How can Norwegian improve it's 'image'

[sjbdtz]

( not an expensive one, biut a $2.00 one)how much could a few hundred thousand Tshirts cost.

 

 

I know, I know!!!!

[sjbdtz]

Get a blog :-P

 

 

James...did you just out yourself as an NCL plant, as opposed to an employee who likes to share their experiences? ;)

[sjbdtz]

They should ditch the specialty (FEE restaurants) which were usually empty on our cruise on the Jade last December, and upgrade the quality of their food in the MDRs which was quite poor. Also make the seating more comfortable in the lounges there is no place to get away to a quite corner to relax in any of the inside lounges. Just an my observation and my opinion.:)

 

 

What if they ditched their fee restaurants, and left the MDR as-is?

 

Would that make you happier? Nobody could accuse them of nickle & diming, by offering options..... :rolleyes:

[sjbdtz]

NCL should get real on their alcohol policy. They should take a lesson from Princess. Princess prices are cheaper on alcohol and they "look the other way" when people bring something on-board to enjoy in their cabin.

 

 

Maybe their passengers should get real & stop trying to steal from the cruiseline.

 

You wouldn't bring your own flask of gin to a restaurant on land & ask for some tonic, would you?

[Ontheotherhand]

You wouldn't bring your own flask of gin to a restaurant on land & ask for some tonic, would you?

 

No, but I might be a bottle or two, or some beer or wine, to enjoy in my hotel room even though the hotel has a bar and a restaurant that serve the same libation. I wouldn't expect to drink it in those venues, but I'd be happy to drink it in my room or on my balcony.

[KermitClin]

Not a huge deal, but image if they gave everyone a free T-shirt ( not an expensive one, biut a $2.00 one)with NCL all over it?? Come on, how much could a few hundred thousand Tshirts cost??

 

I am not by any means putting down your idea, lord knows if NCL gave me a free t-shirt, I'd gladly accept it and be quite happy about it! But, your comment about how much it would cost got me thinking. $2 for a shirt for each guest may not be much when you look at it on a person by person level, but when they're doing that week after week across their entire fleet, that could seriously add up after an entire year. If they have a fleet of 12 ships and let's say each ship has 2,400 guests on it (I don't know exact numbers), in just one week the $2 t-shirts could cost the company $57,000! That's a lot to swallow, especially if they keep doing it week after week up to an entire year. I understand some cruises are longer than 1 week, so this cost wouldn't be the same every week, but I think you see what I'm getting at. We're talking about $2 million on t-shirts alone in one year! That's a pretty hefty amount to add to a marketing budget.

 

In my opinion, I'd rather see better quality service from all levels within the company than a t-shirt. Sure a t-shirt will help spread their name, but it won't tell the people who see it whether I enjoyed my cruise. But my friends, family, and coworkers who I share the details of my trip with will hear all the wonderful details from my cruise and hopefully will be more inclined to try NCL for themselves. If they cruise with NCL and then pass along their good experiences to their friends and family, I think in the end the word of mouth marketing will be a more powerful tool than free t-shirts given to each guest.

[Ontheotherhand]

Sure a t-shirt will help spread their name, but it won't tell the people who see it whether I enjoyed my cruise

 

would you really wear the shirt if you didn't enjoy the cruise? I think most people would toss them overboard.

[GROOVERS]

Ah, another "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" thing -- I absolutely adore NCL's hull art. One of my favorite features on the Dawn was her art (photographed while we were waiting for our turn to tender back aboard) --

 

 

 

The other side of the ship has the Statue of Liberty, and given Dawn's NYC connection, that also makes a lot of sense. I really enjoy NCL's lively hull art.

 

PS Ms Belp, it's not what we love "best," because that would be Freestyle cruising -- but we do love the hull art!

 

Us to, you just can't beat NCL, they're a class act...I hope you nay-sayers don't come back, that'll leave more room for us!:D

[KermitClin]

would you really wear the shirt if you didn't enjoy the cruise? I think most people would toss them overboard.

