Is this true

[Maya57]

I am not new to cruising and know that many stories about different ships are nothing but rumors. So I am asking this group if this is true

 

A friend was on the Epic this past May and although they are experienced cruisers they were surprized at the nickle and diming they experenced.

 

They said they were given 3 free shows to see and then charged for all others. A reservation is required with payment and no-shows do not get a refund.

 

I have never been on a cruise where they charge for the entertainment, is this only on the Epic

 

They also mentioned that after morning breakfast the only free drinks are water and coffee, juices, lemonade, etc are a charge item.

 

When they told their Travel Agent she was not surprized. She said that NCL is the only cruise line that charges TA's to inspect their ships.

 

Is this true?

[Warm Breezes]

I am not new to cruising and know that many stories about different ships are nothing but rumors. So I am asking this group if this is true

 

A friend was on the Epic this past May and although they are experienced cruisers they were surprized at the nickle and diming they experenced.

 

They said they were given 3 free shows to see and then charged for all others. A reservation is required with payment and no-shows do not get a refund. The only show charged was the Cirque show which included dinner (basically a specialty restaurant charge). All other shows are included.

 

I have never been on a cruise where they charge for the entertainment, is this only on the Epic

 

They also mentioned that after morning breakfast the only free drinks are water and coffee, juices, lemonade, etc are a charge item. False.

 

When they told their Travel Agent she was not surprized. She said that NCL is the only cruise line that charges TA's to inspect their ships.

 

Is this true?

 

Besides having more for fee restaurants, which we only went to Cirque, we were not charged anything else than want we got charged for on Carnival. They have just as many if not more included venues as other lines do. IMHO the Nickle and Diming of NCL is a myth. You pay extra for what you want to pay extra for....same as any other line.

[MrsNancyG]

Don't forget, the Murder Mystery lunch is also a fee. But as WarmBreezes mentioned, "the Nickle and Diming of NCL is a myth. You pay extra for what you want to pay extra for....same as any other line."

[cherylroslyn]

I am not new to cruising and know that many stories about different ships are nothing but rumors. So I am asking this group if this is true

 

A friend was on the Epic this past May and although they are experienced cruisers they were surprized at the nickle and diming they experenced.

 

They said they were given 3 free shows to see and then charged for all others. A reservation is required with payment and no-shows do not get a refund.

 

I have never been on a cruise where they charge for the entertainment, is this only on the Epic

 

They also mentioned that after morning breakfast the only free drinks are water and coffee, juices, lemonade, etc are a charge item.

 

When they told their Travel Agent she was not surprized. She said that NCL is the only cruise line that charges TA's to inspect their ships.

 

Is this true?

No it is not true.....

 

Blue Man Group, Howl at the Moon, All of the Second City Shows (I think there are three), Fat Cats Jazz Bar are all free......

 

 

The only night time show that is not free is the Cirque Dreams Show and it includes a dinner....... It is a small version of a Cirque De Soliel show and if you have seen on of those shows at home I wouldn't even bother.......

[xenagurl]

 

They said they were given 3 free shows to see and then charged for all others. A reservation is required with payment and no-shows do not get a refund.

 

I have never been on a cruise where they charge for the entertainment, is this only on the Epic

 

They also mentioned that after morning breakfast the only free drinks are water and coffee, juices, lemonade, etc are a charge item.

 

 

All of the shows except for Cirque are free.

 

Specialty coffee there is a charge for but juice and lemonade are free.

[SteveH2508]

Fresh squeezed juice at breakfast costs I believe (I've never bothered - the 'ordinary' juice does me fine).

 

This whole 'nickle and dimeing' whinge is really a cover for not reading the Freestyle Daily - it is all laid out what costs and what does not. Remember RTFFD ;)

[Single Cruiser]

You could quite easily not spend a penny more on Epic.

 

In fact one guy who didn't drink alcohol bought the soda package and pre-paid tips and had a 0 balance.

 

You can see Blue Man, Legends, 2nd city, howl at the moon, listen to the jazz band or the piano player in Shakers, watch a film or the singers in the atrium. Go to the FABBA show, white hot party/neon, sing karaoke. Eat at Manhattan, taste, the garden cafe buffet, great outdoors, O'Sheehans, atrium pastries.

 

Or just soak up the sun, ride the slides, watch the waves..

 

So yeah.. Nickel and diming :)

[dublell]

A lot of this has already been said above, but I think it bears repeating because it's stated so often.

I really think the nickel and diming thing needs to be put to rest. I see it too much, usually from people who didn’t like some aspect of their cruise and then try to add on by saying they also nickel and dime you.

I’ve been on the Epic three times, and I’ve found spectacular entertainment for free and never had time to see everything. There’s Blue Man Group, Legends, Second City (which puts on a variety of shows with different themes), Howl at the Moon, Jazz Club and a variety of musical entertainment at various bars. This is off the top of my head, and there might be other stuff that I’m just not recalling right now.

