Really struggling with NCL ethics and whether I should switch cruise lines

[PATRLR]

50 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

Well, okay, but let's have a little reality check here. The day I'm worried about $5 on a cruise is the day I quit cruising. (Or $50 or $100 or $300)

Hopefully you realize I never expressed worry or concern over the $5.  No, in fact, I laugh at NCL about it.  And include it in my list of nickel and diming.

[PATRLR]

52 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

Because it always is. It can be dressed up in morals, honesty, and integrity, etc, but in the end it's about the money. That makes me sad.

 

Speak for yourself.  As stated, I find humour in NCL's ridiculous business practices  - I'm laughing at them.  I could care less about the $5.

[cruiseny4life]

52 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

Because it always is. It can be dressed up in morals, honesty, and integrity, etc, but in the end it's about the money. That makes me sad.

 

It's really not. I suppose if one is motivated by only extrinsic reasons then it seems it's only money, but for those of us motivated by feelings and values, then it's not. It's about how the company makes one feel. 

[PATRLR]

34 minutes ago, pghflyer said:

Honestly I don't understand how basic math is under debate here. 

I don't think the math is under debate.  

 

34 minutes ago, pghflyer said:

The $50 excursion FAS always comes off FIRST. Then, you get your latitude discount off of the remaining balance. So some of you are correct in that a Latitude member gets less Latitude Discount than someone without FAS excursion credit....but everyone gets the full $50. 

What IS being discussed is what I mentioned previously, it's how you spin it or how you describe it to yourself.  You say everyone gets the $50, but Latitudes member gets less discount.  I said the Latitudes member doesn't save $50 with FAS, s/he only saves $45 with FAS.  Do my words or your words really differ?  Spin it anyway you want, it's the same thing:  NCL's most loyal customers get less discount.

 

 

[PATRLR]

8 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

It's about how the company makes one feel. 

Amen!  

I've said similar things when discussing the nickel and diming - it's never about the few extra bucks, it's about how you feel needing to deal with it over and over...

[IAcruising]

17 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

It's really not. I suppose if one is motivated by only extrinsic reasons then it seems it's only money, but for those of us motivated by feelings and values, then it's not. It's about how the company makes one feel. 

 

To each their own. I always respect your opinion. My feelings and values end where my double-Crown begins. 😃

 

[90scruzer]

19 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Chasing loyalty perks on a cruise line is as foolish as chasing casino comps in vegas.  Be loyal to your wallet and the vacation that interests you.  All of these loyalists are wasting money and getting a very poor return.  Don't like the offering a company has? Look elsewhere. Simple as that.

True, but this sounds an awful lot like the old statement "If you don't like the way we do business, do business elsewhere".   which works for consumers only until they *ALL* do business that way.    Not saying we are there yet, but there is a difference between choice and an illusion of choice.

[Barb Nahoumi]

It says in the contract of carriage that the cruise line can change itineraries.  NCL does allow jeans in good condition to be worn to dinner.  Maybe not ripped ones.  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, pghflyer said:

Honestly I don't understand how basic math is under debate here. The $50 excursion FAS always comes off FIRST. Then, you get your latitude discount off of the remaining balance. So some of you are correct in that a Latitude member gets less Latitude Discount than someone without FAS excursion credit....but everyone gets the full $50.  See my NCL invoice screenshot from my last cruise (when I used both FAS $50 and Platinum 10%):

There is an old saying that when the possible answers are always, sometimes and never, go with sometimes. On our Prima cruise last summer, the $50 came off first on the excursion booked pre-cruise and came off last after the 10% on the trip to the airport that included a stop at a museum. That was purchased on the cruise very near to the end of the cruise.

[pghflyer]

Anything is possible on board, I will grant that. Honestly, 75% of the time when I have done transactions on board at ShoreEx, they forget to even apply my Latitudes discount (they always complain it doesn't happen automatically)........

