littlelulu01

I’ve sailed all those lines and prefer NCL. Ncl senior staff and officers are visible. NCL seems to go out of their way once onboard to help make your vacation special. Meals are more like a land based vacation instead of false pretenses of getting white glove service without the corresponding food quality. I don’t think food is as good as the other lines but it’s certainly not terrible either.

I’ve found less annoying announcements for the art auctions... on ncl than they have on the other lines. Sure they still want to sell you extras but doesn’t seem as much in your face as the other lines.

Basically, knowing what is /isn’t included and then going from there to compare actual costs. Example- Ncl’s Free beverages attract a 20% gratuity. Their beverage package doesn’t include speciality coffee, canned sodas or water bottles. Water package can be purchased for a relatively decent price. No speciality coffee card. Spas (extra fees) are really nice on ncl’s ships.

They really provide a great product at a fair price as long as you adjust your consumption habits to their packages. The speciality dining package is definitely worth while for many as a perk choice (you only pay the tips). They have cut out some of the more expensive menu items but they still have some good food choices in the speciality venues.

I stand corrected. I read the terms and conditions of the premium all inclusive and it looks like it covers all gratuity for all staff and the dsc. The t&c are different from that in the USA site which specifically excludes certain positions from dsc.

I would read the fine print. I know for USA bookings the dsc specifically excludes the butler, concierge and kids club staff. It would be appropriate to tip these positions depending on use. Many also tip the courtyard attendant depending on use and the room steward (who is in the dsc) some extra above the dsc.

The marketing is similar to when they advertise free gratuities for USA. It’s advertising the basic tips covered. The extra couple bucks here and there to a bar server, favorite dining staff are certainly appreciated.

At minimum, unless you’re receiving subpar service, I’d plan on giving something to butler and concierge, knowing they are not in the tip pool.

I’ve been on a similar itinerary, well not this good, but med two week in May and September/October. May was brutal heat but rain in Venice. September/October was a little better but still hot. Of course one can’t predict but I think this very port intensive sailing is ideal time of year wise and really fun ports.

It’s certainly priced right- I don’t think the pricing has gone up yet. Also has a great perk package with the free at sea and distinctive perk, combinable with the free at sea. Also obc. I’d at least hedge a deposit. I think it’s going to be a popular sailing and pricing will likely be going up as bookings increase.

Also agree on deck 10 aft. It’s looking like a large group cc charter back there! It’s a really nice location and would be nice to have most of your neighbors in your roll call. The great outdoors is just upstairs two decks and a great place to enjoy breakfast.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but why is there a Premium All Inclusve fare for UK cruisers yet not for US cruisers? Presumably it all works out to be very similar in the end but the DSC seems to cause so much consternation.

Premium all inclusive just rolls the gratuity/dsc into the fare. You can choose to have the cruise only fare for U.K. bookings and pay the voluntary dsc/tips separate, but NCL throws some goodies in to make the premium ai package desirable. I don’t think most have the debate on the dsc- just a few on these boards. If you want to give some extra cash tips on top of this nobody is going to complain and it will be very appreciated. But a couple posters on an Internet board telling folks over and over that a voluntary charge for service rendered isn’t a gratuity does not mean that the definition of gratuity is suddenly useless.

Have you taken a look at the NCL hotels? I think it’s $145/night, includes breakfast and I think transfer to ship for Embarkation. The hotel isn’t right by the pantheon or anything but it has a shuttle to the sites and also an airport shuttle for arrival (extra fees) if a group on your roll call was all staying at same hotel you could perhaps arrange some great private tours. In fact your roll call may already have something arranged and be looking for a few extras.

I’d also vote for early arrival and touring Rome prior to cruise. The cruise is expensive and I’d prefer to be over jet lag when I got on the ship. it’s much less $ to cancel a hotel room for late arrival than missing the ship, should something happen with flights.

