Perks?!?!?

[shanet60]

I find it funny they offer these 5 free perks , but you have to first choose a cabin thats not sail away and then pay all the gratuity for them as well!! The difference in my sail a way balcony and one with the perks was $1034. How is that a perk? I mean even if you drink like a fish it would be hard to reach that even with 3 free meals and $50 off of shore excursions!! None of the cabins on the breakaway have obstructed views so I’m not worried about that , I moved mine back down to a sail a way and will just pay as I go because I don’t see myself spending over $1000 , I never have before!! I’m just curious what others think about this ?

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, shanet60 said:

I find it funny they offer these 5 free perks , but you have to first choose a cabin thats not sail away and then pay all the gratuity for them as well!! The difference in my sail a way balcony and one with the perks was $1034. How is that a perk? I mean even if you drink like a fish it would be hard to reach that even with 3 free meals and $50 off of shore excursions!! None of the cabins on the breakaway have obstructed views so I’m not worried about that , I moved mine back down to a sail a way and will just pay as I go because I don’t see myself spending over $1000 , I never have before!! I’m just curious what others think about this ?

Lots of people feel the same way as you, and do things as you are.

 

Others attach a value to being able to book a specific cabin, or book cabin categories which don't offer sailaway options, and therefore perks are not as expensive as they are for you.

 

And others just book without looking at it in that much detail and may not book the option that is best for them, but are happy with the price they have paid (I assume).

 

Basically, as with everything, there is no right or wrong. Do what works best for you.

[shanet60]

I understand that I just don’t see how you can call it free when it is that much of a price difference is all!!

[fshagan]

32 minutes ago, shanet60 said:

I find it funny they offer these 5 free perks , but you have to first choose a cabin thats not sail away and then pay all the gratuity for them as well!! The difference in my sail a way balcony and one with the perks was $1034. How is that a perk? I mean even if you drink like a fish it would be hard to reach that even with 3 free meals and $50 off of shore excursions!! None of the cabins on the breakaway have obstructed views so I’m not worried about that , I moved mine back down to a sail a way and will just pay as I go because I don’t see myself spending over $1000 , I never have before!! I’m just curious what others think about this ?

 

We've had less than optimum cabins when choosing sail-away or guarantee rates, but the ship does matter. We did the same as you for the Breakaway because all the balcony cabins are OK .... although you could be placed above the theater or in another noisy area. Our experience on the Epic was to get a huge, but fully enclosed "hull" balcony cabin with a large porthole-shaped hole in the steel. It was a very dark cabin with no view to the ocean, etc., until you walked the 8 to 10' to the hole.

 

But for us, on the Breakaway, the savings was over $1,000 to go with a sail-away balcony cabin. We don't drink enough to take the beverage plan anyway (the gratuity is more than we drink a la carte!) We ended up with an almost mid-ship balcony cabin on a deck with cabins above and below it ... so we lucked out into a cabin we would have picked anyway.

 

Some people like the all-inclusive feel of the perks, choosing their cabin, etc. with the regular rates. So they are happy to pay for that experience.

[bonvoyagie]

It is all about choice - which is part of NCL's Freestyle mantra. You can choose  Sailaway, I can pick my cabin with perks and we are both happy with our choices.

[Turtles06]

OP, I hope it’s not news to you that when cruise lines (and it’s not just NCL) include perks or packages with certain staterooms or promos, the cruise fares are typically adjusted upwards to account for the “freebies.”  What’s unfortunate is when there’s a lack of choice for a cruise fare without all that “free” stuff added on, unless you want to book a guarantee cabin. 

 

[saltsandknit]

It may not be free but we will use every offer. My husband needs internet to to payroll and billing. We drink, we use the shore excursion credits, we prefer specialty dining, we use the free or reduced air since every port is fly to for us. We save about 1500 $ with these offers and I prefer to choose my room. We are not all the same but I vacation in a way that works for me.  

[Janetonboard]

What I like most about the "free" perks, is knowing up front how much my vacation will cost. By having all the perks added in I know I won't need to spend much else while on the ship. So, while it isn't truly free, at least I know up front the close to final cost of my vacation.

