OrlandoSingleCruiser

Not sure if this is the right forum but…figured maybe a TA can answer this.

We’re booking an NCL cruise soon but have to book thru Casinos at Sea because we get a 20% discount since we’re Diamond with Caesars Total Rewards. 
 

Does it help a TA at all if we transfer the booking to them after we make our reservation with the casino department? On a normal reservation the TA would get the commission but…just wondering if it still applies to this kind of booking.

How much do you have to play at craps and table games to earn points? My last cruise I played craps for about a 5 hour stretch for not huge money but $10-20 pass with full odds plus plenty of other action and when I checked the next day I had almost no points (something like 25).

You don't get any points or credit for the "odds" because the house has no advantage on those bets.

I have a YC suite booked for October on the Seaside. The final payment date is coming up in a few weeks and have been reading the reviews and trying to figure out if we should keep our MSC YC Suite or switch to a more traditional RC or NCL sailing out of Florida.

As expected, the reviews the first month or so weren't very good. This didn't worry me at all as it was a brand new ship, a new category of ship for MSC, and I knew there would be plenty of issues. Here we are several months later and the reviews seem to have improved greatly but I still see a higher percentage than normal of "horrible" reviews. For most things you have good and bad reviews but absolutely horrible reviews are generally not that common. What am I missing? MSC does things a little different then the other American cruise lines so are these reviews from people that are either very unlucky, very hard to please, or that don't like how MSC does things? Or are there still a ton of issues that MSC hasn't resolved?

While most posts indicate that the Haven and the YC have similar levels of service and amenities if you take into consideration price it's a no brainer in favor of the YC. One other thing that isn't mentioned is that with a YC room you get access to the Spa whereas in the Haven you only get it if you have a Spa Suite. On NCL it's $200 per person for spa access so there's another $400 potentially that you save.

Thanks to your post, which I came across this afternoon, we are now confirmed on our flights to San Juan in January. After checking on line, I noticed our assigned seats were not even on the chart. After a very long phone call, we were told of a new flight #, and no seat assignments. Another long wait, and now our seat assignments are way in the back of the plane. They never sent an email. On top of that, there were very few seats left. Thank you for bringing this to our attention! Check on your flights, everyone!

Instead of waiting on the phone why didn't you just log in online? The same seats available over the phone are also available online.

I can assure you I am not missing the point. When I book a vacation I look at the total cost that I am going to spend and determine if that is acceptable to me. Booking a room with the UBP perk included is still cheaper than picking a sail away rate and then buying the package separately. This is the route that I go because it works for me.

 

 

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Well of course it is, spending over $600 on a beverage package is plain stupid. The average drink is about $10 so you'd have to consume 62 drinks on a 7 day cruise to make it worth the money which most people don't do.

Realistically you're going to consume an average of about 8 drinks on sea days and maybe 6 on port days. Add it up. With 4 ports and 2 sea days (plus sail away day) that puts you at 48 drinks if you consume the full 8 on the first day even tho you're probably not boarding the ship until 12pm-2pm. So 48 drinks (might even be high to be honest) and NCL charges you $112 for that. About $2.33 per drink is what you pay if you consume 48 alcoholic drinks on your cruise. I'm a moderate drinker and last cruise with the UBP I averaged 3 drinks on port days and 6 drinks on sea days so that's only 30 drinks...almost $4 per drinks just from the service charge.

The difference between a sail away rate and a rate with perks averages out to about $250-350 per person. So add that difference in the price and you'll see you're still paying $7-8 per drink but NCLs marketing has got you fooled into thinking it's free.

You missed my point. The price doesn’t matter because if someone wants the UBP they can just pick it as a perk and won’t be paying the crazy $89 pppd. I’m sure it’s very few and far between the number of people who actually pay for the package. Now if they were to stop offering the UBP as a perk then we would have a problem cause $1470 for a 7 day cruise for 2 people to have all you can drink is just insanity. I would try and limit most of my drinking to the casino and pay as I go elsewhere.

 

 

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But you see the reality is that you're the one missing the point. You are actually paying for the perk, it's not free. That's why Sail Away rates without perks are several hundred dollars cheaper. So you are paying for the UBP (indirectly) and now you get to pay NCL a a few extra bucks per day for a service fee that mostly goes into their pockets and not the staff.

