New fee on NCL

[hpecorari]

if you buy a package at WDW, room and tickets, your price will be what you paid.

 

WDW used to have a dining plan that included appetizers and gratuities, and then changed it to no appetizers and no gratuities (and increased the price).

 

You buy that package at WDW, room and tickets.....Tickets for 2 adults full price and 2 kids half price. You get there and find out they changed the rules and even though you paid for 2 kids half price they are now full price. You pay the difference or the kids can't go.

 

You purchase the dining plan that includes apps and gratuities from WDW. You get there and it no longer includes the gratuities.

 

Harriet

[hpecorari]

From the tone of some of these posts, it would seem that when people get to their vacation (or whatever) and things which they were told were included aren't, or the prices have been raised, they smile, shake the person's hand, and say "congrats on pulling a fast one on me, you scamp." I find that hard to believe.

 

If I book airfare and am told, repeatedly, in every forum which I find (including direct contact with customer service), that bags fly free, and I get to the airport and they say "JK, that will be $30," I'm going to be peeved off, and their failure to follow through will be a factor in deciding whether to book with them again.

 

If I book a car rental and am told, repeatedly, in every forum which I find (including direct contact with customer service), that there are no fees, and I get to the rental counter and they say "JK, that will be $8.95 per day," I'm going to be peeved off, and their failure to follow through will be a factor in deciding whether to book with them again.

 

If I book an "All U Can Disney" Pass for $200 per person, and am told, repeatedly, in every forum which I find (including direct customer service), that it includes EPCOT, and I get there and they say "JK, EPCOT will be $75 per person), I'm going to be peeved off and their failure to follow through will be a factor in deciding whether to book with them again.

 

If I book[ed] my next NCL cruise and am told, repeatedly, in every forum which I find (including direct contact with customer service), that O'Sheehans is included as a complimentary venue, and I get on the ship and they yay "JK, its $25 per person," I'm going to be peeved off, and their failure to follow through will be a factor in deciding whether to book with them again.

 

Cruises have full discretion in trying for ports; you're not guaranteed to make any port. However, would people really be ok with it if they board a cruise that includes, say, Barcelona, and are told that NCL has decided that to longer offer Barcelona as a port, so they're going to skip it? Or would it maybe be a good idea for NCL to stop advertising cruises as stopping in Barcelona and giving any affected customers a heads up?

 

I agree with everything that you said. Plus....add to the above that you already PAID IN FULL and then got to where you were going to find out about the increases.

 

Harriet

[Cauzneffct]

I agree with everything that you said. Plus....add to the above that you already PAID IN FULL and then got to where you were going to find out about the increases.

 

Harriet

 

And its not as if this is even a difficult thing to do. NCL has no problem emailing me about "great deals" at an alarming rate, not to mention to give me my booking confirmation and boarding docs. So clearly they can contact people on specific sailings to let them know things.

 

Further, Princess does (or at least did) this. We had booked an excursion to Antarctica on our last cruise, and it was cancelled 4 days before we departed. Somehow, through magic is my guess, they emailed us and let us know. Bizarre that a company would let people know ahead of time that they weren't going to be able to perform as requested.

[swedish weave]

And its not as if this is even a difficult thing to do. NCL has no problem emailing me about "great deals" at an alarming rate, not to mention to give me my booking confirmation and boarding docs. So clearly they can contact people on specific sailings to let them know things.

 

Further, Princess does (or at least did) this. We had booked an excursion to Antarctica on our last cruise, and it was cancelled 4 days before we departed. Somehow, through magic is my guess, they emailed us and let us know. Bizarre that a company would let people know ahead of time that they weren't going to be able to perform as requested.

 

Short response to that is Princess has not uprooted their experienced people and replaced them with friends and family.

[LMaxwell]

No. If I checked in, and was told me the cost of my room, which I already paid for, went up, and I owed more money, yes, I'd be pissed. If I showed up at the airport, and was told my flight went up, and I had to fork over more money, I'd be pissed. But I believe it is mentioned in the cruise contract that policies can change. Prices are always going to go up. Policies are always going to be changing.

