Local paper Travel Section snubs NCL

[KeystoneCruiser]

The Sunday Travel section of our local paper today was devoted to cruising and cruise lines. NCL was hardly mentioned at all.:mad:

 

They did a big article and talked about the different cruise lines. There was a VERY large section on Carnival and another large section on Celebrity and smaller sections on HAL, RCCL, Princess and Cunard, but nothing on NCL!!!

 

Another article further on in the section was a brief synopsis of each line along with contact information. NCL was included in this section. Each line had a little blub about where they sailed, their webpage and phone numbers and then they had the statement: "This line is best suited for:" For NCL, the paper said: "for those who dislike the traditional cruise way and those looking for a cheap cruise." Then in the next sentence they clarified the "cheap cruise" line to explain that they meant that NCL's popularity and more varied ports of call are allowing NCL to keep prices down. (sure, lets say that in the second sentence after many people have stopped reading!!)

 

I got the instinct impression from the section that they were trying to steer people away from NCL. Carnival was featured prominently throughout the sectiona and they tried to portray Carnival as now "shedding their college kid image" in favor of a more "older adult crowd."

 

I hate biased newspaper reporting!!! Thanks for letting me vent!:)

[Catbiri2]

I hate biased newspaper reporting!!! Thanks for letting me vent!:)

 

*GRIN* Like we had a choice *GRIN* :D

 

I got the instinct impression from the section that they were trying to steer people away from NCL. Carnival was featured prominently throughout the sectiona and they tried to portray Carnival as now "shedding their college kid image" in favor of a more "older adult crowd."

 

Wonder if it was "paid" advertising? *shrug*

 

Yes, I too hate when papers are biased.

[mbisson]

I don't worry about things like this. I know what I'm after and the heck with what others think of it. Beside, a fantastic review might attract loads of new cruisers & the prices could climb ;)

 

-Monte

[1sttimecruiserlady]

I don't think what they did was right but I do wonder as a first time cruiser. Why don't they advertise on Television here in New York and if they do why do they do it later in the warmer weather?. I see many other commercials on Celebrity Carnival ect... I was told about the Dawn by a friend of mine but decided to go with the Spirit instead.

 

 

Leaving from New York on July16th

going to Port Caneveral, The Bahamas

and Great Stirrup Cay... I can't wait!

[newmexicoNita]

I have learned to look at where the articles actually come from: many are not written by the newspaper but are AP stories or something similar and yes, they are biased but I don't let it bother me too much; I don't like any form of media that is biased yet I am a big supporter of a TV channel that is said to be very biased; I call it "fair and balanced" LOL

[charlie44oscar]

Hi - sailed the Norwegian Star in Dec 01 and it was the worst cruise we have ever been on. I mailed a 5 page letter to the President of NCL and got very little response in return. This ship was brand new. Will never sail NCL again. Our favs are Holland America and Princess.

 

D and D

[MA 2 VA]

Hi - sailed the Norwegian Star in Dec 01 and it was the worst cruise we have ever been on. I mailed a 5 page letter to the President of NCL and got very little response in return. This ship was brand new. Will never sail NCL again. Our favs are Holland America and Princess.

 

D and D

 

That was over 4 years ago. What is the relevance of your post to this topic.:confused: Every cruiseline has had someone experience a bad cruise. I'm sorry you had a bad cruise.

[4merlurker]

Hi - sailed the Norwegian Star in Dec 01 and it was the worst cruise we have ever been on. I mailed a 5 page letter to the President of NCL and got very little response in return. This ship was brand new. Will never sail NCL again. Our favs are Holland America and Princess.

 

D and D

 

 

so.................what are you doing here, on the NCL board? :confused: :rolleyes:

[mbisson]

Will never sail NCL again. Our favs are Holland America and Princess.

