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

[casofilia]

Had I received a better value for my CC points I would have chosen a different cruise line

 

So now it is not really the fault of NCL but of the giver of your, no doubt free, CC (Credit Card or Cruise Critic??) points.

 

 

If it is "Credit Card" and not "Cruise Critic" please do not use the same abbreviation in two almost contiguous statements for two different items.

[mjkacmom]

Thanks, OP! This post reminded me I wanted to pre-order bottles to drink in the room. One liter bottles of aquafina at my grocery store are $1.49, NCL sells a 24 pack for only $52! That would cost almost $60 at my local Shoprite! Off to place my order (we are a family of 7).

[Lovesealife]

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.

To answer your question- NCL charges for water, specialty coffee/juice and smoothies which are all free with the Celebrity premium beverage package. And they charge for WIFI over 250 minutes per stateroom which is free for 2 people with the Celebrity internet perk. They also charge tax on the beverage package perks which other lines do not- free as well.

 

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[uneamie]

Thanks, OP! This post reminded me I wanted to pre-order bottles to drink in the room. One liter bottles of aquafina at my grocery store are $1.49, NCL sells a 24 pack for only $52! That would cost almost $60 at my local Shoprite! Off to place my order (we are a family of 7).

 

Hmm...if you bought those bottles at $1.49 at Shop Rite and bought 24 of them.....the total would be $35.76 not $60.

[SeaShark]

To answer your question- NCL charges for water, specialty coffee/juice and smoothies which are all free with the Celebrity premium beverage package. And they charge for WIFI over 250 minutes per stateroom which is free for 2 people with the Celebrity internet perk. They also charge tax on the beverage package perks which other lines do not- free as well.

 

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Swing and a miss, huh? :rolleyes:

 

NCL does NOT charge for water...water is free and included. If you want BOTTLED WATER, then you have to pay for that. Either individually, or by purchasing a bottled water package. You cant expect it to be included when you get the wrong package like the OP did.

 

Nothing is "free with the Celebrity premium beverage package"...you have to buy the package. I asked what NCL charges for that is INCLUDED with other lines, not what other lines CHARGE for.

 

Same with the Internet "perk".

 

They don't charge tax on the beverage package...they charge a gratuity. The package is a perk. Some lines also give the gratuity as a perk...just like NCL does on certain cabin categories. However, this is all moot since these are not the topic, which is "What does NCL charge for that is FREE and INCLUDED on other lines". Perks are not FREE and INCLUDED as they don't apply to ALL guests on ALL sailings. Get it?

[garycarla]

... stuck using NCL due to the points value ina conversion. ...

 

Not sure what points/conversion/currency - but maybe that savings is enough to pay for the water?

 

 

(I am in the camp that says to drink ships water. It might be better than bottled)

[CruisinHarvey]

There's a lot of complainers. It's much ado about nothing. Most complainers really don't care. They just want to vent. If they did care, they'd complain with their wallet. I'm a platinum plus cruiser. So, I enjoy the line. I'm also a stock holder. Bookings are up. Forecasts are up, Stock is up. If all the complainers actually followed through on threats of never cruising NCL, blah, blah, blah, then things may change. Until then, complain away and keep booking. Thanks for your business.

[cb at sea]

The ship's water is perfectly fine. Same H2O as in a bottle! If your wife needed medications, should they be supplied at no cost to you?

[cb at sea]

The ship's water is perfectly fine. Same H2O as in a bottle! If your wife needed medications, should they be supplied at no cost to you? The WATER is FREE and plentiful and GOOD!

[Lovesealife]

Swing and a miss, huh? :rolleyes:

 

NCL does NOT charge for water...water is free and included. If you want BOTTLED WATER, then you have to pay for that. Either individually, or by purchasing a bottled water package. You cant expect it to be included when you get the wrong package like the OP did.

 

Nothing is "free with the Celebrity premium beverage package"...you have to buy the package. I asked what NCL charges for that is INCLUDED with other lines, not what other lines CHARGE for.

 

Same with the Internet "perk".

 

They don't charge tax on the beverage package...they charge a gratuity. The package is a perk. Some lines also give the gratuity as a perk...just like NCL does on certain cabin categories. However, this is all moot since these are not the topic, which is "What does NCL charge for that is FREE and INCLUDED on other lines". Perks are not FREE and INCLUDED as they don't apply to ALL guests on ALL sailings. Get it?

Haha well one thing is certainly true not much is FREE on a cruise! :-)

 

My point is simply that- I can understand the OP's opinion. Which is just that.... an opinion. Not something to be taken personally. Or deserving of a berating.

 

We can debate all day about who is giving the best deals, nickel and diming etc and get no where. Life is too short, cheers to happy cruising!

 

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[dh1drill]

No don't worry every one few more years nothing will be included you will pay to get on the ship and that will be your all inclusive

you will pay for all food,all drinks, all entertainment,all everything,the writing is on the wall read it.:(

[pattymo]

OP wanted to bring up to 3 cases of water. For 1 person for a one week cruise ...That's like 38 quarts of water .I hope the OP's wife's kidneys and cardiopulmonary system can handle all this water and other fluid volume (

Coffee/sofa/ non carb beverages and so on )

 

 

 

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[ColoradoGurl]

Why do you need a doctor's note for bottled water? They give you free water in a glass. It's not like they don't allow you to have any water unless you pay for it. That's silly.