[Firstin87]

19 hours ago, 90scruzer said:

AS this is CC -- I thought you would also at least mention need for definition of "covered up". /s  all too often I see tourists trying to go into churches with immodest dress....

 

rocket man - I've heard of this.  fortunately never experienced it.  it would piss me off to no end.  at least before I retire and can be more free spirited!

Since I'm the one who wrote "covered up", I'll give my definition of it, FWIW.  To me, 'covered up' means no private parts on display or on potential display if a 'wardrobe malfunction'; your clothing should be larger than a 1" square; don't dress like a Kardashian - lol.  Seems that this is hard for some people.

 

And yes - definitely follow the dress code for sites you are going to visit, especially churches.

 

[Firstin87]

16 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Justify it any way that makes you feel good, but at the end of the day the Latitudes member does not save $50 on their excursion the way the non-Latitudes person does.

Imagine a $100 excursion.  Passengers A and B in the same stateroom, both Gold Latitudes: 

 

• Passenger A pays $100-$50-$5 = $45
• Passenger B pays $100-$10 = $90

 

Passenger A, who supposedly gets a $50 discount, only paid $45 less than passenger B.  Tell me again how they saved $50?

Imagine Passengers C and D in the cabin next door go on the same excursion except this is their first ever NCL cruise:

 

• Passenger C pays $100-$50 = $50
• Passenger D pays $100-$0 = $100
  
  Passenger C indeed saved $50 off their excursion cost.

@PATRLR - I understand your example and had never looked at it that way before. 

 

My interpretation of what NCL's FAS $50 discount means (and not saying I agree with it or like it) is that the passenger who gets that discount is saving $50 plus any Latitudes percentage discount off the published price of the excursion for themselves only.  In your example, Passenger A saved $55 off the original price of $100.  When you compare their savings to that of Passenger B, you obviously get a different amount of savings between those two passengers.

 

What I think if unfair about the $50 discount is that it is only given to the first named passenger in the cabin.  In our case, that's my DH.  However, our Latitudes points/ are exactly the same as we have never cruised separately.  So, why should he get the discount and not me, as well?  I'm just as loyal to NCL as he is, have spent just as much money with them as he has, etc.

[DorothyB]

We went on a cruise in Feb 2024.  B and I both "earned" 10% Latitudes discount.  

 

Example from one excursion:

Excursion was $149

For me: $149 - $14.90 = 134.10 actually charged

 

B's was $149 - $50 excursion credit = $99.90 - $9.99 10% discount = $89.10 actually charged

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, Firstin87 said:

What I think if unfair about the $50 discount is that it is only given to the first named passenger in the cabin.  In our case, that's my DH.  However, our Latitudes points/ are exactly the same as we have never cruised separately.  So, why should he get the discount and not me, as well?  I'm just as loyal to NCL as he is, have spent just as much money with them as he has, etc.

 

Would you be happy if NCL "fixed" it and give both Guest #1 and Guest #2 $25 off instead?

[Firstin87]

1 hour ago, SeaShark said:

 

Would you be happy if NCL "fixed" it and give both Guest #1 and Guest #2 $25 off instead?

No, I think since we're both paying the same amount for the cruise, thereby both getting the FAS benefits, we should both get $50 off.  Why am I paying for a 'free shorex' benefit I'm not getting? 

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, Firstin87 said:

No, I think since we're both paying the same amount for the cruise, thereby both getting the FAS benefits, we should both get $50 off.  Why am I paying for a 'free shorex' benefit I'm not getting? 

 

Why should you get double the benefit? The advertised benefit is $50 off for guest #1 on the reservation. If you're unhappy with that, they could simply give it as $25 for guest #1 and for guest #2...that IS what you are paying for and that IS what you are getting. What you are arguing is that they should give you double benefits.

 

No different than when they price the cabin at $1,500 and then advertise it as "$750 per person"...hence why a solo ends up paying double.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, DorothyB said:

We went on a cruise in Feb 2024.  B and I both "earned" 10% Latitudes discount.  

