Andy Stuart now CEO NCL

[spanishguy1970]

So you are saying you can't empathize with others and see that their experience has changed and been degraded?

 

I don't eat lobster, yet I can understand how people would feel that this negatively impacts their cruise, same as taking away Nickolodean, my kids are 18 so don't care about it anymore, but I can see that it's upsetting to others.

 

exactly, i do understand why other feel they are being shafted. I have seen the difference with my first cruise on NCL to my most recent one, more selling, more towards getting more money out of you however i choose to not let that affect my cruise or our budget.

[IrieBajan54]

NCL's brass are doing such a great job :rolleyes: it is having a positive effect on filling the ships. First it was the Escape selling cabins at $299 and now the Sun in December has 10 night South American cruises at $199 and $299.

[richstowe]

 

Cruises for me are the 3 Ps: ports, point in time and price. That's it.

 

And if you don't want your posts picked apart line by line, I'd suggest shortening them up a bit.

Forums

Huh ? Your 3 P's are fine but where is a 4th P for preference as in preferring one cruise line over others . Are all cruise lines the same to you ? Really ? Not to me . Edited September 22, 2016 by richstowe

[Jane Don]

Lest we forget that the name of the host is Cruise CRITIC. Every line has its good points and bad points.

 

Personally. I am extra critical because I used to LOVE NCL. I cancelled my last sailing and have booked on RCI and a land trip. I keep hoping for the new policies to fail so that I can have the old NCL back. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't. But as it stands, I can go to a decent AI in Cuba for half of what an NCL cruise costs. If the food is going to suck either way, I may as well stay on land and go twice as often.

 

Obviously, when I wrote this, I did not see the post above maaking the exact same point.

 

No one cares if people love NCL. People care that their critical opinions are disregarded as complaining or are called names for suggesting things could be better. I have been called a complainer and a hater more times than I could count.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Jane Don
blonde

[LrgPizza]

I keep hoping for the new policies to fail so that I can have the old NCL back.

 

And I'm the opposite. My first NCL cruise in 2009/10 was dreadful, and since then, I've loved the others. Each has gotten better and better (despite the changes, not because of them). If it goes back to the "old NCL" as you say, I'd definitely look harder elsewhere.

[Barb Nahoumi]

you cant take food back to your room?

 

that's strange.... is this only an NCL thing? its not something I have ever heard of before. funny though, the only time I can ever recall bringing food back to a room would be those chips and sauce that you got from Blue Lagoon. they were good balcony food.

 

I don't think I have ever bothered on any other ship - but now that I know I cant, of course I will want to! I will be sneaking bananas and boxes of cheerios and all into my little handbag!

 

Yes you can, so many people made a fuss, that the rule was rescinded.

[TheDougOut]

When I first tried NCL in 2008, every passenger got a welcome glass of champagne. Very classy. That was the first thing to go :( Too many disappearing perks now.

 

Nothing wrong with that glass of "champagne" upon boarding... but I'd prefer sailing with today's UBP perk (with added costs) over that any day.

[SuiteCruiser]

Nothing wrong with that glass of "champagne" upon boarding... but I'd prefer sailing with today's UBP perk (with added costs) over that any day.

 

Right :) we can get that glass of "sham"pagne on our UBP now.

[sparks1093]

When I first tried NCL in 2008, every passenger got a welcome glass of champagne. Very classy. That was the first thing to go :( Too many disappearing perks now.

 

I think that change came on Sheehan's watch though.

[SuiteCruiser]

I think that change came on Sheehan's watch though.

 

It did, but so did the UBP :)

[Sissaaaaaa]

Nothing wrong with that glass of "champagne" upon boarding... but I'd prefer sailing with today's UBP perk (with added costs) over that any day.

 

That's nice. I don't. Drinks were half the price of what they are now. When you add in the UBP cost, it's not a perk. When it first came out, sure. Not now.

