Why Don’t You Get Additional Latitudes Perks on Extended Cruises

[gmbhardy]

Thinking of taking a 21 day Panama Canal cruise next year but wonder why you get the same perks as a seven day cruise. Just doesn’t seen fair.

[ChiefMateJRK]

Which perks?

[luv2kroooz]

They have been known to increase the laundry allotment. That was preCorona, though.

[debenson0723]

1 hour ago, luv2kroooz said:

They have been known to increase the laundry allotment. That was preCorona, though.

Also post Covid

[mking8288]

We're advised recently (Jan 2023) on the Getaway that for a 12 nights cruise, it was (is) still just 1 bag per Platinum or higher member for the duration of the cruise.  For 15 nights (maybe, it was 14 nights) - 2 bags per Platinum or higher.  YMMV.

 

Still one "carton" or two cartons of Flow Water, regardless ... and, the other "discounts" with the fine prints. 

[casofilia]

@gmbhardy

 

Which perks should be increased?   You already get more Specialty meals and more free wifi and more $50 off shorex.

[hawkeyetlse]

11 minutes ago, casofilia said:

@gmbhardy

 

Which perks should be increased?   You already get more Specialty meals and more free wifi and more $50 off shorex.

You must mean with Free At Sea, but the OP is asking about Latitudes perks (I assume Platinum and above). Officially you get the same 2 dinner vouchers per cabin no matter how long the cruise is. Officially one bag of laundry per person per cruise (but the unpublished benefit seems to be one additional bag for 14+ days, maybe another one for 21+ days). Definitely ask about that on board.

 

Also, the longer the cruise is, the more Latitudes points you get 😎

[itsnotjustme]

We are doing a back-to-back of 2 7 day cruises.  I believe our Latitudes perks will be doubled up (specialty dinners, laundry, water, dinner with officers).

 

 

[gmbhardy]

21 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

We are doing a back-to-back of 2 7 day cruises.  I believe our Latitudes perks will be doubled up (specialty dinners, laundry, water, dinner with officers).

 

 

Yes, your Latitude perks will be doubled. That’s my point. Why wouldn’t you get extra perks (we are Diamond) if you’re on for three weeks.

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

We are doing a back-to-back of 2 7 day cruises.  I believe our Latitudes perks will be doubled up (specialty dinners, laundry, water, dinner with officers).

 

 

 

8 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

Yes, your Latitude perks will be doubled. That’s my point. Why wouldn’t you get extra perks (we are Diamond) if you’re on for three weeks.

 

The perks that @itsnotjustme will receive will be "doubled" up not because they will be on board the ship for 14 days but because they are booked on a B2B -- two separate cruises. They will receive their Lats benefits for each individual cruise.

 

On longer cruises (one booking), it's up to the ship whether you get additional perks (e.g., another free bag of laundry).  There is no written NCL policy of which I'm aware that you get additional Lats perks for longer cruises just because of their length.   (Happy to be corrected if I've missed it.)

[swmichigan cruiser]

We did a 21 night cruise Panama Canal cruise in the fall on the Encore and only got the same Latitudes benefits as on a 7 night cruise and we knew that before we got on the ship. It has been our experience that doing longer cruises usually has a lower price per day compared to shorter cruises so that is a pretty big benefit to us. Just my thoughts.

[gmbhardy]

On this particular cruise, the price per day is roughly equivalent to the price per day for a seven day cruise. 

[gmbhardy]

36 minutes ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

We did a 21 night cruise Panama Canal cruise in the fall on the Encore and only got the same Latitudes benefits as on a 7 night cruise and we knew that before we got on the ship. It has been our experience that doing longer cruises usually has a lower price per day compared to shorter cruises so that is a pretty big benefit to us. Just my thoughts.

 

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

The perks that @itsnotjustme will receive will be "doubled" up not because they will be on board the ship for 14 days but because they are booked on a B2B -- two separate cruises. They will receive their Lats benefits for each individual cruise.

 

On longer cruises (one booking), it's up to the ship whether you get additional perks (e.g., another free bag of laundry).  There is no written NCL policy of which I'm aware that you get additional Lats perks for longer cruises just because of their length.   (Happy to be corrected if I've missed it.)

Yes, I fully understand that, but my point is there should be additional perks for longer cruises. Let’s say someone does a B2B2B. Assuming they are Platinum or above the cabin will be entitled to six specialty restaurant meals with three bottles of wine, six bags of laundry, three servings of chocolate covered strawberries, three wine tastings, three ship tours etc. If you book one cruise rather than three, with the same number of nights, you get 1/3 of those perks. I think that’s unfair.

[Turtles06]

15 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

Yes, I fully understand that, but my point is there should be additional perks for longer cruises.

 

I don't think anyone disagrees with you; I certainly don't.  But that's up to NCL, not what we all think is fair. 