 

Example from one excursion:

Excursion was $149

For me: $149 - $14.90 = 134.10 actually charged

 

B's was $149 - $50 excursion credit = $99.90 - $9.99 10% discount = $89.10 actually charged

And as has been pointed out that $50 off actually became a $45 difference.

[pghflyer]

The precise answer is that both received the full $50 FAS discount.

 

There is a legitimate complaint/ dissatisfaction for those who don't appreciate that NCL applies the Latitude Discount AFTER the FAS discount instead of against the full list price. Honestly, the way NCL does it is the more common practice, as it is to their advantage (and the consumer's detriment).

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, pghflyer said:

The precise answer is that both received the full $50 FAS discount.

 

There is a legitimate complaint/ dissatisfaction for those who don't appreciate that NCL applies the Latitude Discount AFTER the FAS discount instead of against the full list price. Honestly, the way NCL does it is the more common practice, as it is to their advantage (and the consumer's detriment).

They both got a $50 discount except one of those $50 discounts was only worth $45. 🤦‍♂️

 

But what does it matter anyway since it is FREE. 🤣

[ldubs]

On 7/31/2024 at 6:16 AM, DorothyB said:

 

But I think I'm ready to seriously consider changing cruise lines.  I asked last week and was told that I could wear jeans to dinner every day on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and MSC - is this true??  and is MSC the only one of those that will match lattitudes level?  All of those sail from the nearest port.  How do prices compare?

 

 

A frequent threat made across these forums.  I wonder how often it actually happens.  Do it.  Give some others a try.  You can always come back if you don't like them.  It is easy to compare prices online.  

 

I would characterize dress on Carnival RCI, and Princess as casual.   Don't know about MSC.  On formal nights, it is more "business" or "country club" casual on Princess, but jeans are common too (as long as they are kinda sorta nice ones).  I've been on several cruises on those three lines since the pandemic.  I have not taken slacks on any of them.    

[DorothyB]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

A frequent threat made across these forums.  I wonder how often it actually happens.  Do it.  Give some others a try.  You can always come back if you don't like them.  It is easy to compare prices online.  

 

I would characterize dress on Carnival RCI, and Princess as casual.   Don't know about MSC.  On formal nights, it is more "business" or "country club" casual on Princess, but jeans are common too (as long as they are kinda sorta nice ones).  I've been on several cruises on those three lines since the pandemic.  I have not taken slacks on any of them.    

I have completed the status match (gold on MSC) and almost booked a cruise out of Miami.  However, I will most wait until MSC sails out of Galveston in November.  

[graphicguy]

NCL...."here, we're going to give you $50 off on this excursion with your Free at Sea.  And, since you cruise with us so much, we're going to give you another 15% off, too."

 

Guest...."Don't give me the extra 15% off since I don't like how you apply it."

 

NCL....."OK, we won't apply the other 15% discount since you don't like it".

[PATRLR]

22 hours ago, ldubs said:

A frequent threat made across these forums.  I wonder how often it actually happens.

It's happening a lot.  I think it was @YVRteacher's Live blog over on the Princess boards that had multiple different people commenting that they were trying Princess (coming from NCL) and looking forward to her review and commentary.  (maybe it was someone else, not positive)

Personally, we've gone back to RCCL last summer and tried Princess for the first time this summer.  We've got another Princess trip booked for next summer.   All because NCL has slipped so much in so many areas.

[PATRLR]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

NCL...."here, we're going to give you $50 off on this excursion with your Free at Sea.  And, since you cruise with us so much, we're going to give you another 15% off, too."

 

Guest...."Don't give me the extra 15% off since I don't like how you apply it."

Said nobody, ever. 

[Catchum]

There is always a ton of stuff on a cruise you pay for but don't use, we don't eat breakfast, go to shows or use the hot tubs. Others may not use the gym, eat meat or visit the nightclub. If you were planning on an excursion (we never do ship excursions) and get a few bucks off great. We enjoy our wine and speciality dining and ignore the rest.