bjlaac

Hi Folks

Has anyone used their 250 minute internet perk for wifi calling with their cell phone and if so how good was it?

Thanks in advance for your help

thanks for the quick reply, how's the internet service.  We were just on NCL Dawn and it took 10+ minutes to load pages?

Hi folks, 

Going on Anthem in February and considering the internet package.

How is the internet service and is it capable of supporting wifi calling with my cell phone?

Thanks

To those who've said thanks - your very welcome, I'm just trying to help others, something which sadly seems to be on the decline on these boards in the last few years.

 

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Its posts like yours that make cruise critic a valuable tool, don't let the negativity stop you. Every since NCL went down this "free perks" road there are clear cut winners and losers. Folks like you (and me) are really hurt by this business model.

DW and I have no need for any of the "free" offers, we don't want unlimited booze, don't want internet or specialty dining or shore excursion credits. The only perk we want is to choose our location and that clearly is not offered unless you overpay for a cabin to get the freebies. Only when the Daily Service Charges are part of the freebie package does it make sense to choose NCL

So I guess the model works for NCL and that's great. For us its just another consideration when choosing a cruise line for our vacation. Its funny, now that we are retired we are taking 3 or 4 cruises a year but less, if any at all, with NCL

Try Junkanoo beach not far from the ship. Friendly people great prices and a lot of fun

What do you want ? A la carte pricing for all onboard activities like these ?

 

Then you'll no doubt be among the first complaining about NCL "nickle & diming":confused:

I don't know what Maraprince wants but I suspect its what a good majority want, a decent cruise with accommodations for sleep and basic dining. We get there are things that the costs are shared amoung passengers like slides, flow riders, mini golf, shows etc.

What we don't want is to subsidize other passengers for things we might no use like alcohol, specialty dining, specialty coffee or even things like internet. So when our fare goes up hundreds of $ and we receive no benefit there's a problem. Remember, NCL never does things out of the goodness of their hearts, it's bottom line thinking and they are sure they will make more because they know many passengers don't drink booze or coffee or much of what is becoming all inclusive.

Yeah there are winners and loser and if you are a winner it looks like the greatest thing since sliced bread. While that's ok, its not ok for the winners to think those against this are whinners or complainers. We're not, we want a fare deal nothing more and nothing less. Look at the poll so far, a lot more losers than winners and that's not good for any of us.

NCL is very similar to the lines you have already cruised on so you should enjoy yourself. The big difference is no set dining times and a very relaxed dress code meaning there's never formal nights where getting dresses is expected.

NCL recently has been offering a lot of things for :"free" depending on your stateroom. The free comes with an 18% service charge on most free offers that's required to be paid on the value of the free items.

There's some other small differences but otherwise you will enjoy yourself.

My guess this is a test for future expansion in the US

The problem is they are forcing people into an all or nothing choice which I don't think would play well in the US market. No ones asking for this and I already think their product is over priced because a lot of us don't want what they are offering already.

I have yet to grasp the reason for attending. With 75% of the passengers having the UBP there is no longer the incentive to get a couple of free drinks, and the canapes - well let's just say with all the food on the ship if that is why you are attending there is something wrong with you. The officers clearly don't enjoy it (at least based on the looks on their faces).

 

It is a thing of the past that has run its life and needs to go the way of the steamship.

Just curious how do you know 75% have the UBP? Is there a place we can get these stats and others as they would be very interesting.

Do the footnotes mention any $7.95 fee?

....and 18% gratuity, for your convenience of course?

look for the guys with a handful of tip money

Another vote for the Jewel Class. I love them! I disagree that they are "mid-size"; they are behomoths. But they are manageable for passengers, and offer lots of public ocean-view space. I also like the Dawn class ships.

 

NCL is clearly going for a stacked "shopping mall on a barge" business model with the new ships. I've tried them and will not repeat. Count me out.

Agreed, anything larger than the Jewel class is not enjoyable as far as we are concerned.

This all sounds like another attempt by the cruise industry to save costs but I don't think they have thought this through, for instance:

1) An entered credit card number cost more than a swiped credit card transaction

2) Someone has to swipe the passports and ensure the person entering the ship is correct, the whole thought of security issues this would cause if not done is scary to say the least.

