GA Dave

To my understanding, NCL and MSC are the only ones that offer the true ship within a ship experience within the mass cruise line market.  The high end market offers Haven-like amenities, but to the entire ship and at a much higher cost.

14 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

Why would you be selling a room at a loss? The only loss is to sail with an empty room regardless of the guests onboard spend.

 

Choice 1: sell the insides at a discount last minute and make something.

Choice 2: sail with empty insides and make nothing.

I understand the logic.  There is a certain price point where it is more profitable to sail with an open cabin then to sell it for so cheap that they cannot cover the cost of the food, service, etc. that the people will consume.

Example of current mindset.

11 minutes ago, Fartlek said:

I don’t disagree that that is selfish/ entitled but removing someone stuff is absolutely not acceptable. Kind of like road rage - you might be mad at some terrible driving but you don’t have the right to take revenge. I understand people don’t like chair hogs  but the chair hog police that think the have the right to move other people’s property are in my opinion looking for trouble.  

There are many social scientists that have named this the "ME generation".  They are not referring to a specific age group or specific groups of people, just the (unfortunately) general majority.  The ME generation is only focused on themselves and their own wants and needs, and has no care for how their actions impact their neighbors, friends, family, and the general public at large.  Good examples include those who cut lines everywhere, those who push up to the very end of a closed lane on a road while others wait in the line of traffic, and even chair hogs.  The reactions by those impacted by these type of actions are usually also guided by a ME impulse:  "I just waited in this traffic for 20 minutes and now he thinks he is going to cut in front of me????"  That is why people get angry at chair hogs, because it does impact their enjoyment.  Selfish acts breed selfish responses.

2 minutes ago, hamrag said:

With an upcharge for your convenience.

At Universal, they are free for the first hour.  Normally enough time to ride the attraction and then pick up your stuff.  After that, they charge you by the hour.

Just now, sns1009 said:

I wish NCL had hooks around the back of the pool area for your bags/towels.  When we go to the pool it's to be in it or play on the waterslides.  We don't need a chair but it would be nice to have a spot to leave towels, sunscreen and such.  We never know where to leave our stuff.

They could be like the themeparks and add lockers.  Works for the extreme rides at Universal.

Personally, I like the idea of charging for them.  Put a parking meter on each lounger that you have to feed quarters into.  Once your time expires, the lounger "pops" and any stuff left on it gets thrown off.

🤣

8 hours ago, angalyse said:

SLOWING ECONOMY?   .....  Im from the northeast , we are booming here.   Can that be the issue as well.

It is booming here too at the present time.  However, all forward-looking metrics point to a slower 2020 than the previous 3-4 years, with the US GDP dropping to a 2.0% increase.  Just the Boeing MAX fiasco alone has been estimated to have a -0.5% impact on the US GDP for 2020.  And now the markets worldwide are all reacting negatively to the pandemic potential from the Coronavirus in China.  Yet Disney and Universal are still building like mad, MSC just announced six more mega-ship orders on top of the six they already had on order, and all of the RCCL and Carnival shops on order are mega-ships as well.  Sooner or later, the supply-vs-demand will tilt the other way.  I predict it will be sooner than these companies can react, which will result in a bunch of empty rooms/cabins.

Another thing that may cause NCL's pricing to soften:

MSC Growth

There are cracks starting to appear in the vacation market.  Both Disney and Universal just started advertising big cuts in prices over the last two weeks for their theme park hotels and packages.  Over this past summer, rates at even WDW's "Value" resorts were spiking over $200/night.  People were reporting ridiculous lines and crowds that created gridlock within the parks and at the resorts' amenities.  Now, both Disney and Universal are advertising prices back around $79/night for their value resorts, with minimal restrictions.  I think the main reason for this is that all of the themeparks have overbuilt on hotels for a slowing economy.  And, IMHO, the same will happen with the cruise lines over the next 12-18 months as all these new ships come on line with no retirements from the older portion of the fleet.  The supply will outstrip the demand and prices will drop to more reasonable levels.

We upgraded from a mini-suite to a Haven Penthouse Suite on the Getaway well after final payment for less than $800 total after a massive price drop for those cabins.  Since it was a direct upgrade, we also received all of the "perks" offered with the Haven cabin, whereas we had only received the beverage and dining packages with our mini-suite.  We also received additional non-refundable OBC.

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Well, it looked like the decision had been made for me, as for the past two days studios had been showing as sold out on the sailing before my family cruise. Once it was showing as sold out, I was feeling pretty down about not having booked when I had the chance. Just now, though, one Studio on Deck 10 became available. It's pretty much the least desirable location, but I went ahead and put a 24 hour hold on it. Now I need to decide in the next 24 hours whether I want to call my PCC to book it for real....

Unless the location you mention above will prevent you from sleeping, I would say go for it.  I would love to have the opportunity some day to do a B2B.  I think if I stayed in a studio, the only thing I would do there is shower and sleep, so the location would not really matter to me.

8 minutes ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

Hello Nebr.cruiser,

HAL has smaller ships & great itineraries so it is why we cruised mostly with them.  Their entertainment is terrible but I am not an evening person and need my rest for the next port of calls.  But now I have to say Norwegian is really stepping up to the plate with great itineraries.  We usually do B2B (2x 14 days) and the itineraries are extremely important to us.  Norwegian has great value like HAL.

 

We are allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine/person on HAL on embarkation day.  Is it the same with NCL?

 

Thank you

 

The Canadians!😎

NCL charges a corkage fee of $15/bottle for wine brought on board, regardless of where you drink it (i.e., restaurant, your cabin).  They do this at check in before you board.  If you put it in your checked luggage, you run the risk of them putting your luggage in the "naughty" room and you have to go to the Customer Service area to get it back.  No other beverages are allowed to be brought on board, including bottled water.

For the people that think that making dining and show reservations in advance on NCL is a PITA, try going to WDW.  If you do not get Fastpasses for the major attractions within a few hours of the reservation window opening (For WDW hotel guests, I think it is 60 days out??), you can forget about it.  I know because we met my DD there last September for a day.  She was staying in one of the Deluxe resorts, and was online before 5:00 AM on the day her reservation window opened.  Even then, she could not get FPs for several of the top attractions for the length of her five day visit, including things like Avatar and Soarin.  For the days we were there, the regular lines for those attractions were always at least 2 hours long.  And that was during "off-season"!

Just remember that tipping is an American invention and is not expected in other parts of the world.  Places like Europe and Asia already pay their working residents a living wage for their services and American tourists do not take the time to learn other countries customs and practices.

This is what I am looking forward to.  LG is coming out with a Keurig-like soft serve machine for home!

This much.

This was our experience.  Escorted to the elevators and then straight to the Haven Lounge on the Getaway.

I thought it was fantastic!

This is not cruise-related, but shows how crazy people can get.  They have done this "numerous times" over the past five years, but keep booking trips!!

WDW Hotel Conditions

At each port, there will be signs like this all over the ship, giving you the specific time you need to be back on board.

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. Cruisers leaving this week monitor impacts of today’s major earthquake. 

Based on what The Weather Channel is reporting, power is out to the entire island right now.  They are hoping to get it restored to some of the island by mid-afternoon.

You can check out the link below to see how many ships are currently scheduled to be in port in St. Thomas on any particular day.

St. Thomas Port Schedule

Here is 16710 Haven CY PH on the Getaway.  The chair is about as wide as a normal twin bed.  We did not pull it out, but I am sure the butler would help you make it comfortable for your teen.