Probably only to bed or doing work around the house. Actually, even if I enjoyed the cruise that's probably the only places I'd wear the shirt. So that kind of helps support my thought that improving overall service to increase customer satisfaction and word of mouth marketing would probably be money better spent than purchasing t-shirts for all their guests.

[Pickels]

Not that NCL has a bad image, but we were discussing this several times, and not just NCL, but many of the cruise lines would improve their public personna if they tried some new tacts.

One which we always thought was a good idea, was free advertising. How can they accomplish this?? Why not give everyone on board a sort of 'goodie' bag to take home with them. Not a huge deal, but image if they gave everyone a free T-shirt ( not an expensive one, biut a $2.00 one)with NCL all over it?? Come on, how much could a few hundred thousand Tshirts cost??> Sure they might not sell as many in their gift shops, but if NCL gave you a free Tshirt, you would probably wear it out and have others see it. I know several years ago, when we cruised the Virgin Isles, they gave everyone a big ol' NCL shopping bag to tote around. I don't know if they still do this, but hey, if they gave you one before leaving the ship, I'm sure you wouldn't throw it away. More free advertising. Bought in bulk, gosh, if they spent a rousing $5.00 on every passenger, look at all the free advertising that would bring. I'm sure they could throw a few other goodies into that bag. I know, for what we pay for a cruise, just getting a free Tshirt would make me happy. And think of the good public relations they would get.

Again, this is not just meant for NCL. but since this is their boards, I am using them as reference, but all cruise lines should show some appreciation to all their passengers, plus, some free advertising just cannot hurt.

 

IMHO... I never buy any apparel with a company's logo on it. Tell me... why should I advertise for a company for free?:confused: What advertising do you know of comes free of charge. If I was to walk around with an Old Navy, Niki, Macy's, Ford, etc. logo on my T-shirt, am I not advertising that company for free?

[packercruising]

Probably only to bed or doing work around the house. Actually, even if I enjoyed the cruise that's probably the only places I'd wear the shirt. So that kind of helps support my thought that improving overall service to increase customer satisfaction and word of mouth marketing would probably be money better spent than purchasing t-shirts for all their guests.

 

Which they are already doing.:) This whole thread is predicated on the belief that NCL's image needs improving. IMO they did that without our help with Freestyle 2.0. They serve buckets of beer. They have BBQs by the pool. Ice cream is free. The entertainment is top notch and there has been a huge improvement in the DR food. For those that advocate getting rid of the specialty restaurants, no way! We like them. They are "special" for a reason. If you do not want to pay the extra fees, the food in the free restaurants is also very good. Embarking and disembarking are now relatively pain free. How many lines can you say that about. If they want to improve their image they could serve better pizza.:rolleyes:

 

Try a land vacation once and see how many perks you get.

[Ontheotherhand]

Embarking and disembarking are now relatively pain free

 

Perhaps sometimes. But I picked my wife up in NYC from the Gem a few months back and disembarkation took nearly 3 hours (and she was in the first priority group having checked luggage--from what she told me there was no semblance of any line and it was just a slow, tedious process; there were even a couple of fistfights with some in line and line cutters). Even at 12:30 there were still people getting off the ship, and the process started around 9:00. All this time I had nowhere to park at the pier and kept being chased away from sitting by the pcik up/dropoff curb by traffic "police" and forced to drive around the blocks again and again.

 

That may not be the "usual" experience, but it is the last time i will pick anyone up from the NYC piers. I would think this could use improvement.

[KermitClin]

This whole thread is predicated on the belief that NCL's image needs improving. IMO they did that without our help with Freestyle 2.0.

 

I agree, I'm not saying that I think NCL is doing anything wrong by any means. I'm quite happy with the cruise we took. The OP made an interesting statement that got me thinking and I can't see how a company would want to spend so much money on something that may not benefit them as such a large investment should.

