Very poor customer service-ncl home of the upcharge and the nickel and diming of pass

[Pilot Fish]

Ourcruise is slated for July 30th We are seasoned Cruiser's, having gone on15-16 cruises on Celebrity and RCCL. We found out pre-cruise that NCL does notinclude Bottled Water as part of the beverage package one can purchase. Pleasenote Celeb, RCCL, Princess all do. Instead NCL wants you to purchase bottledwater by the case at 300-500% above the market.My wife has an auto-immunedisease requiring her to be hydrated. We obtained a prescription and doctorsnote and sent an e-mail to the Access Desk requesting permission to bring up to3 cases of bottled water. Our request was denied. We then sent an e-mail to Mr.Del Rio explaining the situation along with the Doctors note and prescription.Again we were denied. NCL has completely lived up to it's reputation of nickeland diming along with Up Charging cruisers for every service. We knew ofthis reputation pre-booking but were stuck using NCL due to the points value ina conversion. I would recommend anyone reading this to take anothercruise line! NCL is focused only on it's profitability not thecruiser. This probably will be our first and last cruise on NCL all over a$50-100 potential charge. NCL you have made a smart business decisionPenny wise and Pound foolish Cruise Critic followers Be warned BookElsewhere- Better value on RCCL or Princess plus appears to be better quality

Thankyou

 

Pilot Fish

[Weetahbugdotcom]

Tap Water is free- and it's filtered, probably more so than the tap water in a Dasani bottle.

 

 

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[NCLfamily]

How can you possibly comment on the quality of an NCL cruise when you haven't taken one?

 

RCCL is better value? Not in my opinion.

 

Tap water is available free. The bottled water packages have been vastly reduced, making them, whilst not cheap, not horrendous.

 

If it troubles you so much and you think you'll get better value and quality elsewhere, then it's a no brainer. Cancel and go elsewhere.

 

 

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[mjkacmom]

For goodness sake, there is water on the ship! I drink about a gallon of water a day, I have my Yeti already to pack! At home I drink filtered water from the fridge.

[mdsgu]

Give NCL a chance. Like you said, your current unhappiness stems from a charge of less than $100. In the grand scheme of things, especially when it comes to a cruise, is $100 that big of a deal? You might actually enjoy yourselves and find that paying an upcharge (however ridiculous) for bottled water is actually worth it in the long run.

[casofilia]

Would you explain why you HAVE to have bottled water. What is wrong with the water you will have for your coffee, tea, ice cubes, in your whiskey, for teeth cleaning, with your dinner?

[Two Wheels Only]

A 24 pack of 1L bottles is $45.

If the comparable stateroom on Celebrity, Princess, or RCCL is more expensive by $50 or more, wouldn't NCL be the "better value"?

 

You also have the option of bringing your own empty water container and using the complimentary water (and ice) to fill your own container (being conscious of being sanitary, of course). It isn't "nickel and diming" if there is a free option that is just as good or possibly better (Aquafina is filtered tap water).

[DMH15]

If you have such a rigid need/condition YOU should have done YOUR homework (aka research) before you booked with NCL.

 

EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON THEIR PROFITABILITY TO THEIR SHAREHOLDERS!!!

 

Sorry, after several cruises on NCL, I do not agree with you. I like paying for WHAT I WANT. You can call it nickle and diming I call it ala carte cruising.

 

 

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[soccermommy]

I think I understand your frustration, OP, especially if you just got off the phone! This whole bottled water issue caused a major uproar when it was put into effect months ago, to the point where posters cancelled their cruises, or at leas threatened to do that. It really does seem ridiculous to pay so much for bottled water. IMO, Norwegian really miscalculated when it implemented these grossly overpriced water prices.

But, I have found the water available onboard to be perfectly acceptable in regards to safety and taste. Believe me, I know about lousy tasting tap water...the water in my town is so hard you could bounce out of a pool.

Please don't let this ruin your cruise. As I see it, you have a few options. Try the available water. Pick up some bottled water at port stops, though I don't know if that will be a problem coming back onto the ship. Or, if bottled water is absolutely the only acceptable option for you, bite the bullet and get the least amount sold, then talk to Guest Services on board. There might be a wee bit more flexibility there.

Good luck, and good thoughts to your DW!

[casofilia]

Pick up some bottled water at port stops, though I don't know if that will be a problem coming back onto the ship

 

It will. You cannot even take back in the afternoon a water bottle you have filled and taken off the ship in the morning. Standing in line to re-board there are lots of people emptying water bottles.

