Some random comments on a Christmas cruise on the Getaway

[dans0202]

My family has travelled with NCL many times. In fact this was the first time we cruised as platinum level cruisers.

 

We enjoy cruising and have been on NCL for a Christmas cruise 6 of the last 7 years.

This was our second time on the Getaway. It is a nice ship, well designed and built and it has stood up well over the three years since we were last on it.

 

The platinum level perks are nice but some of them are actually in my opinion insulting. They give each platinum room (not person) a single bottle of water. That by my calculations is costing NCL upwards of 15 cents a cruise. Why one bottle for 2 people for 7 days. Who thinks this stuff up and are they actually paid a salary. In my opinion give a room with two people 2 whole small bottles of water or blow the bank, spend a hole two dollars and give these customers you say you value so much a small case of 12 waters for the week.

 

I have to stress that I had fun even thought I was in the Getaway for the second time so the entertainment was a repeat for us.

 

In advance of the cruise I spent 3 months working with and then arguing with the groups department and the special events department. Special events insisted we dine at 9pm given our numbers but the groups department at the time of booking said our request to eat at 8pm was reasonable and they would assist with making that happen. After we made our final payment the groups department came back with it’s not something we can assist you with, you must deal with special events. In the end the two departments insisted neither had authority over the other and there was nobody to talk with who had authority over both departments. Moral of that story was get everything in writing from the sales department before you pay. In the end the special events department passed the buck to the Getaway on board staff but they would not allow us to talk with them in advance of the cruise. Once on board we were told the restaurants were fully booked for earlier times and we had to stick with 9pm. I was aggregated but accepted the late time as the kids are old enough to wait to eat later. What really upset me in the end is that at 11pm they tried to kick us out of the restaurant as the staff wanted to retire for the evening. Due to the understandable difficulty in serving 20 people one night we were just served our desert and they turned the lights out and said we had to leave. Of course there was nobody around of any authority to assist and it was simply another spoiled meal. The next day I did say something to the restaurant manager who instantly apologized and magically was able to move the next dinner to 30 minutes earlier.

 

Again overall we had a good time but I think maybe it’s time to try another cruise line to determine if NCL is falling behind its competition or the industry is simply adjusting and my expectations are out of whack.

 

I know NCL is a public company and therefore must show improvement each quarter and year or risk the stock getting hammered and management bonuses being cut. I say this because I fully accept the annual price increases exceeding inflation but what upsets me are the cutbacks in service and product on top of the price increases.

 

Our room steward was pretty honest when he said given the number of rooms NCL assigned him coupled with the late dinner times that his guests had that he might not make it to every room each night. We made every effort to leave our cabin each night to increase our chance of our room being cleaned (he missed most peoples rooms at least once or only did part of each room on some nights). You could see he was rushing. One time he cleaned our room, removed every towel and face cloth but forget to replace them leaving us with nothing, not a single towel. It also took 3 days of asking to get the safe in one of our rooms open as it was locked from the previous cruise but I think that was a language issue we were having with him. We did not complain to guest services as he was trying and we did not want to see him in trouble. Ultimately this was a management issue not a staff issue.

The use of English remains a struggle in some areas. I am always baffled by the choice to put a staff member that is weak with the English language at the guest services desk. It results in guests that are already frustrated getting even more aggravated. Perhaps this is intentional.

 

Other cutbacks have been well documented and while some may be petty they are noticeable.

 

No more chocolates at night time for latitude guests.

 

No more Tomahawk steak in Cagney’s

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At La Cucina they shorted the menu and took away items like the chicken parm but did not add any alternatives.

 

The menu at Shanghai has been cut in half. They removed the meat dishes and made it just a noodle dish restaurant.

 

Many bars have had their selection of liquor reduced. Ask for a martini in most bars and they say they can only make a regular, cosmo or lemon drop. I was not able to get a bartender to even consider another option.

 

The internal communication app was not operating properly most of the week. NCL which had just raised the price again to $15 per person ended up refunding the cost to anybody that complained.

 

There were some good arguments I over heard regarding the beverage package and those guests between 18 and 20. Apparently if you are 18 and a parent signs a form you can drink wine and beer. However if you selected the beverage package it does not cover wine and beer for somebody 18 to 20. You must repurchase the package at a cost of almost $700. Not surprisingly that did not sit well with some people. NCLs response was that was the way the computer system is, sorry.

