DaCruiseBug

Or maybe the Government of the country they have their largest operations in and the country where Americans buy their tickets. Did you not learn anything with Covid? Ship registration didn't impede the US government from halting their operations in the US.

Correct. We were just in Costa Maya a few weeks ago. There were 4 large cruise ships in port. 1. MSC Seascape 2. Harmony of the Seas (or Wonder...can't remember) 3. NCL Bliss 4. Princess (Crown or Caribbean I think)

If anything, this shows that there needs to be more oversight and regulation of cruise ships by the Federal government. Unfortunately cruise lines have a green light to do almost as they please without any consequences and without any kind of transparency. What NCL has been doing with some of these port changes and waiting until final payment to announce them is nothing short of bait and switch.

You'll never know since you claim you'll never cruise NCL again. Hmmm where did I make such a claim?

Per person or total?

Next up they'll install movie screens in the theatre and just show a recording of each show instead. Wouldn't put it past NCL anyways...

Yes, except there's a lot more regulations in Europe which forces NCL (and other cruise lines) to be more honest. NCL charges $80-100 in "port fees" for GSC so them skipping it and giving you $50 in OBC back heavily favors them.

Are you sure? I just talked to a friend that just got off the Escape today and they were just given a $50 OBC. No port fees refund.

No surprise here. NCL is making it a habit of announcing monthly cuts and/or monthly fee increases. At this point I have no need or want to cruise NCL again. There's way too many other options at sea.

They actually used “free” 3 times. Once within the word “freedom” which is another marketing gimmick used by NCL. Pass down the kool-aid…there’s plenty for everyone.

I couldn’t care any less about how much NCL charges for alcoholic drinks because I don’t drink on the ship since Baileys is no longer covered by the UBP. The fact of the matter is that you’re playing their game and are happy about it…which is right where they want you. At the end of the day I’m not paying their crazy prices for drinks, nor am I paying for the service charges on their UBP because I barely drink at home and while on NCL I make it a point to not give them a single nickel more than the cruise fare. But please, keep justifying their price manipulation tactics as it’s people like you that help keep fares down by creating additional revenue for NCL.

This is such good material that if an NCL rep is reading this they should offer you money to use it in their next advertisement. Nothing better than a customer that uses "free" multiple times in their argument. NCL marketing execs at their office right now are like...

And this is exactly what NCL loves to hear. Don't worry about the money...they've got it all taken care of. Just go, order a drink, and don't worry those pesky dollars...that's not fun.

Sometimes you can't make a factual post based on reason to those who make emotional based decisions. The current price of the service charges for the UBP is a little over $150 for 7 days. If you like to drink Grey Goose which NCL currently charges $15 (plus $3 for service charge if you buy individually) then you tell yourself "if I just drink 9 of these over the course of 7 days then it's worth it to have the drink package". Great deal right? The reality is that other cruise lines don't charge anywhere near that. I just saw a bar menu from MSC where Grey Goose is listed at $8. If NCL priced their drinks based on a realistic market pricing of let's say $10 ($12 with SC) then you'd need to have 13 drinks to make the beverage package worth it. This is how NCL "riggs" it to favor them. It's not illegal by any means, it's just a form of manipulation. If it takes less drinks for customers to see the UBP as a better value then ultimately more customers are going to pay up and get the UBP which ultimately increases how much $$$ NCL is taking in which is really their ultimate goal.

Which you booked before NCL announced an increase to their UBP a couple of months ago...so it's an old price...

You pay 20% of $109 per person per day. That's $152.60 per person for a 7 day sailing. Maybe you're basing yours off the old UBP price.

$300+ is for 2 people in 1 cabins since both are required to purchase the beverage package...can't have just 1 with it. Meant to say per cabin...not per person.

Yes, because of the $152.60 per person per 7 day sailing is more than the cost NCL incurs for the alcohol 95% of the people consume during that time. The markup on alcohol is huge! For example, NCL has Romio Prosecco listed at $10 per glass. There's generally 5 glasses in each bottle. That's a list price of $50 for 1 bottle of Romio Prosecco onboard NCL. You can buy a bottle at Total Wine for $9.97 and italian websites are selling it for about 4 euro per bottle which means that in bulk NCL is probably paying about $4-5 per bottle as well due to the import fees. That's a cost of less than $1 per glass.

It has absolutely zero to do with this because less than 1% are actually paying those drink prices. Their pricing is all based on the drinks they want you to have since price is the sole determining factor of whats included in the beverage package. By elevating the price is also pushes more people to get the beverage package rather than paying $12-14 for the drink they want each time.

All the liquor prices on NCL are purposely inflated as is the cost of their beverage packages. NCL makes money off the beverage package daily service charges. So the higher the cost of the beverage package the more they get to put in their pockets from the mandatory 20% charge. Also, the kids of alcohol included is based solely on the price of the drink so they price drinks based on what they want you to have and not realistic drink prices. Another reason the prices aren't realistic is so that it pushes a vast majority of people to just get the beverage package and pay the $300+ per person in service charges.

Maybe it's just me but...i'd like to see the Government bailout nobody. My tax dollars should go to pay for our military, infrastructure, national parks etc...not bailing out private entities who made decisions which ultimately let to their financial ruin. Also, the aid to foreign countries is generally viewed as being in the interest of the American people in terms of safety and security. Feeding people in Africa...well...seriously? Please don't ever compare this spending to wanting to have a cruise line bailed out so you can have a Mojito on the Lido deck ever again.

On a Bliss 7 day sailing it's $299 per person for a spa pass for the week.

Frank Del Rio reminds me of Frank Lorenzo...they even have the same first name.

Upcoming NCL enhancements: 1. Toilet paper will no longer be provided. BYOTP (available in gift shop for $10 per roll) 2. $25 check-in fee at the port to enhance your boarding experience 3. $5 charge per piece of luggage you don't carry-on or carry-off the ship 4. $7 daily fee for nightly entertainment 5. $15 charge for Howl at the Moon 6. $4 buffet upkeep charge 7. $5 water fee so you can enjoy daily showers and the ability to flush 8. $3 daily "washy washy" fee for hand sanitizer cost 9. $5 guest services staff fee 10. $5 NCL CEO Golden Parachute fee so he can retire without financial hardships

Maybe so, but their daily service charges are 20% lower in non-suite cabins and 26% lower for suite cabins.