 

 

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[garycarla]

Well.. the OP did come and explain a little. A few points for that.

 

Still have a bit of a problem when people call Customer Service bad when in reality it is the policy of the cruise line he is having a problem with.

[RosieRoo]

Just an FYI, NCL sells Aquafina which is just purified drinking water, not natural spring water, so I don't think it'd be any better than the purified water that is served for free everywhere on the ship.

[DMH15]

Just an FYI, NCL sells Aquafina which is just purified drinking water, not natural spring water, so I don't think it'd be any better than the purified water that is served for free everywhere on the ship.

 

 

Perfect. Pack a britta pitcher. Solution.

 

 

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[morningstar4]

wow....i don't necessarily agree with the OP, but his complaints are innocuous, unlike some of the personal remarks being made on this thread. it's one thing to state your opinion, but many of the comments about the OP and his wife are really uncalled for. The fact that someone even went so far as to insinuate that the OP's wife feigned an illness to get free water is appalling. Imagine someone saying something similar about someone you care about. Why do so many of you feel it's necessary to insult or belittle someone to get your point across??

 

 

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[purpletequila]

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?

 

I personally can't drink non-bottled water on any ship because despite what some of the people here say and will now inevitably appear to say again, it absolutely has a higher salt content than normal, land based tap water. That does not mean you can taste salt, lol, but it's in there and at a much higher content than usual. I know, because I have an issue where such water blows me up causing insane water retention and leg/foot swelling.

 

It is what it is. NCL won't let me bring it onboard either and I agree with the OP that when you have a physician's note and are at a point where you need more than the average amount of bottled water, that it should be approved but again, nothing we can do about it other than not cruise with them if it bothers us that much. Bottom line is Del Rio doesn't want someone onboard who cares about spending an extra $100 so...

[purpletequila]

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

 

 

I agree with you in that once it is a medical condition and you need more bottled water than the average person would consume, then yeah, it should be approved. But it won't be so, unfortunately, it's just one of those things. I always wait to book when OBC is offered and I use that to buy the bottled water.

 

The one thing I will disagree with is RCL being a better value. The reason I stopped cruising with them is because they never offer included drinks packages. It's what sent me to X. So maybe look at it that way. Yeah you need to buy bottled water, but you get the other drinks "free," whereas on RCL, you get the water included but have to pay the $60 or so a day out of pocket. ??

[kaftigr]

I've been on 48 cruises on multiple lines and every one of them nickels and dimes you.

NCL has a great product going and I hope you'll enjoy your experience.

[fshagan]

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

 

To be specific, the water served in the buffet, restaurants and bars is filtered, but not the tap water in your cabin. It is chlorinated with sodium hypochlorite (swimming pool chlorine), and that's the source of the objectionable taste some people notice. The bottled water is better filtered, as the water on the ship is only filtered through a carbon filter ... but the difference for most people is very slight.

[purpletequila]

Just drink the tap water. You do not NEED to buy the bottled water. The tap water is what is used to prepare every single meal you eat on board and it is used to make all of the coffee, tea, lemonade, and ice. If having your water in a botle is important simply bring along a wattle bottle and fill it on board. Problem solved.

 

BTW what other cruise lines do is 100% irrelevant. If all of the other cruise lines held a lottery to throw one passenger over board per cruise would you want NCL to do the same? Didn't think so. :)

 

See? Now I don't expect you to understand or for NCL to make an exception for me but this is precisely why I need tons of bottled water onboard and I am talking 6-7 bottles a day. Tap water onboard causes me to retain an absurd amount of fluid. If I don't drink a lot of the bottled stuff to flush the sodium from the other items onboard (food, ice etc), I can literally gain 10-15lbs of fluid in a week. I super promise it is that and not food. ;p

[purpletequila]

Perfect. Pack a britta pitcher. Solution.

 

 

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Does that remove the sodium? Serious question.

[Lovesealife]

wow....i don't necessarily agree with the OP, but his complaints are innocuous, unlike some of the personal remarks being made on this thread. it's one thing to state your opinion, but many of the comments about the OP and his wife are really uncalled for. The fact that someone even went so far as to insinuate that the OP's wife feigned an illness to get free water is appalling. Imagine someone saying something similar about someone you care about. Why do so many of you feel it's necessary to insult or belittle someone to get your point across??

 

 

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Agreed, thank you!

 

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[NLH Arizona]

See? Now I don't expect you to understand or for NCL to make an exception for me but this is precisely why I need tons of bottled water onboard and I am talking 6-7 bottles a day. Tap water onboard causes me to retain an absurd amount of fluid. If I don't drink a lot of the bottled stuff to flush the sodium from the other items onboard (food, ice etc), I can literally gain 10-15lbs of fluid in a week. I super promise it is that and not food. ;p

If you need bottled water to flush the sodium from your body, NCL sells water on the ships and that is why there is no medical reason why one would be allowed to bring water on themselves. Now, if you needed something that they don't sell for your medical reason, they would make arrangements to carry that item or let you bring your own. Edited May 11, 2017 by NLH Arizona