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Why this was probably our last NCL cruise


cvil88
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Just got off the NCL Getaway on a 9 day cruise. My wife and I have done 30+ cruises on multiple cruise lines but more NCL cruises recently. Here are a few beefs regarding NCL:

-very disappointed with food quality in main dining room

-the $99 (plus gratuity) Beverage Package doesn't include water or cappuccino

-no longer allowed to bring water on board or wine (corkage fee)

-they chose to tender to their private island in Harvest Caye that offers no food or do not allow you to use your beverage package (if they docked, most people would go back to ship for lunch and drinks, so your stuck paying on their property)

-they tell you it's a 5 minute tender to the island then load you on a tender that holds 500 people, so by the time you board and disembark, you've wasted half hour or more (and once on the tender the first thing you hear is a request for a tip)

-the specialty restaurants were excellent but the up charges were excessive (it was emphasized by our waitress at Le Bistro that you only get one appetizer, one entree and one desert. So when I asked about ordering the soup and a salad, she told me their would be an up charge)

We enjoyed the entertainment on the cruise and the ports but we will probably be looking at Royal Caribbean or Celebrity in the future. 

Would like to hear if others feel like we do or are we being too critical. Thanks!

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5 minutes ago, cvil88 said:

Just got off the NCL Getaway on a 9 day cruise. My wife and I have done 30+ cruises on multiple cruise lines but more NCL cruises recently. Here are a few beefs regarding NCL:

 

-the $99 (plus gratuity) Beverage Package doesn't include water or cappuccino

 

 It never has...so that is nothing new.

 

5 minutes ago, cvil88 said:

-no longer allowed to bring water on board or wine (corkage fee)

 

 The no liquids policy has been in place for a few years. There has always been a $15 corkage fee.

 

 Food is subjective.....the server was incorrect in telling you that you would only get 1 app/dessert. You are allowed only one entree though. People have reported that they order what they want and never get charged. I think that some servers get the dining package confused with the Platinum dinner.

 

 

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You mentioned that most of your recent cruises have been with NCL, so the limitations of the drink package and the inability to bring wine/water on board shouldn't be new to you. I've only been cruising for the last two years, but those things have been the case since I began and I was under the impression they had been the case for a while before that.

 

It's my understanding that, while NCL owns Harvest Caye, the vendors there are local business owners operating their own private businesses, which is why it differs from the experience at Great Stirrup Cay.

 

You were misinformed by your server at Le Bistro. You can have unlimited apps and desserts with the SDP. You are only limited to one entree.

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There has always been a $15 corkage fee for wine, it doesn’t bother me because there is no limit. I do miss being able to bring water, since we drive to the port, but we just brought yetis. Do people actually pay the $99 a day for the UBP? I do think food is subjective, we are a family of 7, so I pretty much tried everything on the menu on our last cruise, there were hits and misses. I think the price of the specialty restaurants is crazy now, we didn’t bother on our last cruise since we usually only booked one or two in the past, and now you really need to buy a package. 

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You can choose to spend your dollars how you like, so give other lines a try if that's what you want to do. 

 

For me, NCL provides the value I'm looking for.  I'm often able to book last minute deals, or get casino offers, so it's an easy decision for me.  I like Princess as well, and even Carnival has been good the two times I sail them so it's all about what's important to you. 

 

To answer your question, I do think you're being a little too critical.  As others have mentioned, the no bottled water policy is not new, nor is the corkage fee.  They do sell bottled water packages at a reasonable price if you must have it.  Not many people pay the $99/day for the beverage package, most choose it as their "free perk" and just pay the 20% gratuity.  Tendering at HC is not a choice since the pier is damaged currently.  I presume the request for tips was from locals, not from NCL employees (I remember Belizians are very pufront with their tip requests on other tender rides  - but only tip if you want to, don't be bullied into it... most people don't tip on a tender ride which is fine).  HC is not NCL's private island, it's a partnership with Belize and in order to make it happen it was agreed that it would staffed by locals and there would a charge for food/drink.  Great Stirrup Caye is NCL's true private island.

 

Food is subjective and if that's your main gripe, then Celebrity should be your next choice. They still apparently are top of the line for their food.

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Other than the food (which yes, is subjective) those are all things I'm surprised you did not already know, having cruised NCL before. And since you are posting on CC, all of that is easily found here on the boards. Sorry you were unhappy, though.

 

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Some of the complaints are true of most mainstream lines.  There will be some minor differences here are there, but for the most part, they all do things similarly.

