Whatever happened to the upgrades to NCL's Latitudes program ?

[newmexicoNita]

You said that I was basing my information on something a cruise company writes about. Where does it say in my post that my information came from a cruise company? I'll say again that I got the information from a well known website travel agency that only sells cruises. They are in a successful business for over 14 years. (They're also one of the largest sellers of cruises in the USA). They know what they're talking about when it comes to star ratings of ships and the classification of cruise line classes from Luxury, Deluxe, Premium or Budget. The information did not come from a cruise company.

 

And they are not alone. Like you, I can't mention the name &/or address of that travel company, but anyone can do an internet search & find that there are many, many other cruise travel sites who specialize only in cruise vacations. Almost every one of them lists the classes of the cruise lines as well as the star ratings of their ships. There are also many popular travel magazines that conduct surveys of cruise lines and their ships, questioning previous cruisers, gathering recent experiences, and using their answers to put out a yearly cruise line review. (I can think of 5 such surveys and one popular book that uses the Class & Star Rating System)....So, again, I am not getting this information from a cruise company.

 

You certainly have a right to your opinion and I respect that. However, you're opinion is the complete opposite of virtually every other website and travel magazine survey when it comes to the Premium Class of ships, specifically RCI & Princess. And stating that Celebrity & HAL are Premium Class, but only borderline Premium, and basing your statement on comments from other cruisers, is also the complete opposite of virtually every other cruise travel website or magazine survey.

 

In conclusion, you still have not answered the three questions I had previously asked you. Please tell me, if you believe that RCI and Princess are not Premium Class lines, what classification would you or your travel company tell a potential customer that they are?

 

And if HAL & Celebrity are borderline Premium, what classification do you or your travel company think they will fall to if they continue their decline?

 

And, finally, what is the classification of NCL & CCL.

If i didn't know better I would think you are referring to the company I represent but we do not use the same catagories you are referring to: certainly Princess and RCI are not listed as primium lines and yes, you are basing your opinions on a travel agency, you said that: Quote: website travel agency: what did you mean? You can give the name: I can not as I am not allowed by CC rules to mention who I work for. Normally cruise lines are rated at: Luxury, primium, and mass marketed. This is where Princess, RCI, Carnival< Costa and NCL fall in. For whatever reason you obviously do not like NCL, that is your choice, I assume you have cruised them, if not, it is sad you would rate them, based on something that is opinion only. I am not basing my classifications on my company, but on many other resources. no,travel magazines do not rate lines the way you are rating them, other than perhaps those who depend on advertisng as their quidelines.

 

I am through with this subject for the time being, you really don't have your facts 100% in line. There is no reason to discuss this any further.

 

Nita

[Ralphinsc]

Ralphinsc

 

To begin with, I've sailed the Sun twice, and Norway, Spirit & Majesty so I'm not inferring you or anyone else is a filthy budget traveler.

 

There are travel sites all over the web. You don't have to believe them if you don't want to. However, I've been on enough other lines and do have a comparison to both ends of the spectrum....(excluding the Luxury and Deluxe end). Based on those other lines & ships, and the cruise reports indicated on CC as well as other sites, and travel magazines, and posts, and complaints, and company policies, and company responses, etc., etc., believe me, there are Budget Classes of cruise lines. I didn't coin that phrase. It's out there.

 

I sail NCL and just gave final payment last week for a November trip. I know it's a Budget Class line. I'm not afraid to admit it. Apparently you don't like reading about it. When I need a better experience and can afford it, I go to Celebrity..or Holland or Royal or Princess. I admit it and there is no other way to put it. When I can't afford it, it's NCL or CCL. There are more plusses to the higher-end lines, usually better at everything....there are more minuses to the lower end lines....usually lesser at everything. Sorry about that fact of life.

 

So, why is that or anything else I said slanderous? I'm not trying to educate anyone. But it isn't right for a novice to come onto this site receiving false or misleading information from a lover of NCL or any other line. There should be two sides to a story and there usually is.

 

It's too bad that you are apparently the type who believes the travel websites & high-end travel magazines are bought by cruise lines & base their cruise line & ship ratings on advertising dollars and payoffs.

 

It also isn't right for a novice of this site to come here and read what your opinion is based on some other site. If they wanted that opinion, I'm sure the search engine is out there and adequate enough to support their quest.

 

And I'm sorry that you are apparently the type that is so deftly sucked into believing the review of a cruise magazine or website that sits right next to a large banner or two page ad prompting the same product that they declare is "best".

 

I'm also sorry that you came on here and your first six posts were all a repeat of the same degrading, pointed, and ill-willed rant.

