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NCL practically giving away cruises for free

CruisingNole

By CruisingNole,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Arzeena

Arzeena

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

If any of you in Florida have the flexibility to do a last minute sailing, NCL is practically giving away 3-5 night Bahamas cruises through the remainder of the year. I saw one for as little as $100pp for an interior sailaway, $149 for interior guarantee with drink package. Taxes and port fees are more than the cruise fare. OBC offered through TA essentially covering entire DSC.

Thanks for posting the alert.

 

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4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

If any of you in Florida have the flexibility to do a last minute sailing, NCL is practically giving away 3-5 night Bahamas cruises through the remainder of the year. I saw one for as little as $100pp for an interior sailaway, $149 for interior guarantee with drink package. Taxes and port fees are more than the cruise fare. OBC offered through TA essentially covering entire DSC.

You would have to pay me to take a three day cruise.  Also, nothing about Nassau interests me.

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Jerseygich

Jerseygich

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

You try to do something nice for people by alerting them to a good deal and they find a reason to try to discredit, complain, and be all around miserable. Good God, So sorry for trying to be helpful. I thought that’s what this forum was for. Bunch of miserable old curmudgeons.

 

Have a lovely weekend.

 

 

I appreciate it. Some people just need to nitpick

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jskinsd

jskinsd

Posted
Posted

Check out the Panama Canal.  Just booked a 16 day balcony on the Joy for next week.  $699 no single supplement and the use of two cruise next certificates ($500) brings the cost to $199.  Also getting $300 OBC from TA and and $250 OBC for stock owners perk.  Will purchase another $1000 cruise next certificates on this cruise for free to be used very soon since I can book last minute.  $1000-$500-$300-$250=$50 extra OBC for me on this cruise.  I have been cruising basically, buy one get TWO for free this year when using cruise next and last minutes deals with single supplement waived.

Hey Budget Queen, how was Hawaii this year?  It was fun seeing you in Alaska last June.  Thank you for advise on how to book a cruise on a cruise and still gets all my perks.  Just be prepared.

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cruisinmeme

cruisinmeme

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

You try to do something nice for people by alerting them to a good deal and they find a reason to try to discredit, complain, and be all around miserable. Good God, So sorry for trying to be helpful. I thought that’s what this forum was for. Bunch of miserable old curmudgeons.

 

Have a lovely weekend.

 

 

 

 

I have met people on cruises that live in Florida and yes the deals are great>

off the subject but after i became platinum with carnival we discover Norwegian (sail primarily out of New Orleans) anyway it was like a breath of fresh air to come on cruise critic and how nice the people were on Norwegian site compared to the nasty mean people i was seeing on carnival.  Well fast forward and yeah, the nasty has invaded Norwegian. Sorta makes you want to just keep good info to yourself and let the fools be in the dark.

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Bluewake

Bluewake

Posted
Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

If any of you in Florida have the flexibility to do a last minute sailing, NCL is practically giving away 3-5 night Bahamas cruises through the remainder of the year. I saw one for as little as $100pp for an interior sailaway, $149 for interior guarantee with drink package. Taxes and port fees are more than the cruise fare. OBC offered through TA essentially covering entire DSC.

   

Unless you have strong feelings about a particular cruise or cabin what is the incentive to book an NCL cruise early?  NCL's practice over the past 3-4 years seems to be to start out high and lower as time goes on and ships don't fill.  We have one final NCL cruise booked and the price for that cruise has steadily dropped, twice significantly.   Furthermore, NCL also changed the itinerary after the final payment deadline which certainly is their right but, I believe, was something the cruise line knew was going to happen and deliberately waited to implement.  However, because we received an adjustment (moved to a slightly higher category cabin) the first time there was a drop, we were ineligible for a second adjustment.  Okay, I understand that is the policy.   However,  Florida residents (or anyone else) who are flexible about rooms and travel dates would be far better off waiting to book.  Sure, it's possible  that not all cruises will drop and some cabin categories may be closed out but the savings can be substantial if you are able to wait to book.  Is this really the business model NCL wants to pursue?   I have no plans to cruise on NCL after this next one but, if I did again consider NCL, I would wait until the last minute.  Of course, I do realize that not everyone is fortunate to have the sort of flexibility that allows them to wait like that but I'd  suggest to anyone who does to hold off booking.

