NCL nickel and diming you to dealth

I have sailed on NCL 3 times and have been told that they nickle and dime you to death, but I have no other cruise line to compare it with. Is this true. I am going on Princess Cruises in November and then Carnival and NCL in Feb., and will be able to see then, but I would like to hear other peoples opinions and input.:confused:

I've been on quite a few cruise lines and the ALL are looking for the extra revenue!

I think you're going to need to make up your own mind from your experiences on the other cruiselines, but no, I don't think it is true that NCL has more charges than other lines.

I was on the Gem in June and didn't find that to be the case.Whenever I booked specialty dinners at 6 they gave us a free bottle of wine.Pretty good wine too.

The only thing irksome was how much more Bingo was than on Carnival,and the prizes were nothing to write home about,although ONE person won a cruise.

If shopping on board is your thing you will get a lot of come-ons and in the art gallery as well---No matter,any day cruising is better than being at work! Enjoy your trip !

All the cruiselines try to sell extras...they are in business to make a profit. A polite no thank you works well for me on any line. Some lines make more overhead announcements than others. Some pool or bar waitstaff are louder or pushier than others, but all want to sell drinks. Pretty much all lines have specialty restaurants, though NCL has more than most...Is that nickel and diming or giving customers choices? Eye of the beholder.

Since you are still alive after your last cruise I would say it wasn't true :rolleyes:. I would imagine that they all try to sell you extra things because that is where they make a lot of their profit. It is your choice on whether you buy it or not. On my two NCL cruises I wasn't hassled to buy anything. Maybe asked several times to buy drinks when out by the pool but a simple no sends them away.

The cruise industry is a business and therefore in it to make money.

You can choose to purchase whatever you want and you can decide if its worth the money.

You can also cruise and pay for no extra's other than the DSC. you can walk around the ports and not spend a dime if you so choose. Nobody is twisting your arm.

My cruise experiences before sailing on Ncl Jade last month were only with Costa cruises,and I can tell you that on Costa ship it's hard to find free water at the restaurant,you are supposed to buy bottled water...this is just a small thing,but when you sail on Ncl ships (just like every other ship)nobody says you "must" play bingo,or have a massage at the spa,or drink expensive wines...if you want to,you can do it but if you are a budget traveller you just can leave the ship with no bill to pay,except,the daily service charge,of course...you will see fantastic shows,listen to music,dance,you will eat,drink water or juices (at the buffet for breakfast)and it will all be included in your cruise fare...;)

I have sailed on NCL 3 times and have been told that they nickle and dime you to death, but I have no other cruise line to compare it with. Is this true. I am going on Princess Cruises in November and then Carnival and NCL in Feb., and will be able to see then, but I would like to hear other peoples opinions and input.:confused:

Well, you have sailed NCL three times. Did they nickel and dime you? All the lines do it to some extent. Your the one deciding on what you are spending your money on. :)

No, it is not true.

People are like parrots. They hear the phrase "nickel and diming" associated with NCL and they repeat it. It is not true !!!

I have sailed on many of the mainstream cruise lines, and have not been pressed to buy anything I didn't want. All have items for sale, and all make announcements.

On NCL, if you are in your cabin, you must open the door or turn the TV onto a specific channel to hear the announcements. This is another complaint that has been exaggerated by those who need to disparage NCL for some reason.

I have sailed on NCL 3 times and have been told that they nickle and dime you to death, but I have no other cruise line to compare it with. Is this true. I am going on Princess Cruises in November and then Carnival and NCL in Feb., and will be able to see then, but I would like to hear other peoples opinions and input.:confused:

You'll find that you'll be charged for the same extras on most any cruiseline. Some say bingo is more expensive on NCL (wouldn't know since I don't play bingo onboard) but no one is forcing anyone to play. Some complain that the surcharge for specialty restaurants is a form of "nickle and diming" but I see it as having choices. Someone once said to me after being charged for a yoga class on NCL, that she hadn't paid for one on any other line. I thought to myself....you paid for it, and so did everyone else, even if they didn't take the class. I think cruiselines are doing what they can to keep fares low, so charging extra for things that only some people take advantage of is one way to do it.