As others have pointed out, there are a few for-charge events, usually involving food, such as Cirque, Murder Mystery and sometimes a jazz brunch. I’m not counting any Nickelodeon things because they’re for a specialized audience.

Although I’ve never done it, and never will, it’s possible to enjoy a cruise and be very active on the Epic without spending a single cent beyond the cruise fare and the DSC. That’s how much is available for free.

OP, I don’t think your friends were lying about this. Unless they were careful to read the Daily, there were undoubtedly things they didn’t know were happening. It reminds me about the story going around CC a year or so ago about a person saying they had a great cruise on NCL, but their biggest problem was that the only restaurant on the ship is a buffet.

I do have concerns about a travel agent spreading false information about a cruise line because they’re too lazy to get the facts or don’t like the line because they charge to look at the ship (and I don’t know if that’s true or not).

Sorry to ramble on, but I see this so often and it’s refuted only to come up again in a week or two.

[sdmike]

Op -

It's false. There are only a couple of entertainment items you would pay for, but only if you wanted to do them. Cirque was well worth the extra money, IMO. There are also 7-8 places that will charge you for food if you want but there's that many that are also free. NCL is about options. There are MORE free options on Epic than any other ship I've been on. Blue Man Group is a $100+ show on land. The bands at Fat Cats would cost you real money if you went to a similar venue on land. Same with Howl at the Moon and others. What's nice is that if you WANT to go to a Brazilian churrascaria and pay $20 for it, you can. I paid $70 pp to do this on land.

 

Anyway, this is a myth that exists because NCL, and especially Epic and Breakaway, has decided to provide a ton of variety and options for folks, and therefore there are more fee-based shows and restaurants than you'll find elsewhere. What people forget is that are there are far more FREE ones as well.

[TWELVEOHONE]

I do have concerns about a travel agent spreading false information about a cruise line because they’re too lazy to get the facts or don’t like the line because they charge to look at the ship (and I don’t know if that’s true or not).

Sorry to ramble on, but I see this so often and it’s refuted only to come up again in a week or two.

 

The TA is not spreading false rumors. NCL invite travel agents to inspect their ship and have lunch on board. They charge $20.00.

 

Other cruise lines do not charge teh TA but will charge any non-travel agent, such as group leaders

.

[Single Cruiser]

The TA is not spreading false rumors. NCL invite travel agents to inspect their ship and have lunch on board. They charge $20.00.

 

Other cruise lines do not charge teh TA but will charge any non-travel agent, such as group leaders

.

 

The TAs invited onboard Breakaway in Southampton were plied free drinks all night. The crew were saying every female who arrived in heels were walking /staggering around carrying them by the end if the night!

[flcruiser1969]

I have never felt nickel/ dimed on any NCL ship. Yes there are some things you can do that cost money but there is so so much at no charge- especially on EPIC and newer ships. I have gone and ate at for fee venues each night and also gone and ate at free venues and had just as good of time/ food. Its not as though there are crew members walking the ship trying to coax you to go to Le Bistro or Cagneys...

[DMLyons]

Since I haven't seen anyone else answer it yet... I've been told the drink thing is also false. Breakfast includes water, coffee, tea, juice (but fresh-squeezed juice is extra), and milk. Lunch and dinner are a little more up in the air. I've been told that it includes water, coffee, and tea...that some restaurants have flavored water and lemonade, and that milk is usually included at these meals. Anything else you want...juice at lunch/dinner, fresh squeezed juice, soda, and alcoholic drinks...are extra. Of course, some things vary by ship.

 

Anyone who has more precise information, I'm interested, but this is the sum total of what I've heard so far from frequent cruisers.

 

DML

[KeithJenner]

On the Epic and Breakaway you can get water, Tea, Coffee, Lemonade and Ice Tea pretty well any time at the Buffet, including outside if the actual Buffet is closed. At times I also got Orange Juice there.

[NLH Arizona]

With regard to people saying you are nickeled and dimed, I guess I would ask the question.

 

Would you rather your cruise fare go up considerably, so that you are paying for all of these things - many of which you might not use, but others do. Or would you rather your cruise fare remain lower and you choose what you would like to spend your money on.

 

I have cruised a lot on Crystal, but when they went all inclusive (free alcohol, specialty restaurants and tips), I stopped cruising with them. Reason being, they use to give OBC when not inclusive, but now they don't give the OBC thus charging me more to cruise with them. Being a light drinker, it really doesn't pay for me to cruise with them....between all the inclusive things they have added, they don't come close the $1,000 OBC I use to get. So for maybe $200 in inclusive items, it still costs me an additional $800 to cruise with them. As much as I liked the Crystal experience, it really didn't make sense for me to be paying $800 for others alcohol consumption.

