
• Specialty Dining Gratuities

  $35.60
• Airfare

  $324
• Ground Transportation

  $156

Total Due

$4,004.26

Correct.  Assuming your quote is for 2 people.  I seem to recall reading that you can call to have this removed if you wish to provide your own transfers.  I could be wrong.  The Houston airports are both quite a distance from Galveston.  Houston Hobby is much closer than Houston Intercontinental. 

[vacation44]

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

 

ShoreEx as stated. $50 off per cabin per port. Use or lose at each port. 
 

It is no longer per port.  It has been per excursion for a while now. 

[cruiseny4life]

@Jimboin order to get the perks of the spa you have to book either a Spa Balcony or Haven Spa Balcony. All other Haven rooms (penthouse, owners suite, courtyard, etc.) do not receive the thermal spa/suite privileges. You can purchase it, but sounds like you don't want this, so you're good to go in the Haven rooms.

To be fair, I have only been on one NCL cruise (and one Carnival cruise)...after the NCL cruise, my husband and I decided we will never, seriously never, sail outside of the Haven on NCL. It is the only way to go. If you can pony up the bucks or find a deal (good luck on Prima) you should do it. You won't need those specialty restaurants - the Haven Restaurant is, by far, the best restaurant on the ship. They'll provide you anything, within reason and with appropriate timing of your request. Examples: I wanted 3 crab tails. I got them. My husband wanted 9 shrimp, instead of the normal 3 - no problem sir. He wanted 2 filets - he got them. We requested pretzel rolls at every dinner, instead of the Haven bread. We got them for every dinner thereafter. Janet, Getaway's Haven host, made sure of that!

I can't express how satisfied we were with the Haven. 

[hallux]

10 hours ago, Jimbo said:

How do you use , that Cruise First. How do you apply for that? $150

The NCL site has the info you seek... https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

[Jimbo]

15 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Correct.  Assuming your quote is for 2 people.  I seem to recall reading that you can call to have this removed if you wish to provide your own transfers.  I could be wrong.  The Houston airports are both quite a distance from Galveston.  Houston Hobby is much closer than Houston Intercontinental. 

Yes, that quote above was a mock booking on the NCL site just to see what the airfare and transportation charge would be.............On my invoice for the cabin I'm holding through the travel agent just said that free air for second passengers is available if I tell them I want it. It is not priced out on my current invoice.

12 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

@Jimboin order to get the perks of the spa you have to book either a Spa Balcony or Haven Spa Balcony. All other Haven rooms (penthouse, owners suite, courtyard, etc.) do not receive the thermal spa/suite privileges. You can purchase it, but sounds like you don't want this, so you're good to go in the Haven rooms.

To be fair, I have only been on one NCL cruise (and one Carnival cruise)...after the NCL cruise, my husband and I decided we will never, seriously never, sail outside of the Haven on NCL. It is the only way to go. If you can pony up the bucks or find a deal (good luck on Prima) you should do it. You won't need those specialty restaurants - the Haven Restaurant is, by far, the best restaurant on the ship. They'll provide you anything, within reason and with appropriate timing of your request. Examples: I wanted 3 crab tails. I got them. My husband wanted 9 shrimp, instead of the normal 3 - no problem sir. He wanted 2 filets - he got them. We requested pretzel rolls at every dinner, instead of the Haven bread. We got them for every dinner thereafter. Janet, Getaway's Haven host, made sure of that!

I can't express how satisfied we were with the Haven. 

What is the lowest Haven Category on Prima, Their Categories are confusing to me.

11 hours ago, hallux said:

The NCL site has the info you seek... https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

This is interesting but still a little confusing. It says you can buy these FCC for $150 but when you apply them to your booking they are really worth $300 and it says if I'm reading it right you can apply as many of these as you want.

 

So say our cruise cost $3000................and say I buy 10 of the $150 FCC .........so then when I go to pay off the cruise............I use the 10 FCC and it pays off my $3000 costof cruise because FCC are worth double.

Is this correct? If correct, can you buy these FCC just before final payment and then apply to pay off the balance of the cruise?

 

If this is true might be a good time to budget in one of those Haven Category Cabins. Haven cabin for half price. 🙂

Edited May 15, 2022 by Jimbo

[MeHeartCruising]

6 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

This is interesting but still a little confusing. It says you can buy these FCC for $150 but when you apply them to your booking they are really worth $300 and it says if I'm reading it right you can apply as many of these as you want.

 

So say our cruise cost $3000................and say I buy 10 of the $150 FCC .........so then when I go to pay off the cruise............I use the 10 FCC and it pays off my $3000 costof cruise because FCC are worth double.

Is this correct? If correct, can you buy these FCC just before final payment and then apply to pay off the balance of the cruise?

 

If this is true might be a good time to budget in one of those Haven Category Cabins. Haven cabin for half price. 🙂

 

Yes, it is essentially a $150 discount on your cruise.  But....

 

No.  While you can purchase more than one Cruise First certificates.  You can only use ONE of them per cruise.  NCL is not that dumb.  And make sure your desired cruise meets all the redemption requirements (duration, how far out the cruise is, etc.) or you will be stuck holding the certificate for another time.

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

What is the lowest Haven Category on Prima, Their Categories are confusing to me.

This is interesting but still a little confusing. It says you can buy these FCC for $150 but when you apply them to your booking they are really worth $300 and it says if I'm reading it right you can apply as many of these as you want.

The Prima has both Suites and Haven rooms.  Same as the Jewel-class ships and the Joy. You are looking for Hx rooms. What benefits the Suites guests get is still unknown. 
 

Wrt Cruise First Certificates, read all of the terms and conditions. And specifically

https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

 

Limit one CruiseFirst certificate that may be used per reservation. No black-out dates will apply. Reservations are subject to availability. CruiseFirst certificates are not combinable with CruiseNext, chartered sailings, barter cruises, employee discounts, friends and family pricing, Sailaway (categories: IX, OX, BX, MX), interline and travel agent rates.

Edited May 15, 2022 by BirdTravels

[Jimbo]

10 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Yes, it is essentially a $150 discount on your cruise.  But....

 

No.  While you can purchase more than one Cruise First certificates.  You can only use ONE of them per cruise.  NCL is not that dumb.  And make sure your desired cruise meets all the redemption requirements (duration, how far out the cruise is, etc.) or you will be stuck holding the certificate for another time.

I thought maybe the coupons were to entice 1st time cruisers on NCL............like here you go, a half price cruise to get us hooked........Good thought wasn't it?  LOL

Edited May 15, 2022 by Jimbo

[Jimbo]

15 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Prima has both Suites and Haven rooms.  Same as the Jewel-class ships and the Joy. You are looking for Hx rooms. What benefits the Suites guests get is still unknown. 
 

Wrt Cruise First Certificates, read all of the terms and conditions. And specifically

https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

 

Limit one CruiseFirst certificate that may be used per reservation. No black-out dates will apply. Reservations are subject to availability. CruiseFirst certificates are not combinable with CruiseNext, chartered sailings, barter cruises, employee discounts, friends and family pricing, Sailaway (categories: IX, OX, BX, MX), interline and travel agent rates.

They have a regular aft facing balcony category B1..................but geez that cabin size looks like a shoe box. That is the highest priced regular balcony.

 

What category cabin is #9352, I can't seem to figure out what category that is?

Edited May 15, 2022 by Jimbo

[Two Wheels Only]

47 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

What category cabin is #9352, I can't seem to figure out what category that is?

 

Aft-Facing Suite with Large Balcony that connects to a Club Balcony "suite". One is a suite and the other is not.