Increasing the UBP from $79 to $89 comes out to a little over $10 million extra for NCL per year based on the increase from service fees alone. Not counting those people that actually buy the package.

Thank you CruiseCritic!!! I was just on my roll call for the Dawn sailing out of San Juan on DECEMBER 28th (3 months almost from now). Another cruiser said that he just randomly checked his flights for the end of December and for his return flight in early June with Delta, and BOTH flights had been cancelled and he was not notified by Delta. I checked my reservation with Delta and all appeared on the computer as fine, but when I tried to make a dummy booking on the Delta website, my flights were not there.

 

I called Delta and was told that my flights were cancelled two days ago and I was sent an email about it. Ahhh...no..I did not get an email and neither did the other person on our roll call. I think someone screwed up royally at Delta and did not contact anyone. We got the email two weeks ago saying we COULD change flights if we wanted to with no penalty, but we did not want to change. Anyways, the dozen or so Delta flights with connections down to San Juan from Toronto (our route, but the other cruiser had the same issue with flights for him too from another city) was consolidated into three choices and two of the three were already sold out. I was told the only available choice left will be full by tomorrow as well. What about those who do not know that their flight has been cancelled yet and find out to late.

 

Warning to all people flying to San Juan, even if your flights are months from now, keep a close eye on this.

Delta just reduced the NY to San Juan flights from 3 to 2 in November and 4 to 2 from December on. This is due to the demand practically falling to almost nothing.

For example on the 28th from NY to San Juan even with the flights being reduced from 4 to 2 both of the flights still operating have only a few dozen people booked on them total. If the flights were full they wouldn't be cancelled.

As far as the "suite" prices NCL isn't very competitive compared to the other lines.

For example - (7 day Caribbean)

NCL Getaway June 2018 Haven Courtyard Penthouse Suite = $8,919

MSC Seaside (brand new ship) June 2018 Yacht Club Deluxe Suite = $4,774

Celebrity Equinox June 2018 Sky Suite = $5,298

Basically to sail in the Haven you're paying 50-80% more then the competition. As a matter of fact, you can sail on the MSC Seaside in a Deluxe Suite for about as much as you would pay on NCL for a mini-suite (fancy word for a balcony room).

So when people say "Oh the UBP is free" etc...well it's not free. Not at all. You're paying for it thru one of NCLs marketing gimmicks and you're the exact person they're targeting.

It's NCL...just order it and expect multiple charges when you get the bill. They'd charge you $1 per ply of toilet paper if they could.

We didn't think we had anything to complain about. How were you charged a fee with the dining package?

Even if you have the dining package you'll still be charged a fee at certain restaurants:

• The Supper Club - $15 USD
  
• Ocean Blue - $15 USD
  
• Bayamo - $15 USD
  
• Cirque Dreams/Illusionarium - $10 USD regular seats/$15 USD premium seats/$35 USD VIP seating on Breakaway
  
• Sushi -$7 USD
  
• Raw Bar - $7 USD (does not include Seafood Plateau. If ordered, the upcharge is to be waived)
  
• Pincho Tapas Bar - $7 USD
  

NCL: Where the Ultimate Beverage Package isn't so ultimate (not even bottled water) and even with the dining package you're charged a fee at some restaurants.

I don't know where you are getting your numbers. I just went to ncl.com and my aft cabin without perks is $3043 and with the 2 perks UBP and dining package is $3292. the difference is $249. Pretty good deal all day.

Without perks it's a SailAway rate. You also don't get to choose cabin location.

NCL pricing is one that basically charges you for the perks thru a higher fare regardless of if you want them or not. The only thing you can save on is the service charges .

Compare that to the pricing models of other cruise lines such as MSC and you'll see quite a difference...

Explain it to me if I'm wrong. Is the main theme here that people are complaining about paying $112 for 7 days of drinks? At $15 a drink I can probably clear that in a day and most certainly 2 days. I for one hope that is a perk that never goes away. I'm sure if most of us think back to the sticker shock at end of some cruises you will agree. The only reason I can see for someone to complain would be if that was the only perk available. Everyone still eats and 99% use the internet.

It's not free by any means. You pay a higher cruise rate to get those perks. If you think they're free then you fit into the type of person NCL targets.