 

D and D

 

good for you. ;)

 

-Monte

[newmexicoNita]

Hi - sailed the Norwegian Star in Dec 01 and it was the worst cruise we have ever been on. I mailed a 5 page letter to the President of NCL and got very little response in return. This ship was brand new. Will never sail NCL again. Our favs are Holland America and Princess.

 

D and D

I can guarantee you, a 5 page letter would get little if any response. A simple, this is why we were unhappy letter, maybe one or two pages with some praise in it for something will get you a lot farther. Anyone who could find so much to gripe about that it would take 5 pages wouldn't cruise that line again anyway, not to mention anyone that judges a ship when it is that new isn't be objective especially when the Star was the first ship to introduce total Freestyle. I find it amazing you would just happen to wander over to this board. I see you have posted a total of 7 times and this is your only one regarding NCL. Were you trying to make some kind of a point? If so, I certainly didn't get it. NMnita

[mbisson]

first ship to introduce total Freestyle. NMnita

 

Maybe that was the problem. Not everyone enjoys freestyle.

 

just guessing

-Monte

[logcabin]

I work in an industry that has several of it's own publications, etc. What I have found is that the "regular advertisers" and those who place "the most and largest ads" clearly get more editorial space then those who don't. NCL really dosen't advertise much in papers. They don't need to. Thus, they get the least editorial space. Basically, those companies who spend more in ads get greater coverage. It has nothing to do with quality, reputaion, etc.

[newmexicoNita]

I work in an industry that has several of it's own publications, etc. What I have found is that the "regular advertisers" and those who place "the most and largest ads" clearly get more editorial space then those who don't. NCL really dosen't advertise much in papers. They don't need to. Thus, they get the least editorial space. Basically, those companies who spend more in ads get greater coverage. It has nothing to do with quality, reputaion, etc.

I think you are so right, I know you are: DH is a retired PR and newspaper guy as well as being a political appointee back in the 80s.

 

NMnita

[smeyer418]

The Sunday Travel section of our local paper today was devoted to cruising and cruise lines. NCL was hardly mentioned at all.:mad:

 

They did a big article and talked about the different cruise lines. There was a VERY large section on Carnival and another large section on Celebrity and smaller sections on HAL, RCCL, Princess and Cunard, but nothing on NCL!!!

 

Another article further on in the section was a brief synopsis of each line along with contact information. NCL was included in this section. Each line had a little blub about where they sailed, their webpage and phone numbers and then they had the statement: "This line is best suited for:" For NCL, the paper said: "for those who dislike the traditional cruise way and those looking for a cheap cruise." Then in the next sentence they clarified the "cheap cruise" line to explain that they meant that NCL's popularity and more varied ports of call are allowing NCL to keep prices down. (sure, lets say that in the second sentence after many people have stopped reading!!)

 

I got the instinct impression from the section that they were trying to steer people away from NCL. Carnival was featured prominently throughout the sectiona and they tried to portray Carnival as now "shedding their college kid image" in favor of a more "older adult crowd."

 

I hate biased newspaper reporting!!! Thanks for letting me vent!:)

 

What newspaper? Where are you?

[Host CMLA]

A few months ago the Travel section of the Denver Post dedicated the entire front cover story and several stories inside to NCL and the new Hawaii cruises. It's a package deal usually. I buy media for a living and this is my experience. If I have a client that wants to buy ad space in a publication, the publication usually tries to sweeten the pot in order to get me to buy more weeks/months of advertising. It's called added value. The publication will give me coverage on their web site or the cover story in the employment section or business section depending on the client. They'll throw in an extra day's run or even give me so many inches of ad space for free. It's added value that adds frequency to how many people will see it. I don't necessarily think NCL was snubbed. NCL might not have bought into the story with advertising dollars. But I can see how it would seem odd that NCL wasn't included.

[KeystoneCruiser]

I work in an industry that has several of it's own publications, etc. What I have found is that the "regular advertisers" and those who place "the most and largest ads" clearly get more editorial space then those who don't. NCL really dosen't advertise much in papers. They don't need to. Thus, they get the least editorial space. Basically, those companies who spend more in ads get greater coverage. It has nothing to do with quality, reputaion, etc.