No water can be taken on the ship at any time.

[WexIrl]

I just disembarked from the Epic today after a 7 day cruise, my first cruise in fact, and I constantly encountered people (using the term people loosely) on the cruise who left me in awe of their lack of common sense, their lack of manners, their lack of spacial surroundings, their lack of research to the cruise ship and or company that they are are currently on (Who booked the cruise for them their personal assistant..?, the self entitlement of them, I could go on and on and on and give every specific examples, this is what is putting me off writing a review of my cruise as I do not want to seem negative as the ship/service and value for money was fantastic.

 

 

The wife and I could not get our head around these people and there was countless amounts of them and these were fully grown adults?, I have taken holidays/vacations in many parts of the world land based and never encountered so much self inflicted nonsense. I applaud the crew for keeping a straight face while dealing with them.

 

Now to some facts:

 

 

 

• There is tap water on board as mentioned above.
  
• There is 1 cooled drinking water dispenser at O Sheehans Bar.
  
• There are 2 cooled drinking water dispensers around the pool bar area.
  
• There are 4 cooled drinking water dispensers in the buffet area.
  
• (There is probably more but I was not actively looking for them, just came across them.)
  
• You also get drinking water with all meals in the restaurants etc
  

 

This is all completely free....

 

Yet I heard people constantly moaning/complaining about having to pay for water!!

 

Apologies OP, this is not directed at you personally, just using your thread to vent some of my observations on board the Epic this week with regards the 'Water Topic'.

 

Hope you get your water situation sorted out.

 

All the best.

[soccermommy]

Thanks for clarifying that for me, I never tried to bring water back. Rum, yes, but I knew that was going to be surrendered. But the Op could certainly buy water for consumption at port stops.

I have admit, I'm perfectly happy with the ship's water.

[Luke104]

If you check the OP previous postings to others, most are complaints, (he did the same for RCCL). Just never happy! If 50 bucks is a big deal on a cruise I guess tipping for him is out of the question.

[tgloersen]

While i'm not sure why NCL would not include water in the drink package. Most likely a money thing in all probability.

 

In any case though while i never had the ships water from NCL (yet), i can't imagine it any different than RCCL which is completely fine. I have no problem drinking the ships water.

[Two Wheels Only]

Any doctor who would write this prescription for water should lose his license to practice medicine.

When I first read the OP, I thought that the doctor's note/prescription was to prove the medical condition. I hope that there was no "bottled water" prescription.

 

If NCL raised the price for every person by $50 and included a case of water for each person, people would complain that the water took up too much space in the stateroom. Some people can't be happy.....

[All-ready2cruise]

Any doctor who would write this prescription for water should lose his license to practice medicine.

 

 

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Actually, a doctor might write a Rx for water in the form of an Intravenous ... so, say 1000ml every 4 hrs/day x 7 days or length of cruise. Of course, that would be a lot more expensive, especially since it would need to be done by a nurse or doctor on the ship.... wonder how much that litre (1000ml or approx a US quart) of 5% Glucose would cost per day.

 

No doctor worth having would write an Rx for something so frivolous, they'd tell you to go jump in the.... ya know.. :eek:

[fabnfortysomething]

Actually, a doctor might write a Rx for water in the form of an Intravenous ... so, say 1000ml every 4 hrs/day x 7 days or length of cruise. Of course, that would be a lot more expensive, especially since it would need to be done by a nurse or doctor on the ship.... wonder how much that litre (1000ml or approx a US quart) of 5% Glucose would cost per day.

 

No doctor worth having would write an Rx for something so frivolous, they'd tell you to go jump in the.... ya know.. :eek:

 

actually an intravenous injection of water would be fatal!

[Lovesealife]

I do understand the frustration in coming from Celebrity to NFL. We cruise Celebrity but are looking at the ease of cruising out of NY on NCL. Our Celebrity cruise included prepaid gratuities, 300 obc, unlimited internet for both of us and the premium beverage package. NCL also has some great perks but I did feel a bit "nickel and dimed" so to speak. (Tax on bev pkg not included, water/specialty coffee not included and only 250 Wi-Fi minutes to share). While this was somewhat annoying we are looking forward to something new and know there will be positives and negatives to anything. We will suck it up and buy the water package and move on.

