Poll; will your next booking be with NCL?

[LrgPizza]

I am unsure whether my next booking will or won't be with NCL. I have 2 NCL cruises booked now. I'd love to get on the Quantum/Anthem/Ovation class at some point though. If I don't book NCL, it in no way has anything to do with any of the recent mass panic hysteria about changes that have been made. It would simply be because I have no true loyalty anywhere. I just like to vacation. Edited May 18, 2015 by LrgPizza

[LrgPizza]

[quote name='Lovecruises2014']I voted unsure; I was thinking of doing NCL for next year after doing Carnival 2 times last year and Royal earlier this year but after reading people's posts and how the treat each other here; I don't think I want to go! Too mean and rude for my tastes, no way I'm paying money to put up with such nasty attitudes on a ship![/quote]
When I first joined CC before my Getaway cruise, I felt the same way. I was worried about the class of people I was going to find on board. Thankfully, the nasty and pompous attitudes on this message forum are in no way a reflection of those on the ship.

[mickeysgal]

No, definitely not. Have booked Baltics with Celebrity already. Now looking at Hawaii...but not on NCL. I've had enough.

[knight2096]

[quote name='LrgPizza']When I first joined CC before my Getaway cruise, I felt the same way. I was worried about the class of people I was going to find on board. Thankfully, the nasty and pompous attitudes on this message forum are in no way a reflection of those on the ship.[/QUOTE]

That is funny coming from one of the number one offenders.

[Lerin]

Voted unsure because:

pros: kids club, family friendly, no dressing up for my dh, price, possible kids sail free promotion

cons: food, price without the kids sail free promotion, new food policy, no dressing up-for me and the rest of the family

[paratrooper69]

voted no because you can see we are trying a different type of cruise
line next. has nothing to do with any changes at ncl, but is due to
changes in our desired agendas and amenities. have a future cruise
credit from just completed ta on the star, so will probably be back in the
next 4 years, if itineraries are improved with new ships.

tom

[FreestyleNovice]

Thanks all for your replies so far (and keeping this thread on track for most of it)! :D

With 341 votes so far, and I will try my best to handle this unbiased:

Yes! 107 31.38%
No! 143 41.94%
Unsure! 91 26.69%

Besides loyal NCL cruisers who don't use room service or don't care about the added 18% grat. there is under one third of all who voted who would book NCL as their next cruise.

At the no camp there's the majority in this poll, there were some people who flew over from the other boards but in my opinion this is the drawback of the recent changes AND the milk runs that NCL is making, a lot of posters commented on that. So it's a mix of why people won't book NCL or at least anymore. The milk runs have been addressed by Del Rio himself so I am curious what his next move will be. But he probably already lost loyal customers because of the wait.

The unsure party is, of course, still up on the fence. The recent changes, added costs no matter the amount and the appealing products of other cruise lines are triggering even some of the most loyal NCL fans on the boards.
Perhaps we need a poll to inspire NCL, let us choose some new itineraries! ;)

Considering this poll is posted on the number one messageboard for NCL guests and from from novice to experienced repeater who frequents here and shared his or her vote, I do feel Del Rio's words about the room service charge trial and "didn't hear a thing" are words that he will refrain from using them again. Hopefully.

For the business case folks at NCL reading along; it's plain simple what your customer base wants and needs, even if they stick around after the recent changes you will need to care for them business wise! Keep your product appealing otherwise your new ships will be sailing full but with newbies spending half the money. ;)

[pixiedust777]

I voted no. I already have cruises booked with other lines.

[luvbluseas]

I voted NO, we have never cruised on NCL. I was a TA back when Pride of Hawaii was new, I was able to go on the short TA cruise and we would have gone to Hawaii to cruise on her, but it did not last long enough. Now they only have the Pride of America and old ship that I do not like, so no!

We almost always cruise Celebrity, quiet, peaceful, 5* food and 5* service all the way! No loud announcements all day. There is nothing about NCL that I find attractive so I cannot imagine that we will ever be passengers aboard.

Maybe if they come up with a great itinerary out of FL that is different than everyone else's, we would consider it.

