My perspective on the cutbacks

[Peachypooh]

OK here is my two cents for what it is worth. Everywhere I look and go I am getting less for more money. Case in point. For the past 10 years or

so we have been going to the same upscale steak house for an early New Year's Eve dinner. Years ago it was $60 for a champagne toast and four course meal per person.The food was always outstanding. We decided to treat ourselves this year even though they raised the price to $100 per person (ouch). Anyway, the meal was subpar. The portion size was OK but the meat and dessert specifically was basically inedible.....We won't be going back.

What has this got to do with NCL? I have been cruising them for a long time and slowly but surely the prices have been going up and the product not as good. I am hoping that my upcoming family cruise will be enjoyable but I told my husband I am going to focus on spending time with family and making memories and going to expect cutbacks and long lines. It is just the way it is. HOWEVER I am totally annoyed at the frequent itinerary changes and port times. It makes it SO hard to plan.

Especially for those ships where reservations for things are needed. I have not checked the other message boards but I am pretty sure others have experienced the same things. I hope this will all pass soon so they can adequately staff the crew and buy their provisions so they still make a profit.  NCL is still my favorite cruise line. I have tried three other lines and NCL is still the best.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Peachypooh

[Laszlo]

7 minutes ago, Peachypooh said:

OK here is my two cents for what it is worth. Everywhere I look and go I am getting less for more money. Case in point. For the past 10 years or

so we have been going to the same upscale steak house for an early New Year's Eve dinner. Years ago it was $60 for a champagne toast and four course meal per person.The food was always outstanding. We decided to treat ourselves this year even though they raised the price to $100 per person (ouch). Anyway, the meal was subpar. The portion size was OK but the meat and dessert specifically was basically inedible.....We won't be going back.

What has this got to do with NCL? I have been cruising them for a long time and slowly but surely the prices have been going up and the product not as good. I am hoping that my upcoming family cruise will be enjoyable but I told my husband I am going to focus on spending time with family and making memories and going to expect cutbacks and long lines. It is just the way it is. HOWEVER I am totally annoyed at the frequent itinerary changes and port times. It makes it SO hard to plan.

Especially for those ships where reservations for things are needed. I have not checked the other message boards but I am pretty sure others have experienced the same things. I hope this will all pass soon so they can adequately staff the crew and buy their provisions so they still make a profit.  NCL is still my favorite cruise line. I have tried three other lines and NCL is still the best.

 

Just back on Friday from a 12 day on the Getaway. I'll start off by saying we stayed in the Haven and the services were great. With that said we had dinner twice with friends (Non Haven) in the regular restaurants and the service was pretty bad. The issue seemed to be just not enough staff. Our meal in three speciality restaurants was nothing to write home about. Meals in the Haven restaurant were excellent, they really need to change the menu or add some specialties

[scooter6139]

On our recent Joy the service was good but the food was just OK in MDR/Taste/Savor and the Garden was barely OK (wife despised the Garden this cruise, refused to back after that one dinner and she really didn't like the manager in The Food Republic for some reason). 

 

Prices are creeping up, that always happens.  In cruising they've been artificially low to entice people back.  Now they are getting back to where they likely should be, but it sucks to us as passengers as they are also cutting other "stuff" while doing so.

 

I too and in the same boat, trying to compare what my memories are to what I am getting/eating now.  I know I can't fully trust my memory through.  I don't have enough historical data to go on.  

[david_sobe]

We are getting less for more everywhere, not just cruising.  However cruising is very popular and some people are overpaying for cruises IMHO (which can make it seem worse).

Edited January 23, 2023 by david_sobe

[Oceansaway17]

2 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

We are getting less for more everywhere, not just cruising.  However cruising is very popular and some people are overpaying for cruises IMHO (which can make it seem worse).

i agree no need to be in a suite when interior rooms are nice and you will have more money for other things.  And the new ships will be expensive so wait a couple of years.

I booked the DCL Wish for next year and the price is about $900 less for same type of room and for 1 more day.

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

32 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

i agree no need to be in a suite when interior rooms are nice and you will have more money for other things.  And the new ships will be expensive so wait a couple of years.

I booked the DCL Wish for next year and the price is about $900 less for same type of room and for 1 more day.

 

 

A Disney room is cheaper than a NCL room? Interior to interior? That's crazy! Congrats on scoring one heck of a deal. 

[kitkat343]

I can deal with all the cutbacks, except for the itinerary changes (unless they are made for emergency reasons).  I'll research if the other cruise lines are changing their itineraries for non emergency reasons and if not I'll be able to switch to other cruise lines.

 

On our last cruise,  I would say that the food in the specialty dining is absolutely not worth the additional charges anymore (except for Ocean Blue), so just get the meals that are included in your room and not buy the additional upgrade package.

Edited January 23, 2023 by kitkat343

[zqvol]

26 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

A Disney room is cheaper than a NCL room? Interior to interior? That's crazy! Congrats on scoring one heck of a deal. 

That’s not what the quoted person said. They said that by waiting a year the Disney room was less than not waiting a year. 