 

My final beef has to do with the wine selection by the glass. NCL placed a cap on the price they will cover per drink, fine. My question is how on a cruise traveling out of the US (one of NCLs larger markets) and not offer a glass of cab wine from the Napa Valley region, widely regarded as a premier wine region. They even partnered with a wine producer from the region. Are they trying to force you to buy bottles even after you have the beverage package and paid the service fee on the package? I was even more upset to see that in the buffet of all places the offer several Napa area glasses of wine, each below the $15 threshold however these wines are not part of the beverage package. Why go out of your way to offended people. How much money can they be making off wine in the buffet that they need to be so offensive?

 

I could go on and on but needless to say the cuts and the way customers are being treated are noticeable to your returning customers which you repeatedly tell are so important. I have no problem with change but current management is only cutting and that is disappointing. I truly believe current management is flying without a net. They are focused on higher profits quarter over quarter for the sake of thief bonuses and job security. I question the amount of testing done on planned changes they perform or the amount of market research they do in advance of a policy or service change. Why in 10 years of traveling with NCL have I never seen a customer survey.

 

I am not going to be one of those people that say never again. I did purchase a cruise next deposit but I can easily find somebody to transfer it to. What I will say is that I want to see for myself if the grass is greener elsewhere.

 

When I got home I was shocked to see next years pricing for a similar cruise. NCL has priced their cruises around $300 more per person over Royals Oasis class cruises over Christmas 2018. Having taken both cruises there is no comparison especially on entertainment and service and I suspect Royal will soon bump its prices once they reach a certain occupancy level or NCL will look to find some additional incentives to sell some cabins. There is no way I am paying more for the Getaway or Bliss vs. Allure or Harmony. Also with Royal having another Oasis class ship in Florida and the Escape moving up to New York there are a lot of extra cabins to fill each week. It will be an interesting year to see what happens with pricing. In my opinion this is a pretty bold move by NCL management.

 

I plan to pass these comments on to management with a simple challenge. Respond with more than we are sorry about your concerns or we will take your comments under advisement. I am pretty sure they will not be read and reacted to. I think current management may be even more eregant then I am believed to be and do not want to hear the opinions of its customers. I doubt NCL will miss me and who knows I may be back.

 

Thanks for reading. If you have any Getaway questions please let me know. I will try to answer them.

[BirdTravels]

What about everything that has been added (including that dinner at Cagneys)? And that bottle of water. And that preboarding?.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Regarding wine by the glass, Royal Caribbean has also been removing some better quality wine selections from those available by the glass.

[fastpitchdad]

I agree...the wines you can get using UBP are pretty bad. They should at least stock some decent wines and then completely overcharge by the glass and let us pay the difference. The wines they offer are sub $10 bottles....couldn't they at least get decent ~$25 bottles and charge $18/glass?

[FLAHAM]

I don't understand the "overheard" complaint about 18-20 year olds drinking. Is it that the parents can't use their packages to give beer and wine to their offspring without payment? Can't the 18-20 year old just pay for a couple of beers per day by the drink?

[karoo]

I don't understand the "overheard" complaint about 18-20 year olds drinking. Is it that the parents can't use their packages to give beer and wine to their offspring without payment? Can't the 18-20 year old just pay for a couple of beers per day by the drink?

 

 

 

The UBP only covers the first and second guest in a cabin. I’m assuming the 18-20 year olds were 3rd or 4th guests. Also if it was a holiday or spring break cruise you have to be over a certain age to qualify for the UBP.

Regarding wine - I have the opposite problem. They seem to push their housewine which is from California. I don’t drink Californian wine, so I have to beg them for another wine. I’m used to drinking the fruitier Savignon Blancs from NZ. Don’t mind an Italian white either. I guess you can’t please everyone.

 

 

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[Keith1010]

Terrific review/report.

 

Keith

[ABoatNerd]

Thanks to the OP for the spot on analysis.

 

All the mass lines are cutting back - because they can. Celebrity takes your $ for the premium bev package and ensures there is little so called premium beverages aboard and also reduces wait staff so they reduce the volume sold - and customers still rave about Celebrity.