First off, I’m sorry about what is happening and I appreciate your comments on how you guys are working on this. After reading these stories I did some reading up on booking airfare through the cruise line. I have a $400 air credit for booking with Ncl on a very expensive Europe cruise. At first I was thinking that even if airfare ended up costing a little more, it might be worth it after reading your stories. It looks to me like there’s quite a few negatives booking cruise air. A positive would be that in the situation you guys are in you would not be out the $. But that’s about all. The cruise line owns the reservation. Sounds like Even if you purchase deviation you can certainly be out a cruise or portion of a cruise should something go wrong with the flight. Even premium, business and first cruise air can be highly restrictive tickets. I guess for maximum flexibility, purchase a fully refundable fare on your own- not through the cruise line. If this is cost prohibitive book a legacy carrier that will get you to destination even if they need to put you on a different airline. The budget Airlines such as southwest don’t have these agreements. It’s all pretty confusing when trying to plan ahead. Throw in potential cruise line charter of the ship and it becomes even more frustrating.

I am on the Pearl round trip from San Diego on a charter from the 14th to 21st. However the ship is scheduled to depart from Los Angeles on the 20th on a Panama Canal trip. Which one to believe? The charter company or NCL?

Looks like you were right all along. I apologize.

Could you explain a little bit more about what you mean in the above paragraph. What do you mean by seeing availability go down, and how do I find that? I really like the Jewel class but I would like to cut the likelihood of cruise cancellation. I've been cancelled twice by NCL which caused both inconvenience and a lot of extra expense.

If they show at least 15 cabins available per category then there’s likely more than this actually available. Aft balconies usually sell out quickly regardless so I don’t count them. When several types of balconies, insides and ov are sold out, showing less than 15 or only available as a gt booking and pricing has gone up, I assume that they are getting close to selling out. When this happens on a sailing way out or the ship actually sells out a year in advance there is a good chance they have some fairly large charter groups on board. Seems even more likely when the roll call is really quiet.

I was looking at a couple of these sailings and had one booked on the Pearl but my gut told me the pricing was going to high, stateroom availability had gone way down and so I canceled. It just didn’t fit the regular pattern of similar sailings.

Last year our Jade sailing sold out a year in advance. I highly suspected a large portion charter because the earlier season exact same itineraries were still wide open. Sure enough over half the ship on our sailing was chartered. It didn’t ruin our vacation but if I had been told in advance I’d have switched to a different date.

Re the Pearl there was a poster a while back, I think a couple months ago saying he had booked a charter on the Pearl departure from San Diego. He was certain and it was conflicting with the Pearl arriving in Los Angeles. I think this is a link and in hindsight this guy was probably right. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2556596

Edit- that was from October, 2017.

Right now they have some excellent deals on the Ncl India site. 50% off 2nd passenger. No free at sea perks with the 50% off and I think it’s limited to some Epic med, breakaway Europe, and Jewel Alaska. The September 3-10 Jewel Alaska has owners suites for a great price. Epic also has some really low rates fall 2018 out of Barcelona. The 50% off 2nd passenger ends 1/15/18. https://www.ncl.com/in/en/ I don’t track anything out of Florida so have no idea if the pricing is better for some of those sailings but these are the best suite prices I’ve seen for cruises I would like.

These bookings have the same cancellation policies as the USA site. When I’ve booked in the past I’ve put a 24 hour courtesy hold and then called my NCL pcc and had him complete the booking. This way I have a contact in Miami that I know who can help if needed. These bookings are not eligible to transfer to a ta for additional obc.

I’m really sorry this is happening. I was caught up in a major redeployment a couple years ago. I remember being quite furious and thought I’d never sail with Ncl again. But... they did make it right in the end.

It would really be nice if they had the alternative game plans set up and people avail to actually help the displaced customers when they cancel sailings. I certainly can see confusion when emergencies arise but for planned cancellations they have a pretty bad reputation.

