$$$$

[biker@sea]

Keep on looking and you will most likely find the rates on all lines have increased. Remember the cost of business does increase and someone has to pay for that. Cruising is still a great deal.

 

Here is an example: we have been talking about doing a trip to a few national parks and/or Mt Rushmore next spring. The best deal we could fine, not counting air of course. 6 days, 5 nights leaving from Las Vegas and touring Zion, Bryce, etc. The trip includes a guide of course, 6 breakfast and lunches and entre into the parks plus of course 5 nights in the hotel. The cost; per person: $1250. Compare that with a cruise in a standard outside cabin for 7 nights including all meals, entertainment and daily activities. Not to mention, most of the cruise lines are throwing in perks, like specialty dining, booze, gratuities, etc. Of course the price is going to increase, not to mention the port charges that are included in our cruise fare.

 

I just got my life time senior pass for the national parks this week . :)

 

$10 what a deal . = http://www.nps.gov/mima/federal-pass-program.htm

Edited July 1, 2015 by biker@sea

[portcbob]

I think all the PROMOS are a rort. Come on people, that's why the cruise pricing has gone up. They have to pay for the Promos somehow. So when you sit down a thoroughly analyze the situation. You are not really any better off are you.

[$hip$hape]

I think all the PROMOS are a rort.

Come on people, that's why the cruise pricing has gone up. They have to pay for the Promos somehow. So when you sit down a thoroughly analyze the situation. You are not really any better off are you.

Top Definition: rort To cheat, rip-off, beat, defraud, hack or scam something.

Sorry; not being a worldly person, I had to look it up.

I thought I knew me 4 letter words !:)

[movie buff]

I found that with NCL you have to book way in advance to find the deals. I booked over a year ahead for a 10 night Europe cruise for the end of November this year on the Epic. At that point in time I was able to get a mini suite for the two of us for around a total of $2200 total with taxes. That also included the promos drink package and total dining package. Plus got a shipboard credit. I see the same mini suite selling today, a little less than five months from sailing, going for $3600 with the drink package only. That is a huge difference in price. So at least in my case it paid to book well in advance.

[PatJim]

I'm so happy I booked when I did a few weeks ago. Paid 899ish for a balcony in the gem sept 5th now the prices are well over 1000pp! Plus UBP and $100 OBC from TA! Also going to be getting another $50 from TA and going to cash in points from NCL credit card for OBC I can't really complain! I guess it just depends on the week! [emoji57]

 

Congrats for scoring a balcony at that price. We are also on the Sept. 5th Gem cruise, so hope you will consider going on the Roll Call and signing up for the Meet & Greet, Cabin Crawl, etc. Look forward to meeting you, because you sound an awful lot like us when it comes to cruise planning, except that you got this as a recent deal.

 

Our formula, which has worked out well for us until now, is to

(a) buy a future cruise credit while on board, to secure the $100 OBC plus reduced deposit for next cruise (where else can you spend $250 and get $100 back?);

(b) book cruises at least 9 months ahead of time--preferably as soon as new schedules are posted--using the FCC as deposit. Booking this far out yields more Latitudes points, and we can always cancel or change booking to another NCL cruise without penalty;

© check prices frequently for price drops/additional freebies before final payment. We just reduced our payment for next October by switching from a 15-day to two back-to-back trips (same cabin), after the price of each 7- or 8-day cruise was discounted, saving $800;

(d) pay for cruises using the NCL Master Card, getting double points, then cashing in points for $500 credit card refunds when points reach 50,000.

 

Re OBC, currently NCL doesn't seem to be offering automatic $300 OBC for booking suites, and other OBC offers for balconies/mini-suites seem reduced. Would much prefer OBC than offers like UBP, so we can choose what to spend our $ on. We do get from $50-$75 through our TA. Maybe another TA gives more OBC, but we don't know who!

 

Looking beyond our October 2016 cruise, there don't seem to be NCL cruises within our budget. Seems that mini-suites are now as expensive as what we're paying for suites--and I'm talking the Gem, not one of the even more expensive ships like the Breakaway. So we are, reluctantly, looking at other cruise lines that also leave from the NYC area, for 2017. There are a lot to choose from. So far, haven't found any cruises on other lines that appeal. Since we are somewhat flexible, maybe we'll have to jump on last-minute cruise deals. That would be ok, but not nearly as much happiness as booking waaaaaay ahead of time and enjoying the anticipation!:)

[littlelulu01]

I found that with NCL you have to book way in advance to find the deals. I booked over a year ahead for a 10 night Europe cruise for the end of November this year on the Epic. At that point in time I was able to get a mini suite for the two of us for around a total of $2200 total with taxes. That also included the promos drink package and total dining package. Plus got a shipboard credit. I see the same mini suite selling today, a little less than five months from sailing, going for $3600 with the drink package only. That is a huge difference in price. So at least in my case it paid to book well in advance.

 

What is a harder pill to swallow is knowing that I could have booked at these prices with pick two and obc and didn't. I saw similar deals until March, especially for the Europe cruises on the Epic.

 

 

I remember pricing a ten night on the epic for a few dates November-Jan and all in for four in a mini suite $2200 with ksf. First two get ubp, kids got soda pkg, everyone got udp and $100 obc for the cabin. Three in a spa balcony around the same prices. The ksf was a super bargain with those perks!

 

It's knowing about the amazing deals that were available that makes me unable to book at today's prices. I'll just have to wait till the next batch of cruises is for sale and book early.

Edited July 2, 2015 by littlelulu01

[LrgPizza]

I think all the PROMOS are a rort. Come on people, that's why the cruise pricing has gone up. They have to pay for the Promos somehow. So when you sit down a thoroughly analyze the situation. You are not really any better off are you.

 

 

My Escape cruise with promo UBP in May 2016 is costing me significantly less than my Getaway plus purchased UBP cruise in May 2014 for the same cabin, same week. Yeah, I thoroughly analyzed the situation.

[tarps14]

Here is an example: we have been talking about doing a trip to a few national parks and/or Mt Rushmore next spring. The best deal we could fine, not counting air of course. 6 days, 5 nights leaving from Las Vegas and touring Zion, Bryce, etc. The trip includes a guide of course, 6 breakfast and lunches and entre into the parks plus of course 5 nights in the hotel. The cost; per person: $1250.

 

NewmexicoNita-you can do this trip much cheaper on your own. We have done Death Valley (just this past weekend-only 121 degrees but amazingly interesting), Zion, Red Rock, Grand Canyon, Bryce. All are day trips from Vegas. Food and hotels can be found for incredible prices (don't limit yourself to the strip hotels, especially with children). There are also untold exhibits to see in town. Titanic at Tropicana, aquarium (of a sort) at Mandalay, the High Roller (a high tech ferris wheel so to speak) at the Linq, the rides on top of Stratosphere, etc. So much to do and with some advance research, you can easily do all of this yourself without a guide. TripAdvisor is one of the best places to start for both hotels and food. We haven't stayed on the strip in several years nor eaten at any strip restaurants.

 

Get this, we took the kids out west one spring break and in eleven days, managed San Francisco (Golden Gate, Alcatraz), Monterrey peninsula (drove thru Pebble Beach), Visalia, CA (went to Sequoya Nat. forest) then drove to St George, UT (Grand Canyon-north rim, Zion) and then to Vegas (Valley of Fire st pk, Red Rock, Mt Charleston, Hoover Dam). Then to Lake Tahoe (Yosemite, Tahoe road tour, Reno) and then back to San Francisco to fly home. About killed ourselves but it was the trip of a lifetime for the kids.