[SullytheBFG]

In the U.K. we can get a sailaway cabin and the perks.

[adam_s_allen]

I’ve noticed since they’ve added “free air” the price difference between sailaway and choosing a balcony cabin with all the perks has gone up significantly.

 

I find the price difference for insides aren’t usually too bad. 

[DZcreature]

2 hours ago, shanet60 said:

I find it funny they offer these 5 free perks , but you have to first choose a cabin thats not sail away and then pay all the gratuity for them as well!! The difference in my sail a way balcony and one with the perks was $1034. How is that a perk? I mean even if you drink like a fish it would be hard to reach that even with 3 free meals and $50 off of shore excursions!! None of the cabins on the breakaway have obstructed views so I’m not worried about that , I moved mine back down to a sail a way and will just pay as I go because I don’t see myself spending over $1000 , I never have before!! I’m just curious what others think about this ?

I think it is lousy that there are not more pricing options, and the advertising of "Free" offers is deceiving to new cruisers.

 

I feel that if you do not drink, the free offers are not worth the extra money that you have to pay. I like to choose my own cabin, but feel like I am getting ripped off because I don't want to pay all the money it takes to have a non-sail away room. There should be another price option for people who want to pick their own cabin, in between the sail away rate, and the rate with all the free perks.

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, shanet60 said:

I understand that I just don’t see how you can call it free when it is that much of a price difference is all!!

I don't call it free. Someone else does.

 

It's totally irrelevant to me. They can call it what they want, but I will still look at my options and decide what is best for me. I learned not to rely on big corporations marketing terms many years ago.

[adam_s_allen]

9 minutes ago, DZcreature said:

There should be another price option for people who want to pick their own cabin, in between the sail away rate, and the rate with all the free perks.

But then the perks clearly wouldn’t be “free” the only actual difference then would be you’re paying X amount more just for perks.

[PelicanBill]

I agree that "Free at Sea" is deceptive.  It's "inclusive pricing."

 

What I wish is that people who want to pay a lower price without perks should have an option to choose their cabin for a SMALL increased price over the sailaway choice.

 

There are budget minded people who want to choose a cabin and not spend an extra 1,000 for those free perks.  I care where my cabin is so I want to choose.

[KeithJenner]

34 minutes ago, SullytheBFG said:

In the U.K. we can get a sailaway cabin and the perks.

But there is often very little difference in cost. I have seen situations where the sailaway category is more expensive than other options in the UK.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

The gap between sailaway and perks varies for a number of reasons.   On our upcoming cruise it is 100pp  difference between sail away and the room with perks.  If you choose the perks with gratuities (which are optional) add another 160pp.  So, you are paying 520 more for the two of us, which is less than the OP priced out.

 

Most cabins have different classes (mid ship, family, etc.) and if the cheaper cabins in that class are all sold out, the difference between a cabin with perks and sail away is going to be larger.  This might mean you have a better chance of getting a better cabin with the sailaway rate but since people might bid up there is no guarantee.

 

I don't quibble with the terminology of free or included, and I don't begrudge them the gratuities.  I just do the math:  sail away + a la carte vs. pick my room and perks.   I have always come out cheaper with the pick my room. 

 

I don't want you to judge me, but it does not take long for my husband and me to drink $500 worth of cocktails on a cruise.  If we only drank one drink by the pool, a drink before dinner, a glass of wine with dinner, and a drink or two after dinner at a show or at a bar, it would not be hard for that to total up to $50.00 per day pp and with the 20% gratuity, you are looking at $62.50.   Per person.  Per day.   On a 7 day cruise, that is almost $900 for the two of us.    And since we can usually drink more than one drink by the pool, have a beer with lunch, enjoy more than one cocktail before dinner, and stay out pretty late at night, we are drinking considerably more than just 5 drinks per day per person.   On some port days, we drink a bit less, but on some at sea days, we drink a bit more.

