Perhaps Carnival and other cruiselines need to see what their competitors are doing !

[Travel Angel]

I have to say that NCL is really starting to make an attempt to offer a little of everything that Celebrity and HAL are known for.... perhaps Carnival needs to look at their cruise passengers wants and needs more than just filling ships ?

 

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071219006036&newsLang=en

 

In recent months, we are seeing more clients converting to NCL than ever before for overall satisfaction from recent cruises compared to Carnival, RCI and Princess recent cruises they have experienced in recent years.

 

Not saying Carnival is a bad product, but think many will agree that changes need to be made to bring back some of the old time cruise memories regarding service and ammenities offered to their passengers. Your input of course is always welcomed :D

[jessemon]

Interesting blurb from NCL. Have cruised with them once 10 or so years ago and was not impressed.

Now though with specialty restaurants it gets my interest at times.

I have dined in supper clubs on HAL, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival and have had wonderful meals in all.

I think the one thing that would make NCL more attractive to me is a more competitive price because I would probably have most of my dinner meals in the specialty restaurants. Many of them are extra charge. I don't mind that, I would just like a little back because I would probably not dine in the main restaurant at all.

[Travel Angel]

Interesting blurb from NCL. Have cruised with them once 10 or so years ago and was not impressed.

Now though with specialty restaurants it gets my interest at times.

I have dined in supper clubs on HAL, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival and have had wonderful meals in all.

I think the one thing that would make NCL more attractive to me is a more competitive price because I would probably have most of my dinner meals in the specialty restaurants. Many of them are extra charge. I don't mind that, I would just like a little back because I would probably not dine in the main restaurant at all.

 

I think we will see more competitive prices but not as low as some I see on Carnival and RCI. What amazes me is the focus many passengers place on the "Food Topic" (not meant to flame you for your comments at all :D).....

A great dining experience is a positive for me, but not my entire focus on a cruise ship. I look at the overerall cruise experience, ambience, service, ammenities and entertainment as well. I see so many changes happening in the cruise industry and am excited to see what NCL is putting on the table for their cruisers, so to speak, regarding the overall experience on their young fleet of ships !

[woodey]

My personal opinion is they are not offering enough for the price difference, and the few things they are going to "upgrade" i am sure we will see a price increase for it...

I will stay with my low budget cruise line and enjoy the cost savings....

[jessemon]

I think we will see more competitive prices but not as low as some I see on Carnival and RCI. What amazes me is the focus many passengers place on the "Food Topic" (not meant to flame you for your comments at all :D).....

A great dining experience is a positive for me, but not my entire focus on a cruise ship. I look at the overerall cruise experience, ambience, service, ammenities and entertainment as well. I see so many changes happening in the cruise industry and am excited to see what NCL is putting on the table for their cruisers, so to speak, regarding the overall experience on their young fleet of ships !

No problem. I think you will notice from all the different cruiselines I have sailed that it is more than just about food. But it is a highlight. I am not like some folks who go to gain 20 lbs. I have a light breakfast. A normal lunch. A snack of some sort in the afternoon and then late dinner. NO midnight buffet for this kids. A cruise can be ruined by poor food. Or poor service, itin,fellow cruisers and much more. Fortunately I am more of a water off a ducks back type.

As I said about NCL, I did not care for their product 10 years ago and have not cruised with them since. It was not just the food. It was almost everything. With the addition of a good food venue though that is an inticement to me.

I'll have to keep an eye on the NCL forum to see what people are saying these days.;)

Maybe what they need to do is set up a specialty restaurant pricing that give you four or five different ones in the cruise price.....:D

[Travel Angel]

My personal opinion is they are not offering enough for the price difference, and the few things they are going to "upgrade" i am sure we will see a price increase for it...

I will stay with my low budget cruise line and enjoy the cost savings....

 

I am not saying that Carnival is LOW BUDGET cruising at all......Many have said they are willing to pay a little more if the nickel and diming would be reduced..... many have said they would pay more to achieve a better overall cruise experience i.e. dining options, ammenities, better service, etc.....

 

Will NCL fit that bill ??? Hard to say and time will tell, but the point that they are trying to do something to better enhance the overall cruise experience for their passengers speaks well for them I feel.

[Travel Angel]

No problem. I think you will notice from all the different cruiselines I have sailed that it is more than just about food. But it is a highlight. I am not like some folks who go to gain 20 lbs. I have a light breakfast. A normal lunch. A snack of some sort in the afternoon and then late dinner. NO midnight buffet for this kids. A cruise can be ruined by poor food. Or poor service, itin,fellow cruisers and much more. Fortunately I am more of a water off a ducks back type.

As I said about NCL, I did not care for their product 10 years ago and have not cruised with them since. It was not just the food. It was almost everything. With the addition of a good food venue though that is an inticement to me.

I'll have to keep an eye on the NCL forum to see what people are saying these days.;)

Maybe what they need to do is set up a specialty restaurant pricing that give you four or five different ones in the cruise price.....:D

 

Good quality dining experience including the dining room service, food prep and presentation are a key factor in cruising, I aggree ! NCL did have what I consider a less than favorable appeal to the mass cruisers in past years, but I think they finally woke up and said "Hey if we want to play with the big boys, we better get our act together and stand above them".

 

I am a believer that all cruiselines have their pros and cons thus I try to cruise as many different ships and cruiselines when possible.....

[Islandbuoy]

I believe that Carnival & others do see what others are doing--take for instance the fuel surcharge. Others that come to mind are tips added to bill and new beds w/ egyptian cotton sheete.

 

Most of what's in the NCL announcement are copied from other lines--ala Celebrity's welcome champagne.

