A Latitudes Change That Hadn't Caught My Eye

[98Charlie]

OK, I just got off the phone with Sarah. Nice gal.

 

I emailed the link to her supervisor and was told that it is a typo:p

 

Now, we know that you can call 4x and get 4 answers so we'll see.:rolleyes:

 

Charlie

[smeyer418]

OK, I just got off the phone with Sarah. Nice gal.

 

I emailed the link to her supervisor and was told that it is a typo:p

 

Now, we know that you can call 4x and get 4 answers so we'll see.:rolleyes:

 

Charlie

LOL it wasn't a typo...I bet it was a Freudian error it was what they wanted to do....we will see if they change it...

[Grandpaul]

I suspect they had to raise the limits because over the years more people are filling the upper categories. Before you know it half the ship would be filled with Platinum members and Le Bistro would run out of dinners.

[travel_lover]

as my PCC told me with the Latitude changes. He also stated any cruises under 5 nights get no elevation.

 

NCL should post the statement.

 

Meaning you don't get a Cruise Credit?!

[travel_lover]

Now, we know that you can call 4x and get 4 answers so we'll see.:rolleyes:

 

Charlie

 

LMAO! :p

[garycarla]

Meaning you don't get a Cruise Credit?!

 

Confused over what you are asking.

 

If you are asking if you get credit for the cruise, of course you will. Otherwise nobody would ever get to the next level???

[Tideone]

I think like another poster on this post... it isn't the perks... it's being platinum that counts more than the perks...

Hilton Honors just made some changes that weren't to our benefit. We had been diamond members for the past several years but we won't be after this year because they now require you to stay 30 nights a year instead of the way your stays rolled over.

Again it wasn't the perks we got for diamond membership, it was being diamond that counted to us...

Now since I don't get the benefit of a stay anymore, I look at other hotels at our destination besides hilton because the way they keep changing the amount of points for a free stay doesn't help us either...

I must say that the good folks on the NCL's ships that we have cruised on have been very good to us, whether we were in a suite or a balcony cabin...

In a conversation with a ship's officer, he told me NCL's goal was to keep their passengers happy so they would continue to come back and also to spread the word about NCL.

Word of mouth advertising is the best advertising you can get and happy passengers mean good advertising.

Yes, I am disappointed NCL changed the rules on Platinum status but I will keep cruising with them - someday I will get there, it will be just a little longer than I had expected.

[hazeleyes]

I think it must be a typo...Here's from the latest Latitude's Magazine:

 

http://www.ncllatitudesmagazine.com/Home/YourLatitudesBenefits/tabid/78/Default.aspx

 

It says after completeing 14 or more cruises for Platinum. :D

 

DT

 

I was just going to post the same thing then decided to read through the post first before duplicating the same info.

 

I'm hoping that its just a type O. I worked hard last year and this year and I should be at the highest leven by my November cruise.

 

Not that it gives much, but just to finally get there is what I say.

 

I appreciate what ever I get back from the cruise line. And to be honest with you I like NCL alot, and i love the freestyle concept.

[hazeleyes]

as my PCC told me with the Latitude changes. He also stated any cruises under 5 nights get no elevation.

 

NCL should post the statement.

 

We were told that cruises under 5 werent going to count but that the perks were going to be kept on the sailings.

[travel_lover]

Confused over what you are asking.

 

If you are asking if you get credit for the cruise, of course you will. Otherwise nobody would ever get to the next level???

 

I wanted to exactly what AFT_LOVER meant by this...

as my PCC told me with the Latitude changes. He also stated any cruises under 5 nights get no elevation.

[njhorseman]

that is why I think what they are doing is foolish. But as the legacy airlines will tell you is they make their money off the first class and full fare passengers- the rest(the geese) mostly they break even on. This isn't true on the upstart airlines-the buses-like Southwest which has a much different salary structure.

 

My point is that BOTH are important and they seem to be going out of their way to annoy the long term loyal NCL cruisers...and this is exactly opposite of the much wrongfully maligned Colin was doing.