If you’re trying to avoid cancellations or potentially having a major portion of the sailing be charter groups (which can negatively affect your vacation) I think you can cut chances by canceling if you see availability going way down too far in advance. Certain times of year with Jewel class are also subject to charters and partial charters and Ncl is big on both.

I did some research when my sailing was canceled and basically if you booked through the USA site, NCL can cancel for any reason at any time and all they owe you is a refund of the $ you gave them. It’s not like booking an airfare and knowing that once you purchased it they are obligated to get you from point a to point b.

The people who seemed to fare the best in these cancellations were customers who had really good ta’s and or NCL cruise consultants. It certainly helps to know what you want if their offer of $25 obc to switch sailings doesn’t work for you. Knowing what you want and communicating in a clear, concise, direct and friendly manner will get you the most help.

Further; if you get a bunch of nasty comments from other posters just ignore them. NCL provides a great product but they are a company in it for the bottom line. It’s certainly ok to bring up frustrations and the fact that sometimes all doesn’t go well.

I’ve taken the HAL Pacific coast trips in the past and really enjoyed them. Many of the ships have the covered pool area that is like the Haven area. They run ships similar to Jewel class and the food is a good notch higher quality. That may work better with the airfare issue. Good luck.

Could be partial charter. Last year on the two week sailing for the Jade Iceland, Norway and British isles we were on it was showing good availability in all categories and actually had some price drops which would indicate that plenty of staterooms were available. Almost a full year prior to sailing it sold out over night. I suspected a charter and sure enough there was actually 3 separate charter groups onboard. Two large groups mainland China and one smaller (around 350) from Hong Kong. Just prior to sailing they opened booking back up in mostly gt rates. Pricing was much higher for last available rooms. I assume they were leftovers the charter didn’t sell.

Should this be the case on your sailing I would suggest not expecting to get off ship in port first thing. Charter passengers on our sailing were very early to bed and early to rise. You may also think about spending a little extra on a full dining package and enjoy the speciality venues. Large charter groups can be a little overwhelming In mdr and buffet if they all plan on eating at the same time. Basically if there’s some charter groups on the sailing it’s a much more pleasant experience if you are not trying to do the same thing at the same time they are. Adjust your schedule around theirs and you should still have a wonderful vacation.

No real way to know if your sailing is a partial charter until you get on board.

The current automatic tip added to specialty restaurant /bar tabs, spa and massage etc is 20% now. Also added to wine bottle purchases etc.

Yes. Forgot about that. My faq’s still say 18%, but I booked prior to increases.

So if I’m understanding you correctly, the pre-paid includes everything else (ex. Dining, room steward, etc), but not the butler and concierge. So, tip them depending on how much we feel is right and how much we use them, correct?

 

 

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I also start with $10/pp pd for butler, $5/pppd for concierge. There’s an overwhelming chance that you will receive excellent service from these two. If two in the room I typically give the room steward an extra $50/week. I’ve never had a bad room steward and tip the steward the same regardless of what room I’m in.

Under the faq section for your upcoming cruise it explains the prepaid dsc. Basically it says the dsc is a discretionary charge (basically the basic tips) and is split with the room steward, behind scenes staff, complementary dining venues staff.. The bartenders, spa, concierge, butler and kids program staff are excluded from the dsc so should be tipped separately according to services received. Speciality dining, bar tab and spa treatments will be charged an additional 18% gratuity/service. The gratuity/service charge on the dining and beverage package is already paid when you selected your perks and paid your final payment. Say you get a massage, eat in speciality... when presented with your bill it will have the 18% automatically already on there and then there’s a line for additional tips. Ncl’s website clearly states that you certainly don’t need to feel obligated to give more but that staff are welcome to accept extra cash tips for exemplary service. I certainly don’t add 20% onto a dinner bill on top of the 18% gratuity/service however In the past I have inadvertently added it onto massage bill because I didn’t notice that they already had automatically added the gratuity/service.

The staff who are going above and beyond will definitely appreciate a few extra $ cash tips here and there.

