Just off the Gem - what a difference two years makes!!

[RocklandCruiser]

njhorseman,

I just checked my Freestyle Dailies from the week of March 21, 2009 and do not see the Oktoberfest listed- maybe I missed it somehow? I am sure my husband would have attended had we known about it :)

I may have been misinformed about the self-service laundry - I had asked during the 2008 cruise and was told the laundry was closed.

In any case, I am still happy to be cruising next month!

[sottovoce]

I'd be glad to give up the chocolate on the pillow, coffee in the room, hell, I'd be glad to give up the room stewards coming in and cleaning up everyday if the price was right (I may be alone on that one).

It boggles the mind to think that someone doesn't think "the price is right" for an NCL cruise. You can spend a week being housed on a beautiful ship, be fed three meals a day and everything you can eat in between, entertained from 5pm until after midnight, and transported through the Caribbean or up and down Alaska or along the coast of Mexico or to Canada for a week or maybe the Mediterranean for $75/day in an inside cabin, even less for some cruises. And "the price isn't right." Some charisma.:rolleyes:

[antsnanny]

Thank you Defreeze for your reply. EileenN, I very much agree with your post.

 

Throughout all of the discussions on the boards lately, I wonder the impact on the staff morale. The employee/passenger interaction and treatment does not cost a nickel (so to speak) when it comes to "how was your day, how is everything going, are you enjoying the cruise, we hope to see you onboard again, etc." I understand all the cuts/changes in this economic time and I sincerely hope the non cost items such as human interaction mentioned above remain consistenly high as I feel that is one of the things NCL is well known for (in comparison to the other lines). Just my opinion.

 

coka

 

Have you ever sat back and watched the behavior of some of the passengers onboard? I think that the crew has to get to a point where they just plain can't take it anymore. We all have seen passengers who abuse the good nature of the crew at times with unreasonable expectations and demands. I know the argument will be that their trained for anything but to tell you the honest truth, I could not do what they do for 2 days in a row let alone the schedule they keep. I know that most cruisers have a great deal of respect for the crew but there are a small percentage of guests that don't and can make their lives miserable. I'm certain that there also feeling the effects of this recession because their workload is more than likely greater while their paychecks are shrinking. Wouldn't it be great if the crew could honestly critique the passengers on cruise critics?

[defreeze]

Defreeze, Thank you for taking the time to let us know a little bit about the changes. You mentioned that the surcharge for some of the pay restaurants has increased. Do you know what the new fees are? Also you mentions that there were no 2 for 1 specials. Were the specialty restaurants busy during peak times ?

 

Le Bistro, Teppanyaki and Cagney's are $25 per person. Sushi and Orchid Garden are $15. La Cuccina and Tequila are $10. They also offered a brunch at Le Bistro one of the sea days for $15. The only restaurants that were consistently busy were Teppanyaki followed by Le Bistro. The others had many empty tables throughout the night, so I was confused why they wouldn't do the 2 for 1 deal.

 

And just for clarification - my original cruise was January 2008, so the differences are those I noticed since that cruise.

[blondie1234]

I too just came off the Gem and would second the comments of the original poster. I also noticed that the staff almost every day somehow messed up the restaurant order and they were not as friendly as in prior cruises. Especially the first few nights, the main restaurants were packed and there was often 40 minute waits because people I guess didn't want to have to pay for the specialty restaurants. Though as the cruise went on, I noticed that the waits at the main restaurants weren't as long as more used the specialty restaurants, though I would say only a few were busy. The Tequila Mexican one for instance was empty the first few nights, and only seemed to pick up once they offered few margeritas with the dinner!

[boaterette]

In these bad economic times I can see that just as NCL is cutting costs, passengers will likely cut out the tipping. A family of 4 will not have to spend $336 for the week in tips. That is a lot of money to some people.

[Down-Unders]

It boggles the mind to think that someone doesn't think "the price is right" for an NCL cruise. You can spend a week being housed on a beautiful ship, be fed three meals a day and everything you can eat in between, entertained from 5pm until after midnight, and transported through the Caribbean or up and down Alaska or along the coast of Mexico or to Canada for a week or maybe the Mediterranean for $75/day in an inside cabin, even less for some cruises. And "the price isn't right." Some charisma.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

sottovoce, time for a cruise, preferably a loooooooooooooooong one!

[sparks1093]

In these bad economic times I can see that just as NCL is cutting costs, passengers will likely cut out the tipping. A family of 4 will not have to spend $336 for the week in tips. That is a lot of money to some people.

 

Tipping is a part of the planning and shouldn't be cut no matter the justification. If I'm planning on taking my family of 7 out to dinner I include the tip in the planning. If for some reason I don't have enough to pay for the dinner and the tip we go to McDonald's.

[newmexicoNita]

I sailed on the NCL Gem in January 2008, and just got off the ship today after a 10 day sailing to the Caribbean.

 

Here are the differences I noticed since the 2008 cruise on the Gem.

 

No welcome aboard champagne.