Edited by Bluewake
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Starry Eyes

Starry Eyes

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Bluewake said:

   

Unless you have strong feelings about a particular room what is the incentive to book an NCL cruise early?  NCL's practice over the past 3-4 years seems to be to start out high and lower as time goes on and ships don't fill.  We have one final NCL cruise booked and the price for that cruise has dropped twice significantly.   Furthermore, NCL also changed the itinerary after the final payment deadline.  However, because we received an adjustment (moved to a slightly higher category cabin) the first time there was a drop, we are ineligible for a second adjustment.  Okay, I understand that is the policy.  However, this has become a pattern for NCL.  Florida residents (or anyone else) who are flexible about rooms and travel dates would be far better off waiting to book.  Sure, it's possible  that not all cruises will drop and some cabin categories may be closed out but the savings can be substantial if you are able to wait to book.  Is this really the business model NCL wants to pursue?  Doesn't it cheapen the product?  

That is this fall’s pattern, especially with short cruises.  The market was dramatically and suddenly impacted by the change in the Cuba policy.  And more recently Freeport had to be removed from itineraries.  And schools are in sessions and it is peak hurricane season, so many do not see this as an ideal time to cruise.  That’s OK, I’ll go.  

 

For now, they want to fill the ships.  Sailing with empty berths is just not profitable.

 

Will the pricing pattern be the same next year?  Or next summer.  Possible, but I doubt it.  Cruise lines are apt to adjust as will cruisers.  

 

As a consumer, it is hard to know when prices will stop falling.  You know that...you pulled the trigger asking for your one time adjustment after final payment...then watched prices drop further:  Mine did a bit, too, but I was still happy with my deal.  And sometimes you think there is plenty of availability, so prices will surely fall more, then suddenly a lot of  cabins disappear and prices go way up or while meta categories are marked sold out.  If you really want to go, waiting can be risk, too, as other people may beat you to it.

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Bluewake

Bluewake

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

That is this fall’s pattern, especially with short cruises. 

....

 

As a consumer, it is hard to know when prices will stop falling.  You know that...you pulled the trigger asking for your one time adjustment after final payment...then watched prices drop further:  Mine did a bit, too, but I was still happy with my deal.  And sometimes you think there is plenty of availability, so prices will surely fall more, then suddenly a lot of  cabins disappear and prices go way up or while meta categories are marked sold out.  If you really want to go, waiting can be risk, too, as other people may beat you to it.

 

Actually, we ended up ok.   Ours is a  Panama Canal cruise and if we booked the same cabin today, it would be slightly more than what we paid. The price drop was primarily for sailaway inside and oceanview cabins.  You may be correct that this pattern of starting out high and lowering is an anomaly, thus NCL's approach may change in the spring.   If, however, it does not (and I do believe NCL would be crazy to keep doing this), for those who have the flexibility, it could be beneficial to wait.  As you note, it's difficult to predict the future.   

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ray98

ray98

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Bluewake said:

   

Unless you have strong feelings about a particular cruise or cabin what is the incentive to book an NCL cruise early?  NCL's practice over the past 3-4 years seems to be to start out high and lower as time goes on and ships don't fill.  

That certainly isn't the case and that is coming from someone who books 90% last minute discounted type cruises.  We live within driving distance of several ports and are flexible with our vacation time. 

 

 

NCL has rarely popped up on our radar for the past few years.  This year is unique, the cancellation of the Cuba itineraries has saturated the short cruise market.  The supply is greater than the demand.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
On 10/3/2019 at 10:19 PM, ev98 said:


Isn’t most onboard credit offered by travel agents the non-refundable kind, which can’t be used for daily service charges?

