NCL Vs. other lines drastic changes

[Brooklyn Boy]

I could not agree more. Last January my wife and I booked NCL Star 29 day Europe/Transatlantic cruise departing Copenhagen Sept 14, 2016. Since that time there have been almost weekly changes. We did not let it bother us since it was just nickel and dime stuff.

 

However, last week we found out, on these boards, that NCL had cancelled this cruise. This is hardly nickel and dime. Days later we received an e-mail from NCL informing us of the cancellation. No alternative was offered to us except a $50 OBC ,per stateroom, if we booked another NCL cruise at their current rate.

 

We are actually not outraged about the cancellation because we understand things in the travel industry happen. What really bothers us is the fact NCL did not inform us about this until after sites like CC reported it. On top of that the fact NCL did not even bother to offer any alternative (other than that vast $50 OBC) really made us wonder about NCL's commitment to their passengers.

 

This was going to be our first experience with NCL. Now that we know how they conduct their business it will be our last.

[Hendricks Clan]

Agree. N America is a mature cruise market with little room to grow and full of competitors. Asia especially China is an emerging cruise market full of potentials, new rich and 10 times the size. It is not hard to see why N American cruisers are suddenly considered disposable and demoted to substitute player status at NCL Corporate in its search for new profit.

 

Thats not true at all. Less than 20% of Americans have even been on a cruise. A lot of room to grow if you ask me!

 

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cruise-ship-industry-statistics/

[Travelcat2]

Thats not true at all. Less than 20% of Americans have even been on a cruise. A lot of room to grow if you ask me!

 

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cruise-ship-industry-statistics/

 

Excellent point!

 

To expand a bit, it sounds like many NCL cruisers are considerably younger than Oceania and Regent cruisers. They have families and are looking for certain types of itineraries. As difficult as it may be to accept, NCL, Carnival and RCCL cruisers have not typically cruised for the past 10+ years and are therefore easier to replace. If I still had young children, it would not be a big deal for me to switch between cruise lines. As Hendricks Clan stated, there are a lot of people in the U.S. that have never cruised. At the NCL price point, there are millions of possible customers out there. On the other hand, there are obviously less people that can or are willing to pay $1,000/night per person (Regent prices).

Edited August 9, 2015 by Travelcat2

[Jane Don]

Thats not true at all. Less than 20% of Americans have even been on a cruise. A lot of room to grow if you ask me!

 

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cruise-ship-industry-statistics/

 

Only 46% of Americans hold a passport.

 

Many people just don't travel.

[sfaaa]

Only 46% of Americans hold a passport.

 

Many people just don't travel.

 

Or don't have the kind of spare cash to flaunt like those new rich in China.

[phissy]

We are concerned about the future of Pride of America. Will they pull the plug on Hawaii and move her to another itinerary? Hope she stays in the islands.

[sparks1093]

Thats not true at all. Less than 20% of Americans have even been on a cruise. A lot of room to grow if you ask me!

 

http://www.statisticbrain.com/cruise-ship-industry-statistics/

 

A good number of my friends have never even considered cruising until I told them how affordable it was as a family vacation. Three people in my office have booked cruise because of that and they are hooked (I feel like a pusher:o). I always wanted to cruise but thought it would be unaffordable so never looked into it. Until a friend went on a cruise and told me how affordable it is.

[sparks1093]

We are concerned about the future of Pride of America. Will they pull the plug on Hawaii and move her to another itinerary? Hope she stays in the islands.

 

They worked very very hard to get her there, so unless she is really bleeding money it would be foolish to move her (since once they do they wouldn't be able to move her back).

[sparks1093]

Only 46% of Americans hold a passport.

 

Many people just don't travel.

 

Since the majority of cruises leaving US ports are round trip, closed loop cruises US Citizens don't need one to enjoy cruising.

[newmexicoNita]

I get how so many of you feel about the ongoing changes at NCL. However, I do think for the most part that you feel as if you have been misled by NCL Recently.

And that's perfectly understandable.

 

But looking back, all cruise lines have been through this type of major reorganization of shipboard offerings and amenities.

 

People complain, and hate the CEO's and the other line executives. Blah, blah, blah. This is NCL's turn to be vilified. And perhaps it's well deserved.

But somehow they all seem to thrive amid adversity. That's due to our short attention span.

 

So, many people have said, this is the last cruise, I'm canceling, I'm moving onto another line Ect.... But in the end some will do exactly what they said. But most will not. It's just the way we are.

 

Personally, I do not feel too bad about the changes, as most of them have a little or zero impact on me. Except that I have to pay the DSC on my drink pkg. still beats paying full price.

 

I'm not trying to convince you or sway how you feel about the many recent policy changes, just wanted to share my own point of view. And I respect all of your points, as they are ALL valid. Just that some of you are shall we say more passionate about it than others.

 

Here is just my personal experience about change. The wife and I honeymooned on the Sun Princess when it was brand new back in "96"

Coming off of two previous Carnival cruises. It was a awesome upgrade.