If NCL is looking for things to improve, my thought is there's always room for improvement no matter what the situation is and I'd rather see them spend the money on improving what they currently have instead of giving freebies. I think the previous suggestions of making their website a bit more user friendly are great ideas.

[jocap]

Yes, I would wear a T-shirt, but I would prefer to buy it for $2-4, instead of hopping off at various ports to grab a couple when I'm running low towards the end of the cruise.-jocap.

[LadyShiva]

One thing that would dramatically affect most (if not all of us) would a redesign of ncl.com. Design with less Flash and more usability, with better information (how many of us regularly fuss about cabin design on the Epic????).

 

I've seen (slightly) worse websites (*cough* disneycruises *cough*) but being able to book excursions but not cancel excursions is a logic flaw that should be fairly obvious even to their coders just out of college!

 

I think they have too many coders with art degrees and not enough with engineering degrees. Not all of us have fiber to our desks and browsers on Macs. :mad:

[njhorseman]

Perhaps sometimes. But I picked my wife up in NYC from the Gem a few months back and disembarkation took nearly 3 hours (and she was in the first priority group having checked luggage--from what she told me there was no semblance of any line and it was just a slow, tedious process; there were even a couple of fistfights with some in line and line cutters). Even at 12:30 there were still people getting off the ship, and the process started around 9:00. All this time I had nowhere to park at the pier and kept being chased away from sitting by the pcik up/dropoff curb by traffic "police" and forced to drive around the blocks again and again.

 

That may not be the "usual" experience, but it is the last time i will pick anyone up from the NYC piers. I would think this could use improvement.

 

We frequently cruise from New York and have encountered that problem from time to time...but not always. Sometimes we are off the ship and on our way home in a matter of minutes.

 

In any event it is not NCL's fault nor is it under their control.

 

Disembarkation is controlled by customs and immigration, which may not clear the ship quickly for a variety of reasons and may not always have enough officers on duty to move the line along at a decent pace. The longshoremen are also factor as they control the baggage once it is taken off the ship. Finally, there is a contractor working for the City of New York that runs the pier operations. NCL has no control over the actions of any of them.

[S4POPO]

Perhaps sometimes. But I picked my wife up in NYC from the Gem a few months back and disembarkation took nearly 3 hours (and she was in the first priority group having checked luggage--from what she told me there was no semblance of any line and it was just a slow, tedious process; there were even a couple of fistfights with some in line and line cutters). Even at 12:30 there were still people getting off the ship, and the process started around 9:00. All this time I had nowhere to park at the pier and kept being chased away from sitting by the pcik up/dropoff curb by traffic "police" and forced to drive around the blocks again and again.

 

That may not be the "usual" experience, but it is the last time i will pick anyone up from the NYC piers. I would think this could use improvement.

Embarkation/disebarkation has nothing to do with the respective cruise lines but rather with TSA and the port itself.

[cfmarie79]

1. revamp NCL's land based customer service--which is poor with no knowledge about the ships at sea or lack of knowledge on specials etc.

 

2. provide a dedicated latitudes customer service desk with phone for latitude

members.

 

3. Hire some one to get their web site up to first class and user friendly.

 

4. enforce their policies or change them in the dress code area for cruisers.

 

5. send out more information to their latitude members via email or mail.

not only to clients who just use NCL PCCs.

 

 

Big Green

 

Also, upgrading the quality of food wouldn't hurt. Maybe actually offering WHOLE lobsters without a surcharge like days gone by.

[Tomct]

This thread certainly demonstrates how we all have differing opinions and preferences. For the record, I like the hull art work, as it clearly distinguishes NCL from the rest. I like the specialty restaurants, but have no problem with the main dining rooms atmosphere, menu, or service. Windows was great on our recent Spirit cruise, but overall we prefer the menus in Cagney's, LeBistro, and the Italian restaurants, just as we have favorite themed restaurants at home.

