CruisinHarvey

We're booked on this ship from a land based casino offer, that's too late to change. We learned our lesson. Never book a ship without deck plans. They've removed all complimentary sunning areas, except the 2 decks right by the pool.  People already complain about how crowded the pool deck gets on these large NCL ships. They ain't seen nothin yet.  It will be a complete zoo. For those who've been to Vibe, don't count on that experience either. It's just a tad bigger now, like 4 times. Anyone thinking they'll be having shot o'clock for 250 people?  That environment is gone. Basically, Vibe is now the old Spice H20, without a water feature for $209. Sounds great doesn't it.  

1 hour ago, NLH Arizona said:

If people are still running to get them and they are selling out, I'd bet there will be another price increase soon.

I'm all for that.  As a stock holder, I expect no less.

33 minutes ago, shof515 said:

I noticed on various facebook groups is posting this:

 

 

Saw it too. I assume they'll keep raising the price until they don't have a line 3 times longer than the number passes they give out. Obviuosly, it's been under priced for a long time. 

Curious if anyone has received refund for flight changes on this cruise. Also specifically interested if anyone who was cruising on a CAS comp has received the flight change refund.

12 minutes ago, NeurosurgeryNP said:

Does anyone know if this up charge is now implemented on the Bliss?   We are sailing on her in 2 weeks. 

Yes the price change has been implemented on all ships, that I'm aware of. It's just new package that hasn't been rolled out to every ship. Kind of like what they did with straws. Got rid of the plastic ones before they had paper ones. Welcome to NCL. LOL

Just off the Epic. Yep. that cruise. Anyway, we had a cruise critic meet and greet. The HD did all the talking for the officers that attended.  He asks for questions, and naturally, the first one, and they continued, was about the drink package changes. He held fast to the corporate line. Claiming they're prices are no more expensive than any other line, and asking who actually bought the drink package.  Basically he defended it to the end.  Not that big of a surprise, and he was obviously not happy with peoples reactions. What was interesting, is not one person I saw bought it. Actually, the person who had the initial question, laughed directly at him, as he defended it.  

5 minutes ago, erdoran said:

LOL Nita!  But - let me add to Nita's tongue in cheek advice - if you decide not to cruise NCL, please do let them know why if it's something under their control - e.g.

 

I was a loyal NCL cruiser for xx years/yyy cruises.  I've decided to stop sailing NCL because of xxxx

 

BE SPECIFIC on xxxx.  "employee x's bad attitude, you didn't give me comp for xx incident" doesn't cut it. 

 

What DOES is "Your haven pricing has risen too high for me.  For example, on NCL I can get xxx cruise for yy/day; I just booked a cruise on Cruiseline xx for $xxx/day (but be sure it's a true "ship within a ship" and same/comparable itinerary and cruise length) and in addition, for no upcharge I also get xxx whereas on NCL those items are all upcharges.  To sail the same itinerary on NCL after upcharges would cost total of $xxxx; my total for my new cruise is $yyy." 

 

Upcharges includes gratuity on UBP; if the new cruiseline's beverage plan has the equivalent of the premium pkg included (or available for purchase AND you'd buy it)  then be sure to add that in to your NCL total; also include DSC total for both.

 

But then, walk the talk and really do book that cruise you re comparing.   Vote with your wallet, not with just your mouth.

 

I think too many times businesses lose customers and don't know why.  Perhaps if those who have already decided to take their business elsewhere let NCL know why, that may (or may not) have an impact.   Can't hurt!

We have a cruise in 12 days that will be our last with NCL, unless they change. As platinum plus cruisers, we've seen nothing but cuts for past few years, with the new management.  But, I'm not compelled to write them about anything. I'll go where I think I get the best value for my vacation dollar. It's not NCL now, so we'll go elsewhere. No big deal. Every cruise, I check prices and benefits. We cruise other lines already.  If NCL changes back to being a value, then I'd cruise them again. It's not like we've lost a friend, or something. 

2 minutes ago, holdon216 said:

Does this new pricing mean that if I order the Signature Mai Tai at 9.95 and want Bacardi rum instead of the bottom shelf rum it comes  with I would be charged 8.95 on top of the 9.95? 

Nope. If you special order it, then it's not the signature drink.

42 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Just a thought, but has anyone verified that this "premium beverage package" is even a thing fleet wide? As far as I can find, it's only a thing on the NCL Sun and Sky...

