Bar Set-up has been discontinued as of TODAY

[LOWTYD]

Well this is good news and I'm going to look like an a$$. I've been having email troubles all day and finally just got the " don't do it" email out to NCL about 10 minites ago! :rolleyes:

I am sure they will be inundated with requests tomorrow! Thank you NCL for listeing to your loyal customers!:)

[horsesrus]

ahhhhh...now there sounds like a typical business move..."passenger safety". now i can totally understand why a company would go that route.

 

however, in light of the recent Carnival incident (i have not read any more about it other than the initial article. i am not saying alcohol was the prime factor).

 

i suppose one could extrapolate the curve and determine the "what ifs" with alcohol abuse. and let's face it...all it takes is for a couple bad drunks to make for a dangerous situation for the rest of the passengers. and what stinks is...it's this type of pax profile that a company would have to protect itself against.

 

i'm glad that i am programmed to be a happy drunk. :D

 

The thing is though, the people purchasing the bar set up are likely not the ones getting stupid drunk on the ship. We are the one's following the rules and just enjoying a drink or two in our cabins. Maybe they need to reinstate the bar set ups but limit the availability to 1 bottle for 2 pax for a 7 day cruise or something like that. Maybe they need to start scanning more closely for the smuggled booze if the concern is for pax safety due to over indulgence.

[DMH15]

I sent my email from my work computer so I have no idea if Mr. Sheehan or his office replied, but am very impressed by their quick attention and positive outcome.

 

Thanks, NCL!

[njhorseman]

 

Glad YOU have a good time and for YOU a cruise means relaxing, and apparently can you can afford what ever you want, but I am irritated, and like to be able to drink freely on vacation, without having a 500 dollar bill at the end.

 

 

 

OK, so you don't want to relax, and since you mention nothing else that you wanted to do on vacation but drink, is your primary purpose for going on the cruise to get wasted? If so, you could save even more money by staying home.

[bermudashorts]

Glad to see they have changed their minds. I sent my email today.

We never had the bar service but was thinking about it for the Oct cruise.

 

Good to see that NCL does care about the customers opinions.

Now how about lowering the prices to princess's level ;)

[Sam The Cat]

I think that NCL owes all of us at least a bar set up for the problems/concerns that they caused us:).

[NW Pacific]

Sent a thank you email to Ksheehan, hopefully it is appropriate, We sail a 13 day Pananma Canal Cruise the end of Nov. will really appreaciate a bar setup!

[beau4]

Sent my e-mail yesterday - got back a "looking into - we'll get back to you" reply from Mr. Sheehan's wireless blackberry.

 

If it's true (and I have no reason to doubt my fellow CC's) a great big THANK YOU to NCL for listening to their customers. Those in the service industry are charged with pleasing their their consumers - NCL has certainly done their job today in pleasing me. Thanks again!

[beachchick]

Well apparently I CANT cancel because its too short notice. (not that its a for sure thing)

 

You can cancel, but you'll pay whatever the cancellation penalty is depending on how close you are to your cruise date. I'm curious though why you would book a cruise without finding out what the cancellation policies are. These policies are not hidden in any way.

 

And Im 24....I HAVENT been on 30 cruises(good for you), and my money DOESN'T come easy to me. So this bar set up was really ideal.

 

I agree that the bar setup (and similar programs) are great to have and I am irritated at how the cruise lines tend to try to "nanny" adults.

 

Glad YOU have a good time and for YOU a cruise means relaxing, and apparently can you can afford what ever you want, but I am irritated, and like to be able to drink freely on vacation, without having a 500 dollar bill at the end.

 

You'll simply have to make a choice about what is most important to you and how much you can afford. Sounds like NCL has indeed reversed themselves and you will be able to order a bar setup. I certainly hope that you're going a cruise for more reasons than to drink freely. Cruising is generally a good deal, but cruise fares, travel costs, onboard tips, etc. are sizeable enough that I wouldn't recommend a cruise for someone who wasn't actually interested in the other onboard activities besides drinking and who didn't have any interest in the ports being visited.

 

So spare my your holier than thou, ( :rolleyes: ) everything is just fine attitude.

 

The only one Im "gearing up to fight" is people like YOU.

 

Why are you gearing up for a fight with anyone? NCL will do what it thinks is best. Fighting with them or with anyone here won't do any good and will be a waste of energy and efforts. Once you've expressed your feelings about the policy change to NCL, there's not much more to do except decide if you're willing to pay the costs to cancel so close to your cruise date and then try to make the best of your decision.