 

And I'm also sorry that you have finally decided to register for this site after so many cruises across so many varied lines. It must be really hard to find this place on the search engines of the discerning traveler looking for high-end travel review websites, especially those specializing in cruises. Glad you could join us. :rolleyes:

 

and I also apologize for calling you out after those first four agenda-laced posts that have you obviously trying to backtrack your position so you can continue to spill your disparaging remarks further and avoid the "troll" label that you worked so hard to earn with those first four post.

 

And I also apologize frankly for apologizing so much.

[alikaalex]

FWIW, regarding classes of cruise lines, "deluxe" is a relatively new one. In his March 2008 review of Azamara for Cruise Critic, Steve Faber notes, "Azamara is billed as a 'deluxe' cruise line (typically, cruise fleets are described as bargain, mass-market, premium or luxury; deluxe fits in between premium and luxury)." (see http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=104)

 

I've only been on one RCI cruise and can already agree with the others on this thread that RCI, while a decent cruise line to be sure, is not generally considered to be a premium, deluxe, or luxury line. I do consider RCI to be nicer than Carnival, but then I'm not a big Carnival fan, so I might be biased. From having read and posted on these boards for the past three years, however, I have observed that RCI, Carnival, and NCL all seem to compete with each other for their share of the budget and mass-market cruise segments. HAL, Princess, and Celebrity all seem to fall within the premium category (for now).

[AFT_LOVER]

is one that all staterooms are suites with butlers & concierges. Drinks are included for the $5000 PP you paid. Some even include air & excursions. NCL is giving that option to folks with their new Courtyard Villa gives folks that Premium touch. They paid for the extras that they get, so I agree with many who have to be in one and love the no hassle meals for free, cappucino machines, internet, private pool & meals on their veranda.

 

 

You said that I was basing my information on something a cruise company writes about. Where does it say in my post that my information came from a cruise company? I'll say again that I got the information from a well known website travel agency that only sells cruises. They are in a successful business for over 14 years. (They're also one of the largest sellers of cruises in the USA). They know what they're talking about when it comes to star ratings of ships and the classification of cruise line classes from Luxury, Deluxe, Premium or Budget. The information did not come from a cruise company.

 

And they are not alone. Like you, I can't mention the name &/or address of that travel company, but anyone can do an internet search & find that there are many, many other cruise travel sites who specialize only in cruise vacations. Almost every one of them lists the classes of the cruise lines as well as the star ratings of their ships. There are also many popular travel magazines that conduct surveys of cruise lines and their ships, questioning previous cruisers, gathering recent experiences, and using their answers to put out a yearly cruise line review. (I can think of 5 such surveys and one popular book that uses the Class & Star Rating System)....So, again, I am not getting this information from a cruise company.

 

You certainly have a right to your opinion and I respect that. However, you're opinion is the complete opposite of virtually every other website and travel magazine survey when it comes to the Premium Class of ships, specifically RCI & Princess. And stating that Celebrity & HAL are Premium Class, but only borderline Premium, and basing your statement on comments from other cruisers, is also the complete opposite of virtually every other cruise travel website or magazine survey.

 

In conclusion, you still have not answered the three questions I had previously asked you. Please tell me, if you believe that RCI and Princess are not Premium Class lines, what classification would you or your travel company tell a potential customer that they are?

 

And if HAL & Celebrity are borderline Premium, what classification do you or your travel company think they will fall to if they continue their decline?

 

And, finally, what is the classification of NCL & CCL.

[welove2cruise232]

Ralphinsc

 

I sail NCL and just gave final payment last week for a November trip. I know it's a Budget Class line. I'm not afraid to admit it. Apparently you don't like reading about it. When I need a better experience and can afford it, I go to Celebrity..or Holland or Royal or Princess. I admit it and there is no other way to put it. When I can't afford it, it's NCL or CCL. There are more plusses to the higher-end lines, usually better at everything....there are more minuses to the lower end lines....usually lesser at everything. Sorry about that fact of life.

 

 

If NCL is a budget class line, why is it that we were able to sail on HAL TWICE in the last year for far less money than it would have cost us to sail on the Gem last winter? As a matter of fact, our TWO sailings on the Noordam were about $500 more than ONE sailing on the Gem (same category of stateroom)! Same thing this winter -- Gem is far more expensive than some of the HAL cruises we've looked at (though unfortunately HAL isn't sailing out of NYC this winter, but we have FF miles so airfare will be no cost)... Yeah, I WISH they were budget, because we'd love to sail on the Gem -- but the price is silly...:cool:

[insidecabin]

All cruise lines are budget when the price is right.

[watchdiva]

All cruise lines are budget when the price is right.

 

:) Well said!