[Sissaaaaaa]

I think that change came on Sheehan's watch though.

 

I wasn't putting the blame on anyone. Just stating something I thought was very classy compared to the other mainstream lines.

[TheDougOut]

That's nice. I don't. Drinks were half the price of what they are now. When you add in the UBP cost, it's not a perk. When it first came out, sure. Not now.

 

It's not a perk... to you.

 

You have a completely valid viewpoint. The current state of drink pricing and UBP may not be favorable to someone that only enjoys a drink or two (or four) per day.

 

But it remains a favorable perk to me. Which is also a valid viewpoint.

 

Completely unrelated: did I mention Andy Stuart is now the CEO of NCL? I like that guy.

[Sissaaaaaa]

It's not a perk... to you.

 

You have a completely valid viewpoint. The current state of drink pricing and UBP may not be favorable to someone that only enjoys a drink or two (or four) per day.

 

But it remains a favorable perk to me. Which is also a valid viewpoint.

 

Completely unrelated: did I mention Andy Stuart is now the CEO of NCL? I like that guy.

 

It was definitely a perk when the UBP first came out. We were receiving it for free, for several cruises. Even after only having to pay the gratuity, it was still a perk. Now with the increased cruise price, in conjunction with everything else NCL has removed, not so much. You can't keep taking away. I do like the better quality MDR food though. With the diminished quality in the specialties, there is no reason to spend the extra money. I like Andy too, but I don't believe for a second that he is in charge. FDR is still directing.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Sissaaaaaa

[mking8288]

Interesting news as to who's hands on running the big show

http://www.travelweekly.com/News-at-TW/Similar-themes-emerge-CruiseWorld-China

[swedish weave]

I think that change came on Sheehan's watch though.

 

That change and several others were made by Sheehan. The purpose was to curtail the downward financial spiral that Veitch had caused with NCL. Sheehan is credited with the survival of NCL, but now it appears that Del Rio and his management team are putting the company into another downward trend.

[Fido Chuckwagon]

That change and several others were made by Sheehan. The purpose was to curtail the downward financial spiral that Veitch had caused with NCL. Sheehan is credited with the survival of NCL, but now it appears that Del Rio and his management team are putting the company into another downward trend.

 

Interesting that in the days since this was announced NCL stock reversed its downward trend and has been going gangbusters. The stockholders clearly hate Del Rio as much as the passengers. As a stockholder and passenger I certainly share that sentiment.

[richstowe]

Interesting news as to who's hands on running the big show

http://www.travelweekly.com/News-at-TW/Similar-themes-emerge-CruiseWorld-China

Thanks for the link to this fascinating article . The most interesting line was

" The vast majority of cruises in China are charters, with cabins sold by a handful of mega-agencies, some of them larger than the cruise lines themselves. "

 

My take is that the 4 Western cruise line execs are (or should be) "very nervous that these Chinese "mega-agencies" will eventually build their own ships and no longer need to charter someone else ships . It will cut the Westerners dream of a pot of gold in the Chinese market into failure very quickly . I'm betting these Chinese passengers have next to no idea which cruise line they are on . What they know is their travel agency and that is exactly how China and the Chinese TA's want it to be .

Edited September 23, 2016 by richstowe

[sparks1093]

That change and several others were made by Sheehan. The purpose was to curtail the downward financial spiral that Veitch had caused with NCL. Sheehan is credited with the survival of NCL, but now it appears that Del Rio and his management team are putting the company into another downward trend.

 

Yes it was and while I thought it was a nice touch I completely understood the rationale behind the move.

[spanishguy1970]

I think that change came on Sheehan's watch though.