If a balcony with no perks is $1398 and a balcony with perks is $1998 then I just paid $600 for those perks. Again, not even close to being free.

your choice, so why are you complaining about NCL all the time. Either pay the supplement or share a cabin. It is as simple as that. Just like families decide on 2 cabins or safe money by putting 4 in one cabin.:cool:

This entire thread wasn't even a complaint. It's about NCL pricing which doesn't make any sense.

If you don't like what I have to say then skip over it.

Why do I get the idea you very well know the answer to this. If you can get a better rate on RCI for heavens sake take it. Most cruise lines double the price for single occupancy unless they are running specials which happens from time to time. Maybe you should look for someone that would like to cruise with you so you would not have to pay the single price.

I do travel with others. Usually 2-3 others but we all enjoy having our own rooms.

Well welll well...NCL just got rid of the supplement on at least 1 Category that includes perks and has lowered prices on several other categories.

Looks like I might have had a valid point all along.

So basically this is an admission that NCL can't compete with RCL & Carnival out of Miami.

Keep raising your prices & fees NCL and you'll price yourself out of the other markets as well...

More snark from the only person smart enough to figure out a better pricing deal and dumb enough to complain about it.

That's because a better pricing deal doesn't allow you to pick your own cabin. So all things aren't equal.

Are my french fries ready yet?

Oh look, you're trying to be clever. Well bless your heart.

Sure, super size it while you're at it. Give you a little more job security.

But that's just your opinion, right? You get to express yours, and I get to express mine. Some of us are trying to HELP one another reason out the cost and benefit of the UBP. I appreciated those who brought the fact to my attention that it may not make sense for me to accept the package if I am the only one in my cabin using it.

No, no, no. On here you're only allowed to post if you agree 100% with what a cruise line does. The second you dissent the trolls come out.

So a couple on a cruise would pay roughly $ 1400 for drinks? I get it as a " free" perk but if that stopped I'd do a la cart. That's insane unless they throw in bottled water specialty coffee and no price cap on mixed drinks. Still would be stretching it.

 

 

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With the 18% it would be closer to $1,500 but I don't see the beverage package as a "free" perk stopping anytime soon. The reason the beverage package on NCL is almost double the cost of other cruise lines and the reason it includes less is mostly because it's given as a perk. A higher daily cost means higher service fees on that. Just by raising the price from $79 to $89 equals to over $10,000,000 in additional revenue per year for NCL...yes that's $10 million.

A few bucks here a few bucks there and as long you have people justifying NCL or saying "it's just a few dollars" and "if you don't like it then cruise elsewhere" then NCL will keep doing it. Not only does the beverage package not include bottled water but you can't even bring onboard your own. Even if you order water in bulk you're going to pay $2.50-3.00 for a bottle of water that they probably pay $0.20 for. That's a 1,500% markup!

Next thing you know NCL will start charging a port fee of $2 every time you get off the ship at one of the ports and other ridiculous fees. Whatever they can come up with...

I agree. if you don't like NCL's prices anymore, shop around. Dwelling on this doesn't do anything b/c you cannot complain your way to getting change from NCL

Most changes in a business are made from customer feedback (within reason). NCL and other cruise lines have staff that monitors what is said on CC and other website so you couldn't be any more wrong.

Using that logic, why aren't you just skipping over the replies that you don't like instead of whining about whether you find them helpful or not??

Oh look another "winner". Go make sure those french fries are cooked to perfection will ya...

I do not understand all of this whining. If you do not like their current pricing, book your vacation using another cruise line. We have exclusively sailed NCL for the last 12+ years. If we get to a point (and we may be there, I don't know yet) where I do not feel that NCL provides the service and value that I require for my vacation dollars, I will not hesitate one second to go on another cabin category, cruise line or vacation type.

 

Factual information about the price and features of UBP that are found in this blog are extremely helpful (lets hope $18 per drink rumor actually is the new price point). But the incessant comments that NCL is "now" too pricey (as if it wasn't on NCL's previous price increase when you still booked a cruise) just clutters up an otherwise useful thread.

Your comment saying "if you don't like it book with another cruiseline" is about as helpful as trying to skydive with a small garbage bag instead of a parachute. Next time just skip over the thread...