No free cappucino/espresso machine in buffet area.

Charge for cappucino/espresso in dining rooms.

No more self-service laundromats.

No 2 for 1 offers at the specialty restaurants.

La Cuccina and Tequila were free - now they cost $10.

More expensive cover charges for Le Bistro, Orchid Garden, Sushi, Teppenyaki, Cagney's.

No chocolates on the pillows at night.

No free movies on the TV.

Fewer TV channels.

No murder mystery dinner.

Fewer outdoor barbecues.

No back deck Oktoberfest.

More expensive drinks.

 

Welcome to the world of 2010. By the way, most of what you mentioned has been gone for quite some time. The prices in the dining rooms (free versus small cost) has been in place of way over a year: same with the self service laundry, it was removed about a year ago. As for drink prices, I don't think they have gone up, maybe I am wrong but the 2 for 1 specials are being replaced with a dining out package and we have not always been on ships with the 2 for 1s by the way.. We never got them on the Sun, The Spirit or the Jewel. We did on the Star, certain hours. This has always depended on how full the ship is and the individual ship. We have sailed Celebrity, HAL and Princess in the past few years or so, never gotten a 2 for 1 in the specialty dining rooms.

 

Yes, the missing chocolate, free cappucino and glass of bubbly has gotten a lot of attention lately.

 

I think the thing too many overlook is the overall cost of cruising (not just NCL) and the economy..I don't know about you, but I can compare prices of almost everything I buy at the grocery store from year to year. Guess what the prices go up, but the price of cruising really hasn't. We have to be willing to give up something or pay more. I just went to our local country club for a glass of wine with a friend after bridge yesterday. A small (I mean small) glass of wine was $6.00. A couple of years ago it was $4.25. I remember when we considered a decent tip at a restaurant to be about 15 per cent: now, even the basic dier restaurant a decent tip is 18 per cent.

 

Oh, to the OP, are you sure Le Bistro is $25? Everyone else says differently and the new dining ticket package does as well? yes, Cagneys is $25 and Taps has been for some time now..

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

$14???? It was $12 in October. Has it really gone up to $14? I need to check my documents, I did not realize that it had changed.

 

I know a lot of people want to believe that cruising is cheap, but it's not. A little here, a little there adds up, trust me. And while I'm not saying that cruise lines should never raise prices (nor am I saying that they don't deserve it), $2 here and there to you might not seem like much, but when you add in everything else, to others it might.

 

No, what he meant was a total of $14 per person for a 7 day cruise. It is still $12.

 

 

Boaterette, cutting tips is not that easy and sucks anyway. You can not expect to make the crew suffer because prices have gone up in restaurants or some stupid glass of bubbly has been removed. When planning a cruise or any vacation people have to consider everything, tips are one thing..

 

Blondiea, you mentioned Margaritas being offered in the Mexican restaurant after the first few nights, unless this was an exception, I think all the Mexican restaurants offer a free Margarita with dinner. They have, since they added the sur charge...

Nita

[sottovoce]

sottovoce, time for a cruise, preferably a loooooooooooooooong one!

Another posting of no valuer, Down-Unders. Are you here to be helpful or just annoying? If the latter, congratulations, you are a great success.

[sottovoce]

In these bad economic times I can see that just as NCL is cutting costs, passengers will likely cut out the tipping. A family of 4 will not have to spend $336 for the week in tips. That is a lot of money to some people.

Then those people should simply stay home. The crew depends on that service charge for their income.

 

What if the mother in that family of four were a waitress and her patrons all decided her tip was "a lot of money," so they just stiffed her. If you can't afford a new car, don't buy one. If you can't afford all the expenses of a cruise, stay home until you can. There's no justification for stiffing the crew. Whether the service charge is "a lot of money to some people" or not, the crew still have to do their jobs. They deserve to be paid fairly.

[defreeze]

Oh, to the OP, are you sure Le Bistro is $25?

 

Yup - just double checked the Freestyle Daily.

[mizLORInj]

I did notice there wasn't champagne as we boarded Jan 2, so I won't expect it Jan 23. And my CTN Jan 23 is considerably MORE $ than the one from January 2009 (and it's not just a port charge increase).

I agree that the service/offering cuts may not be reversed when the economy improves (which of course it will) just like airline baggage fees are increasing, not going away, though gas prices have come down.

Yet, cruise vacations are still a good value IMO.

[martinchem]

When did the Freestlye 2.0 begin? We were on the Spirit in March 2008 and the champagne welcome wasn't in place then.

[hamrag]

Another posting of no valuer, Down-Unders. Are you here to be helpful or just annoying? If the latter, congratulations, you are a great success.

 

JMO, but I don't think a loooooooooooooooong one is long enough, it really should be much loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonger!

[newmexicoNita]

Yup - just double checked the Freestyle Daily.

 

thanks for the clarification. That makes the dining out package even better.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

When did the Freestlye 2.0 begin? We were on the Spirit in March 2008 and the champagne welcome wasn't in place then.