[NH Cruisers]

[quote name='luvbluseas']I voted NO, we have never cruised on NCL. I was a TA back when Pride of Hawaii was new, I was able to go on the short TA cruise and we would have gone to Hawaii to cruise on her, but it did not last long enough. Now they only have the Pride of America and old ship that I do not like, so no!

We almost always cruise Celebrity, quiet, peaceful, 5* food and 5* service all the way! No loud announcements all day. There is nothing about NCL that I find attractive so I cannot imagine that we will ever be passengers aboard.

Maybe if they come up with a great itinerary out of FL that is different than everyone else's, we would consider it.[/quote]
I found the food in Blu aboard the Solstice to be great. I would not cruise Celebrity and not be Aqua Class because of that. The MDR food on the Solstice was only equal to other cruise lines IMO.

I will cruise NCL again due to the fact that they do the Specialty Resturants so well. They are much better than MDR food on ANY cruiseline I have sailed including Holland America, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean.

The service in the MDR on the cruiselines with set dinning times will be more personal than on NCL, due to the fact that you generally have the same waitstaff nightly. NCL being 100% freestyle that is not really possible. The freestyle thing and the Specialty Resturants are what keeps me sailing NCL. But as far as room attendants, Butlers and Consierge? NCL's as as good as I have experinenced on the other said lines.

[morrisretired]

Voted unsure. We are 2 1/2 hour drives from the Galveston and Houston cruise ports, offering 5 cruises for our next cruise in February. Also, New Orleans is 7 1/2 hours away and has 3 cruises to chose from. We are both retired and flexible, so we wait until 30 days before our anniversary to check prices. This year the Norwegian Jewel won out with their UBP, UDP, and OBC in a Penthouse Suite. Last year it was the Caribbean Princess with their mini suite, priced cheaper than a balcony all the others.

[lkj1301]

My vote is maybe/probably. Depends on the itinerary. We're booked on Breakaway in Sept. Have another booked on Celebrity Summit in Feb 2016, and Sat. I'm booking on Silversea's Silver Shadow for Alaska June 2016 (30th Anniversary). Altho I may get spoiled on the Silver Shadow:eek::D;)

[Travelcat2]

FreestyleNovice: It is a shame that the poll did not ask for people to vote that actually planned to book an NCL cruise (and have changed their minds due to the new policies). Unfortunately, based on comments from many posters, some people voted "no" because they are booking another cruise line - totally unrelated to the new policies. Also, some posters have sailed NCL before and do not want to sail with them again. IMO, this skews the numbers quite a bit.

[SteveH2508]

I voted NO because we have already booked with Princess for this summer. It was a very good price and an itinerary that we have not done (and that NCL does not do either).

Our view is that while NCL are moving the goalposts with no notice and they are not competitive on price and itinerary (in Europe anyway), we are very unlikely to book with them again (Platinum perks notwithstanding).

There are many more ships in the sea who will happily take our vacation pounds and deliver what they promise without silly, money-grabbing rules. They will treat us as intelligent, discerning customers, not captive audience cash-cows.

I no longer trust NCL to deliver the product we sign up to.:mad:

[cb8]

I personally will book again. When? I have no idea. My honeymoon is on POA in September and I have no doubt that it will be amazing.

I will only sail with NCL and Royal Caribbean. RC have the biggest and better boats and many companies are miles behind them.

[onthebalcony]

Probably not. Last NCL cruise was in 2010 but cruising this June to Norway on the Star. Prefer smaller ships with everything included. No nickel and diming like NCL.

[min2758]

[quote name='knight2096']That is funny coming from one of the number one offenders.[/QUOTE]

And that right there is the attitude people are referring to. I have seen a lot of snide, rude, unnecessary things on here while I try to learn everything I possibly can before our cruise and take it with a grain of salt, but why the useless dings and jabs? What was the purpose of this comment? Other than the obvious insult of course.

[Tiggertastic]

A few days ago I said no, we've got celebrity booked in August but ncl offered the epic for £400 ($600) for 7 nights so now I'm taking mum

It's not my next one as I'm on rccl tomorrow but for that price I'm in Edited May 22, 2015 by Tiggertastic

[Winston Wolf]

Depends on price. Our next is on DCL, but after that am looking at either Carnival, RCI, or NCL. Right now NCL is the #3 option compared to what's available from CCL and RCI. I'd like to sail Getaway, but not at the prices NCL is asking.

