Have you/ are you going to cancel your NCL bookings

[maywell]

"Mr. Del Rio we understand there's talk on message boards that some customers don't like spending more money once they get onboard and are considering canceling their cruises and switching to other cruise lines "

 

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:) Because, sadly, its true. lol.

[hpecorari]

But, you most likely will not have the same server every night. Not sure if that's important to you or not, but just thought I'd point out that servers bounce all over the ship from meal to meal. At least that's been my experience.

--Michael

 

Correct....I didn't mention that simply because OP said they liked to know where and when each night.....and that can happen with making reservations online before the cruise. Same servers.....that probably won't happen.

 

Harriet

[motleyfan]

Maybe someone can help me..I did not read through all of the pages, only the first few.

 

We booked our first cruise for next December (2016) and are doing a suite for our family, plus suites for a few other family members. The increased daily fee doesn't matter much to me, since it's just a few $ in the long run. But with the line discontinuing Nickelodeon...does anyone know if they will be replacing it with anything, or how the kids program will look? We aren't huge Nick fans or anything, but did book partly because I was told Norwegian was great for kids and had a nice program. Now I'm hesitating. We have time to do research, and if we did cancel/change, it would affect a lot of people, so I wouldn't do it unless it was a big difference, but I want to make sure we aren't going to be disappointed. This is pretty big for us.

 

Same kids program I'm sure just minus nickelodeon

[Presbycruiser]

The answer for me is "no" because, while many of the changes are irritating (although some are actually good, like removing the cover charge for the Asian restaurant on the Gem), I still got an unbeatable price for a 10 day cruise on the gem with NO solo cruiser supplement.

 

I have a $100 specialty dining credit and will see how far that stretches. Because of the 18% gratuity I'll probably cut the number of specialty visits from four to three. OTOH, the new menus in the MDRs sound promising ... we'll see about the execution.

 

I also have a general $50 OBC.

 

I don't gamble and only occasionally drink alcohol, so whatever those changes are won't effect me.

 

I'm annoyed at the lack of free room service (it's not like the menu is all that great), but it won't be a hardship for me not to order room service then.

 

Now, I can tell you I would have been angry at the petty idea of not allowing you to bring "take out" to your room. I am glad they reversed that change AND THEY BETTER NOT TRY THAT AGAIN.

 

And I detest the idea of a la carte pricing. They had an a la carte restaurant on the Titanic and look what happened to that ship. :D:p I really hope they don't do that. But even if they do, but keep the various credits and such, I could still dine in a specialty restaurant occasionally.

 

So anyway, this cruise I am booked on is still an extraordinarily good deal. It will be at least two years before I can even think about affording another cruise, so who knows if I'll go with NCL or not. Then again, I might be dead by then so that would solve my dilemma over such things.

 

Cheers.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Presbycruiser

[Paulchili]

Likely less.

This nickel-and-diming stuff needs to stop.

 

That will definitely do it :D

[dznymom]

We have been dipping our toes in the other cruiseines, and quite frankly I am looking forward to my next NCL cruise more than I have in a very long time. If you think it's just NCL making changes and cutbacks, I suggest getting out there and trying the competition.

 

We took a HAL cruise (our second) to Bermuda last month and the cruise itself was completely underwhelming in pretty much every way. Luckily the Bermuda part of the trip was amazing, so it was all good. But we are unlikely to go back on HAL.

 

We took our first Celebrity cruise in January, and it was fantastic in many ways. Some things were significantly better than NCL, and some things were not. We paid almost twice what we pay for a similar NCL cruise, though.

 

We had a Celebrity cruise booked for Feb, 2016, but when they changed the itinerary to eliminate Dominica and stay overnight in St Maarten instead (tell me that wasn't a cost saving measure), that was a deal breaker. So we changed to repeat the one we did last winter, but I find I am not excited about it so I think we are going to switch to the Escape.

 

I guess I am just an NCL girl at heart :) I can accept that they have to make changes to stay competitive and so far I am okay with the changes.

Edited July 20, 2015 by dznymom

[SissasMomE]

In light of the overwhelming changes in such a short span is it enough to get you to cancel your current bookings?

 

Personally for my family and I the answer is YES, 2 Suites Cancelled and I'm not looking back at this train wreck until they realize constantly changing the product makes people feel uneasy and abused.

