Megamixer

I too enjoy traditional dining. We have met friends we're still in touch with 10 years later. The best part of traditional is the better service like you mentioned. Your server learns your beverages, likes and dislikes. We're on the Encore right now and with the 3 dining rooms it would be very easy. If say, 150 people want traditional, block off that many seats for early or late seating.

I have to agree and how long they have been showing it? I was on HAL in 2010 and I honestly can't remember what the "shows" were like but I know Earth was shown on my trips in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Plus they added that history of Holland America film. That was interesting one time but now I feel like I'm watching an infomercial. I don't want or need the big Broadway type musicals, but I like the Frank Sinatra impersonators, the shows with movie themes, 70's music, etc. We haven't sailed with HAL since 2021 which was less than impressive but have a trip booked this fall on the Statendam. I'm hoping it changes my mind. Since it seems every other line is pushing for the first time cruiser/family amusement park crowd it seems there would be a big demand for older style, traditional cruising which would be perfect for HAL.

I should clarify that my comments on this thread are only about NCL because the original post was under NCL. I feel the same about all three cruise lines I frequent; HAL, NCL and RCL. I always expected to pay more for the alcohol I drank or if I wanted to be in a balcony room instead of an inside cabin. I don't expect to pay an additional $49 (per meal) for a steak I can chew. I believe the problem with most of us that complain/feel services have been cut is because cruising has become something different than the reason we cruised in the first place. Compared to spending 2 weeks in a hotel and eating in restaurants, cruising is still a good value for us.

Thank you for posting these. We downsized when we relocated in 2016 and I got rid of all my old "cruise dailies". Many times I wish I had saved them. I wasn't about to argue with the person that recalled paying $100 a dozen years ago at Cagney's but I knew it was nowhere near that much. I also miss the Jean Ann Ryan productions 😉

Ha! The gratuity you pay for the "free" dinners now is more than the upcharge was when NCL first started their "free style cruising."

Similar question but about the 15% off internet package. If you have "free at sea" do you get the 15% off the upgrade offer to unlimited?

We cruised on the Valiant in December out of Miami after 20+ cruises with other lines and I decided it wasn't for me also. I wasn't fond of the food choices and really missed the buffet for breakfast. The food court was chaotic for us. I felt like everything I enjoy about cruising was missing. We enjoy the older ships like NCL Jewel and RCCL Voyager class types where all the reservations aren't necessary. I also missed a main dining room with just a plain steak or grilled chicken breast option. Every meal I was grateful for the free internet because I'd have to google most of what was on the menus. The entertainment we saw was exceptional but again, we missed half of the shows because we were unable to get reservations.

On a recent transatlantic from Portugal to FL I ended up bringing a bunch of Euros home. I asked at the front desk about leaving an extra tip for the cabin steward in Euros. She assured me the crew could exchange the money. This was on NCL.

I've been scrolling through all these posts trying to figure this out but still confused. On my upcoming 17 day cruise, in the NCL app, it says I can upgrade to unlimited basic Wifi for $279.83 which is basically about 16.46 per day. Is that price considered "trading in the 300 Free At Sea minutes? Is it better to upgrade now, or are you (fstuff1) saying it's better to wait until I'm onboard. I can no longer remember the cruise line, but sometime in the past 2 years I remember checking the upgrade internet package page in the app and there was a "sale" that last for a few days. That could have been RCCL or Princess though.

I think I'll just eat at the buffet so as not to confuse anyone 😂

Thank you, that's how I understood it from reading. I was slightly confused because I didn't remember that from the transatlantic last spring but thinking back; I guess that transatlantic moved us up a level.

We just booked a 17 night Panama Canal cruise. With the "Free (not so free) At Sea" we get 2 meals each. Do we also get the 2 meals each because of Latitude status for a total of 4 meals? Also, it says Sapphire level gets 15% off an internet package. According to the reservation, with the Free At Sea 300 mins, I can upgrade to unlimited for $279. Would I get $15% off that. All these decisions 😁