 

Consumers need to start realizing they are being hosed - and stop patronizing cruise lines who are arrogant to the consumer. This is also true for the restaurant, hotel etc businesses as well.

 

I used to cruise 1x per year - now it is only every 3 years. My vacation $ is increasingly realigned to custom land tours - cruise lines have lost business from me because of their arrogance.

[CruisinHarvey]

I don't understand the "overheard" complaint about 18-20 year olds drinking. Is it that the parents can't use their packages to give beer and wine to their offspring without payment? Can't the 18-20 year old just pay for a couple of beers per day by the drink?

 

If you have an 18-20 year old as the 2nd passenger in your cabin, it's kind of a problem. If you take the UBP, and we all know both people in the cabin need to take the package, the 18-20 has to take the soda package. Even after you sign for them to be able to drink beer and wine, they won't give them the Cork and Caps package. So, NCL is saying if you want them to able to drink, they're going to pay extra for it.

[Buford T Justiice]

Bottle of water is per Platinum member:

 

Here are the benefits:

 

https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program

[dans0202]

Cruisin Harvey explain the situatuon about the UBP I was discussing. When a family of 4 travels with NCL and has 2 kids, they need to put 1 adult and 1 kid in each room. Apparently NCLs current software does not allow a parent to pre authorize their 20 year old to drink beer or wine even if they are willing to pay the service fees. The 20 year old needs to take the soda package (the can not even have cranberry juice from the bar or virgin frozen drinks) and then when on board pay for the beer and wine package. It did not impact me but sounds like another money grab.

[dans0202]

My comment about the water was that one small bottle for 2 platnium members to share was about the cheapest thing I can imagine doing to 2 valued customers. Better IMO to give them nothing.

 

I guess I got 1 bottle as my son has no status with NCL due to his age. In the old days when they gave us chocolates at night I guess we were lucky to get two when we were only entitled to one. I feel like I got a bonus 10 cent promo in the past.

[maggie cruises]

Thanks to the OP for the spot on analysis.

 

All the mass lines are cutting back - because they can. Celebrity takes your $ for the premium bev package and ensures there is little so called premium beverages aboard and also reduces wait staff so they reduce the volume sold - and customers still rave about Celebrity.

 

Consumers need to start realizing they are being hosed - and stop patronizing cruise lines who are arrogant to the consumer. This is also true for the restaurant, hotel etc businesses as well.

 

I used to cruise 1x per year - now it is only every 3 years. My vacation $ is increasingly realigned to custom land tours - cruise lines have lost business from me because of their arrogance.

 

 

 

I agree but otoh the beverage package nonsense doesn't bother me as I drink 2 or 3 drinks per cruise and I've had it with the specialties dining so I now just book the cheapest insides and take the free wifi perk

 

I enjoy my cruises immensely and don't miss the alcohol or dining package plus I get to enjoy the ship like everyone else

 

I'd never book the haven and could care less about a vibe or spa pass

 

I live on the beach on cape cod so my days are glorious from may thru October anyway. Lol

 

 

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[cb at sea]

There is PLENTY of water on board.....the water from bars, restaurants, and you bathroom sink is the same stuff (H2O) as is in the bottles. Why bottled water seems "better" is a mystery to me. It's such a con! You could bring a refillable bottle, if you must have it "in hand" all the time. In reality, you can get water whenever you want...just ask.

[LrgPizza]

Explain what you mean about Napa wine in the buffet for less than $15, but not covered by the UBP. Why not?

 

EDIT: Are you talking about the wine dispenser machines? If so, I understand what you are saying.

[dans0202]

Yes i was refering to the wine despensing machines. They had several nice wines from california. All were below $15 a glass but there was a big sign saying they are not part of the beverage package. I wonder if the wines due not turn over quickly is the quality compormised. The idea of having popular wines on board available by the glass but not part of the package was offensive and bothersome to me. I wish I had not noticed them as I find the other red wines by the glass to be IMO crap. Were I to travel on NCL again I would consider skipping the UBP and paying the $20 to bring my own wine on board.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your report.

 

Keith

[BostonGal35]

getaway was our least fave ship. we would not sail her again unless we sprung for the Haven.

 

bottled water is per member, you got shorted, know your benefits and speak up!