 

No, but I'm done after this. They REALLY ticked me off with changing the St. Thomas port time. Instead of leaving at 6pm, they are leaving at 3pm. WTH leaves an island in the middle of the day like that? Beyond done with them.

[SissasMomE]

I guess the better question is will you book again?

 

There ya go. :) Nope.

[LoveyHowell]

No, but I'm done after this. They REALLY ticked me off with changing the St. Thomas port time. Instead of leaving at 6pm, they are leaving at 3pm. WTH leaves an island in the middle of the day like that? Beyond done with them.

3PM?!!? So you have to be onboard by 2PM? They should just sail past the island and go "Look, see it?"

[SissasMomE]

3PM?!!? So you have to be onboard by 2PM? They should just sail past the island and go "Look, see it?"

 

I really don't get it. It doesn't make any sense at all. I'm wondering if it's either a mistake, or something happened that is forcing them to do it.

[medicalma'am]

I will not be cancelling anything already booked. I am planning two land vacations in the next two years though. That will cut down on my cruising in the future probably. I am not looking at booking any new cruises now so we just may not cruise as often.

 

We will see how is "feels" after our next cruise I suppose. Several long weekend trips may make more sense for us. Sometimes we have SOOOO long to wait between cruises that it would be nice to have something to look forward to in the nearer future. It is also easier work wise to take shorter land trips more often.

 

So we will wait it out as far as booking, but not cancel anything.

 

[MrJoeBlack]

I really don't get it. It doesn't make any sense at all. I'm wondering if it's either a mistake, or something happened that is forcing them to do it.

 

 

Did you ever book on that other line we discussed?

[SissasMomE]

Did you ever book on that other line we discussed?

 

I'm waiting for the new ship. I really want to sail that one, and that will be the next cruise I book!

[MrJoeBlack]

It does look like a great vessel

[mitsugirly]

No, I will not be canceling. We have our upcoming Breakaway cruise booked and final payment due tomorrow and it will be the first cruise I get to take ALL my kids on, so it's a "biggie". :D

 

That's not to say that I'm unhappy about the way things have been going lately...lately as in since Del Rio took over. All the changes (not the changes itself, but how they are done) have left a sour taste in my mouth. The unwillingness to let the public know prior to a change and the customers "just finding out" is just not the right way to go about things or retain a loyalty customer base IMO.

 

Increasing the daily charges...it happens (and obviously happens twice in a short amount of time) just like prices go up and down at the store or at the gas station. It's really not that much per person. But it's the way it just gets sprung on everyone. It seems that most find out about it on here.

 

Not being able to bring food back to the room. Well, we have only done it a couple of times, but I can totally see where it would effect others that would like to enjoy a meal on their balcony, or those with young children. (At least they listened to their customers and over turned this one).

 

Charging for the room service...we never order room service, but the other cruise lines started to follow after that. It's just one of those changes, but it was a sneaky one that we found out about it on here.

 

Changing the UDP or UBP to charge 18% on top of that. Well, to me, it's still a good deal to pay for all you can drink and eat at the venues. But people get accustomed to receiving it for "free" then having to pay for the gratuity just seems to start a war.

 

Let's not forget them no longer including the dinner show on the BA and GA on the first night. Another thing that people were accustomed to and some were booked and then having to pay for it.

 

And now...my Breakaway trip has been reduced by 3 hours. We won't be arriving until 9am (instead of 8am) and leaving early at 3pm (instead of 5pm). That's a total of 3 hours missed in port. Have they told us? Nope! Will they? Who knows. But I feel they should respectfully let their customers know of the changes. People do have reservations for rentals or tours and so on. It's just down right sneaky IMO.

 

I will say that this is the only NCL cruise I have booked at the moment. It will be the last cruise I take this year. I WILL purchase a FCC while on the BA but I will probably wait for awhile before I use it to give them time to get all of these changes in place, ironed out and rolling smoothly before I cruise again with them. After all, I have 4 years to use it. :D Since I have had the privilege of trying out another cruise line, I have no obligation to return to NCL each time because I have found that we do enjoy another cruise line just as much. There's way too much fun to be had. I'm not going to let it get me down. I'm rolling with the punches and I can always punch back with my $$ elsewhere just like anyone else can. I still love NCL, but they need to get their crap together. :)

[Paulchili]

N

 

Increasing the daily charges...it happens (and obviously happens twice in a short amount of time) just like prices go up and down at the store or at the gas station. It's really not that much per person. But it's the way it just gets sprung on everyone. It seems that most find out about it on here.

