Stop added fees just up the cruise cost

[coldflame]

You can find the answers to your questions if you take the time to peruse the SEC filings and pay particular attention to the debt-equity ratios, payment schedules for the new ships, and the cash flow figures.

 

It can take a lot of time, but is very revealing.

 

Have you done this task? If so, care to share your findings for those who aren't financially or accounting savvy?

[SissasMomE]

Hopefully we'll see a corresponding increase in the quality of food and entertainment onboard, because NCL is on the verge of charging the same (or more) for what I consider to be an inferior product.

 

We finally agree on something :D

[SissasMomE]

Last year we paid $2200 for a balcony room on the Getaway with no promotions. This year, we have a minisuite on the Escape for the same week and same ports for $2500. If we had gone with a balcony again, it would have been $2100. This year, we received the UBP for free. Please show me the higher fares.

 

Also, I've found NCL to already have the same or better quality of entertainment than other comparable lines. That, more than the low rates, are what keep us coming back to NCL. We really like the stage shows on the new, bigger ships, and DH LOVES Howl at the Moon.

 

I think timing is key. We are paying a lot less for the Escape, with free UBP, than we paid for the Getaway. We booked right when the "free" packages started, under Sheehan, which were substantially less than what they are going for now. We just lucked out. Booking now, it would be a ton more.

[barnacle_boy]

I think timing is key. We are paying a lot less for the Escape, with free UBP, than we paid for the Getaway. We booked right when the "free" packages started, under Sheehan, which were substantially less than what they are going for now. We just lucked out. Booking now, it would be a ton more.

 

This, among other variables.

[newmexicoNita]

Might want say what the port stops for each ship is because Royal Oasis is going to Ladadee, Falmouth and Cozumel from Ft. Lauderdale. While Getaway is doing Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya , Cozumel from Miami during the same time. True, both are doing 7 days/nights but Oasis is doing 3 ports while Getaway is 4 ports.

 

I was about to point the same thing out: though both are doing the Western Carebbian, the itinerary is nowhere near the same except for Cozumel. People do not realize the port charges and taxes very from port to port.

 

BTW, though the allure, which somenone mentioned is certainly very upscale, the Oasis, isn't all that much different from the Getaway I have been told. I haven't been on either, so this is just my impression based on what a friend at church recently told me. She is a huge RCI fan, did the Oasis and loved it about a year or so ago and just did the Getaway: She was extremely pleased with the ship from start to finish.

Edited August 1, 2015 by newmexicoNita

[newmexicoNita]

The notion that the various promotional packages are "free" or "bonuses" is wishful thinking. There's no such thing as a free lunch. You're paying for it up front with the higher cruise fares that NCL is charging.

 

My main point in doing the RCI comparison is to show that NCL isn't the relative bargain that it once was. The base cruise fares are becoming more equal, which is a huge difference from what had been the case historically.

 

Hopefully we'll see a corresponding increase in the quality of food and entertainment onboard, because NCL is on the verge of charging the same (or more) for what I consider to be an inferior product. All of the various cuts seem to work against this, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. I'm booked on a few more NCL cruises for the year (including Escape), so I'm going to try and see how the changes work with an open mind.

 

Your point might have been to show a comparison, but your comparison was all off!!! As for entertainment, are you really saying NCL doesn't have as good entertainment as other lines? Man, that is a new one for most of us. And no, they are not charging the same or more; this has already been explained. Oh quality of food; food is subjective, as we all know but let me ask, have you cruised them since the recent changes to the menu?

 

I doubt very seriously you will go with an open mind; I hope you will. But that is like my saying, even though I am a loyalist to my political party, I will look at the other side with an open mind...

[barnacle_boy]

I was about to point the same thing out: though both are doing the Western Carebbian, the itinerary is nowhere near the same except for Cozumel. People do not realize the port charges and taxes very from port to port.

 

BTW, though the allure, which somenone mentioned is certainly very upscale, the Oasis, isn't all that much different from the Getaway I have been told. I haven't been on either, so this is just my impression based on what a friend at church recently told me. She is a huge RCI fan, did the Oasis and loved it about a year or so ago and just did the Getaway: She was extremely pleased with the ship from start to finish.

 

The itinerary is more similar that you'd think. I've been to all of the ports, and assuming Harvest Caye (NCL's private island complex) is similar to Labadee (RCI's private "island" complex), there's very little difference. You really come down to Roatan/Costa Maya vs. Falmouth, which I suppose can be a big deal for some, but I can't imagine why from my own experiences at these ports. Even factoring in port fees (Oasis at $234 and Getaway at $268), Getaway is more expensive.

 

I've sailed on Oasis/Allure/Getaway multiple times each. Oasis and Allure are sister ships that were practically identical when they first entered service, except for a few different specialty restaurant changes and different production shows. The provided the same overall experience, unless someone really preferred Hairspray that much more than Chicago. A lot of changes were made to Oasis during her first dry-dock in 2014, but Allure received the same changes this year.

 

In my opinion, the Oasis Class and Breakaway Class are completely different and not comparable. Oasis is over 50% larger and features so many unique and interesting amenities because of its massive size. I still prefer cruising on Breakaway because of the way her public spaces are oriented around connecting with the sea and the superior Haven amenities, but that's just my personal preference. I'd rather have a Waterfront and a convenient Haven sundeck than a carousel and Central Park.

