Getting Prima Vibe once onboard - Said I'd report back

[KarenRB]

Did a B2B on Prima at the end of March.  Booked them relatively late so didn't have Vibe pre-booked for either leg.  I was one of the first 100 people onboard and went directly to Guest Services.  There was a big sign that Vibe was fully booked.  Stood in line anyway to ask about being put on a waiting list but she said there wasn't such a thing.  Scooted over to the Theater where they were handling entertainment reservations but nobody there was selling passes and the referred me to Guest Services.  Sigh. 

 

If ever there was a cruise where I'd have paid double for a Vibe pass it was this one.  Cruise left out of Galveston and I didn't realize spring break was so late in Texas.  There were over 600 kids onboard. I'm not kidding when I say there was nowhere to sit at the buffet, pool deck or on deck 8.  I was in a studio so couldn't hangout on the balcony.  I longingly looked through the doors into Vibe and it never really looked crowded all week.  Several times during the week, when I had to go to Guest Services for something, I'd ask if they ever sold passes to Vibe on embarkation.  Each person told me no.

 

The day before the second leg of the B2B, I went to Guest Services to get my new Sea Pass and got waited on by a really nice woman who usually worked at the Onboard Credit desk.  I asked (OK, begged) about being able to get a Vibe pass for the next leg.  She said she'd have an answer for me the next day after they "knew the numbers".  Stopped by Guest Services after we were cleared by Customs and she had a pass waiting for me. Through my tears, I noticed the fully booked Vibe sign was back out before any new guests were let on the ship.  

 

So after all that verbiage, I guess the jury's still out.  It seems like they don't hold back some passes.  I have no way of verifying but it felt like I got one as a perk of booking a B2B.

[Maanio]

If this was my 7 days of relaxing after working my ass off to get money for a cruise I would say it's not worth it.

 

But I'm happy that you got a pass for the second leg.

 

My tip is to book one of the smaller ships if you are able to.

[PATRLR]

10 hours ago, KarenRB said:

So after all that verbiage, I guess the jury's still out.  It seems like they don't hold back some passes.  I have no way of verifying but it felt like I got one as a perk of booking a B2B.

Thanks for reporting.

I don't think the jury is still out, I think your experience is further proof that they don't hold any passes for onboard sales.  You managed to get one because they likely had a last minute cancellation of some form and you happened to be there at the right time. 

[SeaShark]

Great story...thanks for sharing.

 

I remember a time when nobody even knew what Vibe was. Then, as the word got out, more and more people would show up early to the port to participate in the mad dash for passes. This drove up demand...and the price of Vibe soon followed. It went up...and up...and up. Yet, the demand doesn't slow. These "here is how I got my pass" stories are just going to give people ideas and make the demand even worse. Imagine working at Guest Services once all the Karens figure out that if you pester them enough you might get a pass. Fun.

 

You have to wonder how NCL will respond. Perhaps the whole selling Vibe passes online first come, first served isn't the best way from a business standpoint. People know they can bid for stateroom upgrades, why not bid for Vibe passes? Instead of selling ### passes online, NCL could just allow you to bid on a pass. Then, a couple of days before the cruise, they could just award the passes to the top ### bidders. Guarantees maximum income and allows them to take advantage of the "I'd have paid double for a Vibe pass " crowd.

 

Either that or they'll start dividing the entire top deck into sections, each with its own pa$$ that you can buy. 

 

We'll all miss the time when nobody even knew what Vibe was.

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, SeaShark said:

I remember a time when nobody even knew what Vibe was. Then, as the word got out, more and more people would show up early to the port to participate in the mad dash for passes.

 

It was fun to watch. 

VIBE runners are like sprinters while pier runners are like power walkers when it comes to speed. 

 

2 hours ago, SeaShark said:

People know they can bid for stateroom upgrades, why not bid for Vibe passes? Instead of selling ### passes online, NCL could just allow you to bid on a pass. Then, a couple of days before the cruise, they could just award the passes to the top ### bidders.

 

That's an interesting idea. 

I wonder how high people would be willing to go....

 

14 hours ago, KarenRB said:

If ever there was a cruise where I'd have paid double for a Vibe pass it was this one. 

 

...well, that's one answer. 😁

[UKstages]

glad you were able to secure a pass. enjoy.

 

it's been said many times, many ways, but here it is again: i have (almost) never had a problem getting vibe passes when boarding. i board with the platinums, sapphires and diamonds around 11:20 AM or so and head straight to wherever they are selling them, which has never been guest services, by the way. it's always been a desk inside or just outside headliners or the social or some similar location near the restaurant booking desk. there is a guest services team member typically staffing that desk who will cheerfully sell you a pass, provided others have not exhausted the supply. that same team member will recode your card; no need to go to the guest services desk. on a recent trip on the joy, there were at least a couple of dozen vibe packets waiting to be sold.

 

it has been confirmed repeatedly for me by these team members that they hold passes back for sale on the day. my one exception, as recently documented here on the board, was on the getaway. they were far from sold out... they were at half capacity or less... but somebody in management decided to halt sales because the weather was not going to be good. (presumably, they wanted to avoid refund requests.) no desk was set up and guest services said they were "sold out." i spoke to a casino host who arranged for me to get a pass the next day. so, getting a pass once onboard, when the vibe is "sold out" likely has more to do with finding a sympathetic ear of somebody in mid level management. they may be "sold out" (although the getaway wasn't), but there is always a margin there to accommodate one or two extra people. the nature of the vibe is such that it is rarely full at any given moment, even when it is sold out.

 

YMMV, as, apparently, it has for some people.

 

peak season journeys, weather and ship (as well as vibe) capacity are all influencing factors that determine the availability of vibe passes.

 

but they are supposed to hold back a limited number of passes for sale on the day and in my experience they do, unless somebody makes a wackadoodle decision to halt sales, even when they're not sold out. or, as was recently reported here, there is a booking error and they accidentally oversell the vibe to a large degree.

 

i don't see this embarkation day policy changing as long as NCL continues to prevent OBC from being used to pay for purchases before boarding (most other lines allow this). if you intend to use OBC to pay for vibe passes, there is no other way to do it than the mad dash on embarkation day. (you could pre-purchase, then cancel once onboard, then immediately rebook... but that is by no means foolproof. and it's complicated and annoying to both the guest and guest services team members.)