 

The only quibble I have ever had is with NCL's artificial pricing of their drink package.  I don't know if anyone has ever bought it, but it is much more expensive than other lines,  and at $120 (99 plus tip) per day per person we would be a little bit challenged to get our money's worth out of it every day.   I am sure there are those who can drink enough to come out ahead at that price, but while I may sprint out the gate ahead of that curve, after a day or two at that pace I would be looking for alka-selzer, zantac  more than more margaritas and mudslides. 

 

 

 

[sullyd]

Sail away for me , but not for everyone!

[cementhands]

3 hours ago, shanet60 said:

I find it funny they offer these 5 free perks , but you have to first choose a cabin thats not sail away and then pay all the gratuity for them as well!! The difference in my sail a way balcony and one with the perks was $1034. How is that a perk? I mean even if you drink like a fish it would be hard to reach that even with 3 free meals and $50 off of shore excursions!! None of the cabins on the breakaway have obstructed views so I’m not worried about that , I moved mine back down to a sail a way and will just pay as I go because I don’t see myself spending over $1000 , I never have before!! I’m just curious what others think about this ?

I agree with you 100%. We’re into quantity. Rcl and Celebrity gives us diamond and elite lounge drinks at night plus laundry etc. 

ncl has overpriced rooms for “free perks “ plus tip charge.

So it’s a personal preference. Friends of our swear by free perks 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

I couldn't tell you about my Sail Away savings because every cruise I have ever price has been sold out of Sail Away balconies.  I'm looking at cruises 18 months out that are already sold out.

[WickedRed]

28 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

I couldn't tell you about my Sail Away savings because every cruise I have ever price has been sold out of Sail Away balconies.  I'm looking at cruises 18 months out that are already sold out.

I'm not sure they offer the SailAways that far out.  For giggles have you ever checked those cruises after your purchase and seen SailAways pop up as available?

[Love my butler]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

I don't call it free. Someone else does.

 

It's totally irrelevant to me. They can call it what they want, but I will still look at my options and decide what is best for me. I learned not to rely on big corporations marketing terms many years ago.

It was the royal 'you'.  Not you personally.

[KeithJenner]

5 minutes ago, Love my butler said:

It was the royal 'you'.  Not you personally.

I understand that, obviously.

 

However, I was the only person who had replied before that post, and I chose to use that statement as the start to my reply. Call it the royal 'I don't call it..." if you want.

 

My point is still the same anyway. Of course NCL use marketing speak with all this stuff. The only surprising thing is that some people still seem to think there is something surprising in a big company use misleading marketing speak. Of course it isn't free. Why would it be.

 

Just look at the final numbers, make your decision and stop worrying about the wording., It's quite simple really.

Edited August 21, 2019 by KeithJenner

[Mikiejag]

i went through the same thing.  I had a huge spread sheet, adding in the free wifi, taking all 5 promo's vs 2, compared to sail away rate.

If the delta of the difference was too great, just marked it off.  What I ended up was for about $200 a person more, ($1800 9 People) total I took the rooms with free wifi and $50 per stop.  Plus the free air. 

 

Right now the free air would cost me about $4000, so the extra $1800, more than saved me.  That's even before including the $200 per cabin (x's 3) per port and the 250 minutes per room.

 

So there is always that option as well.  For me personally, I couldn't even drink what the gratuities would cost me.  I had heard it was about 2-3 drinks per day.  I just don't drink that much. There are people that probably costs NCL money...(you know who I am talking too... lol :))

[Mikiejag]

50 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

I couldn't tell you about my Sail Away savings because every cruise I have ever price has been sold out of Sail Away balconies.  I'm looking at cruises 18 months out that are already sold out.

I do find that to be very true.  We were pricing cabins for next May-Jun and all sail aways were sold out.

 

But if you want a sail away, keep checking because I think they tend to become "un sold out"

[RedwingHockeyFan]

20 minutes ago, WickedRed said:

I'm not sure they offer the SailAways that far out.  For giggles have you ever checked those cruises after your purchase and seen SailAways pop up as available?

If that were the case I don't think they would be listed as Sold Out, maybe Not Available.  I check all the time, never have I seen them pop up.