First Class vs Second cruising on NCL

[familyof4cruising]

You forgot to mention that as we suite guest walk down the isles and when we are in public places that the crew, staff and other pax can tell who we are by having something stamped across our foreheads, QUOTE]

 

It was sort of funny to see how people react (and what they would sometimes say) when we would have to use our key card in the elevator to get to the Courtyard. LOL

 

We even gave short little tours to a couple of the curious. Who knows, maybe we made someone decide to spring for it some day

 

I am sure after seeing it people do decide to book the next time. It's better when you don't know what you are missing.;) We just got back from the Pearl in an A3. It made me decide to change to an A3 for the Epic. For me, I love the courtyard area more than the suite perks.

[swedish weave]

I am not uncomfortable, I just wanted to know what people might say. I work in a maximum security prison so nobody on a cruise ship can possibly intimidate me :D.

 

Watch out !!!! The guys in prisons are choir boys compared to some of those little old ladies with blue hair that inhabit cruise ships !!!:D:D

[NCL_Cruiser]

Ya gotta be more careful in the Chocohalic Buffet then in the prison cafeteria...you'll get shanked w/ a fork just for reaching over the wrong woman's tray for an eclair.

 

Watch out !!!! The guys in prisons are choir boys compared to some of those little old ladies with blue hair that inhabit cruise ships !!!:D:D

[JColquhoun]

I think the boat should be divided in 3 parts

15% should be upper class rooms- villas, courtyards, ect

15% low cost cabins

the rest all up in the up

[terrymtex01]

I just love the suite life on NCL. Especially all the little extras we're not supposed to tell about. My butler, Franco was kind enough to run my bath for me, and I was really amazed that he insisted to stay and wash my back for me.

 

My room stewards, Georgio and Ringo made me the cutesy towel villages and left whole chocolate cakes on my pillow at night. Those guys were a riot.

 

The concierge, Becca actually got me reservations in the specialty restaurants during hours they were closed.

 

I won Bingo at least once a day. I think the CD, Jim liked me.

 

I can't remember the Captain's name but he gave me a tour of the bridge and let me steer the boat and toot the horn. He's a big teddy bear.

 

It was all champagne and caviar.

 

.

 

TOOO funny Donna. Loved the post.

[luddite]

I am not uncomfortable, I just wanted to know what people might say. I work in a maximum security prison so nobody on a cruise ship can possibly intimidate me :D.

 

You might think differently after cutting in front of someone and snatching up the last chocolate croissant at a buffet!:eek:

[RocklandCruiser]

Watch out !!!! The guys in prisons are choir boys compared to some of those little old ladies with blue hair that inhabit cruise ships !!!:D:D

 

Ya gotta be more careful in the Chocohalic Buffet then in the prison cafeteria...you'll get shanked w/ a fork just for reaching over the wrong woman's tray for an eclair.

 

LOL!!

You two may be right! ;)

[EileenN]

When we first vacationed as a couple, we went by car to Cape Cod or the Jersey shore and took a hotel room (2 star) and brought a cooler of food to supplement the "free" continental breakfast.

When the kids came along we started camping in a tent for several days and finally upgraded to a pop up camper. We went to the Poconos, New england and Virginia.

Cooked in the camper and on an open fire.

Later we upgraded to a rented winnegabo, cooked in the camper and open fire. and hid from the bears in Yosemite,\

Our first cruise was with a balcony cabin for three of us and no speciality restaurants.

 

Now the kids are raised and educated, the morgage is paid, no college debts and we are starting retirement.

Like not too many people pay for first class on an airline, many of us in the suites and villas DO NOT pay full price either. We have upsales, casino comps, etc.

As for the Perfect shape, I would relate with a pear shape...also my favorite shape in diamonds. Don't assume that all suite/villa people consider themselves "first class"....perhaps we think of our selves as just plain "lucky"...or we have paid our dues.

[LOWTYD]

When we first vacationed as a couple, we went by car to Cape Cod or the Jersey shore and took a hotel room (2 star) and brought a cooler of food to supplement the "free" continental breakfast.

When the kids came along we started camping in a tent for several days and finally upgraded to a pop up camper. We went to the Poconos, New england and Virginia.

Cooked in the camper and on an open fire.

Later we upgraded to a rented winnegabo, cooked in the camper and open fire. and hid from the bears in Yosemite,\

Our first cruise was with a balcony cabin for three of us and no speciality restaurants.

 

Now the kids are raised and educated, the morgage is paid, no college debts and we are starting retirement.

Like not too many people pay for first class on an airline, many of us in the suites and villas DO NOT pay full price either. We have upsales, casino comps, etc.