3) So if you still need pictures and key cards before boarding, what exactly does this save?

Wasn't trying to be rude, and I am very happy that all those who posted were correct. I can still take advantage of the offer.

 

As I am new to NCL (not to cruising), I just wasn't sure how people knew that the offer was not ending and they were confident it was just changing slightly. I did not realize that this particular offer has been in place for quite some time and the 'ends November 30' was only a pressure tactic to get people to book.

The risk (and its confirmed with the December offers) is they will take away the things that can save those of us that don't drink heavily any real money. They took away the free gratuities which would be something we would interested in and added something we would never use. Here's what they are offering now;

1) Family and Friends free-With only two of us traveling completely worthless

2) Unlimited Booze-The daily gratuity at 18% is more than if we purchased what we would normally drink, again completely useless

3) 3 or 4 specialty dining meals-We don't eat in them, we already paid for our meals in the MDR and paid the gratuities with the DSC and yet me paying 18% gratuities is a free offer?, again, still a worthless offer for me

4) Free Wi-Fi-Completely worthless, I vacation to get away from all that crap

5) $50 per port excursion credit-NCL excursions are twice the price you could get it on your own if you were inclined, somehow $50 towards a $100-$200 "cheap" excursion is costing more than its worth especially when most NCL excursions are close to $100 or more per person.

Now, if you go in for this stuff great, it will benefit a lot of cruisers, just not my class of traveler.

I've read this argument a thousand times and it doesn't really hold water. In your land restaurant, the diner can be reasonable assured that the tip they are giving will be going to the server. The problem is that NCL considers your "tip" a "service charge & gratuity". One cannot be reasonably certain how much, if any, actually is a tip that the server receives. The ambiguity NCL introduces into this whole process makes your comparison pointless.

And don't forget you are already paying the DSC which covers waiters in the dining room, AND up until summer of 2015 covered the Specialty Dining waitors as well. Still never got a strait answerr out of NCL why they were no longer included but it coincided with NCL's desire to charge 18%.

True double dipping!

There was a thread on the subject of the gratuities and what goes into the crew's income. It may not have been on an NCL thread. There was a poster that worked for a cruise line, not sure which one. He was very well informed about how the gratuities affect the crew income.

 

I tried to find the thread, but could not. I can't quote exactly what he said, but it was something to the effect that the crew are guaranteed a certain minimum income and that once the gratuities reach a certain level the income of the crew is increased.

 

In my opinion, paying the gratuities up front is better than what the river cruise lines do, where you have to stuff 2 or 3 envelopes at the end of the cruise.

I remember the thread and discussion and if memory serves me correct still too many unanswered questions about tipping and daily service charges for me. I agree that its much easier than stuffing envelopes but that makes it so much more invisible to the point its expected rather than earned by the crew.

I would not give it a second thought if it was just a way of collecting on the crews behalf and passing 100% to them the way it use to be when the cruise industry first started prepaid gratuities. But over the years the terminology turned from prepaid gratuities to DSC that went to the NCLs of the world. There's a reason it changed and I'm not comfortable with it.

Either way now I expect excellent service with no excuses because I've prepaid their tips regardless of what NCL or any other cruise line calls it.

IMHO

Pre-payed gratuities, was the effect of pax here on CruiseCritic crowing about how they could get away with not tipping.

All cruise lines are trying to make the most amount of profit.

(Screw the working staff) in turn, they don't seem to care of our wants ?

 

I call out pax for being CHEAP, only to be reprimanded.

They only compliment themselves for being THRIFY.:)

How dare I to tell one of how to spend their money.

Not really, the tips use to go directly to te crew and the NCLs of the world never saw a dime. Do you really think they put so much effort into raising items that are subject to the 18% gratuities and increases in the DSC, (sometimes twice in a very short time), just to turn it all over to the crew?

Its about stuffing money in their own profits and I'll never look at the DSC the same again.

Specialty Restaurant staff are covered by the 18% Gratuity charge..... they and several other groups of workers (youth programs, butlers, bar staff, spa, etc) are not covered by the DSC.