 

yes, it did. I remember on my first 2009 we got that glass of champagne as soon as we came in the door, gave me a headache later on but at the same time i thought it was a nice WELCOME ABOARD gesture that cost them nothing. For some people made them feel their vacation had started. On my 2010 cruise that gesture was gone..I remember saying to myself where is my glass of cheap, headache causing champagne ? LOL:D

Edited September 23, 2016 by qtaromar1970

[Sissaaaaaa]

yes, it did. I remember on my first 2009 we got that glass of champagne as soon as we came in the door, gave me a headache later on but at the same time i thought it was a nice WELCOME ABOARD gesture that cost them nothing. For some people made them feel their vacation had started. On my 2010 cruise that gesture was gone..I remember saying to myself where is my glass of cheap, headache causing champagne ? LOL:D

 

Exactly! We are Prosecco drinkers, and do not care for champagne. Still, it was a nice gesture!

[kimala]

It is disingenuous to equate being automatically dismissive towards others' differing opinions, which is what is actually the point some are trying to make, with posting an opposing opinion of a complaint to balance the conversation.

 

Telling people who have any complaints to "go somewhere else then" isn't presenting a balanced view. It's giving people the finger and dismissing them, regardless of if the complaint is "valid" or "nitpicking" or "whining" and doing so doesn't constructively add to the conversation.

 

I like NCL and I don't agree with every complaint I read on here... but I also think it's not necessary to argue or be rude to everyone who does complain on Cruise Critic by denigrating them for posting their own opinions about NCL.

 

Thank you for this post You said everything so elegantly. I recently posted my dissatisfaction with the lobster being taken out of the specialty restaurants and got a particular person posting back in a very spiteful way. Even though I had explained that my cruise in in a month they told me maybe I should cancel my cruise because "that would show NCL how I feel"...now really why would I cancel and loose all of my money and my vacation that I booked over a year ago. How silly. They acted like I had kicked their dog for goodness sake.

[Sissaaaaaa]

Thank you for this post You said everything so elegantly. I recently posted my dissatisfaction with the lobster being taken out of the specialty restaurants and got a particular person posting back in a very spiteful way. Even though I had explained that my cruise in in a month they told me maybe I should cancel my cruise because "that would show NCL how I feel"...now really why would I cancel and loose all of my money and my vacation that I booked over a year ago. How silly. They acted like I had kicked their dog for goodness sake.

 

You will find it is the same handful of posters over and over again. They either flat out get nasty, or make some snide remark because something you enjoyed has been taken away. Just ignore them. They add nothing to this forum at all!

[coka]

Congratulations Mr. Stuart! You were always so kind and generous to me. I have fond memories sailing Norwegian over the years! I almost sailed the fleet but success in ship builds surpassed me! Best wishes for continued success,

 

coka:D

Edited September 24, 2016 by coka

[sjbdtz]

I agree with the above, just a shell game.

 

For all we know, Mr. Stuart has been running NCL and making these policy changes that folks haven't liked. Everyone blames Mr. Del Rio, but no one really knows; like most companies the President of the company makes the decision and only goes to their superior if it is a real major change, which none of these have been. As soon as Mr. Sheehan left, the communication (which was dismal under his realm) got worse and that actually could be the way Mr. Stuart rolls. Just because Mr. Stuart worked under Mr. Sheehan doesn't mean that he was 100% behind the way he did things; we usually only see the differences when one takes over for the other.

 

 

We've seen Andy in action during the webinars, he's all about communicating. But his experience is in working with TA's, not end-users. So there may be some adjustment required. It could be that their communications department (like their IT dept.) sucks. Andy can't be expected to message the fine details of everything, he wouldn't have time for his real job.

 

As for a change like this, it could be a way to save face and back-pedal. By promoting the person who might have been responsible, it gives that person a chance to re-jigger their approach.

 

No matter whether the unpopular decisions emanated from FDR, or from Stuart, I suspect we'll see fewer of them, and they will be handled better.

 

 

 

Lest we forget that the name of the host is Cruise CRITIC. Every line has its good points and bad points.

 

 

Many people are film CRITICS, but have no problem giving a film Two Thumbs Up. CRITICS don't need to be critical.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

 

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