 

I agree with you, but in our community we have a large, major TA that heavily promotes NCL in that paper. Every week, there are several ads with the NCL logo promoting their cruises and offering deals. The articles carried no by-line so I'm not sure if they were local articles or national. This Travel section is a weekly feature and usually has many great articles on travel.

 

Smeyer: I wasn't sure of the board rules on posting the name of a newspaper on these boards.

 

Finally, I just needed to vent about that section. I am personally very fond of NCL and always try to support them. Yes, they have some shortcomings, (customer service for example), but all lines and compaines have some problems. The Freestyle concept is a wonderful idea and I think you will see more lines adopting something similar in the future.

[smeyer418]

I agree with you, but in our community we have a large, major TA that heavily promotes NCL in that paper. Every week, there are several ads with the NCL logo promoting their cruises and offering deals. The articles carried no by-line so I'm not sure if they were local articles or national. This Travel section is a weekly feature and usually has many great articles on travel.

 

Smeyer: I wasn't sure of the board rules on posting the name of a newspaper on these boards.

 

Finally, I just needed to vent about that section. I am personally very fond of NCL and always try to support them. Yes, they have some shortcomings, (customer service for example), but all lines and compaines have some problems. The Freestyle concept is a wonderful idea and I think you will see more lines adopting something similar in the future.

 

Those adds are called co-op adds and most times the cruise line kicks in part of the money. You can post the name of the newspaper it doesn't violate any CC rule. Many people for some reason have a bias against NCL. Don't know why...they just do...just like some people hate Detroit...

[Diana68]

Hey....what's wrong with Detroit???

We did ok with the Super Bowl.....

[smeyer418]

Hey....what's wrong with Detroit???

We did ok with the Super Bowl.....

 

I was kidding. The OP is obviously from PA....

[Diana68]

Ok.....you're forgiven.:D

[jeffs55]

This was a strange thread. From folks on a rough voyage on the Dawn to

Faux News!

Anyways I like to vary my cruise experiences (I'll be on the Dawn Sept 9)

As I mentioned in another thread I've yet to meet a ship I didn't like!

Jeff (Who shoveled snow all day right outside NYC!)

[tootall]

After being on two NCL cruises, most recently POAM, I don't think the paper is being unfair, just honest. NCL is not a premiere cruise line anymore, especially with the addition of POAM and POH

[NYHartChapp]

This was a strange thread. From folks on a rough voyage on the Dawn to

Faux News!

Anyways I like to vary my cruise experiences (I'll be on the Dawn Sept 9)

As I mentioned in another thread I've yet to meet a ship I didn't like!

Jeff (Who shoveled snow all day right outside NYC!)

 

 

"Faux News" :confused:

[KroozNut]

I just received my new edition of Conde Nast Traveler, and they ran a feature story about reader's picks for best cruises and cruiselines; broken down into small, medium and large ship categories.

 

I was disappointed to see that NCL did not even make the cut in the large ship category, for any of the different areas rated such as value, service, food etc. Not surprisingly, the large ship 'mass market' category cruiseline high ratings were dominated by X, Princess and HAL.

 

Worst of all is that NCL was not mentioned anywhere in the story, not even recognized as a cruise vacation provider in the industry...nothing....zilch..!

 

Very discouraging!

[SAYHEYRENEE]

The Sunday Travel section of our local paper today was devoted to cruising and cruise lines. NCL was hardly mentioned at all.:mad:

 

 

I hate biased newspaper reporting!!! Thanks for letting me vent!:)

 

From your name "Keystone Cruiser" I take it your from Pennylvania, Philadelphia perhaps. You must be talking about the Philadelphia Inquier. The most biased and one sided newspaper. I thought they were suppose to report news not opinions.

 

Trying NCL this May on a one nighter. Can't wait. Let the planning begin-lots to do in 22 hours!