 

Again though, it sounds like you can take a breath and stop preparing to fight NCL and everyone who doesn't agree with your point of view. They obviously received enough emails and phone calls that it made a difference.

These cruise vacations mean different things for different people.

 

beachchick

[TrinaLC]

I was composing my email to NCL in my mind before I saw the reversal. We've sailed 6 times (my sig is not up to date) and have had a bar set up every time. We always book a suite and spend most of the time in the suite (hate crowds). I would seriously have moved onto another line much as I love NCL if we were forced out of our little haven and into the noisy and crowded bars.

 

Well done, NCL.

 

(Let's inundate corporate with a second set of emails!)

 

 

PS For the record, assuming NCL reads these:

 

1. The folks that order the bar set-ups are the ones following the rules, and the least likely to cause drunken behavior problems.

 

2. But since they order bar set-ups, if you deprive them of that option, many will option to 'smuggle'. Do you want to cause your customers, who are ADULTS, into sneaking around like teenagers?

 

3. I work for a major corporation, I understand risk management, but I also know that you need to balance - and this boneheaded decision clearly fell short on that account. You might as well shut down all your bars.

[cassrebecca]

I am so glad it is back!! I got a call from NCL to let me know the bar set up was back!! The call came from Mr. Sheehan's office!! Way to go NCL!

[JuniorCruiser]

I would like to take the time to personally THANK Mr. Sheehan and NCL for listening to ALL thier LOYAL CUSTOMERS :D :D :D Way to go NCL. Nothing says thank you more than taking the time and listening to ALL of us here on Cruise Critic. We look forward to continue sailing on NCL as it is our favorite line :) I will be ordering my bar set for our upcoming cruise in Oct. I'm happy we have the choice to do so if we please.

 

Thank You,

 

~~Debbie~~

[newmexicoNita]

Debbie, you are right. It is re-assuring to know NCL does may attention to our concerns.

 

Too often things come up we do not understand or think are unfair and we don't think the company is listening, this shows they are and will re-consider when they see a reason. When they do not, we need to accept that as well.

 

Nita

[MrLee]

Debbie, you are right. It is re-assuring to know NCL does may attention to our concerns.

 

Too often things come up we do not understand or think are unfair and we don't think the company is listening, this shows they are and will re-consider when they see a reason. When they do not, we need to accept that as well.

 

Nita

 

Personally I find it reassuring that they watch these boards and pay attention. As much as has been said about customer service in Miami, someone is obviously paying attention.

[JuniorCruiser]

Thank You Nita :) That is the way i feel. I do appreciate them taking the time and listening to us. And agreeing too :D

 

~~Debbie~~

[Planer's Edge]

Personally I find it reassuring that they watch these boards and pay attention. As much as has been said about customer service in Miami, someone is obviously paying attention.

 

I assure that it was not because they watch/read these boards. They were inundated with emails and phone calls.

 

PE

[MrLee]

I assure that it was not because they watch/read these boards. They were inundated with emails and phone calls.

 

PE

 

I'm sure you're right. However seeing that they've had an account here for 5 years makes me believe that, at least occassionall, they interested in our opinions and looking to find out what our concerns are.

[sparks1093]

From my experience corporate America is well aware of what is being said about them on the Internet, especially in places such as this where the forum is dedicated to their product.

[newmexicoNita]

I assure that it was not because they watch/read these boards. They were inundated with emails and phone calls.

 

PE

 

It is a combination of things I am sure. Yes, they do read these boards and yes, what we say does make an impression. No, we can not get everything changed, it that were the case we would have convinced them long ago to change their liquor policy period. But what we say does make an impact.

 

Nita

[time2cruise1]

Personally I find it reassuring that they watch these boards and pay attention. As much as has been said about customer service in Miami, someone is obviously paying attention.

 

I don't think the real driver was what was posted here. I believe it was as a result of what was posted here the well crafted emails to key executives that were in the dark on this decision.

As is often posted here when someone comes online here with an issue demanding a cruise line respond they contact the cruise line directly with a reasonable letter or email.

 

I have to believe Kevin was fit to be tied after his email was posted here and his blackberry exploded onboard the Sky. I wonder how much his cell bill was with calls back to Miami. No executive likes surprises especially when it is the result of a not so well thought out decision by his own company.