 

We need to keep telling CCl what we like & dislike-directly!!

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

I believe that Carnival & others do see what others are doing--take for instance the fuel surcharge. Others that come to mind are tips added to bill and new beds w/ egyptian cotton sheete.

 

Most of what's in the NCL announcement are copied from other lines--ala Celebrity's welcome champagne.

 

We need to keep telling CCl what we like & dislike-directly!!

 

I absolutely agree with your last sentence.

 

Why look at other cruiselines? Why not ask your passengers what they like and dislike?

 

Instead of copying the competition why not be different and let your customers decide what they want?

 

Each cruiseline has something different to offer and each passenger has their own individual taste and thats OK.

 

Trust me if something is or isnt working, passengers (customers for any company) will let you know.

 

So yea I say never mind looking at the others. Just go direct to your customer base instead.

[Anni_M]

I'd just like to see a little price competition. In 2004 we sailed on the Victory, OV cabin, $350 per person(with tax etc....we paid around $1700). Now that same cabin is around $480. Take that times four people, and that's a pretty good hike. (I did the math, which brings that same cruise to around $2300 for our family) Then they talk fuel surcharge on top of that. I usually spend around $1,000 in the casino, and our S&S usually runs around $600. $4,000 is alot of money for a family vacation, and I didn't even include air. We're just regular folks, kids in school, own a business, middle class, and love to cruise.

Cruising still gives you a great bang for your buck, so we'll continue to cruise. I just hope it doesn't become out of our reach.

Anni

PS - We have also sailed NCL, and the best thing about the ship (although it really was gorgeous) was the indoor pool. We had loads of food options which was nice, but on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it a 7, and Carnival a 9. We ate at one of the "pay extra" restaurants, and I couldn't BELIEVE people had ranted and raved about it the way they did. Very disapointed.

[Cobra1365]

I hope they apply it to NCL America too. We sailed the Pride of America around Hawaii in Sept of 06 for our 25th.

 

Not a fan of Freestyle cruising first off. But we made the most of it. The dining experience was probably one of the worst I have had land or sea!

It's not just about the food either. Since most of us are relaxing during the day, your real opportunity to interact with the crew is during dinner. We sat down and waited a full 15 minutes just to have our glasses filled with water..and this after complaining to the Maitre'D. When we did order, the food was as tasteless as can be. One night I ordered a chicken dinner that came out as a pile of rice noodles with chicken gravey on it. I found one piece of chicken that was no kidding about an inch long. The waiter even commented..."Oh you found some chicken!". My wife and I did the specialy steakhouse one evening. The salad choice was not a normal green salad. I asked if I could get one and the waiter said "No they couldn't do that". I said "it is available in the main restaraunt why not here?" "you use the same galley!" He refused. The meal itself was less than impressive and the service was just terrible.

Our room steward we saw on the first day in the hallway and I had to ask if he was our room steward. He didn't initiate the introduction.

 

So, yes NCL will have to do something in my opinion.

 

It was an OK way to travel around the islands but that's about all I can say for it.

[Thirsty Cruiser]

... many will agree that changes need to be made to bring back some of the old time cruise memories regarding service and ammenities offered to their passengers...

 

I disagree that "many" will agree with that, especially in the context of the number of happy Carnival pax there are.

Personally, I like things the way they are. There is a reason why there are differences in the lines -- diff'rent strokes.;)

 

For those that want change there are always other options, other cruise lines.

[Djptcp]

DH and I used to love NCL -- until Freestyle came in. Tried it once and hated it. Never returned to NCL and don't intend to. We prefer traditional cruising and dining and freestyle just wasn't for us. We go on cruises to relax and not have to worry about making dinner reservations every night or waiting in lines for dinner at popular times. We felt the wait staff service in the dining rooms had greatly degraded from what we used to experience on NCL because we had a different waiter every night. We eat at restaurants alot every week at home, so for us the traditional dining experience is special and we enjoy having the same tablemates and wait staff.

 

We have seen the Carnival cruises improve since our first one in 1995 and we intend to keep on cruising with Carnival. We live in FL and drive to the ports, so we could choose just about any cruiseline. With the exception of two Holland America cruises (wonderful), we have sailed on Carnival exclusively since 2004.

 

Freestyle -- nah, not for us:eek:

[LHP]

Hopefully Carnival is listening to their loyal customer base.

 

John Heald just did a "survey" (of sorts) a couple of months ago to take with him to Miami for the "big meeting". We basically told him 3 things that we would like to see changed....and one BIG WISH if we could have anything we wanted.

 

We gave them some good ideas.

 

I think it is a balance of listening to your comment cards and keeping a finger on the pulse of your competition.

[VolzCruiser]

My personal opinion is they are not offering enough for the price difference, and the few things they are going to "upgrade" i am sure we will see a price increase for it...

 

 

I agree with Woody. The price difference doesn't really make up for added option of dinning when you want to. I also don't see anything in that list that says NCL won't be nickel and diming everyone. They aren't giving away free drinks, photo, or excursions, at most you are getting for free is some champagne. Most of these benefits are truly for the upper crust of NCL passengers with suites and villas

[DarthGrady]

I doubt seriously that NCL is going to do all those upgrades out of the goodness of their hearts. Extras cost extra, that is the one universal constant of the cruise game. As with everything in life, nothing, well almost nothing, is free. I wouldn't count NCL out, I just don't think they will ever be able to beat Carnival's awesome rates; rates that keep me coming back again and again. If you want champagne parties, porterhouse steaks, freestyle-line-waiting and fondue sprayers, then be prepared to take the ball peen to your little piggy bank.

 

---Grady

Traditional Cruiser At Large