FoggyEthan

Thanks! I agree it's tough to rationalize $138 + 20%. Then I saw that it included Veuve Clicquot and I wondered if maybe we could make it work after all. 😎

Understood. We were told that people with NCL status would be offered some sort of discount on packages to make up for the lack of FAS, but not those of us without status.

I don't know what actually happens, but this is not what NCL says on their website. The 20% on the package is for "gratuity and beverage service charge". The gratuity goes to the servers. I have no idea what a beverage service charge is, but it sounds like marketing speak to make you think it's a tip but is kept by NCL. And the split between gratuity and beverage service charge is not specified. As to pay cuts, they just dropped from 2 cleanings per stateroom per day to 1. They also used to have a senior and junior stateroom attendant covering the cabins, but they just eliminated the junior position, and dropped the pay for the remaining stateroom attendants to somewhere in the middle of the two prior pay ranges. I've read this in several places now. I can find sources if you'd like.

Thanks, that explains it. We don't get FAS. Some cruisers with NCL status get discounts.

That's the plan! Do you tip cash (and so need to keep small bills with you at all times) or do you put it on the $0 bill?

I think I may be confused about the real prices for the packages. Looking on the NCL website, for a 5 night cruise, a 5 meal package is $40 per meal per person, and the beverage packages are $109 and $138/pp/pd. Plus 20% to the above. This is much higher than what others are saying! I've never sailed NCL before, so have no status. And I'm sailing on a charter "Sixthman" cruise on the Gem. I won't get a booking code from Sixthman until 6 weeks before the cruise, and so can't reach out to NCL to price anything until then. Then it becomes a mad race to book everything before everyone else does. Is the consensus that the food quality is much higher in the specialty restaurants? One worry I have with the specialty restaurants and the meal package is that we end up meeting people on board who don't want to eat at the specialty restaurants, and then to eat with them we have to throw away pre-paid meals. Or we can't get a new reservation for additional people. Thanks!!

Two problems why I'm unsure of the above. One is that the 20% surcharge you pay on the drink package does not entirely go to tips. It is split with "specialty service charge" which basically means an unknown amount of the 20% is stolen by NCL even though they could have included it in the base price. The other thing is that my $22 pppd may not go to the person who is actually serving me. It may just be pooled and spread around. So from the server's perspective, other tables are tipping them personally for every drink served, whereas it makes no difference to the server whether they even serve me. An unlimited drink package without frequent refills is very hard to justify -- I don't have any status with NCL to get discounts. Normally I don't like to have to think in this way, but reports of pay cuts and lackluster service, and the way NCL steals an unknown fraction of what we think is the tip, force me to ask questions.

This is also what I was wondering -- whether tipping cash (you tipped cash or on account?) gets you a bit more attention.There's no point in having an unlimited drink package but not being able to get more drinks.

Do I understand correctly that gratuities on the drink and meal packages are based upon the price of the package rather than being calculated on the price you would otherwise have paid for your actual food and drink? I'm asking because I'm wondering if this can have a negative impact on the gratuities received by the servers, i.e. someone on a package generates less money for the server than someone ordering a la carte. Is it appropriate to tip something extra directly to the servers? I guess I'm just nervous because I've read about recent NCL cutbacks and pay cuts. Thanks! -- Ethan

I wonder if it depends in part on what cabin categories you have booked in the past. e.g. people who pay for higher categories are presumed to be more likely to book without a discount, but for people who buy the cheaper cabins then the discount may be the difference between sailing and not sailing. I've sailed once before. ES2. I've never received discount offers.

I was one of the people who went in 2021 to Iceland. Sorry but I don't have any Greenland experience. Booking of tours was VERY competitive, in part because they didn't make bookings available one class at a time but instead opened it up to everyone all at once, which basically crashed their systems and created chaos. You'd have thought this would be obvious, but sometimes you can't stop people (i.e. Viking) from shootings themselves in the foot. One tour that was very broadly loved was Vigur Island in Isafjordur. You cross to an island where the owner of the island and her family show you around. Lots of Puffins. Very warm and welcoming. Note that you CAN book the identical thing on your own. Reykjavik was fun simply to stroll around. Nice town. There is a new thermal bath called "Sky Lagoon" which looks more upscale and comfortable than the more well known "Blue Lagoon", which is nice but very touristy and not really relaxing. If you like hiking, both Heimaey and Djupivogur have really nice hiking starting from near the docks. At Heimaey we got a taxi to take us to the other end of the island and then walked back. Definitely take a look at local tour operators and the kinds of options they have available. You'll get more variety of options without the competition to get the shore excursion before it sells out.

I sailed with Viking for the first time last year to Iceland. I have never received any communications from them since, either paper mailings or emails. I contacted Viking and they said they've added me to their promo emails, but I've never received one. I'm not sure why. I have no upcoming sailings booked. I was booked on an Expedition cruise, but they canceled it many months ago. I'll keep an eye on this, but I'm eyeing some trips in 2024, so perhaps they're not going to get the big deals. Also -- yes I know how this sounds -- we only fly business when crossing an ocean. It seems like most of the special offers are "free airfare" which presumably means coach class. Does this imply that many of the offers will have limited value to us? Also, do travel agents or websites tend to have better benefits than booking through Viking directly? I don't tend to use a travel agent, since I am a bit of a travel control freak 8-), and I like handling all the details myself. But I find the Viking US agents to not be acting in my interest. They seem to be desperately trying to get a commission and lock me down. So I'm open to alternatives. 😎 Thanks for advice!

It seems like the suites 3000 and 3001 have a real oddity: they are on the same level as the bow, directly facing out to an area that can have activity. The bedroom window looks like it directly faces this public area. The reviewer of 3001 mentioned occasional events. Can someone suggest how much of an issue this is? It's never the way you want to wake up in the morning to hearing deckhands right outside your window. Or in the wee-hours.