swmichigan cruiser

I usually book direct with my TA. But over the Memorial Day weekend she was gone and I had a cruise I wanted to book so I booked it direct with the cruise line (RCCL) and gave her my reservation number when she got back and she took care of transferring. Not really sure how NCL does it.

We have 2 b2b cruises booked right now. The first b2b is on the Quantum to Alaska but itinerary changes slightly from one week to the next. The second b2b is on the NCL Escape and one week does western Caribbean and other week does the eastern Caribbean.  Can't always find longer cruises that does the ports that I want to go on that fit my schedule.

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

That's right!  I so wish I was on that one right now .... one of my favorite cruises with my family thus far. 

That was a good one. Our grandson got to know the comics on the ship so that was one of the highlights for us. We are scheduled for the Encore 21 night Panama Canal cruise in October. No grandson this time though. 

59 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Yes indeed! I was aboard with you. Great cruise! 

Just an FYI we were also on the Bliss Panama Canal cruise and had our oldest grandson with us.

8 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

My balcony cabin solo was about $7400 after using a 10% off coupon from a previous cancelled cruise. I booked day one. I’m still waiting to see if a TA is added after this one. I guess I should check other lines.

I kept waiting for NCL to see if the TA was going to be right after this cruise but after 10 months after of waiting I decided it was time to look for another option.

My thought is it should be a great ship and we have it booked for Sept 2023 for a cruise that goes to Norway and Iceland but the price has doubled since we booked it a year ago so if you decide to do it book it at a price you are comfortable with.

57 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Whoa! For how many people? NCL has lost their mind especially if that's for only two people. My cruise mention above looks better by the minute.

Just two people. We booked this May 2021 like the idea of trying the new ship and new ports for us. But the pricing is going pretty high must be the ship is in high demand. We think we have a good deal on the 15 night TA back to states in a JS on Royal for $4100 total.

47 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

What was the price you paid? 

$8,100 for  a balcony.  Now over $16,000. Glad we booked another line for two cruises right after this including a TA back to the states.

We have the Prima booked for a 14 night cruise booked for September 2023 RT from Southampton that goes to Iceland and Norway. Glad we booked when we did as the price has doubled since then and would definitely not book at current prices.

40 minutes ago, twangster said:

Day 6 Evening - Dress to Impress Night

 

Lobster on the menu.

 

Getting thirsty, time to leverage my C&A drink vouchers.  🙂 

Thanks for the info on lobster night. We are doing a B2B on the Quantum starting August 29 and we are hoping it would not be the day when we are in Juneau as we are planning on crab legs at Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau. 

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

 

 

 

 

i just think the prima has locked me out of any of their itineraries

I have to agree with you about the Prima pricing and I do realize that NCL has every right to set pricing. We have the Prima scheduled for 14 nights Sept 17 thru October 1, 2023, Last time I checked pricing is up 75% from when we booked. So glad we booked when we did and waited to see the date for the TA back to the states was but decided we probably couldn't afford it based on current prices so booked on Royal instead for two cruises after we get off the Prima and one is a TA back to the states. Like I say NCL has every right to set prices but doesn't mean I will pay those prices.

Bird

Thanks for taking the time to post all of these about the Encore. We were on it the first two cruises on the Encore out of Miami in late fall of 2019and really enjoyed it. We have cancelled a few cruises on it because of covid concerns but are scheduled on it for the 21 night Panama Canal cruise this fall. I really enjoyed the Choir Of Man. Saw it six times the wife only twice. And the staff was great. I ended up with a very nice Encore hat that was given to me onboard and am looking forward to getting the chance to wear it again.

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

I love NCL but they have become a ridiculously overpriced trainwreck since Covid. 

As I have said before I agree with you about the pricing. My cruise the fall of 2023 on the Prima is now 75% higher if I booked now. Just makes me aware not to just look at pricing from one company. I really like NCL but I booked two Alaskan cruises on  a different line for late summer and pricing on them is about 50% lower. Never hurts to pay attention.

23 minutes ago, M4RK said:

I think the "credit" is what creates the impression that it was not good. Before NCL used dining credits and every restaurant had a flat rate the restaurants were always full. If you were charged $35 a person for Cagney's but $10 for Q, the reviews would be much different. Q is not Cagney's, but they both require the same "dining credit".

 

I agree with you but because of our Latitudes perks we have to make a choice between Q and Los Lobos for a dinner for two. I personally like Q more than Los Lobos but I am sure others prefer Los Lobos over Q. But I really prefer the other specialty restaurants over both.

Just my two cents. Since 2016 we have only cruised once on Royal and a lot of times on NCL. But sometimes you need to look around to see what changes have been made. On NCL we have gotten used to having the beverage package but that being said right now we have booked some cruises again on Royal and I like their prices better than NCL. Hard to compare everything but on two Alaska cruises we have booked on the Quantum later this summer the prices are about half of the cost of comparable NCL cruises and have alternating  itineraries where NCL repeats the same ports every week. . And yes we do lose some perks but because of past Royal cruises we are Diamond Plus so we each get 5 drinks per day included. For us makes sense for others maybe not. Looking forward to getting back to Royal more often.