 

I understand what you're saying, but the legacy airline example just doesn't work for large cruise ships simply because the number of high-end suites is such a small percentage of the total number of cabins on a ship it can't possibly produce sufficient revenue to compensate for empty cabins in lower categories.

 

By the way, in my experience the legacy airline model doesn't work very well for the legacy airlines, either. Check their financial reports. ;)

First class is mostly occupied by frequent fliers who got their seats for nothing, or paid coach fares and got a free upgrade. Full fare passengers in coach are 100% business fliers who have to travel on little advance notice and therefore don't meet the airline criteria for discount pricing, but in an economic slump like we're currently experiencing, their numbers are greatly diminished, leaving those seats unsold, or when sold, going at discount pricing.

 

I don't believe that salaries account for as big a part of the cost differences for a Southwest versus the legacy airlines any longer. The legacy airlines have forced cut after cut on the unions for many years now. Just ask US Airways hero pilot "Sully" Sullenberger how much less he earns now than he did a few years ago. The real cost advantage Southwest had over other airlines was due to their clever hedging of fuel contracts. When the cost of jet fuel soared, Southwest was sitting pretty paying far less for fuel than their competitors.

[gottacruisemore]

i just called and was told that you become platinum after your 14th cruise.

[smeyer418]

I understand what you're saying, but the legacy airline example just doesn't work for large cruise ships simply because the number of high-end suites is such a small percentage of the total number of cabins on a ship it can't possibly produce sufficient revenue to compensate for empty cabins in lower categories.

 

By the way, in my experience the legacy airline model doesn't work very well for the legacy airlines, either. Check their financial reports. ;)

First class is mostly occupied by frequent fliers who got their seats for nothing, or paid coach fares and got a free upgrade. Full fare passengers in coach are 100% business fliers who have to travel on little advance notice and therefore don't meet the airline criteria for discount pricing, but in an economic slump like we're currently experiencing, their numbers are greatly diminished, leaving those seats unsold, or when sold, going at discount pricing.

 

I don't believe that salaries account for as big a part of the cost differences for a Southwest versus the legacy airlines any longer. The legacy airlines have forced cut after cut on the unions for many years now. Just ask US Airways hero pilot "Sully" Sullenberger how much less he earns now than he did a few years ago. The real cost advantage Southwest had over other airlines was due to their clever hedging of fuel contracts. When the cost of jet fuel soared, Southwest was sitting pretty paying far less for fuel than their competitors.

we really are going far afield but I think we see each others point now back to latitudes where the big question is 14 or 19...

[njhorseman]

i just called and was told that you become platinum after your 14th cruise.

 

I hate to say it, because I love to sail on NCL, but I'm reluctant to believe anything their customer service reps tell you. If you call another time, you might get another answer. Call again, and you might get someone who has no idea what Latitudes is.

 

In fairness to NCL, the quality of telephone customer service is almost uniformly horrible everywhere. Poorly trained inexperienced service reps seem to be the norm in business today.

[Tideone]

You are so right about NCL's customer service reps - and the sad thing is they know it, especially the crew members who hear from passengers saying, they were told one thing by the customer service reps and something different on the ship...

I have actually called and asked a question that I knew the answer to and got five different answers.

It is sad when past cruisers know more about the cruise line than those that are supposed to be handing the customer service...

[garycarla]

Okay folks, we have the following:

Magazine says 14

Web says 19

Cust Svc says 14

Cust Svc rep says web is a typo and should be 14

 

I really would give this a few days and see what web continues to say

 

================

 

As to the silly discussion that cruises under 5 do not count. Let me ask this. If they do not count cruise #1, or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5, how could ANYONE ever get to 6 or more cruise credits?

[mbisson]

I think that NCL wants a different class of people. They have decided that the repeat cruiser unless they are a gambler or a suite buyer is not what they want. ...

 

What? They don't want me?

[sjbdtz]

I think like another poster on this post... it isn't the perks... it's being platinum that counts more than the perks...