 

We booked a cabana on GSC, and at the time I booked, wristbands for the hippo slide were included. However, that policy was changed before our sailing. Now, prices for the cabana doubled, and I would have been angry if they charged me more than what I had already paid, but they couldn't, since we had a contract.

So you are happy they honored their contract but you don't think they have to honor it. As a net result of what you perceive as NCL to be doing you a solid, you see this in a positive light. I see it differently despite their little "we can change anything" clause. Well not after you've taken my money. That's where grand fathering comes in.

[LMaxwell]

First of all, the pp is comparing apples and oranges. Hotel charge = cruise fare, not price for children at specialty dining. Secondly, I've never actually sailed NCL. I've seen similar changes on DCL from planning to sailing. I just don't understand the attitude of "vacation ruined" that's so prevalent to this board. If all NCL platinum cruisers are this sour I hope not many are on my sailing. They're surely a miserable bunch.

Not a platinum on NCL

 

Vacation not ruined.

 

NCL reneged on their advertisement to me.

 

I'm allowed to be ticked off but my only recourse is to skip the entire experience. Spending more money for the same thing is an option but not for me.

 

An honorable company would grandfather in pricing structure advertised when they took my money as well as announced a change to bookings made after a certain date.

 

I don't feel like reserving the right to change fees means the same thing as change anything at anytime for those already booked.

 

Does that seem reasonable to you?

[Cauzneffct]

Of course prices go up; that's not the point. I'm not saying "gosh, milk was $.49 a gallon last week, this week its $1.49." I'm saying "the store advertised milk at $.49. I called to confirm the price was $.49, and when I showed up at the store, they said 'sorry, price went up to $1.49.'"

 

The problem I and many others have is not that prices change over time, but rather that NCL is tinkering with what's included at what price and allowing people to operate on an assumption (based on NCL's information) that NCL knows is not accurate. If I call up a restaurant and say, "hey, do you still have the $7 steak?" and they say "sure do," and I show up and they say "JK, its $15" that is not the same as me going to a restaurant one year and paying $7 for a steak and then going a year later and its $15.

[Wendy&Grumpy]

WDW used to have a dining plan that included appetizers and gratuities, and then changed it to no appetizers and no gratuities (and increased the price).

 

Not without announcing the change and notifying guests first... BEFORE the change went into effect!

[Wendy&Grumpy]

We booked a cabana on GSC, and at the time I booked, wristbands for the hippo slide were included. However, that policy was changed before our sailing. Now, prices for the cabana doubled, and I would have been angry if they charged me more than what I had already paid, but they couldn't, since we had a contract.

 

I'm assuming you prepaid?

 

What if the policy was prepayment not accepted, you'd be billed once onboard, and when you *reserved* it was $250, but by the time you *sailed* it was $500. You'd be ok with being charged at the higher price?

 

I wouldn't be.

 

And if I prepaid for a cabana with hippo slide wristbands included, I would have gotten hippo slide wristbands.

[ncklhaus]

Correct me if I'm wrong' date=' but I thought you couldn't buy the UDP for kids? I thought the only way kids got it was under a promotion.

Honestly the NCL kids menu is awful and really isn't a viable option for my children. However, they usually don't eat an adult portion, so I do appreciate being able to pay less for an appropriate amount of food for them at a specialty restaurant.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/quote']

 

It's available for me to purchase for her when I go into our booking on MyNCL.com. When I purchased for it for us, we got it for $119 per person and didn't buy for us because we figured she'd be half price and it would cost less that way. Now it's going to cost us $140.42 for her.

She always eats a good portion of her specialty meals, at least as much as I do, so I don't mind paying for her. There have been times (back in 2011 on the Jewel when she didn't like the meal she had and they brought her something from the children's menu and then did not charge us for the original meal.

[mjkacmom]

I'm assuming you prepaid?

 

What if the policy was prepayment not accepted, you'd be billed once onboard, and when you *reserved* it was $250, but by the time you *sailed* it was $500. You'd be ok with being charged at the higher price?

 

I wouldn't be.

 

And if I prepaid for a cabana with hippo slide wristbands included, I would have gotten hippo slide wristbands.