2 minutes ago, OSUZorba said:

They get commission on pre paid grats? I almost always do prepaid, but it hasn't ever gotten me more discount.

. My cash back has to do with my spend to them minus certain items on my invoices. In this case  because pre paid grats and insurance it got me to a higher level of cash back. Not sure if either has an effect on their commissions.

We have been fortunate to have dinner with officers quite a few times but the one that stands out the most was with a HD who we have become good friends with. We had our two oldest grandkids (17 and 15) on the cruise with us and he called us and invited us to dinner. So the five of us were eating and I made the mistake of using what I thought was regular pepper but it turned out it was super hot pepper that he uses. They got to bring me out another filet mignon. He still blames me and I still blame him.

10 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

We also enjoy the planning. When we find the cruise we want we email the TA to book it for the extras. If our TA isn't available, we book direct then transfer for the obc.

We do pretty much the same thing find a cruise that we might like and have her see what she can do for us. If we book it I still keep track of the cruise for any changes as I don't have a problem doing it as I know I am not her only customer and I know she only so many hours in a day. As for the perks from her company  we have 8 cruises booked with her right now and the onboard credit from her company we have now on the 8 cruises total $800 and the cash back totals $2250. To each his own and after 70 or so cruises I think using her is best for us.

1 hour ago, zebra36 said:

No basis for disputing this, however, assuming a 15%(?) commission, on inside or just OV cabins I cannot picture someone giving up 2/3 of their revenue on these bookings. JMHO

BTW, I do book these type of cabins on my own but never saw much of a benefit in going through a TA. I am guessing that the folks posting here re: very generous $500-$750 in OBC plus other goodies from their TA are booking very nice accommodations.

Not always true. I am one that mentioned I  am getting $750 cashback on a future cruise from my TA and we only have a balcony cabin. It is a 21 night cruise and by doing pre paid grats and insurance we moved up from $500 cashback to $750 cashback and we were going to do the grats eventually and insurance anyhow. 

4 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

Sounds to me you got the wrong TAs
I have used the same agent for most of my bookings since 2009... We lost touch for a year or so when he switch companies. He always gives me OBC, Specialty Resturant and occasionally a bottle of wine. I am kind of a control freak but he knows how to deal with me! I can send an email in the middle of the night and by 7am it is handled or if he is off someone from the office takes care of it or calls me... 

I am a control freak also and my TA does know I will always keep checking to get the best deals. Right now I have 8 cruises booked with her and probably have booked around 50 with her in the past and she knows what cabins I like. I also get at least $100 onboard credit and cash back after every cruise. Our October cruise this year we will get $750 cash back. I also know she is very busy so I try to do a lot of the leg work before I contact her.

Just now, ontheweb said:

We are going the month before you. the same itinerary. or possibly the same in reverse. We were supposed to do Norwegian fjords in 2020, which obviously did not happen. We have done a land trip to Reykjavik, Iceland, a wonderful city and country.

Not sure about yours ours is a 14 night cruise roundtrip from Southampton. I liked the idea of going out of  Southampton and returning there. Enjoy your cruise.

37 minutes ago, complawyer said:

after seeing the cabin prices on the prima, i didnt need any 2nd thoughts. in fact i have no thoughts at all of sailing on either the prima or viva. i think under the current situation, ncl is pricing themselves out of the market with these 2 ships

 

just sayiny

I am just glad we booked the Prima for September 2023 when we did it is now 50% higher than when we booked. Looks like a one and done for us on it. This booking did work out okay for us as we wanted to do the ship and it does Iceland and Norway which we have not been to.

13 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

i just logged in and looked at the pricing in general. 250 for 7 meals. royal offers unlimited for under 200 and it does include some lunch on sea days. cant imagine eating 2 dinners in a nite but def if you liked the dessert in one place vs the other

We have a 21 night cruise booked and thought about adding at least seven more specialty meals and when we first looked it was $179 not $250 and if we  bought more than 7 meals it went up I think about $10 each meal and now it went up to about $25 per meal.  So they convinced me that I didn't need to buy more. 

Even though we are Diamond Plus it has been a while since we have cruised on Royal that being said Sunday we booked two cruises on the Anthem for October 2023. The first one is for 12 nights and  because our TA had a refundable group rate we used that but for the next one which is a 15 night Transatlantic she didn't have a group rate so we rolled the dice on that one and did a non-refundable. The price for that cruise is so low I couldn't pass it up but if I lose the $100 pp I will be okay but sure hope we don't have to cancel.

15 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

I would highly suggest you look at any other line besides NCL to Alaska right now as they have the absolute worst pricing by far of any line to Alaska right now comparatively speaking. 

Agreed. Sometimes we get to comfortable and we should check to make sure. Also pertains to airlines.