[Homecruiser]

To be fair...I can certainly understand the term nickel and dimed.Almost anytime I cruise I spend more money than I intend to. Upon return From my April Cruise I wondered what value I got for all I spent. That being said last cruise we went to 4 specialty restaurants and because my 16 year old son was at home on his own I spent way more on Internet than I could even imagine. No spa, no excursion, very little drinks except for 6 bottles of wine purchased at a discount and a martini tasting and pop cards. For me all value for my money with the exception of Internet costs! I enjoyed the cruise and only bought what I chose to buy. At no time did I feel pressured with the exception of some pressure to pose for pictures that I will never buy from NCL. Was I nickle and dimmed...no......but I can certainly understand the term and the feeling of empty pockets at the end of a vacation. Then again, if by spending more money it enhances my experience..it is all good. The saving for my next cruise begins the minute I get home.

[bonvoyagie]

I guess to me being Nickeled and Dimed to death means that you have a low dollar entry point but end up being charged a small amount for necessary services or items. Like going out to dinner and being charged for a glass of water.

 

As for trying to sell you on buying extra services that is more of a hassle or hustle than being nickeled and dimed.

 

There is no doubt that NCL tries to sell you on the upscale dining, the drink of the day, spa treatments, etc. But they don't charge you for toilet paper, water, or other necessities. As for photos - they take them, they print them - you don't have to buy them. On my last NCL cruise we sat up in the Spinnaker lounge for hours and were never approached about a drink - in fact I had to go to the bar to get one :rolleyes:.

[karoo]

I am not new to cruising and know that many stories about different ships are nothing but rumors. So I am asking this group if this is true

 

A friend was on the Epic this past May and although they are experienced cruisers they were surprized at the nickle and diming they experenced.

 

They said they were given 3 free shows to see and then charged for all others. A reservation is required with payment and no-shows do not get a refund.

 

I have never been on a cruise where they charge for the entertainment, is this only on the Epic

 

They also mentioned that after morning breakfast the only free drinks are water and coffee, juices, lemonade, etc are a charge item.

 

When they told their Travel Agent she was not surprized. She said that NCL is the only cruise line that charges TA's to inspect their ships.

 

Is this true?

 

It's on nearly all cruise lines, but you don't have to pay for these extras if you don't want to. There's plenty of free dining and entertainment options.

Imagine the martini tastings if it was free-nearly the whole ship would attend. Now that would be some party!!! You can however get free champagne at the art auctions.

[Cloudyrain]

My friend is a TA and said there was no charge for going on the Breakaway in Southampton at the official TA event (she was one of those people carrying their shoes and wobbling about by tea time). NCL do charge TAs when they go aboard at port on non-organised TA events, but for what they charge and what they get apparently a lot of the TAs do it for a day out!

 

I heard a shocking rumour that NCL was apparently a business and that they do it for the money rather than for that "feel good" feeling....:eek:

 

;)

[DMLyons]

It's on nearly all cruise lines, but you don't have to pay for these extras if you don't want to. There's plenty of free dining and entertainment options.

Imagine the martini tastings if it was free-nearly the whole ship would attend. Now that would be some party!!! You can however get free champagne at the art auctions.

 

True! I rarely use the spa anywhere I travel, for instance, but I plan a bunch of spa packages for this coming trip. That's my CHOICE to spend my money there. I don't have to purchase a single thing from the spa...or alcohol...or specialty dining...or whatever.

 

Though I've often said I would love it if they just charged me extra and allowed me to eat anywhere I wanted to aboard, they would charge me more than I would choose to spend in specialty dining, most likely, so no hard feelings from me for this. And those who don't want to do specialty dining and like eating in the MDR would be upset by the rate hike to cover specialty dining, most likely. Not to mention, they would be irate if they showed up for specialty at X time and it was full already, since they would feel they'd already paid for it and are being inconvenienced. No matter what you do, someone will be unhappy.

 

I suppose an equitable thing to do would be to have dining for shows like the Cirque show (as they do now), but also have a balcony area with no food/drink service that is free. If you want to sit down in the restaurant area, you pay for your meal there. If you don't want to and just want to see the show, there could be a limited amount of free seating for the show. This sort of answer has always made sense to me, but if the show is traveling through the audience, you'll have places the upstairs patrons can't see, so that wouldn't be workable unless the show was pretty stationary at one side of the venue.

 

Now, I noticed that (on Dawn) they have a free rum tasting, but that makes sense, since they are trying to get you to purchase rum from them. :p

 

DML

[valleyvillage]

I heard a shocking rumour that NCL was apparently a business and that they do it for the money rather than for that "feel good" feeling....:eek:

 

;)

 

Exactly on point! I often ask myself if these selectively outraged posters have a business or work for a living...don't they expect money to change hands?