 

As absurd as it sounds, paying an extra $34.80 per day would be better than drinking rot gut liquor my entire vacation...

Yep. there's a rollout schedule. Hits the Epic February 16th, although prices have already gone up. 

1 minute ago, zuzka61 said:

Let's say, I want the Grand Marnier,  can't I just pay the difference from the $15 credit on the Ultimate Package to their cost of the Grand Marnier?

Yes just the difference plus 20% grats. 

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

Y'know, I wonder if anyone has tried ordering something that costs more than $15 and less than $30 and asking for two half-servings - in theory that would count as two drinks and then would be included with no upcharge.

 

So your double shot of Grey Goose - how about ordering 1/2 shot of Grey Goose - two of them - and then a few mins later going back for two more half shots?

I've never heard of them allowing 1/2 shots on NCL. I did think it was sadly funny that another person said they couldn't believe a double shot of grey goose would cost 47.88 without UBP.  We've been to a lot of places. Not another place in the world we've ever been to is close to that expensive.  

19 minutes ago, Trobrah said:

I apologize but I am having difficulty following what the impact will be to my DW and me on our upcoming cruise to Bermuda. We both have the UBP which cost $249.20 for our 7 day cruise based on a perceived retail price of $99 per day X 2 x 18% in our case. We both generally drink Grey Goose.

If I understand it properly we can keep the UBP but there is an upgrade charge of $19.95 per drink. This assumes NCL has Grey Goose on board.

I guess the alternative is to upgrade to the Premium package. I can't figure whether it is $128 per day or the difference of $128-$99 in our case. 

I have already spoken to NCL and was informed that we could cancel the "free" UBP perk.

Thanks,

Jay 

Grey Goose is now $19.95. Your UBP will still cover the first $15. Each time you order a grey goose, you'll be charged 4.95 + 20% grats. So that's $5.94. per drink. So, if grey goose is the only  brand you want with an up charge, you'd have to drink more than 10 a day to make getting the premium package worth it.   

7 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

 

If you paid a la carte for a drink with a double shot of Grey Goose it would cost $47.88.

If it had a juice with it, they'd probably charge you extra. LOL

17 minutes ago, ja2nowak said:

 

See, I don't want to fall into this trap here but perhaps one of the lines that doesn't have a beverage package would be more suitable? I don't know. My comment is just another example of one that could be considered aggressive I guess. Sorry. People are on vacation to blow off steam and have a good time. To each their own whether they enjoy the haven or 6 or 7 martinis. Albeit now cheaper grade martinis unless they pay a premium. I think I hear Celebrity calling my name.

Celebrity is currently offering their premium drink package on cruises as a perk.  Here we come!! 

17 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Since Haven guests haven't received.......ANYTHING positive in the past 4 years, how about giving Haven/suite guests the PPBP as their promo and giving the UBP/UOB promo (with the option to upgrade) for the rest?

 

...Plus 20% added, naturally.

Wont'happen, but nice thought. How about if you have UBP,  they don't charge you to bring on your own wine? They charge you extra to not drink the free drinks you've already paid gratuity for? Makes no sense.  

 

I'm confused.

 

The NCL site says that the UBP is that any drinks under $15 is free and anything over $15 is charged at the net difference.  Obviously, I would hate and loathe being nickle and dimed, but the initial comments made it seem like they were still being charged $19 for some of these drinks instead of the $4 it should have been.  Can anyone confirm?

 

At the end of the day, even if I still have to pay the extra couple dollars here or there, there is no way I would come out as bad off as I did on the Freedom of the Seas a couple years ago when the drink plan itself cost nearly $1k, and didn't include coffee or water.

It's based on what you drink. When UBP started the wine we drink was $14.95. Now it's $27.95. So we would have to pay the difference. 12.95 + 20% gratuity of 2.59  = $15.54 in additional charges.  If we get that same wine on HAL, it's less than what we'd pay additionally on NCL, and we wouldn't be paying $20 dollars a day in gratuities on the drink package.  NCL drink prices are getting so ridiculous it's comical. 

For those of us who drink the more expensive spirits, the "free" drink package is now a non factor in deciding what line to choose. It's just as expensive to cruise NCL as some other lines, and buy their drink packages.  I just checked two other lines. We've been talking about trying another new one for while. Being platinum plus, we were reluctant.  But as others have said even the latitudes perks decline when they raise prices in the specialty restaurants. We are already 3 star with Holland America, but we do like a more active environment. Maybe we'll try Royal. It's hard to keep supporting NCL with what they're doing.     

