Bye ncl

[Doc2725]

Sad to say after sailing over 15yrs with NCl I am done. Sailed on the Dawn out of Boston last month. The service fees had gone up almost $3.00 since my last cruise 3yrs prior. The service fee on the drinks also increased to 18 percent when it use to be 15 percent. Would not mind it but service has dropped and is horrible. No bar service around the pool. Twenty minutes to get a drink at the pool bars. Only good bar service we had all week was at the Gabsy bar. If you did get service was at least half hour for your drink.

When I got home I wish I had taken part of the tips off and gave my room steward the money in cash himself. He was great best one I had in years.

 

Can't say I blame you. NCL must have made staff cuts, because we encountered the same thing on the Breakaway a few weeks back. Waiting in line for drinks, not enough bartenders on, no one walking around the pool taking orders. We've decided to stop cruising with NCL for a few years. RCI was great last time we were on, so we are going to book on Oasis, and then go back to Carnival (which we've always had positive experiences on.)

[davy jones]

My cable bill has gone up since three years ago. My grocery bill for the same food has gone up from three years ago. My water and electric bills have gone up since three years ago. And you know what they all give the same service I had three years ago. Nothing added just more money

 

Yes, and cruise fares have gone up, just like the grocery store, etc. The store and utilities have not added additional fees along with the price increases.

 

Just saying.

[thiswillbefunnj]

Sad to say after sailing over 15yrs with NCl I am done. Sailed on the Dawn out of Boston last month. The service fees had gone up almost $3.00 since my last cruise 3yrs prior. The service fee on the drinks also increased to 18 percent when it use to be 15 percent. Would not mind it but service has dropped and is horrible. No bar service around the pool. Twenty minutes to get a drink at the pool bars. Only good bar service we had all week was at the Gabsy bar. If you did get service was at least half hour for your drink.

When I got home I wish I had taken part of the tips off and gave my room steward the money in cash himself. He was great best one I had in years.

 

You are seriously walking away from a cruise vacation over a $3 increase?

 

Not sure where you plan to vacation from now on -but costs are rising everywhere.

 

I'm looking forward to my October Breakaway cruise & will probably book another once on board.

 

For me, if money was to tight that I couldn't absorb some extra costs, I'd stay home.

 

This isn't to offend you, but I am baffled by people on the NCL forum all racing trying to pre pay gratuities & book dining packages just to save a couple dollars.

 

My cruise is paid for & I never even checked to see if the higher rate for gratuities was in place. I don't care. I'll pay what they ask & tip extra just like every other time.

[SAILPRO]

Please don't provide a logical answer here, it will only cause you to get flamed. :):):):)

 

Now a day, everyone wanted a tip 18% - 25%. Anything less than 15%won't cut it. Even my dog & cat also want a tip. :D

[ALS1214]

Just got off the dawn today and pool service was great , there was four servers around pool area and Irene was fantastic getting our drinks but there was a lag because so many folks and four servers. I found all the staff pleasant and had a great time despite the rough ride home that closed the pool deck

 

 

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[biker@sea]

Like I said would have no issue paying more service charge if service was like I had in th past. My last cruise in 2011 you would be bugged every five minutes, used to get bothered by that. Then this year I was like would rather be bugged then ignored.

Also think NCL has no real activities going on during the day especially sea days.

Think we are going to try Royal Caribean.

 

Hey me Too! Did you check out RC Boston / Tampa repo??

 

.

[sjbdtz]

You are seriously walking away from a cruise vacation over a $3 increase?

 

Not sure where you plan to vacation from now on -but costs are rising everywhere.

 

I'm looking forward to my October Breakaway cruise & will probably book another once on board.

 

For me, if money was to tight that I couldn't absorb some extra costs, I'd stay home.

 

This isn't to offend you, but I am baffled by people on the NCL forum all racing trying to pre pay gratuities & book dining packages just to save a couple dollars.

 

My cruise is paid for & I never even checked to see if the higher rate for gratuities was in place. I don't care. I'll pay what they ask & tip extra just like every other time.

 

 

To be fair, he said he's sailed with them OVER 15 years... but the last time was OVER 3 years ago. The one before that could have been 10 years prior. Maybe he did stay home in between.

 

 

.

[NLH Arizona]

Just got off the dawn today and pool service was great , there was four servers around pool area and Irene was fantastic getting our drinks but there was a lag because so many folks and four servers. I found all the staff pleasant and had a great time despite the rough ride home that closed the pool deck

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Glad to hear it, I'll be on the Dawn in December. Thanks for updating us.

[william]

To respnd to thiswillbefunnj I am not walking away over $3.00. If you read my post I said would not mind payiing if service was better. I have crusied with them eight times. In the past service was unbelievable. If i went to the same bar everynight bar server would come over, and address me by name and say are you having your usual. I was very impressed by this. This year would get a decaff coffee at least twice a day at the cafe bar. Same waiter would get mine drink order wrong eight out of 10 times. Saw him mess up constantly with other customers.

[blueboro]

NCL is partially owned by a private equity group that also owns the company I work for. Trust me, they suck EVERY penny they can out of our company and we see little invested back into our business.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

You have every right to leave and find another line that you will enjoy.

IMHO all are in the same boat, profits are down, prices are up, and on some ships, service just sucks!!!

We have sailed on 5 different lines and when you compare cost of cruise and what you receive, I feel that NCL is one of the better lines... Just my thoughts...

Best of luck with your next cruise line!!! :cool:

 

Yeah, cruising across the board from line to line is getting worse by the day. Blame the people who book by price only then are unhappy with the experience and the desire by the cruise lines to appease Wall street short term goals at the expense of long term relationships with customers for it. Just as with air travel, price, price is how people book and cut, cut, cut by the companies delivering the service. Cut to the point you are hurting your employees, the customer experience, and forcing the employees to subsidize low fares. How low can it go, nobody really knows I'm afraid. I have cruised for nine years and seen service levels drop dramatically in that time. I have seen it and heard about it from the four different lines I have cruised on. About the bartenders, I thought actual bar service was pretty good and I did see plenty of bar servers roving around the pool are on my last NCL voyage. I thought the steward service was lousy and with some exceptions, dining room staff was average to terrible. But I truly believe that as long as people put price before everything else, we have to accept degradation of the experience and realize that what we do get for what we pay is still really a great value regardless of who you cruise on.

 

Sadly, what you get on NCL is pretty much what you will get on say, Carnival also. Carnival has worse food and less variety but more entertainment and slightly lower onboard prices. I sailed the Jewel a few months ago and that was my first time on Norwegian and it was a good cruise but yeah, I have heard that they are cutting like crazy also. But at least they still offer upgraded amenities if you are willing to pay for them. Just be aware that the grass isn't always greener elsewhere once you actually see it in person. I still believe cruising is the best kind of vacation and even a subpar cruise is still better than a regular day at home so I will cruise on pretty much any mass market line.