 

Here is the Gratuity FAQ:

https://www.ncl.com/faq#tipping

 

Here is the DSC FAQ:

https://www.ncl.com/faq#service-charge

 

NCL's thought (and I agree) is that those passengers who choose to partake in non-complimentary services should be required to contribute to those gratuities....... all complimentary services are open to everyone so everyone pays their equal share to DSC.

 

The waiter you had in Haven and then at OSheehan's is prorated based on hours worked at each place (maybe 48% gratuity pool and 52% DSC pool)

 

 

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More NCL brainwashing! For the past 20 years (or however many years NCL has had specialties) they were included in the DSC. Not until NCL started "giving away" free specialty offers did they change it. Why, no one knows because the same waiters in the specialties also work the buffet, MDR, O'S, and the list goes on.

Stop believing everything you are told by NCL, think once in a while, that's what your brain is for.

Day 8 Debarking: And so at last it had come to an end.We had decided to take our own bags so that we could leave first thing. I awoke bright and early to wander my way to the Garden Cafe to get a cup of Nojo and look out at New York City from the lofty vantage of deck 15. The air was chilled and full of conflict. Things had not gone at all as planned. However, was it really all that terrible...yes, yes it was.

 

I am a large middle aged man who goes to a soulless desk job everyday, saving and cutting corners for that one go at forgetting the laundry list of personal and financial failings that I have accrued over a lifetime. I had to pay strangers to right me in a motorized scooter on an island I never intended to set wheels on! I had to peel crapes off my backside. I had to explain to Mrs Andrews why my children were carrying around invisible "appendages" in the middle of third block. Now I know, safety first, sailing into the path of a hurricane would have made the trip far less pleasant, but sigh. Norwegian can't control the weather no, but they can make a decision and send an email. Norwegian can't magically open a variety of port options at the drop of a hat, but they can ensure they don't contract unicorn ruffians.

 

With that final purely objective critique, I would like to take a moment to address three topics which I must say, fail to receive adequate coverage on these here forums. Smoking, Nickel & Diming and the obscene absence of lobster.

 

Smoking: I myself am no longer a smoker. When my children were born I took it upon myself to end that habit. How ironic that I would choose to do so at the very dawn of chaos. But I did. Though I no longer smoke, I found the near literal caging and segregation of smokers to be disturbing. Such forced separation seemed like a shamming tactic pushed by the left leaning socialist who fill the halls of my work place. As a red blooded American it was my choice to start as it was to quit. A choice that can be, nor should be, anyone elses. This enforced health or die fascism must come to an end before we are all transformed into mindless meat puppets.

 

Nickel & Diming: A tin cup for a pina colada, just a few more dollars? A cabin can have no more than one bulk purchased beach towel per occupant? If you do not return the bulk purchased beach towel, a 25 dollar charge will added? These are but a couple. I ran into an assortment of "friendly reminders" and "by the way" statements through out the cruise, perhaps it was a way to prepare us for the Nassau market place. Oh, but if the lessons were intentional, they wouldn't have been free.

 

Lobster: Sea Food night at the Garden Cafe. I was excited, I bet I wasn't the only one. I had stopped over at Red Lobster on the way into NYC from Rhode Island and kept a logo emblazoned bib. I put that bib on as I rode the elevator to the 15th floor. Sure others would have their Norwegian counter parts. Mine, however, would act as a flag of our New England origins. The first evidence of trouble should have been clear with the obvious lack of bibage as I rolled through the glass doors. I grabbed a plate and passed the usual evening offerings. To these options Norwegian added a salmon roll, mussels and Chowda. I took none of these as I wanted to save my plate for the main event, the lobster. No, you didn't miss it...it wasn't there.

 

With that this cruise review comes to an end. Debarking was quick, and I found it easy to get off. We went into the terminal, waited in line, were cleared as US citizens and set loose into the early New York morning...

 

Finding our family SUV, we tossed in the bags and pulled away on route back to RI and the six encroaching months of New England Winter. I would like to thank you all for your kind response to this thread. It made me think of all the other disappointments in life and how they too could use a voice. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to be said voice.

 

To this end, I have begun a life style blog;

 

http://thecriticalbrow.blogspot.com/

You know what's really sad, for an entire 24 hours NCL has printed tabs advertising seafood night on each and every napkin holder in the Buffet. And what's on them, Lobster Tails!. Why do they do this, is it really so hard to tell everyone the truth. Does the right hand not know what the left hand is doing.