3 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

 

Thanks for the info.  Not many people do a M&G on the POA since it is so port intensive.  We are in the card room, so if we grow above 30 or 40, I'd hope they would move us.  I got a weird place and time one other time and the person on the land must have been new because they neglected to tell the ship we were from Cruise Critic. The group coordinator explained that she was surprised when she found out we were CC and she went out of her way to be helpful and try to help us out.

I understand about the POA. The card room though. That couldn't hold many. I'm sure they have enough experience to know most people don't attend those on that cruise.  Good Luck with it. 

30 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

 

I just set up a M&G on the POA with only 20 people and no problems at all.  But, now all of a sudden more people are signing up.  I may have to contact them back if we outgrow the room.

 

Also for the timing, I emailed around 6 weeks out and our preferred time was already gone, so maybe contacting a bit earlier would be good. 

They have a standard time set aside every week for meet and greets, and all the officers already have it on their calendar. It just whether someone conjtacts them to have one or not. They never change it. Good to know that 20 is fine, although if you have 20 singed up, generally that means 10 will show up. Personally, I'd be embarrassed  if more NCL officers showed up than passengers. I've attended one like that. I felt really sorry for the host. Anyway, let them know within 2 weeks of the cruise your new number. Probably, unless you go over 100 mark, you'll be in the same venue.   

3 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

Very true and the advise not to contact the ship for a M&G until just prior to sailing is crazy I have reserved space as much as 6 months out. I do agree with less than 25 it isn't fair to the crew that takes time to meet the group and it doesn't make for a very fun meet. Also agree with the 25 to 50% that sign up won't show. That is not a very responsible thing to do, but there are exceptions to every rule. plans do change.

I've got a few tips to help lower the percentage of no shows. I'm at 75% percent attendance at mine now.  First offer to deliver reminder to everyone who gives you their cabin number. I create an email address for the meet and greet, so they email me, without giving out their cabin number to everyone.  Usually, guest services will be happy to actually deliver them. You just need to provide the flier and the cabin numbers. Second, have other activities planned to the for it.  With a gift exchange, they 're committed because they've bought something.  Run a slot pull where the only place you'll take sign ups and money is at the meet and greet.   Hopefully this helps a little. Running another one in just about one month on the Epic. We've got 107 signed up for the M&G, 40 for the gift exchange, and 70 for the slot pull.  I'm sure we'll get 80 to show up. The last one on the Bliss in November we had 115 signed up and 90 attend.   Hope this helps.   

Just now, buggins0402 said:

Thanks...I’ll see if 25 are interested.

BTW don't pay any attention to the meet and mingle information for NCL on cruise critic.  It's way old. I've told them about it several times, but nothings changed. To contact NCL the email address is specialeventsxxxxx@NCL.com where xxxxx is your ship name.  The old one doesn't get a failure, but no one responds to it. 

It's 25 signed up before you can contact NCL.

The Epic was NCL's first attempt at a mega ship. Lots of good came out of it. But, lots of mistakes were made. They learned, and the newer mega ships are much improved.  As for service,  it varies ship to ship, knowing that newest ships get a higher percentage of top performing crew members.  Anytime there's a repositioning there's usually a fare amount of crew changes. It take time for the new members to work as team. As a result, service generally suffers for a while.  You can bank on the fact that there will NEVER EVER be cabins designed like the ones on the Epic.  NCL took nothing from them when they designed the next class of ships. Even though some people like them, there are enough that hate them to stop using them. We've been a lot of NCL ships multiple times. We'll be on the Epic for the 3rd time in February. Not our favorite ship. But this time, it's convenient to family. She's not bad enough to never cruise on her.  There are just so many other better choices on NCL.

54 minutes ago, 2+2 said:

I was on the same cruise as you CruisenHarvy, and everything in Teppenyaki was as usual. 

Yep. that's exactly as I remember. A great crowd, but no chef worth taking a picture of. You were surely on the same cruise. LOL

3 minutes ago, ESCARGO said:

We did see a competitive lady diving for the small piece of food they were tossing at her. One minute she was sitting upright, the next moment she was on the floor! Was that part of the show?

It seems like she should have gotten at least some of the additional tips.