Edited August 1, 2015 by barnacle_boy

[Travelling2Some]

As you can see from most of the responses, NCL is filling niche that apparently you do not belong to. Many people, including myself, would prefer choices on how we spend our money with a lower base price. Since this is not what you want in your cruises then I suggest finding a cruise line that will fill your needs...NCL may not work for you but it does for many others.

 

This is very well said. We cruise for the ports and enjoy coming back to the ship at night for dinner and some entertainment. That's all we want and that's all we want to pay for. Nothing is stopping us from buying something extra if we get in the mood but we rarely do. As you can see by the responses, we have plenty of company.

[barnacle_boy]

Your point might have been to show a comparison, but your comparison was all off!!! As for entertainment, are you really saying NCL doesn't have as good entertainment as other lines? Man, that is a new one for most of us. And no, they are not charging the same or more; this has already been explained. Oh quality of food; food is subjective, as we all know but let me ask, have you cruised them since the recent changes to the menu?

 

I doubt very seriously you will go with an open mind; I hope you will. But that is like my saying, even though I am a loyalist to my political party, I will look at the other side with an open mind...

 

I'm not saying NCL's entertainment isn't as good as other lines, I'm saying that it isn't as good as RCI's when it comes to comparing Getaway and Oasis. As much as I "enjoyed" Legally Blonde the Musical, it doesn't really top an outdoor amphitheater water-show with acrobatics and high diving. Fireworks were pretty interesting while they lasted though.

 

It really all varies by ship. These two lines I'm comparing have pulled out all the stops for their latest and biggest ships, but the entertainment on the older ones is pretty comparable. I hated my cruise on Quantum, but I have to admit, the entertainment was unbelievable. I just got off a Vision Class ship last week, and it was as boring (my opinion) as any of the NCL shows on some of the older Dawn or Jewel Class ships.

 

I've been accused of being an NCL loyalist and cheerleader, so this is certainly new and different :D NCL is still my favorite line, but I also sail RCI regularly. I'm sailing in 7 days on an NCL ship, so I suppose I'll see the new menus then.

[fshagan]

Have you done this task? If so, care to share your findings for those who aren't financially or accounting savvy?

 

It's been mentioned a couple of times by the same poster. It's an opinion. The professional stock analysts also have an opinion about the company after doing what they do for a living: evaluating a company in all aspects, including debt-to-equity ratio.

 

You can go to http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=NCLH+Key+Statistics and see the debt to equity ratio. Down near the bottom in the "Balance Sheet" section is the statistic. I didn't have time to pour through SEC filings, but I did a little exercise for the three major publicly traded cruise lines that I know the stock symbol for, and got the debt to equity ratio for all three:

 

CCL: 35.74

RCL: 108.35

NCLH: 171.59

 

So NCLH has a higher debt to equity ratio than the others, by a large amount. We don't know about Celebrity Cruises or MSC, as they are private companies.

 

We can also see what the analysts are saying. For instance, Yahoo Finance has the most recent UBS report that upgrades NCLH from "neutral" to "buy" in February. Under that is a chart that shows the analyst's trend that has been stable for the last four months: four rate the stock a "Strong Buy" and eight rate it as a "Buy", far outpacing the "Hold", "Underperform" and "Sell" ratings.

 

So are the price increases due to this large debt to equity ratio? Maybe. I'm not sure it matters. It is probably more due to a desire to lift the net profit up a notch or two and get the P/E ratio in line with CCL (28.98) and RCL (25.56) ... NCLH is at 49.7.

[NLH Arizona]

We don't know about Celebrity Cruises or MSC, as they are private companies.

 

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd owns Celebrity. Edited August 1, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[njhorseman]

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd owns Celebrity.

 

And has since 1997, so it's nothing new. ;)

[barnacle_boy]

We don't know about Celebrity Cruises or MSC, as they are private companies.

 

Celebrity is a subsidiary brand of Royal Caribbean. But you're right about MSC. MSC is going all out to become one of the top three. They're already set to surpass the NCL brand in the next 10 years. MSC also has a lot of money on the cargo side that they can divert to their cruise operations.

[legion3]

Last year we paid $2200 for a balcony room on the Getaway with no promotions. This year, we have a minisuite on the Escape for the same week and same ports for $2500. If we had gone with a balcony again, it would have been $2100. This year, we received the UBP for free. Please show me the higher fares.

 

Also, I've found NCL to already have the same or better quality of entertainment than other comparable lines. That, more than the low rates, are what keep us coming back to NCL. We really like the stage shows on the new, bigger ships, and DH LOVES Howl at the Moon.

 

Currently the cruise on Escape we booked is $1300 more than we booked it. That seems like a higher fare to me. Across the board all of the NCL cruises I have done mock boardings on have risen in price.

 

Royal though is still more expensive, at least that is what I am finding when looking at cruises.

[legion3]

Celebrity is a subsidiary brand of Royal Caribbean. But you're right about MSC. MSC is going all out to become one of the top three. They're already set to surpass the NCL brand in the next 10 years. MSC also has a lot of money on the cargo side that they can divert to their cruise operations.

 

Really looking forward to the MSC Seaside.

 

Would cancel the Escape for Divina,just for the overnight in San Juan, but the Divina does not have the bells and whistles my kids would like so its either stay with Escape and all the changes that have occured since we booked! :mad:

 

Or go with Carnival Magic or one of Royals bigger ships.

 

Would miss the ropes course on royal.