There’s a couple extra people you may feel inclined to give extra to that went above and beyond for your sailing. It might be the hostess that seats you for breakfast each morning, or a couple of the dining room servers. The Haven courtyard butler may be going out of his way to make your vacation great. I tip those people on the last day or two and tell them thanks for making my vacation special. I’m not on vacation to remember to be carrying around a wad of cash. It’s much simpler for me to just give it out or the end. Nobody is expecting you to be showering them with bills for everything they do for you. bartender will definitely take care of you with a couple cash tips here and there. Everyone else I pretty much save for the day before we debark.

If you have a bunch of obc I’d compare the more expensive Ncl excursions. I don’t see it available yet but I think NCL typically has an excursion that is only available for Ncl bookings out of Juneau. The excursion vessel meets up with the Jewel after it has departed Juneau. So you get an up close and personal Glacier trip and then meet up/reboard the Jewel that doesn’t go as far into the fjord.

Pre cruise- Have you thought about just flying into Vancouver instead of Seattle for just a day or two and then need to get to Vancouver? The Seattle addition seems like a lot of extra work. Vancouver is just as nice a city, has just as many things to do and I don’t think I’d want to mess around with two big cities, in two different countries, in two days time.

If you have your heart set on seeing Seattle I’d do it at the end of vacation. Alaska Airlines runs flights from anchorage to Seattle all day and night, they are non stop and don’t cost much. Delta has quite a few flights too.

In Ketchikan we did southeast kayak excursion with a float plane pick up from boat/misty fjords tour and loved it. If you decided to do one of the more expensive excursions, you can always save $ in other ports by doing some hiking in some ports. There’s some great hiking available in just about all the ports and all it costs is the energy you expend.

We’re also sailing the Jewel this season (doing the reverse sailing). Love the Jewel class ships. Have fun planning. I love Alaska cruises. Depending on time of year you should see plenty of whale activity right from the ship too. Bring binoculars. They sell onboard too just in case you forget.

Suite menus on The Jade have changed since dry dock. The breakfast setup in moderno is nice. We usually just ate from that. Quick and easy with some healthy options and coffee was decent French press. Lunch in cagney’s had some decent carrot cake. I don’t have menu but the breakfast/lunch was convenient, with many of the same staff from the previous year. Food quality- it was good enough I guess. Nothing to write home about - except service. Of course that’s my opinion. Other guests may have found the lunch burgers fabulous. Pretty sure they are the same ones that are served in the buffet.

We tendered in Edinburgh but it was not bad at all. Earlier in the season the Jade was using the ship tenders. I had read some complaints and was prepared for a long process. I was pleasantly surprised that Ncl hired a very large tender and we were ashore in no time. We took the city bus to Edinburgh and a taxi back to port. Wonderful day and the entire itinerary was great - we did the 14 night Iceland, Norway and British Isles. The seas were really rolling on the way to Iceland but on the way back it was fine. Can’t remember if we tendered any other ports besides Edinburgh. If we did it wasn’t an issue.

But if you ever tried to upgrade AFTER FINAL PAYMENT, you would know you are not entitled to the current price. The dollar amount for your upgrade will be much more than simply the difference between the going price and what you paid. Once your booking is under penalty it is not even reasonable to think you can just get that room for today's price. NCL is not that nice.

I’ve never experienced this and almost certain it’s not true. When booking with Ncl and with ta, it’s simply paying the difference. You can’t downgrade but ive yet to be told there’s a penalty to upgrade after final payment. It has nothing to do with Ncl being, “nice” and everything to do with simply making more money. If they have a customer who is willing to pay going rate it only makes sense to sell them the room.

You can even upgrade after an upsell. Say you are wanting a Haven but you were awarded a sf suite. They will happily move you to the Haven suite retail price difference as long as it’s available. You just can’t enter the upgrade advantage plan again. They credit the upgrade advantage and original stateroom price $ you have paid and then you just pay the going rate they have advertised.