[zqvol]

9 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

I can deal with all the cutbacks, except for the itinerary changes (unless they are made for emergency reasons).  I'll research if the other cruise lines are changing their itineraries for non emergency reasons and if not I'll be able to switch to other cruise lines.

 

I would say that the food in the specialty dining is absolutely not worth the additional charges anymore, so just get the meals that are included in your room and not buy the additional upgrade package.

In spite of what you think itinerary changes after final payment are nothing new and happen all the time. 

[cruiseny4life]

23 minutes ago, zqvol said:

That’s not what the quoted person said. They said that by waiting a year the Disney room was less than not waiting a year. 

Okeedokee, thanks! 

[PATRLR]

19 minutes ago, zqvol said:

In spite of what you think itinerary changes after final payment are nothing new and happen all the time. 

The frequency certainly seems to have increased.  NCL has even acknowledged it with their saving the environment BS.  

 

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, Peachypooh said:

 For the past 10 years or

so we have been going to the same upscale steak house for an early New Year's Eve dinner. Years ago it was $60 for a champagne toast and four course meal per person.The food was always outstanding. We decided to treat ourselves this year even though they raised the price to $100 per person (ouch). Anyway, the meal was subpar. The portion size was OK but the meat and dessert specifically was basically inedible.....We won't be going back.

Big difference though is that you won't be going back.  And, if you experience was the new norm for them, others won't be going back and they may find themselves out of business or roced to change.

In the mean time, despite paying more for a product that is "not as good", you'll continue to go on NCL.  And you aren't alone.  

The question is, how far will NCL push this race to the bottom?  And is there room for multiple cruise lines down there?  We'll see, eventually.

[Team Bean]

29 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

The frequency certainly seems to have increased.  NCL has even acknowledged it with their saving the environment BS.  

 

So many comments here and they are all related to the same thing; lack of employees.  Less workers mean less supply trucks, farmers, Brewers and distillers, less bartenders, less cooks.  And when companies raise prices or cutback services, it still comes back to less employees and workers.   Running out of as certain beer or soda or food on a ship isn't unrelated; order online from a grocery store and see how many out of stock notices and substitute items you receive.   Ports have less workers, less dock attendants, less pilot boat crews.  Simply put, Cruise lines are reacting to the same issues we face here in the US.   Less workers results in higher turnover, quality concerns, less product availability, less customer satisfaction.   There is no quick and easy solution.  

Edited January 23, 2023 by Team Bean

[Peachypooh]

48 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Big difference though is that you won't be going back.  And, if you experience was the new norm for them, others won't be going back and they may find themselves out of business or roced to change.

In the mean time, despite paying more for a product that is "not as good", you'll continue to go on NCL.  And you aren't alone.  

The question is, how far will NCL push this race to the bottom?  And is there room for multiple cruise lines down there?  We'll see, eventually.

You are right. Since we love cruising we will be back. I just hope that things improve. We tried Celebrity, RCCL and the now defunct Homelines many years ago. My least enjoyable  cruise on NCL was still better than these three. The NCL staff are always kind and helpful which I could not say about Celebrity or RCCL (and we were in their suites) Homelines was a special kind of "adventure" but we were in our 20's so everything seemed fun and hilarious  even the bad times. LOL Like when the waiter at dinner was scornful that I ordered jello (I was seasick) and they kept bringing out the same rolls at dinner so by the end they were like cement. My husband carved his initials in one mid week to see if they were the same the next night and they were LOLOLOL This was back when you had assigned seats each night and it was our own individual roll basket.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Peachypooh

[Oceansaway17]

On 1/23/2023 at 1:26 PM, cruiseny4life said:

A Disney room is cheaper than a NCL room? Interior to interior? That's crazy! Congrats on scoring one heck of a deal. 

no I meant with pricing going up and cutbacks, I was able to get Wish a lot cheaper for next year.

Nothing to do with NCL but my point was this year is expensive so try next year when itineraries first come out.

 

BTW Carnival has some expensive pricing once you search.  They have tier pricing on every deck.  

[cruiseny4life]

14 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

no I meant with pricing going up and cutbacks, I was able to get Wish a lot cheaper for next year.

Nothing to do with NCL but my point was this year is expensive so try next year when itineraries first come out.

 

BTW Carnival has some expensive pricing once you search.  They have tier pricing on every deck.  

@zqvolstraightened me out! 

 

I'm not sure where posters find all these Carnival deals. Every time I look, I see absurd pricing for what you get...but I'm not a Carnival fan. Oh well. 

[EllieinNJ]

Hope they don't start charging for breakfast with the price of eggs and bacon these days.😅

[v3cruiser]

We primarily cruise for itinerary. I still like how i can get a whole cost for cruise with NCL.  Im not surprised at all of the cutbacks as im sure ncl is trying to improve their balance sheet and get a hold of the debt they had to create because of forced government shutdowns and health policies. 

 

As long as we can get to where we are going and have food and drink and our own room/bath, we are good.