If you were in charge of NCL...

[Bridge Maven]

Yesterday, I received a survey from NCL about our recent cruise. One of its questions was to mention changes that I would make if in charge of NCL. I answered..

 

Bridge Program on Sea Days

Educational Lectures on Sea Days

 

How would you have answered that queston?

[weltek]

• Better beer selection!
  
• Drink packages available to purchase each day (as most people would only want them on days they'd be on ship for long periods of time)
  
• Photos available to view digitally, so it doesn't waste so much paper
  
• Lots of chilled soups in the buffet so I can quit listening to you chiloup heads complain! :D
  
• wine bar
  
• Make one dining room feel more casual and one more dressy, and more aggressively publicize (and enforce) it as such.
  
• One adults only surcharge restaurant
  
• A sing-along style piano bar on every ship (think Pat O'Briens)
  

[mtwingcpa]

1) Designated NON-smoking cabins and balconies.

 

2) Enforced dress code (casual, but ENFORCED).

[Stillfloatin']

Same thing I put on every single survey I do for NCL:

 

Reward Latitudes by number of days sailed not number of cruises. I'm tired of having my 19-day and 14-day and 15-day cruises, heck even my 9 and 7 day cruises count the same as the 1-nighter to nowhere cruises. Those of us who sail these longer cruises spend MUCH more money on excursions, alternative restaurants, photos, drinks, and the casino and we should be rewarded accordingly. Initially, I was very hopeful when NCL announced there would be changes to the Latitudes program as part of their 2.0 upgrades, but nothing came of that.

[FLAHAM]

Same thing I put on every single survey I do for NCL:

 

Reward Latitudes by number of days sailed not number of cruises. I'm tired of having my 19-day and 14-day and 15-day cruises' date=' heck even my 9 and 7 day cruises count the same as the 1-nighter to nowhere cruises. Those of us who sail these longer cruises spend MUCH more money on excursions, alternative restaurants, photos, drinks, and the casino and we should be rewarded accordingly. Initially, I was very hopeful when NCL announced there would be changes to the Latitudes program as part of their 2.0 upgrades, but nothing came of that.[/quote']

 

So perhaps those of us who sail in Courtyard Villas should get several times the credit as those who sail in insides?

[packercruising]

I'd have better accomodations:rolleyes:

[packercruising]

If I were in charge of NCL

I'd cruise every day and ring my own bell

I'd take welteks suggestion and get better brew

But I am not in charge, so what can you do? :)

[Bridge Maven]

I agree with the idea of accumulating reward points by dollars spent instead of the number of cruises, the way hotels do. However, I don't think that will ever happen.

[GROOVERS]

I would make sure old groovers got a free cruise:D...NEXT WEEK!

[Bridge Maven]

If I were in charge of NCL

I'd cruise every day and ring my own bell

I'd take welteks suggestion and get better brew

But I am not in charge, so what can you do? :)

 

I am impressed with your poetic skills - very cute :)

[Stillfloatin']

I would make sure old groovers got a free cruise:D...NEXT WEEK!

 

Groovers, how is your wife doing? Hope you have a wonderful Christmas together. We missed you on the Panama cruise.

[Ontheotherhand]

I would adjust the fare and pay my crews a living wage by adding the DSC into the non commissionable part of the fare, if only to be fair to the crew who earn it and to cut down on fights at the recpetion desk by those trying to reverse the charge.

[weltek]

So perhaps those of us who sail in Courtyard Villas should get several times the credit as those who sail in insides?

 

Me being a person that books insides and oceanviews, I think you should get increased point values for booking villas. I waiver a bit, because for paying what you do, you also get a lot more perks than me in the inside cabin, but in reality, those in suites and garden villas are generally paying oodles more than an inside passenger and should get extra credit. I agree with the above poster that dollars spent should earn rewards levels (like hotels), not cruises completed.

[weltek]

If I were in charge of NCL

I'd cruise every day and ring my own bell

I'd take welteks suggestion and get better brew

But I am not in charge, so what can you do? :)

 

Our shared Wisconsin-ness is showing. :-)

[STARFISH*4]

i just completed my cruise survey and i would like to see:

 

better LATITUDEs program--quit taking away any of the little freebies we get--we DESERVE BETTER

better organization for the activities ...last cruises were not run very well

not tack FEEs on to activities

more OVERALL entertainment after the main shows at night

keep the eating places OPEN longer...offer a few more types of food at BLUE LAGOON type dining places

lower shore excursion prices

more 2 for 1s...etc...when there is a SALE a GOOD SALE on something

PEOPLE buy...want to MOVE your products...OFFER better deals

[Planer's Edge]

So perhaps those of us who sail in Courtyard Villas should get several times the credit as those who sail in insides?

 

For what reason. You choose to pay more for better perks and accommodations. Next you're going to want places that are off limits to those lowly inside cabin dwellers. Oh wait, you have that in the courtyard.

 

Credit for number of cruise days would be more than sufficient. This is from a passenger that has had more than his fair share of Penthouse Suites. But, not a single NCL cruise less than 7 days.

 

PE

[InTheCruisingYearsOfLife]

Tell Bunk of America to piss off with their "improved" loyalty program that reduced our cruise reward from three percent to one percent. Find a different bank who will play ball, and restore the loyalty program to best-of-industry, remedying how BofA "improved" it right down to ho-hum-also-ran stature.

 

Some of us only started our cruise experiences with NCL on the basis of that benefit. Some of us are starting to draw the same conclusions that BofA apparently made: loyalty doesn't pay. Perhaps NCL can act soon, and restore what BofA's classic disloyalty (I never knew a penny BofA wasn't eager to pinch) is costing them; or perhaps NCL marketing just lacks the vision.