Whether Lobster is an issue to you or not, its things like this that make people nuts especially when they offer Lobster for a surcharge in the MDR, for you convenience of course!

The massive growth in cruising population has changed the demographic. Where cruising used to be an expensive option largely available to higher income people who were comfortable with the then-existing formality, who were generally professional or managerial, who were comfortable wearing suits and neckties, it now appeals to a wider group - who are less inclined to accept formality, many of whom rarely, if ever, wear suits and neckties - or even own them.

 

Not only is cruising simply a lot less formal, it has become much more representative of the population at large, and is no longer essentially an activity largely limited to the wealthy.

I don't think that's true at all, our first cruise was a honeymoon in 1979 and the cost was cheaper than a land based trip to the same location, Bermuda.

What has changed is the mass market appeal and vast number of ships as compared to 30 years ago. Time have changed and no one dresses up at work anymore, let alone on vacation. While I admit that, I would prefer to go back to the elegant times of Homes lines.

Just like my parent's generations eliminated the fedora hat, so has this generation eliminated the grandeur of yesteryear in the cruise industry.

Its not better or worse, just a different time altogether.

I have 2 cruises booked on NCL. One in 2017 and another in 2018, and have no problem with the prices. The only problem I have is with the Beverage package,which, per day, is valued much higher than any other line, plus they add the 18%. No other line does that. The packages range from $42.00 to 65.00 per day, and that includes the 18%. For my Alaska cruise,I just took the dining pkg, and grats. For my Carib, cruise, I took the Beverage and grat pkg. For that cruise, I'm also looking at Celebrity and the Anthem on Royal since I have another year and change to worry about it.I'm hoping against hope that they change their policy on this, or maybe have a price reduction before final payment. Sorry for rambling on.

This is a perfect example of why NCL gets the nickle and dime reputation. Whether you love their product or hate it, that nickle and dime reputation is never going away as long as they continue what you have posted.

I'm on the Breakaway right now, and there was an escargot appetizer in the MD the other night.

In a pastry or the traditional garlick sauce as served in LeBistro?

I know about the pastry version and its not comparable at all to the LeBistro version served for free on other lines.

The first time I stepped on an NCL ship about four or five years ago my first impression was "I feel nickle and dimed" I felt that way not for hidden charges but more for the additional charges for things that were free on RCCL or Holland America the very same year.

For us the dining experience was most important to us at the time and we couldn't help but notice after 12 days, not once was there a shrimp cocktail offered in the main dining or Escargo and other dishes too. Where were they?, in the Specialty Dining venues for an added fee. Did it ruin our vacation, no, but left that nickle and diming taste in our mouths, :)

After five years there are many more changes that have been debated to death on these boards. So to answer your question there's nothing hidden its just that you might find there are extra charges for something you might have gotten for free on another line.

My wife and I were on the BA on the 9/18 sailing. We had a great time and loved the multitude of things to do on the ship. We travel a few times a year whether it be an all inclusive, resort or cruise. I read tons of reviews prior to our trips and have learned to pick up tips and filter out the total negative reviews. As others have said, go into your cruise with an open mind and let the experience unfold. No vacation is totally perfect however I believe NCL does it's best to give you a good experience. I've been cruising with NCL since 1988 and have never had an overall negative experience.

 

Enjoy!!

You are absolutely correct in your post as the vacation is what you make of it. Those of us that don't like the BA have valid reasons to not want to sail on her again.

For example, if you like a decent size pool the BA is not for you, I've not found one person who believes its adequate for the amount of guests it carries, except maybe NCL. Or if you like just walking into shows ahead of time with no pre-reservations at all, your choice is limited. Many venues are over crowded and their design leaves a lot to be desired. There are more examples I'm sure.

If these types of things will sour your vacation, there will be negative reviews and the OP may feel the same. Its best to do research and listen to what being said, both good and bad, and decide what's best for you.

The best advice is its up to you to make it a great vacation or not.

I've been on the Breakaway twice and if I never go again it will be too soon. But that's my opinion and others as you have seen love every bit of it.

Relax and enjoy