As for the Perfect shape, I would relate with a pear shape...also my favorite shape in diamonds. Don't assume that all suite/villa people consider themselves "first class"....perhaps we think of our selves as just plain "lucky"...or we have paid our dues.

 

:):) Well said :):)

[MizDaisy]

Oh NO!!!! We now have to have "perfect bodies" to go first class?

dammit.....that means that I will probably have to book steerage (or lower!) That is so unfair!

 

 

 

Does this mean I'll be weighed in before I'm allowed in my Courtyard Villa??:(

[MizDaisy]

How come Zimo has not been back to discuss this' date=' nobody has trashed him or his ideas...or was he just chumming the waters? :eek:[/color']

 

PE

 

 

 

It's never good to feed the TROLLS. :cool:

[MizDaisy]

I dont see anyone getting treated any different because of the room they got. Yes you get extra perks for the higher rooms prices but your paying for them. Its nothing like flying where, they close this little curtain because they dont want you to see what first/business clas passangers are getting. Everyone on the ship is getting the same kind of food. Yeah regular cabins may have to spend a little for the speciality but that doesnt bother me, because I could care less.. Its not like sitting coach were you have to pay $5.00 for a bottle of water and get some stale pretzels for a 5 hour flight and those in first class are sipping on wine and getting steak.. I just dont get the OP about the cruise ships... Its nothing like the Titanic, where you were only allowed in your area, you have free move about the ship except for what maybe half a deck?

 

 

But the people in First Class paid a TON of money for those perks.

 

I don't get what the problem is here. Some people can easily afford the "extras" and still send their kids to college, and all those other things that RIAN was talking about....and still have money left over.

 

I have a feeling that everyone cruising in the lower categories keep INSISTING that they are perfectly happy "just to be on the ship"...when in actuality, they'd JUMP at the chance to be in a suite.

 

Picking at people about how they spend their money is one sure sign of jealousy.

[MizDaisy]

Also, I forgot to say, dont let those people fool you sitting in first class. Most of them paid the same fare you did and got to upgrade bacuse they fly a lot, or an employee, or there business paid for it. Very seldom does a person pay for a first class ticket. 10 years airline experience!

 

 

But someone, somewhere down the road PAID for it. The frequent flyer PAID for it by paying for a whole lot of other flights.

The business or employer PAID FOR IT by working hard and earning the money ....and generally, if a business is going to pay for an employee to fly First Class, that employee is no slouch. The employee is probably working hard to earn more money for that business.

 

27 years business owner experience.

[MizDaisy]

When we first vacationed as a couple, we went by car to Cape Cod or the Jersey shore and took a hotel room (2 star) and brought a cooler of food to supplement the "free" continental breakfast.

When the kids came along we started camping in a tent for several days and finally upgraded to a pop up camper. We went to the Poconos, New england and Virginia.

Cooked in the camper and on an open fire.

Later we upgraded to a rented winnegabo, cooked in the camper and open fire. and hid from the bears in Yosemite,\

Our first cruise was with a balcony cabin for three of us and no speciality restaurants.

 

Now the kids are raised and educated, the morgage is paid, no college debts and we are starting retirement.

Like not too many people pay for first class on an airline, many of us in the suites and villas DO NOT pay full price either. We have upsales, casino comps, etc.

As for the Perfect shape, I would relate with a pear shape...also my favorite shape in diamonds. Don't assume that all suite/villa people consider themselves "first class"....perhaps we think of our selves as just plain "lucky"...or we have paid our dues.

 

 

 

SOUNDS JUST LIKE US!!!

Except should I be ashamed if we DO pay full price sometimes???

[EileenN]

MizDaisy, You should not have to answer to anyone by yourselves how you spend your time or money.

Also, I have been with suite/villa people and have been one myself...the perfect shape/figure does not exist from my line of vision. Only the perfect frame of mind!!!

[Planer's Edge]

It's never good to feed the TROLLS. :cool:

 

I wasn't calling Zimo a troll, nor should you. He is a long time poster here and I was only interested in discussing his points with him.

 

Now if he was simply stirring the pot and trying to create controversy that is a mammal of a different color. :rolleyes:

 

PE

[QuickieGlenn]

If you spend the money on the GV or suites , great,good for you, I wish I could, but do not think you are better than anyone else on the ship, including the crew. I have met people who were in the GV, nice down to earth people, but then you meet people who throw it in your face, treat the crew like slaves. If you pay for the perks, you deserve them. If you pay for the bilge, you still get perks. No work, just relax and enjoy wheree you are and who you are with

[DMH15]

If you spend the money on the GV or suites , great,good for you, I wish I could, but do not think you are better than anyone else on the ship, including the crew. I have met people who were in the GV, nice down to earth people, but then you meet people who throw it in your face, treat the crew like slaves. If you pay for the perks, you deserve them. If you pay for the bilge, you still get perks. No work, just relax and enjoy wheree you are and who you are with

 

And there are some people in inside cabins who are rude to the crew. Whenever it happens, no matter who does it, it makes me sad. People book suites for a varying of reasons. And there are a lot of people who could afford the GV who choose not to.