 

Minor changes on some ships started about that time but the entire 2.0 wasn't in effect until about Spet 2008. It looks like most of it didn't last too long..

 

Nita

[weltek]

Most noticeable was the service in the dining rooms (and the specialty restaurants). It was rare for a server to ask how our day was, or to otherwise chat with us. Nor, if I didn't eat my entree, would they ask what was wrong or if they could get me something else. They seemed a bit de-sprited.

 

I've thought about this, and while the things NCL is taking away are unfortunate, I'd be happy to see them all go if it meant the service, particularly in the dining rooms, was back to where it was five or so years ago.

 

The general deflated spirit of staff has me most concerned. THAT really impacts my cruise experience, much more than the other little things.

[swedish weave]

I sailed on the NCL Gem in January 2008, and just got off the ship today after a 10 day sailing to the Caribbean.

 

Here are the differences I noticed since the 2008 cruise on the Gem.

 

No welcome aboard champagne.

No free cappucino/espresso machine in buffet area.

Charge for cappucino/espresso in dining rooms.

No more self-service laundromats.

No 2 for 1 offers at the specialty restaurants.

La Cuccina and Tequila were free - now they cost $10.

More expensive cover charges for Le Bistro, Orchid Garden, Sushi, Teppenyaki, Cagney's.

No chocolates on the pillows at night.

No free movies on the TV.

Fewer TV channels.

No murder mystery dinner.

Fewer outdoor barbecues.

No back deck Oktoberfest.

More expensive drinks.

 

Did you notice any of the positive changes NCL has made? I have not been on the Gem, but I have noticed many improvements on other ships.

Have they not done the same on the Gem?

[jaja]

Did you notice any of the positive changes NCL has made? I have not been on the Gem, but I have noticed many improvements on other ships.

Have they not done the same on the Gem?

 

It may be helpful if you posted the positive improvements you saw...many would love to read them.....

[swedish weave]

It may be helpful if you posted the positive improvements you saw...many would love to read them.....

 

As I stated, I have not been on the Gem.

[CharismaticWoman]

It boggles the mind to think that someone doesn't think "the price is right" for an NCL cruise. You can spend a week being housed on a beautiful ship, be fed three meals a day and everything you can eat in between, entertained from 5pm until after midnight, and transported through the Caribbean or up and down Alaska or along the coast of Mexico or to Canada for a week or maybe the Mediterranean for $75/day in an inside cabin, even less for some cruises. And "the price isn't right." Some charisma.:rolleyes:

 

Honestly, when is the last time someone actually cruised for less than $75 bucks a day? I think people forget the cost of getting to the ship, tipping, parking the car... blah... Cruising isn't all inclusive and even for the thriftiest of cruisers, you will always spend more than just the cost of the cruise itself. I cruise because I just think it's the simplest way to book a vacation.

 

When I get the time, I'm going to break down the true cost of my last cruise on NCL and see how much it really cost. I think average might be that a cruise usually cost the 2x's the ticket price?? That's me guessing. I'll tally up my own cost - we do not drink or gamble, not much for trinkets or anything like that, but we still spend quite a bit more than the original cost.

 

Just give it time, you'll come to love me too :D

[weltek]

Honestly, when is the last time someone actually cruised for less than $75 bucks a day? I think people forget the cost of getting to the ship, tipping, parking the car... blah... Cruising isn't all inclusive and even for the thriftiest of cruisers, you will always spend more than just the cost of the cruise itself. I cruise because I just think it's the simplest way to book a vacation.

 

We usually spend $1500 for a 7 day cruise by the time we set foot on the ship and get off. We usually fly in a day early, so that's about 70 via priceline for a hotel, which sometimes does include transportation. Figure about $30 for food the day before the cruise.

 

I've done comparissons, and I can get an all-inclusive at our choices of Caribbean islands for about $1500 for the week. So, it's comparable.

 

The airfare is what gets us everytime. I fly enough that I can usually get at least one ticket free, and airfare to port cities is usually only about $225 for us. However, if I go to an all-inclusive, my miles won't usually cover a ticket and base airfare is always higher going outside the U.S. to the Caribbean.

[mchall6252]

We spent about $1400 in ship charges on our 7 day cruise on the Spirit. We had two bottles of wine, dined in Le Bistro twice ($15 each, by the way, on the Spirit) and once in Cagney's ($25 and not worth more than Bistro). We did a shore excursion in each port. So much of the time was spent being herded, on a bus, etc., but we didn't feel comfortable booking with independent tour operators in unfamiliar territory. A couple of photos, t-shirts, and maybe a half dozen cocktails overall made up the rest of the charges. Our hotel in NOLA with parking for the week was $150. So in all, we pretty much paid double the cost of the cruise which was $1600 for the two of us.

 

I think we could go to Hawaii for about the same for hotel, food and drink (airfare would definitely make it more expensive). And have far more time to relax on the beach. And not have someone constantly trying to sell us something (other than the timeshare hawkers).

 

Actually, we've been 4 times and I have to say, it's just far more to our liking.