 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/travel-blog/how-to-onboard-credit


“Note: Onboard credit has no monetary value and is non-transferable. It may not be used toward onboard service charges or pre-purchased activities.”

 

 

Regardless, $150/person with drink package is quite the deal. Wish I had that option coming from Canada. 

Certainly is a deal. the problem which some posters do not understand is, try and book these rates, many weekends they are not available. People have to talk to their TA. As for OBC some TAs offer them as a way to get a sale and they are refundable, many are non refundable. People booking need to check this out, not just take a posters word for it. Our upcoming 7 day cruise for instance was advertised at a very nice price about a month ago, but when checking the date we were cruising was not available for the "Great" rate. It actually had gone up a bit since we booked 8 months ago. 

This just goes to show us, advertising can be tricky. If, I lived in Floeida though, I would be paying close attention to last minute rates. Of course the cancellation of Cuba has done some damage, but when people get over that, the rates will probably shoot up again. For us, I have to admit, 3 day cruises do nothing for us. Even in our younger days, but for some, heck give it a shot.  

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, jskinsd said:

Check out the Panama Canal.  Just booked a 16 day balcony on the Joy for next week.  $699 no single supplement and the use of two cruise next certificates ($500) brings the cost to $199.  Also getting $300 OBC from TA and and $250 OBC for stock owners perk.  Will purchase another $1000 cruise next certificates on this cruise for free to be used very soon since I can book last minute.  $1000-$500-$300-$250=$50 extra OBC for me on this cruise.  I have been cruising basically, buy one get TWO for free this year when using cruise next and last minutes deals with single supplement waived.

Hey Budget Queen, how was Hawaii this year?  It was fun seeing you in Alaska last June.  Thank you for advise on how to book a cruise on a cruise and still gets all my perks.  Just be prepared.

I ended up spending 3 weeks in Hawaii 😀😀.  Of course great.   I just got off an exceptional Greek Isle Cruise on the Jade.   In Barcelona now and getting on the Epic tomorrow.    

 

They are getting tighter with the stockholder benefit single rate.   I’ve gotten half on the last 2.  And a policy letter supporting it.   

 

Hope to sail with with you again in Alaska.  I plan on having more Kenai Fjords tickets.    

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

That is this fall’s pattern, especially with short cruises.  The market was dramatically and suddenly impacted by the change in the Cuba policy.  And more recently Freeport had to be removed from itineraries.  And schools are in sessions and it is peak hurricane season, so many do not see this as an ideal time to cruise.  That’s OK, I’ll go.  

 

For now, they want to fill the ships.  Sailing with empty berths is just not profitable.

 

Will the pricing pattern be the same next year?  Or next summer.  Possible, but I doubt it.  Cruise lines are apt to adjust as will cruisers.  

 

As a consumer, it is hard to know when prices will stop falling.  You know that...you pulled the trigger asking for your one time adjustment after final payment...then watched prices drop further:  Mine did a bit, too, but I was still happy with my deal.  And sometimes you think there is plenty of availability, so prices will surely fall more, then suddenly a lot of  cabins disappear and prices go way up or while meta categories are marked sold out.  If you really want to go, waiting can be risk, too, as other people may beat you to it.

There are last minute price dumps every week.   No predictability.  Most people are not flexible enough to go with this strategy-   Unless they are accepting of not going.    Even living in Florida is not really flexible enough.   You really need to be available for any cruise- world wide.   I am and certainly have gotten very low rates.     As soon as you have limits. Then booking when the price is reasonable for you may be the best option.  

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, ray98 said:

That certainly isn't the case and that is coming from someone who books 90% last minute discounted type cruises.  We live within driving distance of several ports and are flexible with our vacation time. 

 

 

NCL has rarely popped up on our radar for the past few years.  This year is unique, the cancellation of the Cuba itineraries has saturated the short cruise market.  The supply is greater than the demand.

What is your definition of last minute?     I find significant discounts most every week.   

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