 

For example, most people take the drink package (as well as the dining package) perk on NCL.  Then, you only pay for the $20/pp gratuity on the perk.  Same goes for the dining package. Not sure how long your waitress was in LeBistro, but I would have asked to speak to the maitre 'd  to clear up what was included.

 

Given you didn't choose the drink package as one of your perks (no one that I know EVER pays the $99/day for the regular drink package), you probably booked one of NCL's rock bottom rates that come with no perks.  Or, if you chose other perks instead of the drink package, you made a mistake.

 

As others mentioned, if you've been sailing NCL recently, none of this should come as a surprise.

 

I've sailed both Celebrity and Royal in the past. I like Royal.  But Celebrity, for the money, not my cup of tea. But, if you think they'd suit you better, try them.

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  • My DH and I were also on this sailing.  The worse was the embark.  Yes, as others mentioned the corkage fee and no bringing on water, etc., has been in place for several years,  we knew the Harvest Caye stop we would have to tender due to needed repairs at the pier/dock so we chose to stay onboard since we were there last year.  I will agree that the MDR food was hit or miss (as it is quite often these days) but again will agree that this cruise we did have several food items in the MDR that were not good but our Le Bistro meal was great and we had no extra charge for the two apps we ordered.  One thing we observed is the Syd Normans venue is so small and so many people were turned away due to limited seating. It's a nice ship though and considering the amount of passengers it was a good cruise. 
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1 hour ago, cvil88 said:

 

Would like to hear if others feel like we do or are we being too critical. Thanks!

I don't think you are being too critical.   (except for the tendering issue which is a temporary situation due to pier damage)

 

But, I think you will find similar issues on all the mass market lines.  Including staff that don't know their own jobs. It sounds like you are at the point we find ourselves every few cruises and it's time to try a different line, if only for your own peace of mind.

 

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1 hour ago, cvil88 said:

Just got off the NCL Getaway on a 9 day cruise. My wife and I have done 30+ cruises on multiple cruise lines but more NCL cruises recently. Here are a few beefs regarding NCL:

-very disappointed with food quality in main dining room

-the $99 (plus gratuity) Beverage Package doesn't include water or cappuccino

-no longer allowed to bring water on board or wine (corkage fee)

-they chose to tender to their private island in Harvest Caye that offers no food or do not allow you to use your beverage package (if they docked, most people would go back to ship for lunch and drinks, so your stuck paying on their property)

-they tell you it's a 5 minute tender to the island then load you on a tender that holds 500 people, so by the time you board and disembark, you've wasted half hour or more (and once on the tender the first thing you hear is a request for a tip)

-the specialty restaurants were excellent but the up charges were excessive (it was emphasized by our waitress at Le Bistro that you only get one appetizer, one entree and one desert. So when I asked about ordering the soup and a salad, she told me their would be an up charge)

We enjoyed the entertainment on the cruise and the ports but we will probably be looking at Royal Caribbean or Celebrity in the future. 

Would like to hear if others feel like we do or are we being too critical. Thanks!

We feel pretty much the same way, have done a mix of cruises on Celebrity and NCL.

We were just on the Getaway in December, Celebrity Eclipse in August and will be on Celebrity Silhouette in March.

 

We find the food on Celebrity in the main dining rooms to be drastically better than NCL.  And in the specialty restaurants so so so much better!  On NCL I find myself eating like a child, really basic plain foods like pizza, chicken parm and sandwiches because the fish and steak are just not good.

 

Some of the best lamb I've had in my life has been on Celebrity.  And their drinks package is miles ahead of NCL. They don't charge a gratuity, the classic package is included in most bookings and it includes coffee and water, for $12 a day (10 plus gratuity) you can upgrade to the premium package which includes everything we could want and more. 

 

There are three areas where we feel Celebrity fades in comparison to NCL those are sailings from NYC, entertainment and Alaska sailings.  NCL basically sails from our homeport year round so if we want a quick getaway and just to not be at work and on a cruise, NCL is so easy.

 

Entertainment on Celebrity is not as good as NCL (not counting the new Celebrity ships, we haven't tried those) the production shows are not as high quality and while there is a lot of music in smaller venues, there is nothing like dueling pianos on Celebrity.  So, at night we wind up just hanging out at the various bars and talking to our fellow cruisers and listening to music which is fine, but is a little more subdued than NCL.

 

As of now Celebrity doesn't go to Glacier Bay so you'd have to go on NCL or Princess or others to get that.  So that is one itinerary we'd consider NCL.