[Loucat]

Based on recent changes we cancelled a Haven for June 2016; holding on a Fall 2016 to see what else they can do and may cancel that.
So, my response is maybe never!

[weelv2cruise]

[quote name='old sole']No.

We have one NCL booking (for Oct2016) and we will wait until just before final payment to decide whether or not to cancel. It is in a Haven suite, 3 of us. The fare for the first 2 is low, the third is free. We have UDP included for all 3, UBP for 2, gratuities included for 2, and some OBC. NCL is not going to earn much from us on that cruise, and most of the changes announced so far will not affect us all that much because we are in a suite.

But I will not knowingly put myself in the position of being aggravated several times a day by nonsensical rules. And I will not spend my time arguing with crew members, guest services, and officers about policies I think are absurd. So my current intention is to take that cruise already booked unless other changes come along that affect us more than the ones already announced. The not-yet confirmed removal of Cagney's from the UDP would be one change for example that would cause us to cancel.

Regardless of whether we take that cruise or not, there will be no more. We have enjoyed all our previous NCL cruises. But we have sailed 3 other lines multiple times and have enjoyed all of those too. It's too easy to just move on, and that is what we will do.[/QUOTE]

We too are booked but for Jan 16. Probably won't cancel for various reasons. However, if more changes are announced we can't live with, we will. If it's after the final pay date, I still would cancel, albeit a fee, because it is nothing more than dishonest and unethical. Don't want to cruise with any line which promotes and forces any social ideology based on a social agenda to dilute anyone's vacation. If that means never sailing with them--so be it.

[rvsullivan]

[quote name='weelv2cruise']We too are booked but for Jan 16. Probably won't cancel for various reasons. However, if more changes are announced we can't live with, we will. If it's after the final pay date, I still would cancel, albeit a fee, because it is nothing more than dishonest and unethical. Don't want to cruise with any line which promotes and forces any social ideology based on a social agenda to dilute anyone's vacation. If that means never sailing with them--so be it.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR="Red"]Usually I don't respond to these types of comments. However, I have no clue what this means. The definition of social ideology is this: "basically it is just your beliefs and ideas regarding social systems or aspects of the social world.

examples:
*religious ideologies
*ideologies regarding the family"
*political ideologies, etc.

I have no idea of what this has to do with NCL or anything to do with anyone's cruising with them. What is NCL's social agenda?[/COLOR] Edited May 23, 2015 by rvsullivan

[knight2096]

[quote name='min2758']And that right there is the attitude people are referring to. I have seen a lot of snide, rude, unnecessary things on here while I try to learn everything I possibly can before our cruise and take it with a grain of salt, but why the useless dings and jabs? What was the purpose of this comment? Other than the obvious insult of course.[/quote]

The comment was in response to a jerk who is always insulting people on here, nothing more and nothing less. That is why the comment was made. You should have figured that out since it was so obvious, of course. Edited May 23, 2015 by knight2096

[knight2096]

[quote name='old sole']No.

We have one NCL booking (for Oct 2016) and we will wait until just before final payment on that one to decide whether or not to cancel. It is in a suite, 3 of us. The fare for the first 2 is low, the third is free. We have UDP included for all 3, UBP for 2, gratuities included for 2, and some OBC. NCL is not going to earn much from us on that cruise, and most of the changes announced so far will not affect us all that much because we are in a suite.

But I will not knowingly put myself in the position of being aggravated several times a day by nonsensical rules. And I will not spend my time arguing with crew members, guest services, and officers about policies I think are absurd. So my current intention is to take that cruise already booked unless other changes come along that affect us more than the ones already announced. The not-yet confirmed removal of Cagney's from the UDP would be one change for example that would cause us to cancel.

Regardless of whether we take that cruise or not, there will be no more. We have enjoyed all our previous NCL cruises. But we have sailed 3 other lines multiple times and have enjoyed all of those too. It's too easy to just move on, and that is what we will do.[/quote]

Great post!

[Cauzneffct]

Unsure. The changes thus far are deal benders, but I really don't know how they (and any others we might not find out about till we board) will impact the cruise. If it's a hassle, we'll certainly book elsewhere. Edited May 23, 2015 by Cauzneffct