njhorseman

I used to own a travel agency so I know the games played by some agencies. It's a matter of advertising that is done to attract your business. If a cruise line advertises a $599 fare that by law must include the NCF...let's say the NCF is $100...why should a travel agency be permitted to advertise the same cruise for $499 to make you think they're discounting the fare when if fact they're not. It's an attempt to lure you to their site using misleading information.

I am talking about advertising, not what eventually appears on your invoice. If a cruise line advertises a fare of $599 that includes $100 of NCF...remembering that the cruise must include the $100 in its ad...why should a travel agency be permitted to advertise the fare as $499 ? That misleading ad will make you think that agency discounts fares when it doesn't and make you more likely to go to their website to shop for a cruise.

So you think it's OK for some travel agencies to advertise misleading fares that deceive potential customers by appearing to offer a fare that is less than what they would pay if they booked directly with the cruise line or a different agency when in fact they're actually going to pay the same fare once the NCF is added on ? Why shouldn't all sellers be required to play by the same rules ?

You can opt out of the O life Choice altogether, in which case based on the information you've provided your fare will be $200 per person lower, which may be the best choice for you. The O Life Choice beverage package is only wine and beer with lunch and dinner. There's no additional charge for specialty coffees, tea, sparkling or still waters and soda.

You can't buy a one day pass on advance. They only sell one day passes on board on a space-available basis and when ships were full if they were available at all it was only on port days. You'll have to check when you're on board.

It's not that uncommon for corporations to have nepotism prohibitions but apparently NCLH is not among them While it's certainly not a small business I don't consider NCLH to be a "Megacorp". I think of it as a mid sized company when compared to the company I worked for.

Port fees absolutely are refunded by NCL.

NCF is Non Commissionable Fare. By law the cruise lines are not permitted to display this amount separately to the consumer so it is included in the fare total. They do break it out separately in their invoices to travel agents as it tells the travel agents how much of the fare they will not be paid commissions on. It can include any number of things that the cruise line is not required to disclose. Unfortunately the law does not prohibit travel agents from removing the NCF from fare, which permits the more unscrupulous agencies to advertise "fare" that is lower than the passenger is actually going to pay. The passenger will then only know the actual fare they are paying after getting a bottom line fare quote from the agency that includes the NCF as well as the government taxes, fees and port expenses. See the post just made by @cruiseny4lifethat has a link to an article on NCFs, and NCL's recent policy change on commissions. NCF is NOT port taxes or fees, and NCL will still not be paying commission on those.

Judith, I'm glad to see you can maintain somewhat of a sense of humor about what happened. Does the 🙃 emoji accurately depict what Eileen saw after you fell? I wouldn't think that you had a smile on your face. This might be closer, even though it's right side up . 😢

+1

No...I just cancelled two cruises after the final payment due date and was refunded 100% of the amount charged as "government taxes, fees and port expenses" to quote the exact terminology used by NCL to identify these charges, as well as my Free at Sea gratuities. You are correct. See my recent experience (within the last two weeks) outlined above .

Once again, it has absolutely nothing to do with whether they booked the Haven or were upgraded to the Haven. Every Haven passenger, regardless of how they got there, dines in the Haven restaurant at no additional charge. Charges for beverages are solely the product of what type of beverage package you have, if any. We always decline the beverage package regardless of whether we're in the Haven because we booked it, in the Haven because we were upgraded, or we're in an ordinary non Haven cabin. Haven passengers aren't gifted a beverage package just by virtue of being in the Haven, regardless of whether they booked the Haven or were upgraded to the Haven.

Your timelines are wrong. While FDR certainly was one of those responsible for the demise of Renaissance, he was fired by Renaissance in April 2001, five months before 9/11 . Renaissance ceased operations only two weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Their finances were in horrible shape long before 9/11, and the terrorist attacks merely were the straw that broke the camel's back,.

They also canned the presidents of Regent Seven Seas and Oceania...positions not at the NCLH level but the cruise line operating level. Really familiar name taking over at Oceania...son of the founder.

More than 20 years, and as head of strategic planning I would be the guy working up the numbers and recommendations for the CEO and the board .

No...this is "we're losing our shirts and desperately need to cut expenses". When business is "normal" companies hire, not fire .

More detailed article, at least in terms of naming the senior executives fired: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/finance/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-cuts-shoreside-workforce-9

There are ports such as San Juan where you can board at a typical time but sail away time isn't until the evening, sometimes as late as 8 or 8:30 pm.

Why would that make a difference ? Both those who booked a Haven cabin and those who won an upgrade are entitled to eat in the Haven Restaurant at no charge and what, if anything, you pay for beverages is determined by whether you have the Unlimited Open Bar Package, the Premium Plus Beverage Package, or no beverage package, not your cabin category.

We each normally have a carryon bag that would be cumbersome to carry for several hours so by boarding the ship we can ditch the carryon bags in our cabin and the go ashore unencumbered. Our carryon bags contain items such as electronics and medications that we do not wish to put in our checked bags.

So the former presidents of Oceania and Regent Seven Seas were unceremoniously shown the door . Hardly surprising given NCLH's dire financial straits. The board still trusts FDR though .

One of the businesses I owned and operated was a travel agency. To say a "good TA" offers comped specialty restaurants isn't remotely true. In some cases the comped specialty restaurant is actually coming from the cruise line, which has comped it to the TA to encourage bookings. Many "good TAs'" offer incentives that are far more financially beneficial to their clients than a specialty restaurant comp such as commission rebates, onboard credits and prepaid gratuities . Even if a TA doesn't offers little in the way of financial incentives to their clients their advice and their advocacy for the client in the event of an issue with the cruise line can be invaluable. A good TA can have access to a whole different level of corporate personnel than you would be able to enlist for help on your own.

Since you want to nit pick about terminology, on a line we frequently cruise on that does charge for specialty restaurants we always have complimentary specialty dinners by reason of loyalty program status, so we're dining at no charge to us while others are paying for the same meal . Again, whether on a cruise line that doesn't charge for specialty restaurants (which you object to calling specialty restaurants) or on a cruise line that does charge for specialty restaurants we have never paid paid a specialty restaurant meal.

At least one cruise line I'm familiar with waives the code in specialties too.

It's fairly common for cruise lines to waive their usual dress code on embarkation night because they recognize that not everyone may have gotten their luggage delivered in time for dinner.