 

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[Pilot Fish]

Appears the CC community perceives me to be wrong. Also others have insinuated I am cheap. To set the record straight my gratuities are prepaid along w specialty dining for 6 for 4 nights Further I will be purchasing spa treatments. My excursions are prepaid and booked. Yes they are not through NCL. I have purchased the Beverage package on the majority of cruises I have been on. So cost is not the issue. IMHO it appears NCL charges for everything. Had I received a better value for my CC points I would have chosen a different cruise line Nevertheless NCL is comvenient to our schedule. That is why I chose NCL If you read other CC posts of the Breakaway there are questions about cleanliness food quality and service. These concerns I will experience for myself. However, I am taking this cruise with open eyes. Hopefully all of you are correct and my anxiety and concerns are overstated Nevertheless my first experience with Customer Service was less than satisfying.

[All-ready2cruise]

actually an intravenous injection of water would be fatal!

 

Good heavens, what do you think they give patients in the hospital when they need hydrating? If it's unsterilized water, perhaps it would kill them but perhaps you misunderstood what I was implying. It can be Ringer's Lactate, or 5%, 10% glucose, 5% saline solution... they're all used intravenously.

 

Intravenous (IV) liquids are given many times to hydrate patients, I've done it myself.

[Knighton]

We found out pre-cruise that NCL does notinclude Bottled Water as part of the beverage package one can purchase. Pleasenote Celeb, RCCL, Princess all do. Instead NCL wants you to purchase bottledwater by the case at 300-500% above the market.

 

Yeah, but the only time I've seen bottled water be a part of an all you can drink package, that's overpriced, too. They never include it on the cheap packages, like the soda package. (which is fine-I'm not complaining about that.) Even the "bottled water" all you can drink package on Celebrity is $18 a day, which means to make it worth while, you'd have to drink about a case of water a day to break even!

[Named-Tawny]

While i'm not sure why NCL would not include water in the drink package. Most likely a money thing in all probability.

 

I'm more disappointed about the lack of cofee on the drink package. Mamma needs their caffeine!

 

Although I have wondered, if I get a shot of bailey's in an americano... does that count as a drink or a coffee? ;):confused:

[buggins0402]

While i'm not sure why NCL would not include water in the drink package. Most likely a money thing in all probability.

.

 

Probably so. But, I guess we all win....because fewer bottles used per sailing is more environmentally friendly.

[Tiggertastic]

Having just done my 2nd ncl after the drinks change, having done 14 before it, no issues were had. I felt it would be an issue when the change was announced but it wasn't at all. We boarded with 2 empty water bottles. We used the water machines in the buffet to fill them by using a clean cup to pour in. All bars will happily give you glasses of water. Also we have the ice bucket filled and poor into glasses the melted water. It's really easy to do. On shore buy bottles and drink onshore. It's not hard really. During the day I just drank water and staff were very happy to give it to me and dunking from a glass at a bar was more polite too.

 

 

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[SeaShark]

Appears the CC community perceives me to be wrong. Also others have insinuated I am cheap. To set the record straight my gratuities are prepaid along w specialty dining for 6 for 4 nights Further I will be purchasing spa treatments. My excursions are prepaid and booked. Yes they are not through NCL. I have purchased the Beverage package on the majority of cruises I have been on. So cost is not the issue. IMHO it appears NCL charges for everything. Had I received a better value for my CC points I would have chosen a different cruise line Nevertheless NCL is comvenient to our schedule. That is why I chose NCL If you read other CC posts of the Breakaway there are questions about cleanliness food quality and service. These concerns I will experience for myself. However, I am taking this cruise with open eyes. Hopefully all of you are correct and my anxiety and concerns are overstated Nevertheless my first experience with Customer Service was less than satisfying.

 

NCL charges for "everything"? :confused: Seriously, what does NCL charge for that is free on all other cruise lines?

 

 

A couple of points...

 

You are certainly not cheap...if you were, you would have simply used your money toward water instead of paying a doctor to write a prescription and a note asking for an exception to the rules. A doctor's visit is much more costly than some water.

 

NCL does offer a beverage package for water. Just not the ALCOHOLIC beverage package. You have to get the right one.

 

IMHO the customer service you received was fine. Good customer service means treating everyone equally and fairly. Everyone you spoke to...right up to the CEO of the holding company...gave you the exact same answer. The same answer everyone else gets. That is good, fair, and consistent service. You can't define good service by breaking the rules and granting exceptions to people who feel that they deserve a different set of rules than other people get. It seems that it your expectations that were out of whack...not the customer service.