 

One other thing we really love about Celebrity is the smoke free casino! They get a lot more of our money than NCL.

 

I have done one Carnival cruise when I was in grad school and enjoyed it but that was a long time ago so can't compare.  Also have only done one RCL cruise and enjoyed that but again only one. 

 

I say, if you find a good price on an itinerary you like on another line, you should try it.  If you don't like it as much as NCL, you are still on a cruise so how bad can it be?

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I agree with almost everything sbt518 said.  Celebrity Drink package is way better, they don't charge gratuity and it includes water.   Celebrity food I believe is better, and I think the service is a little better. 

 

We don't gamble and I hate the smoke while walking around the casino on NCL.  I think the shows are better on NCL, and I really hate signing out towels like I'm a child.  Although, I do act like a child on NCL water rides, which Celebrity doesn't have.  At 50 I feel 20 on Celebrity because of the average age of the passengers .   I think I'll be trying RCL, next.

 

  

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2 hours ago, cvil88 said:

-the $99 (plus gratuity) Beverage Package doesn't include water or cappuccino

-no longer allowed to bring water on board or wine (corkage fee)

 

This has been the case since 2016. They stopped allowing you to bring on water summer of 2016, the rest have been since before then.

 

2 hours ago, cvil88 said:

-they chose to tender to their private island in Harvest Caye that offers no food or do not allow you to use your beverage package (if they docked, most people would go back to ship for lunch and drinks, so your stuck paying on their property)

-they tell you it's a 5 minute tender to the island then load you on a tender that holds 500 people, so by the time you board and disembark, you've wasted half hour or more (and once on the tender the first thing you hear is a request for a tip)

 

I saw in another post that the pier was damaged so they had to tender. And of course the tender takes longer than the travel time. 5 minutes is the actual transit time, but it takes more to load and unload the tender. Which is true anytime you tender. Much like airlines tell you the flight time but that doesn't include the time to board the plane and then unboard the plane. PS if you have to tender at a port with Royal it'll be the same. 

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For me, a bad cruise experience is like child birth...with time you forget the pain and eventually do it again.  I think this holds true for those of us who say "never again" when it comes to a certain line.  I mean, if the price is right, it's easier to forget the pain of a previous experience.

 

It took a little getting used to when we first experienced NCL's drink package as we were used to Celebrity's package that includes water and specialty coffee.  We get around the water issue by bringing our own bottle that we refill from our drinking glass (not directly from the water dispenser).  As far as food goes, I always find something I like and somehow manage to pack on my "cruise weight" as a result (mostly from the alcohol).

 

I don't enjoy tendering for the reasons you describe but it comes with the territory so we just accept it.

 

For me to quit a cruise line I have to have been the recipient of some really terrible service or something pretty egregious on their part.  Guess we are fortunate because that hasn't happened yet.

 

Cruise on and be happy!

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Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I appreciate the comments and information. I did not know about the dock problem at Harvest Caye. As far as the drink package, we had the beverage package included but my beef was that with the $99 quoted value that at minimum it should include water and specialty coffees. The beverage package is less on RCCL and includes those items and you are also allowed to bring water onboard as well as 2 bottles of wine per stateroom at no charge. I'm not saying that we will never cruise NCL again but we will definitely be looking at other options. We enjoyed our cruise but there are options. Thanks again for your feedback.

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"-the specialty restaurants were excellent but the up charges were excessive (it was emphasized by our waitress at Le Bistro that you only get one appetizer, one entree and one desert. So when I asked about ordering the soup and a salad, she told me their would be an up charge)"

 

Were you using Platinum vouchers? If so that restriction, while tacky, does comply with their T&C's. 

 

If you used the Dining Package, that absolutely is wrong. The only restriction is on one entree. Otherwise you can order as many apps/soups as you want, and if a waiter disagrees with you ask to speak to the manager immediately. NCL has got to get this straightened out once and for all. I have a feeling they know guests are being given incorrect info, but would rather take the savings from pax either too timid or ignorant to push back. 

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1 minute ago, cvil88 said:

We had 4 perks including the dining package. She was insistent that only one app, entree and desert.

She's absolutely wrong about that. If you sail NCL again and another waiter gives you that line, inform them that's not what the Dining Package T&C states and that if he/she is going to insist on applying restrictions that are totally inapplicable you need to talk their supervisor. If the supervisor digs in say NCL's arbitrary creation and application of restrictions on dining package guests that aren't stated anywhere in the T&C is a longstanding, tacky and inappropriate process, and that your next call will be to the General Manager. 

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