[MrLee]

I have to believe Kevin was fit to be tied after his email was posted here and his blackberry exploded onboard the Sky. I wonder how much his cell bill was with calls back to Miami.

 

 

You'll find out when you price your next cruise! ;)

[WinnieinWA]

Five Thousand plus looks at this thread. I'm wondering how many did not post to this thread but did indeed email or call the appropriate people to address their disgust at the new ruling. I'm happy with the reversal and am very impressed that a few thousand CC members plus others convinced the line to re-think this decision.

 

Way to go NCL......it does indeed pay to think of your repeat customers. :)

 

To be honest I was ready to chuck my Jan. booked suite W. Caribbean on the Jewel to another line when I read they were discontinuing that perk. I truly enjoy my 2 gin and tonics on my balcony before bed......in my jammies.:)(bar set up style.)

 

My preferred line is NCL. I find the crew to be the friendliest of the 4 lines I've cruised. When I board a NCL ship I feel the vibes of the crew immediately. That is one of the reasons I love NCL....the crew!

 

Thanks NCL. I will still rack up a bar bill of about $100. dollars a day but I will really enjoy my balcony drink to wind down the day.

[islandgirlejfan]

I assure that it was not because they watch/read these boards. They were inundated with emails and phone calls.

 

PE

 

That might have been part of it, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this thread on CC probably didn't hurt the efforts. Let me state my reason.

 

I belong to alt.fan.elton-john and was a very avid poster in the late nineties, early two thousand. In 1999, there was a major concert that was going to take place at Madison Square Garden and the newly formed EltonJohn.com was going to offer decent seats to fans at cost to people who joined the club. I was one of those people. The newsgroup was abuzz with the news. All of us were very excited because we were actually going to have this chance to get tickets without the pain of trying to get through to Ticketmaster or dealing with a scalper for tickets. They gave the date and because they were so in demand, they gave no time that they would go up.

 

I babysat my computer all night along with my friend in Ohio. We had it planned out. I would buy for Friday night and she would cover Saturday. Lo and behold, the tickets went up but there was an error that apparently would not allow the fans purchase the seats. We were in totally disbelief....we tried in vain but nothing. Everyone ended up on the newsgroup relating our experiences. Naturally, this wasn't a good start for the newly formed website. Emails were indeed sent to ej.com with the problem, but they would not be seen until Monday. Most of us fell asleep in disbelief at our computers praying the error would be fixed and we would be able to get the much sought after ticket.

 

On Monday, someone trusted showed up from Elton's empire and posted TO the newsgroup and wrote that they had indeed had been reading the group and had heard our concerns and that they were working to get ALL of us tickets. They weren't obligated to do it, but they were going to do all that they could to accommodate everyone even though only something like 120 tickets were released for either show. Everyone FROM the newsgroup got tickets for that show. There was another time there was a controversy about something and one of Elton's people posted to the newsgroup to squelch the issue. Again, due to reading the newsgroup.

 

So here is a case where a board definitely had something to do with an issue. I actually know that it was a big part of what happened. For years fans wanted ej.com to have their own message board due to trolls on the newsgroup. That happened. When ppl complained about no changes to the website in years, the website was reformatted. Just a few examples and I could give so many more. So to me, you really can't be so sure how much impact a message board CAN have. There is some really good information from average folks and companies would be stupid NOT to have someone reading!

 

I am so glad I posted to that thread that night because had I not, I probably wouldn't have been there. I was at both shows. On Saturday night my friend and I made our way to the stage, ended up right in front of Elton AND the cameraman. The DVD One Night Only ends with a shot of a very happy me with my tag L10JOHN. My grandkids (when we get some) will know their Nana was a wild woman!:p

[MSs GulfCoast]

I believe the change came about due to a combination of e-mails, phone calls and posts on CC. I e-mailed several of the top executives and included the fact that I was a CC member. I think that CC and the discussions we have on these boards can have a positive effect on decisions by any cruise line. Thank you NCL for listening to your customers.

[pjcruiserfl]

I have missed this board for a few days . Since 11-06 we have cruised NCL 7 times ,the last 3 in AB Suites. On each cruise we purchased a wine & bar set-up for in -room enjoyment. We have 3 more cruises booked in AB Suites. If the policy had not changed back to allowing bar set-ups , I would, in all likleyhood have cancelled and booked on a different line. While to some, this policy change might not have been a deal breaker, to me it is. We enjoy adult beverages in our cabin & balcony. Thanks CC members and thanks to NCL for listening. I am staying with NCL.