[SeaShark]

13 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

 

Yes, I fully understand that, but my point is there should be additional perks for longer cruises. Let’s say someone does a B2B2B. Assuming they are Platinum or above the cabin will be entitled to six specialty restaurant meals with three bottles of wine, six bags of laundry, three servings of chocolate covered strawberries, three wine tastings, three ship tours etc. If you book one cruise rather than three, with the same number of nights, you get 1/3 of those perks. I think that’s unfair.

 

Interesting framing, but the perks are given out on a per cruise basis, not on a per day basis. If you want the same perks as a B2B2B, then just book that way...then it is fair.

 

Given that you get the perks for a cruise of 5 days or longer, then why not just ask for FOUR times the benefits as 4 5-day cruises is still one day less than 21?

[gmbhardy]

8 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

Interesting framing, but the perks are given out on a per cruise basis, not on a per day basis. If you want the same perks as a B2B2B, then just book that way...then it is fair.

 

Given that you get the perks for a cruise of 5 days or longer, then why not just ask for FOUR times the benefits as 4 5-day cruises is still one day less than 21?

Your response was predictable. You missed the point.

[swmichigan cruiser]

Guess it depends if the itinerary is more important to you or the Latitude's perks. If the perks are more important to you than probably you won't find to many 7 night  B2B2B Panama Canal cruises as in your original quote you mentioned you were looking at a 21 night Panama Canal cruise. We are doing three cruises on the Joy in April totaling 26 nights. Only additional perk that we will probably use is the two additional specialty dinners on the cruises. Other than that once will be enough.

[SeaShark]

16 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

Your response was predictable. You missed the point.

 

NO...I got the point. You only think its "unfair" because your argument is only meant to satisfy your need for "more". If you feel comparing three 7-day cruises to one 21-day cruise is a legitimate point, then my point of comparing 4 5-day cruises to one 21-day cruise is equally as legitimate.

 

However, if I'm off-base, then, by definition, so are you. (Which is MY point).

[lambs2]

We just about always book B2B sailings separately. The trade-off for us is that we almost always have to change cabins on the turn-over days.  Further complication is that when we bid to upgrade and it is approved, in our considerable experience,  it is always just for 1 of the legs so have to change cabins and usually floors and/or sides of the ship. No biggee for us as we always book some kind of shore excursion on turn-around days, pack our "stacks" and drawer items in our suitcases the night before and leave suitcases in the closet area, then all our hanging clothes are transferred to our new cabin while we are on tour.  The double perks are definitely worth it for us and more times than not, booking as two (or more) separate sailings costs LESS.

Edited March 24, 2023 by lambs2

[gmbhardy]

16 minutes ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

Guess it depends if the itinerary is more important to you or the Latitude's perks. If the perks are more important to you than probably you won't find to many 7 night  B2B2B Panama Canal cruises as in your original quote you mentioned you were looking at a 21 night Panama Canal cruise. We are doing three cruises on the Joy in April totaling 26 nights. Only additional perk that we will probably use is the two additional specialty dinners on the cruises. Other than that once will be enough.

I’m on the Joy in three weeks for the 12 day Southern Caribbean cruise. Maybe we can meet for a drink and discuss the topic further, lol.

[swmichigan cruiser]

23 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

I’m on the Joy in three weeks for the 12 day Southern Caribbean cruise. Maybe we can meet for a drink and discuss the topic further, lol.

I always like having discussions. If you go to the meet and greet I might be there.

[UKstages]

if you are a casino guest and an elite player, part of your perks include OBC.

 

when you do a B2B, you will "double dip" and get a second allowance of OBC (amount varies based on status), so definitely a high value perk.

[The Traveling Man]

Years ago NCL would offer some itineraries as either a series of several separate cruises or as a single long cruise.  If you planned on being on board for the duration, you had the choice of booking it either as one long cruise or several segments.  We always chose to book as several separate B2B cruises so we would get our Latitudes benefits on each segment.  As I understand it, NCL still does offer some cruises differently in different markets.  You may be able to book it as a 21 day cruise if you book through NCL's UK office, for example, while in the US the same itinerary would only be available as three seven day cruises B2B2B.  I think I recall @casofilia reporting some difficulties with this when he booked a cruise through the NCL New Zealand office a few years ago.  They offered him one long  cruise on the Spirit which those of us in the US had booked as two or three separate cruises.  He not only came up short on Latitudes perks vis-a-vis other passengers, but also had some troubles with refunds when COVID cancelled the last legs of the cruise.  Mike, could you comment on this?

[gmbhardy]

1 hour ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

I always like having discussions. If you go to the meet and greet I might be there.

I haven’t registered for it yet,  but I will now. See you there. I’ll be wearing a Buffalo Sabres shirt (please no disparaging comments, it’s really hard being a Sabres fan).

[julig22]

18 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

Thinking of taking a 21 day Panama Canal cruise next year but wonder why you get the same perks as a seven day cruise. Just doesn’t seen fair.

On the other side, the shareholder benefit does increase for a longer cruise.  $250 for over 14 days, would only be $100 + $100 for B2B