No they don't! Opportunity to spend your money is certainly there if you wish to do so. Announcements and occasional encouragements by staff keep you aware of what extra is available on the ship. Advertisements are left in your cabin each day along with the Freestyle Daily. But it ends there. Nobody follows you around, there is absolutely no pressure to do anything you don't wish to do. I look at the announcement and such as a plus. They keep me informed and then I can make my own decisions.

I agree that NCL doesn't have any more additional charges than other mainstream cruiselines. We've cruised NCL, HAL, Carnival, Celebrity and RCCL. All try to sell you something. That's where they get their revenue. NCL may have more pay specialty restaurants but we have never felt that we had to spend the extra money to dine in any of them. We always found the main dining room food to be quite good. Was it always great? No, but we have had poor food on all of the cruiselines. And all of the cruiselines we have been on have charged for extra classes in the gym. You are only "nickeled and dimed" if you choose to spend money on all of the extras. We have always been able to keep our on board spending to a minimum when we cruise. No need to spend big bucks if you don't want to.

I think some people consider it being nickeled and dimed if there's a charge for anything once they're on board. Some people complain that the food in the dining rooms is inedible, forcing them to pay extra to eat, so they're being nickeled and dimed. Some complain that the daily service charge is nickel and diming them, although pretty much all the lines charge that now. Fact of the matter, some people don't want to pay for anything and some just want something to complain about.

No more than on RCI or Princess.

This is the topic you chose for your first post and your first thread? Wow! :eek:

Can someone give me a........wait for it.........wait for it.......... (sotto voice): troll!

Don't fall for it people this is nothing but a pot-stirrer.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

thank you everyone for you comments. I really didn't think this to be true, but wanted others opinions as I have not yet sailed with any other cruise line and I couldn't say this was not true when I was told that NCL nickel and dime you. Like I had said, I was on 3 NCL cruises and only bought what I wanted to buy as some of you have mentioned.

I love NCL and will continue to sail with them. I can not wait to get on board the Breakaway someday.

I have sailed on NCL 3 times and have been told that they nickle and dime you to death, but I have no other cruise line to compare it with. Is this true. I am going on Princess Cruises in November and then Carnival and NCL in Feb., and will be able to see then, but I would like to hear other peoples opinions and input.:confused:

I've cruised on NCL, Princess, Carnival, and RCI so far and they ALL charge extra for virtually the same things. Some people call that nickel and diming you, and others just realize that it is part of mainstream cruising in recent years.

You won't be pressured on any cruise line to purchase or buy anything. Will they approach you to take pictures? Yes. Do you have any obligation to buy them or even to take them? No. Same for everything else. It may be offered to you, but a simple "no thank you" will suffice if you are not interested.

Every single mainstream cruise line does this. Different people just perceive it differently.

Sorry 2 in Tul, I didn't realize there were only certain questions you could ask for your first question.

So sorry to bother you. Maybe next time a simple yes or no would do fine, instead of insulting me.

thank you very much, that is what I thought to, but just thought I would ask.

Sorry I didn't realize there were only certain questions you could ask for your first question.

So sorry to bother you. Maybe next time a simple yes or no would do fine, instead of insulting me.

Ignore those ugly comments. You will soon learn that there are a few posters that just love to flex their imaginary muscles on the boards. You'll find that there are many many more helpful people here to help you. Don't let the few negative ones discourage you from your research.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We were told this on our first cruise but after cruising on Royal Carribean I know now that that's not true. royal Carribean were terrible. We had only cruised Disney before our NCL cruise and they did not nickel and dime so when we read NCL did that we were worried, we need not have been apart from add the gratuitys onto your account which we were happy to pay for the great service we got we never found them to be.

Unless you sail on a premium cruise line that includes beer, wine and excursions in your cruise fare, every cruise line "nickles and dimes". You will find the same thing on Princess.

And you are only "nickle and dimed" to the extent you allow yourself to be by purchasing extras. We don't buy photos, don't drink much, don't need premium coffee, are happy with iced tea, can be happy with ice cream in the buffet, usually book our own excursions - and we can walk off the ship with little more than paying for our gratuities.

Thank you Tralynn,

Much appreciated.