I think most of the people that are against the app and the medallion are more just pining for the "old way" of cruising - I frequently use the term "traditional cruiser". I get the look and question "What is a traditional cruiser" but that's what I consider myself. I miss the old days of traditional dining, a chocolate on my pillow along with the towel animal, getting a mint on the way out of the dining room, not worrying about making a reservation for the show, all those things. But then I also miss paying for cable and getting all the channels without all the "tiers", not having to deal with kiosks in fast food places but times change and I attempt to adapt. I can't recall having any problems using the app or the medallion on our last Princess cruise. I did enjoy walking up to my cabin door and seeing "Welcome John" and having the door unlock. Also there are still travel agents that do things the old way as much as they can. Even though I tell her not to waste her time and money, our agent still prints out our itinerary and information from the cruise documents and she prints out and laminates our luggage tags then we get a big package in the mail. Her company even uses an APP (gasp) with everything in it day by day including phone numbers for the airlines, hotels we've booked, travel insurance contacts etc. I will admit to have a jewel of a travel agent and hope she doesn't retire while we're still traveling.

Just to make sure you understand, it's not just the Medallion app you need to be logged into for the Wi-Fi calling. You also need an internet package and be logged in to that.

NCL isn't my favorite cruise line but we seem to end up sailing with them frequently. I will say we were on the recently refurbished NCL Dawn for a Christmas cruise and the Dawn is lovely now. Cabins were refurbished very nicely.

We got a $600 bar tab plus $100 loot and booked the normal balcony cabin. They call it "central sea terrace". I just looked at my 2 invoices. For the Virgin Cruise we're paying approx $700 more for an 8 day cruise than the 7 day Princess. (We are getting $300 onboard credit on Princess that we most likely will use for the daily service charge) It's basically a wash between the higher fare or adding on Princess Plus.

We're booked for a cruise the end of September and I received the email today informing me I was in "steerage" unless I upgraded.

The key part of all that is "as a shareholder". ANY company with a stock symbol cares more about their shareholders than their customers. We can complain, suggest, makes posts, etc. and no changes will be made. You won't be listened to until you stop spending your money. There's been a lot of back and forth here about the price of a pizza but I think for the most of us, that's missing the point. It's a matter of feeling like you're being treated fairly and getting what you expected.

I remember the opposite of empty dining rooms. I remember having to wait to thank the crew and get pictures with them. That daily added charge isn't "crew appreciation" it's just an added surcharge (of which a percentage is deducted for accounting expenses) to help cruise lines pay their help. I just consider it part of my cruise fare and those crew members I appreciate get slipped some cash. (P.S. I'm not in any way a Princess fan or fan or any cruise line. Normally I seem to enjoy RCI better overall but we choose our cruises on a number of things; ports, price, where they leave from, time of year, etc. For instance my next cruise is on Princess and it was picked because it sails roundtrip out of Vancouver where I've never visited and it also makes a stop in Seattle that I've been wanting to visit again. Also it'll be cool the end of Sept and I live in Arizona 🙂 )

We were on the refurbished NCL Dawn for Xmas and that was actually very nice even with the gazillion kids onboard.

This is the whole thing in a nutshell for us. We have a Virgin Voyages booked for December which will be very close to compare our Sept/Oct cruise on Princess with. For me personally, I don't like the whole "dividing passengers up into classes" thing. It's bad enough sitting by someone talking about what "level" they are. I think in September whenever I have to ask a question or clarification of something from a crewmember I'll be sure to point out that "I'm sailing in steerage."

This may or may not having anything to do with the original post but all restaurant, pre-packaged, prepared food to me is too salty. For no reason except my other half isn't a fan of salt, I stopped salting things about 25 years ago and have gotten used to it. Cruise food was always extremely salty in my opinion. On my last 2 cruises I found myself picking up the salt shaker and using it several times which I never do. Maybe they just finally quit over salting?

My husband and I have this cruise booked with one additional night in Vancouver pre-cruise. Anyone else?

I saw that price and thought, "What, that's a lot?" But I checked my invoice from almost a year ago and we paid $1256 for 1 night hotels on both ends of the cruise. (NYC & Quebec City including all transfers to and from) You may save a few dollars here and there booking hotels and transportation yourself but we're old and go the easy way. I have a wonderful travel agent and she knows the location where we like our cabin on the ship and that we just want to pay the bill and get on with the travel. BTW - we were booked in that same hotel in NYC and really liked it. There are many things to see within walking distance.

I love the different opinions on the coffee. We just got off 19 days on the Sun and one thing I mentioned was how good the coffee was in the buffet when it was fresh. It is quite strong but that's how we like it. There were times when I got a cup I could tell had been sitting in the urn for a while but just went and found a cup somewhere else. Anything is better than the Starbucks in the atrium.