 

 

Respectfully opined,

InThe

[sottovoce]

Don't give away everything everyone wants for nothing and thereby stay in business.

[jmcdon7230]

1. Eliminate surcharges and reservations on all specialty restaurants except

for one. Make that one high priced and haute cuisine.

2. Incorporate DSC into fare....heavily advertise "no tipping required".

3. Upgrade room service breakfast (card on door) to include hot items.

4. Make booking and payment online easier, similar to RCCL and Carnival

5. Sale out of Mobile, AL in the winter.

6. Put the Lemon Meringue Tart on the "always available" dessert menu

7. Most of all, and maybe this should have been number one, bring back

the Compass Rewards Mastercard three percent program.

[jp2001]

I read everybody’s reply (so far, and here is what I would like to see implemented – in order or priority for me)

 

1. Photos available to view digitally, so it doesn't waste so much paper (environmental concern)

2. Bridge Program on Sea Days (NCL used to have it on longer cruise but no more on my last 14-nighter)

3. More free activities NOT geared toward profit making (most lectures are now a sale op and I HATE that).

4. A sing-along style piano bar on every ship (they need better lounges in general… bar city isn’t my favorite.

5. Make one dining room feel more casual and one more dressy, and more aggressively publicize (and ENFORCED) it as such.

6. Reward Latitudes by number of days sailed not number of cruises (IMHO, it’s the most accurate way to count rewards since a 1-night cruise can’t compare with a 21-night cruise and if you go by $ spent it’s not really fair either because people paying more for a suite already do get the space and the perks going with the price tag and when someone pays less, they already get less in regards as space, amenities and perks- which is perfectly fine of course but it shouldn’t have anything to do with the rewards that are supposed to be for repeated business).

7. An adult-only surcharge restaurant (for me it’s not a priority because I’ve never heard a child being loud in Le Bistro or Cagney’s (maybe I was just lucky).

8. Chilled soups in the dining room (they are so good, but not good for my waistline so they are last on my list)

[jp2001]

Don't give away everything everyone wants for nothing and thereby stay in business.

 

I agree with you but please realize that most things that have been listed don’t cost more to NCL (replace an activity by another or enforce the dress code for example).

[sparks1093]

Same thing I put on every single survey I do for NCL:

 

Reward Latitudes by number of days sailed not number of cruises. I'm tired of having my 19-day and 14-day and 15-day cruises' date=' heck even my 9 and 7 day cruises count the same as the 1-nighter to nowhere cruises. Those of us who sail these longer cruises spend MUCH more money on excursions, alternative restaurants, photos, drinks, and the casino and we should be rewarded accordingly. Initially, I was very hopeful when NCL announced there would be changes to the Latitudes program as part of their 2.0 upgrades, but nothing came of that.[/quote']

 

I agree with this one- it should be based on number of cruises or number of days (I think Princess is set up like this). Or even better points based on dollars spent as another poster mentioned.

[PlayTheAces]

If I were running NCL, in all seriousness I’d take a look at their profit margins on certain items, perform a little breakeven analysis, and consider a different pricing strategy.

 

It seems to me over the years NCL has decided they would rather sell a few items at a higher price than many items for a lower price. On some things that makes sense, but not necessarily on everything. As in many large businesses today, I think their accountants have taken over.

 

 

• Many, many photos are thrown away. How many would be sold if the price were lower compared to how many are sold now? This is where breakeven analysis comes in. I believe this is a concession though, so NCL may not have much say in the matter.
  

 

• Years back, NCL offered a drink of the day. Usually a rum drink priced around $1.75. Rum isn’t too expensive, they made money, and sold a ton of drinks. I know I’d buy a few inexpensive rum drinks each day (Lord knows I used to). As it is I seldom buy their drinks anymore as I personally feel they’re overpriced (but hey, I’m from Vegas). I wonder how many others feel like I do?
  

 

• Bingo. It’s a cash cow. The cost of the materials is minimal. I believe the CD staff runs the sessions (rather than running some of the “free” activities they once did) so the labor is basically a part of overhead. But the payouts are pretty much universally recognized by those who cruise different lines as being the lowest anywhere. Maybe by giving a little more value to the customer, they could increase the customer base and bring in the casual players instead of just the hard core players.
  

 

I think NCL needs to rein in the accountants and bring in a revenue officer who really understands not just numbers, but marketing (and marketing is much more than just constant announcements of ways to spend money). By maintaining high prices on everything, I suspect they’re making high margin money from the hard core purchasers within each category, but losing a potentially large number of casual purchasers. The question is could they increase revenue by increasing sales at a lower margin?

[Planer's Edge]

 

I think NCL needs to rein in the accountants and bring in a revenue officer who really understands not just numbers, but marketing (and marketing is much more than just constant announcements of ways to spend money). By maintaining high prices on everything, I suspect they’re making high margin money from the hard core purchasers within each category, but losing a potentially large number of casual purchasers. The question is could they increase revenue by increasing sales at a lower margin?

This is what happens when you make a "bean counter" the CEO.

 

PE

[FLAHAM]

 

• Years back, NCL offered a drink of the day. Usually a rum drink priced around $1.75. Rum isn’t too expensive, they made money, and sold a ton of drinks. I know I’d buy a few inexpensive rum drinks each day (Lord knows I used to). As it is I seldom buy their drinks anymore as I personally feel they’re overpriced (but hey, I’m from Vegas). I wonder how many others feel like I do?

The drinks on the Jewel last week ran about the same as any nice club, lounge, hotel or restaurant in Miami.