[MRDIAL]

Yawn. . . this thread started out as a fun, tongue in cheek exchange and has become waaaay to serious! Lighten up, folks:D

[martinchem]

Yawn. . . this thread started out as a fun, tongue in cheek exchange and has become waaaay to serious! Lighten up, folks:D

 

You are so right!

[mpk218]

[dalgirl]

OK - I have found the perfect solution to living large, but in lower class cabins - make friends with those suite peope. We met a nice couple who upgraded to a suite because they got "the call" and took the upgrade. Ran into them at the bar at the end of their special captains party and they got free drinks for us too;) Ran into them several more times and they gave us their first class passes onto the tenders for GSC - others eyed us as we breezed on first, but surprise! everyone got to ride the tenders:rolleyes: (we have since learned that GSC is a bust, so we no longer need those first class tender tickets). Their suite was very nice, but way too large for DH and myself (we like to snuggle). We had dinner together in the MDR, but they were treated like everyone else...sigh....Oh, and as we stood in line to disembark, our new friends were escorted off the ship first - but look, there they are waiting for their car, and we are breezing by to get in our conveniently located car and head home. But still, those free drinks... now that was a treat:D

[MadBrewer]

I don't get what the problem is here.....

 

Some people are getting sensitive to the fact that they get suites when they cruise. I don't but I say good luck to them. Like you say if you can budget for the suite and still send your kids to college what's the problem? To put it into perspective, the OP is saying that there will be an inevitable decline in what's 'included' in the cruise experience. It's a subjective comment but sadly quite probable.

 

Not sure an occasional ice bar charge is actually going to break the bank. But presumably It's his perception that it will if the trend continues in the future. Certainly if you compared what was included when I first cruised with NCL to what's included now - even those wearing the smarter cheerleader outfits would have to agree that the two packages are not like for like. This is not me slating NCL it's me pointing out a fact. I guess the ICE BAR elitism is one more step in the direction away from what you might otherwise have called all inclusive. IMO some of this was inevitable if NCL was going to survive.

 

The thing is I do actually think the industry WILL change over the next ten years. (Not just NCL - All the main lines will no doubt charge a very similar amount for a similar experience.) I doubt all these changes will be good. More ships will probably mean lower initial costs to cruise (or a maintaining of something similar to current prices) but in order to actually make profit they will rely on extras. If that's entrance to the ice bar then good luck to them, but if it's something I currently enjoy for free - my view might be different. I think we have to acknowledge peoples observations sometimes rather than slate them. To him it might geniunely seem a BIG deal.

[MadBrewer]

OK - I have found the perfect solution to living large, but in lower class cabins - make friends with those suite peope. We met a nice couple who upgraded to a suite because they got "the call" and took the upgrade. Ran into them at the bar at the end of their special captains party and they got free drinks for us too;) Ran into them several more times and they gave us their first class passes onto the tenders for GSC - others eyed us as we breezed on first, but surprise! everyone got to ride the tenders:rolleyes: (we have since learned that GSC is a bust, so we no longer need those first class tender tickets). Their suite was very nice, but way too large for DH and myself (we like to snuggle). We had dinner together in the MDR, but they were treated like everyone else...sigh....Oh, and as we stood in line to disembark, our new friends were escorted off the ship first - but look, there they are waiting for their car, and we are breezing by to get in our conveniently located car and head home. But still, those free drinks... now that was a treat:D

 

Now I know you're jesting otherwise you would have mentioned the fact that the captain personally consulted you about the port timings so you'd personally have enough time in port. And you didn't even mention the use of the tender helicopter, the limo driver at each port or the fact that they made sure you got the winning bingo card.

[Jewelfine]

I've never cruised with NCL so I wondered about the first class/steerage concept. I did a comparison with a similar cruise on Holland America (same lower deck outside cabin and length of cruise) and found that the NCL was about $70.00 a night less expensive. To my mind, then, I can spend that on the extras that I want such as the specialty dining or a spa feature or a special gym class rather than have those things charged to me whether I use them or not. I have never had a coffee maker in my cabin on HAL, RCCL or Princess and I have never had free bubbly or cappucino, so let's compare apples to apples before we criticize. And, I do reserve the right to change this opinion once I've actually experienced the NCL "steerage". :D

 

This is exactly what the freestyle concept is - it is about spending your money and time on what you want - not the whole ship!

 

This is why I love NCL.... If people don't like the way they are then choose a different cruise line!