 

Yes, I prepaid. Therefore, they couldn't change the price. However, they changed the terms, and I was within my rights to cancel if I felt that removal of the wristbands made it not worth it for me.

 

If I booked the UDP because I was planning on seeing Cirque, and it was free with the package if I booked the first night, and they changed the terms so that it was no longer free, I could cancel the UDP (and probably would).

 

I think I am comparing apples to apples here.

[bangzoom6877]

I apologize if this question was already asked and answered, but...

 

For this of us who pre-pay for our specialty restaurant reservation and paid half price for the children, will they now charge us $15 to our onboard account for each of our sons for Cagney's to make up the difference?

[Wendy&Grumpy]

Yes, I prepaid. Therefore, they couldn't change the price. However, they changed the terms, and I was within my rights to cancel if I felt that removal of the wristbands made it not worth it for me.

 

If I booked the UDP because I was planning on seeing Cirque, and it was free with the package if I booked the first night, and they changed the terms so that it was no longer free, I could cancel the UDP (and probably would).

 

I think I am comparing apples to apples here.

 

It was also within your rights to insist on the terms in place at the time you paid. Meaning the hippo slide wristbands.

 

We have purchased the UDP, before the change, for our September cruise. When we purchased, Illusionarium free on the first night was a huge selling point. We will not be cancelling due to the change; we will be getting Illusionarium free on our first night, as that is what we paid for and "sorry but no" is not an acceptable answer.

[mjkacmom]

I apologize if this question was already asked and answered, but...

 

For this of us who pre-pay for our specialty restaurant reservation and paid half price for the children, will they now charge us $15 to our onboard account for each of our sons for Cagney's to make up the difference?

 

When you make reservations ahead of time, you are charged full price for children, and in the past, reimbursed on the ship in OBC. Now that kids are full price, you won't be reimbursed.

[Mirrasi]

Just got off the Getaway and I will also confirm this. I was TICKED.

 

First of all they could not find my UDP. When I insisted I had paid for it they had to put in an inquiry. A day later they came back saying it had been refunded to me in Feb. I made them give me internet access to find out if I had missed it, which I had. They did refund me though I had never ordered it. They couldn't explain why. I mentioned that I moved a Floor 5 inside room to a floor 11 for about $100 more. They said that was why, that when you get a new room everything wipes out. I was irritated because you would have thought someone would have told me, right??? But okay, I missed it on my own account so told them to add it.

 

But then they charged me $280 and I was like, wth??? I was told it was for my 9 year old. I argued that I had TRIED to add him when I was originally booked and was told no, kids can't get the UDP because they are half off. So I budgeted accordingly. She told me that now they are full price as of that cruise. When I complained she shrugged and said that things are subject to change without notice. I responded that I can expect whether changes, port changes, etc....but I would absolutely not accept then making a change to my pocket book without any notification.

 

They did eventually wipe his UDP and charged me the half but as the other poster said, it took a LOT of fighting and several days of this. I felt a good portion of my cruise was fighting just to get what I had originally bought and was told.

 

 

 

 

I will post my review of the cruise once I get my pictures downloaded. Other than this, we had a fantastic time. I loved the staff and we had an amazing time.

 

It's a shame because I am hesitant to go back on another NCL knowing they will just spring charges on you like that. $280 was a lot I wasn't expecting.

 

 

And in case it wasn't mentioned, the room service is now $7.95 on the Getaway. Guess the test period is over and they raised it. :mad: I wanted to order room service but did not because I didn't want to contribute to that

Edited April 25, 2015 by Mirrasi

[ncklhaus]

I apologize if this question was already asked and answered, but...

 

For this of us who pre-pay for our specialty restaurant reservation and paid half price for the children, will they now charge us $15 to our onboard account for each of our sons for Cagney's to make up the difference?

 

No. Once you've booked and pre-paid, you're paid. However, when you book specialty dining you pay in full at the time of the booking. They charge full price for all, unless you have the UDP and then they only charge for those that don't have it. In the past, they would refund the difference for the children onboard. I write this from my personal experience on our cruise in October. We had UDP for me and DH, we had to pay for DD. We received a refund for her Cirque pre-booked dinner once onboard.