 

I don't need a $2 t-shirt, as I get plenty of them during the year as promotional items. After a couple of washes, they are good for working on the lawn, garden, car and painting. I bought a quality tee shirt and hat combo on the Spirit, and have worn them regularly since returning on May 8th.

[Ontheotherhand]

If embarkation/disembarkation has nothing to do with the cruise line I stand corrected. But I was responding to Packercrusing who touted the "improvements" in these as being something NCL dis doing right. If they can't be blamed for what goes wrong, I won't give them credit for what goes right in embacation/disembarcation.

 

By the way, while I would think you can blame the cruise line for how long the immigration officials take, I think you can blame them for failure to control the line and stop line cutting. They are responsible for the security and assuring the orderliness and civility of the lines, not TSA or immigration. And, according to my wife, line cutting was much more than half the problem.

[watchdiva]

Perhaps sometimes. But I picked my wife up in NYC from the Gem a few months back and disembarkation took nearly 3 hours (and she was in the first priority group having checked luggage--from what she told me there was no semblance of any line and it was just a slow, tedious process; there were even a couple of fistfights with some in line and line cutters). Even at 12:30 there were still people getting off the ship, and the process started around 9:00. All this time I had nowhere to park at the pier and kept being chased away from sitting by the pcik up/dropoff curb by traffic "police" and forced to drive around the blocks again and again.

 

That may not be the "usual" experience, but it is the last time i will pick anyone up from the NYC piers. I would think this could use improvement.

 

Your wife's experience had much more to do with the Port of NY than NCL. In 17 years we've only left from NY twice - once in '92 on the Dream and in '08 on the Dawn. The '92 experience was a nightmare and the '08 experience just the opposite (we had a penthouse)......

 

We recently cruised out of Miami and even with VIP status, the line for entry to the terminal snaked around the outside of the terminal but again, once we got through the doors, it was totally different.

[redlef]

. . . . . Not a huge deal, but image if they gave everyone a free T-shirt ( not an expensive one, biut a $2.00 one)with NCL all over it?? some free advertising just cannot hurt. . . .

 

I find lots of free t-shirts & towels up by the pool. On my last cruise, I scored some Crocs, a bathrobe, a Rolex watch and a bucket with two and a half beers. :D Thanks NCL!

[time2cruise1]

Also, upgrading the quality of food wouldn't hurt. Maybe actually offering WHOLE lobsters without a surcharge like days gone by.

 

I can honestly say I have never had a whole lobster on an NCL ship since 1988 except for in Cagney's on the Dawn. I believe they have even gone to tails in Cagney's.

If you want a whole tail in the main dining room just ask for both half's and your request is complete. In fact on the Dawn right now you can have it every night in Venetian that we could never do in days gone by. ;)

[Ontheotherhand]

We recently cruised out of Miami and even with VIP status, the line for entry to the terminal snaked around the outside of the terminal but again, once we got through the doors, it was totally different.

 

from what I understand this was the line on the ship to get to the customs person, and this is a line that is controlled by NCL. I can't see how NCL failing to maintain an orderly line and/or to stop people from cutting in line is the fault of the Port of NY.

[njhorseman]

If embarkation/disembarkation has nothing to do with the cruise line I stand corrected. But I was responding to Packercrusing who touted the "improvements" in these as being something NCL dis doing right. If they can't be blamed for what goes wrong, I won't give them credit for what goes right in embacation/disembarcation.

 

By the way, while I would think you can blame the cruise line for how long the immigration officials take, I think you can blame them for failure to control the line and stop line cutting. They are responsible for the security and assuring the orderliness and civility of the lines, not TSA or immigration. And, according to my wife, line cutting was much more than half the problem.

 

 

I beg to differ with you on your assertion that the cruise line controls the line of passengers waiting to clear through customs and immigration. That is a secure area of the terminal under the control of ICE and the port's subcontractor that provides the security personnel. By the way, cruise line security is not under TSA's umbrella.