Hilton Honors just made some changes that weren't to our benefit. We had been diamond members for the past several years but we won't be after this year because they now require you to stay 30 nights a year instead of the way your stays rolled over.

Again it wasn't the perks we got for diamond membership, it was being diamond that counted to us...

Now since I don't get the benefit of a stay anymore, I look at other hotels at our destination besides hilton because the way they keep changing the amount of points for a free stay doesn't help us either...

I must say that the good folks on the NCL's ships that we have cruised on have been very good to us, whether we were in a suite or a balcony cabin...

In a conversation with a ship's officer, he told me NCL's goal was to keep their passengers happy so they would continue to come back and also to spread the word about NCL.

Word of mouth advertising is the best advertising you can get and happy passengers mean good advertising.

Yes, I am disappointed NCL changed the rules on Platinum status but I will keep cruising with them - someday I will get there, it will be just a little longer than I had expected.

 

 

I'm also Diamond with Hilton.....the change is that instead of being 29 stays in the last 12 months, it's 29 stays from Jan - Dec..... not really that big of a change.

 

Hilton is still the only place you can get both Honors points towards free stays, AND airline points toward the flight to get you there....

[swedish weave]

I occasionally check the NCL website for corporate positions. I see the currently have one in marketing. It is for a Manager, Retention Marketing. That would be an interesting position. Wonder how many people who offer their opinion on these boards are actually "qualified" for such a position.

 

BASIC PURPOSE: This position is responsible for increasing customer retention and loyalty by creating, executing, and overseeing marketing strategies and tactics targeting NCL customers. Utilizes database marketing and analytics to evaluate customer data, sales results, and customer behavior to develop marketing plans to improve retention and loyalty.

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/staticPage.html?pageId=NCLC.JobPostingsDetail&jobId=1159259404729

 

 

Does this mean they fired the guy who took away our lattitudes benefits ??

[98Charlie]

I hate to say it, because I love to sail on NCL, but I'm reluctant to believe anything their customer service reps tell you. If you call another time, you might get another answer. Call again, and you might get someone who has no idea what Latitudes is.

 

In fairness to NCL, the quality of telephone customer service is almost uniformly horrible everywhere. Poorly trained inexperienced service reps seem to be the norm in business today.

 

We have cruised on 5 different cruise lines over the past few years and have had similar experience with cruise line reps on several of those cruise lines so it is not just NCL.

 

And as a news reporter for many years who has to call companies, services, etc. for information, I can tell you that this type of service is common across the boards in today's world.

 

Dianne

[98Charlie]

Okay folks, we have the following:

Magazine says 14

Web says 19

Cust Svc says 14

Cust Svc rep says web is a typo and should be 14

 

I really would give this a few days and see what web continues to say

 

================

 

 

I agree. 98Charlie was on the phone with Lattitudes reps for about 20 minutes this morning as he explained what was said on these boards. He actually had a supervisor put him on hold to wait for an answer as the supervisor tried to thread through the various web threads on NCL's website to find where ``19'' cruises was mentioned.

 

That's when he was told that number was a typo. It's the only place where the number ``19'' is mentioned.

 

Dianne

[mbisson]

Does this mean they fired the guy who took away our lattitudes benefits ??

 

Naw-he probably got a promotion :(

[travel_lover]

I don't know anymore. :confused:

[judyf]

Naw-he probably got a promotion :(

 

And a bonus :D ;):rolleyes: :eek:

[SnootieTootie]

We are Platinum latitudes members, and we're leaving Satuday for the 4-4-09 voyage on the Star. We will report back with all of the latitude changes.

 

Funny thing is, DH and I have been married 34 years, have been on 36 cruises (not all NCL), and NCL has him listed as Platinum, and me as Gold. We don't know why. He's never been on any cruises without me (hold the jokes...).

 

Platinum is really not a big deal to us. However, if it is true about being able to order from the "pay" section of the room service menu, I will be officially excited.

 

We are also booked on back to back cruises on the Star in November. Am I understanding correctly that we are to expect NO latitude perks on the 3 and 4 day cruises?