I’ve seen the fees increase and decrease for the same sailing. I think they have intentions of filling the ship to a certain point and charge everyone accordingly based on their projections. I’v seen them go down at the last minute and figured they probably collected most of the port fees and so charge the last few less but this could also be reversed for a sailing that sold terribly. I’m guessing the fees vary depending on sales and how many in a stateroom.

I’ve also wondered why disney cruises had so much lower fees. I think each company negotiates their fees and some end up with better pricing at various ports with long term commitment...

I’ve never been charged extra for switching to different ports or methods of tenders. I’d read early season complaints about tender process in Edinburgh taking forever and a day but for our sailing later in the season Ncl sprung for a very large charter tender and it got almost half the boat ashore in no time. The cost wasn’t passed on at least to us anyways.

I don’t think it’s set up to typically save much over an early booking unless the sailing is really undersold or something happens ie a hurricane. But it can be a good chunk for those who booked a cabin a little later in the game when pricing on suites has gone up. Seems like they typically have initial list pricing set pretty reasonable. As time goes on and suites sell, the remaining suites get higher and higher. My two bedroom Haven was initially booked at a rate I found reasonable. I canceled and then found out we were able to go but by that time the same suite had nearly doubled in cost. I ended up settling for a mini suite and upgrade advantaged at the end, I think mid fair bid range, for about the same as I had initially paid on the suite I had canceled. So I saved, but only in comparison to what the h4 was selling for at the time I rebooked. The early booking was a little lower cost and I lost out on perks. Of course there are a few here and there who will save more but I think they have it down to a pretty good pattern now so as make their nut on the suites for most sailings.

I’ve done the sail away rate and been invited for upgrade advantage bid a couple days after booking. For our sailing it was a considerable savings. Not long ago it was a minimal discount to go with the sail away rates but for ours it was several hundred $ off pick your own mini suite pricing.

Sorry about the water situation. We’re so lucky to have easily accessible water and when it isn’t, it’s hard to adjust. When we travel places where drinking water is scarce it really hits home how precious a commodity water is and how very lucky for the time being that we still enjoy a pleantiful supply. I know a cruise ship isn’t the planned way to deal with it and I’m sure Ncl hadn’t anticipated the issue either. That was a nice gesture with the obc.

I will say on our last cruise Norway, Iceland and U.K. they were a lot more lax with the water bottle situation compared to what we experienced when they first instituted the water ban. We were allowed to take our water off the ship and were never hassled if we brought it back on. Could have been this way because the cost of water bottles on ship was far less than many ports visited. All in all I felt the water packages were not out of line price wise. We had 14 nights so we took advantage of the lower cost mega packs.

We almost missed an Alaska cruise flying into Vancouver day of departure. Alaska Airlines not only held the plane but sent a van to the plane upon arrival to get us on our way quickly. I sent them a thank you. We also didn’t have trip insurance for that vacation and so we really lucked out. Haven’t cruised without trip insurance since and always fly in at least a day before now.

Some sailings the pricing on Haven suites is in my realm of reason. But for our Alaska sailing on the Jewel the pricing is off the charts. About 2k/night (for 2) for the least expensive Haven penthouse. Garden villa is $4500/night. Of course all Haven suites are still available. Nobody biting at those prices! I suspect some Haven suites at this price point are comped to high rollers, organizers of large groups... the list pricing is out there just in case they come across someone who will pay. The rest go to upsell, which seems to be the only way we can justify anymore. If price was more within reach like they are for many sailings we would be happy to book instead of playing the upsell game but somehow i seem to pick the more expensive sailings. We love the Haven but I’m fine in a non Haven room too. Food is a little better in suite level venues but still not on par with say Applebee’s - just fancier presentation and service. Best part about Haven is the lack of crowds, not much waiting, a nicer room and good coffee. Not 2k/night good but certainly worth more than non Haven.