 

 

BTW, who let's you know ahead of time that the price of eggs or milk in your supermarket or the gas at your pump went up?

Nobody tells me until I get there - nor do they ask me if I like it, they just do it.

Some nerve they have :D

Edited July 20, 2015 by Paulchili

[motleyfan]

We have been dipping our toes in the other cruiseines, and quite frankly I am looking forward to my next NCL cruise more than I have in a very long time. If you think it's just NCL making changes and cutbacks, I suggest getting out there and trying the competition.

 

We took a HAL cruise (our second) to Bermuda last month and the cruise itself was completely underwhelming in pretty much every way. Luckily the Bermuda part of the trip was amazing, so it was all good. But we are unlikely to go back on HAL.

 

We took our first Celebrity cruise in January, and it was fantastic in many ways. Some things were significantly better than NCL, and some things were not. We paid almost twice what we pay for a similar NCL cruise, though.

 

We had a Celebrity cruise booked for Feb, 2016, but when they changed the itinerary to eliminate Dominica and stay overnight in St Maarten instead (tell me that wasn't a cost saving measure), that was a deal breaker. So we changed to repeat the one we did last winter, but I find I am not excited about it so I think we are going to switch to the Escape.

 

I guess I am just an NCL girl at heart :) I can accept that they have to make changes to stay competitive and so far I am okay with the changes.

 

Wow its cool that you've gotten to try other lines. I think I'm going to try royal after the escape.

[legion3]

Wow its cool that you've gotten to try other lines. I think I'm going to try royal after the escape.

 

:eek:

 

Royal is kind of pricy.

[timmo44]

No and no. If it's bad on board then I might think about not booking a future cruise but not cancel one based on some changes here and there. None of the changes that have been discussed at length on here really bother me anyway. I welcome the room service charge with a better menu - yes please - will happily pay the paltry sum of £5 odd for someone to bring me everything on the menu if I liked. The old menu was rubbish so hardly ever used it.

 

Taking food to the room - never done that - I'd much rather be sitting in a restaurant. I have stolen some bread rolls before to feed the birds on shore but that's about it.

 

Increased gratuity on the UBP and UDP that we got free is $0 so no bother there either.

 

It's all details to me. I always think we get great value for money on our NCL cruises so a few $ here and there for extras that I choose to buy are not a problem.

[sparks1093]

BTW, who let's you know ahead of time that the price of eggs or milk in your supermarket or the gas at your pump went up?

Nobody tells me until I get there - nor do they ask me if I like it, they just do it.

Some nerve they have :D

 

I don't have to reserve a time to shop at the supermarket nor do I have to pay a high cover charge to enter, either (75 days prior to shopping, no less);):D.

[sparks1093]

:eek:

 

Royal is kind of pricy.

 

Last couple of times that I priced cruises Royal was in the same ballpark as CCL. (This was looking at cruising more than a year down the road.)

[hpecorari]

BTW, who let's you know ahead of time that the price of eggs or milk in your supermarket or the gas at your pump went up?

Nobody tells me until I get there - nor do they ask me if I like it, they just do it.

Some nerve they have :D

 

True. But you're traveling and have a hotel reservation when you go to check in for that hotel you'd think the price is what you booked it at.

 

Harriet

[AlphaGeek]

In our case, its more of a delay than cancellation. Instead of booking our usual early February cruise, we've elected to try out an all-inclusive resort. Our concerns were two-fold. As long-time Haven guests, we were concerned not with the cost of the constant stream of changes, but with the communication. Second, we would have booked on Escape, but many cabins continue to lack a floor plan on the NCL website. Like others, we will probably come back in a year or so, as we also have an FCC.

[newmexicoNita]

BTW, who let's you know ahead of time that the price of eggs or milk in your supermarket or the gas at your pump went up?

Nobody tells me until I get there - nor do they ask me if I like it, they just do it.

Some nerve they have :D

 

My morning smile!!!!!

[thatjoeguy]

In light of the overwhelming changes in such a short span is it enough to get you to cancel your current bookings?

 

Personally for my family and I the answer is YES, 2 Suites Cancelled and I'm not looking back at this train wreck until they realize constantly changing the product makes people feel uneasy and abused.

 

You mean how I got a free UBP for this next cruise that I didn't have on the one earlier this year? No, I like that.