 

As we boarded the ship going to our cabin. A steward asked if he could help us with our carry on's. He asked for our cabin #. He then called us by our last names. As it turned out he was our steward. On Princess at that time they were to remember guest names.

 

Every night at assigned dining l. A fresh pasta dish was prepared table-side.

The. The list goes on and on. Over the years. After princess was carnivalized. And we kept sailing on Princess, every cruise was less and less impressive. Charges went up, staff not as friendly, less offerings for free and fee based venues started to pop up.

 

So this is nothing new, this has been going on for a long time now. NCL is making changes for long term benefits. We are just in a bad mix of the changes taking place. They will come out. Smelling like a rose. Alto it is hard to see that now, but they will. And if they lose a few locals along they way. That is just collateral damage of this battle of income.

 

Thanks.

 

Thanks for bringing all this into perspective. I do remember the first time a cabin steward called us by name: it was HAL about 15 years ago. Boy were we impressed. Now, for the past few years the same has been true with NCL. I don't remember this happening on RCI or for that matter Princess, but we didn't sail Princess as many years ago as you are talking about.

 

The only change that NCL has made that seems really dramatic is the room serive. The rest have been, what I think of as adjustments: more like when a restaurant raises pricesor adds an automatic SC or a resort does the same.

[Cindy]

We were given one choice (Jade on 01/15/2017) and the exact itinerary of that one choice is not yet available, (but it is an Eastern Carib, not a Western, so it is obviously totally different). The letter failed (IMHO) to put any positive spin on this for me as a customer. It failed to mention what would happen with the perks/amenities for my existing cruise. It only gives us 1 week to research and book our replacement cruise. It fails to mention what would be done for anybody that already booked airfare.

 

...so I am inclined to just book on a more accommodating cruise line.

 

I realize that change happens. We were also recently affected when Celebrity changed our itineraries on two cruises and added overnight port calls. IMHO, both cruise lines did a very poor job of communicating and accommodating their already booked passengers.

 

My cancellation letter offered more choices than the one in this post, but still not a viable option since in order to have price protection I would have had to move the cruise up by 9-12 months.

 

When I called the special number, the agent was unable to offer anything else, such as transferring the booking to another ship on the same dates. I had booked with perks (UBP, UDP, and OBC) and was excited about trying a suite on NCL, but after this experience it will probably never happen. I have a problem with the cancellation and redeployment months after the ships opened for booking, but what I really take exception to is the lack of meaningful, viable options and easy dismissal of passengers whose deposits have been held by NCL for months.

 

Wayne, we were also affected by the Celebrity itinerary changes. I agree that was also handled very poorly, but to me this redeployment is much worse. At least on Celebrity we still have a cruise!:rolleyes:

 

I do think this highlights a huge problem in the cruise industry. Despite recent changes, the contract still leaves the consumer with few rights and no recourse when things like this happen.:(

 

Minor issues such as no grats on UDP, then grats on UDP but who knows if its covered, then its covered, then its not covered, then room service charges.... All I wanted to know was what the heck I was responsible for and what was covered. All of those changes happened in a short time span. I didn't mind the changes so much but what i found so frustrating was failure to update their website and update terms and conditions. I mean if you're going to make a bunch of changes in a short time span at least inform the customer.

 

So now they are rolling out a massive redeployment of a third of their ships accompanied by an email giving me basically the option to price protect if I sail over a year early. Even if the time frame offered was an option, the staterooms left in my category are not available. And selling me the cruise of my dreams in the Haven at a great price and the very next day canceling the cruise - that's bad business.

 

I am now really hoping the email i received is a communication error and the options I was given are not going to be my only options because i was offered virtually an impossible alternative to my canceled cruise.

 

I've been looking at alternative sailings just in case.

 

I don't think your letter was an error.:mad: This was to be our first NCL cruise...booked in January to sail in November of 2016. I rolled with the punches during all the changes to gratuities, room service, etc. this spring, but this redeployment pushed me over the edge. The agent I spoke with was so dismissive and unhelpful I just pulled the plug and asked for a refund. I'm already booked on RCI leaving from Galveston the next day.

[rydan]

BROOKLYN BOY -

 

I got your back pisan.

Fellow brooklynite. Of course it depends on what part?

[halos]

Are you sure there's only one alternative for your Oct., 2016 cancelled cruise? In all the other cancellation threads people are complaining about a few things, including:

 

 

1. They realize their cruise is cancelled but NCL hasn't notified them yet.
   
2. NCL has notified them about a cruise cancelled in early 2016, but has not yet provided the alternatives. They have to wait until August 17th to find the alternatives.
   

Are you in the first group? If you noticed your cruise is cancelled due to the press release about new itineraries, and you called them, there may be only one option right now. Check with them after the 17th and you may have many more options.

 

If NCL has officially notified you then I would escalate the issue with your TA or PCC and see if you can get more options after the 17th like everyone else is reporting on Cruise Critic.

 

This is what I got from NCL

 

Good Afternoon Angela,

 

 

On Monday, August 3, 2015, Norwegian Cruise Line will announce exciting and exotic new itineraries for the Fall/Winter 2016/2017 deployment, bringing

the world to guests who want to explore new sights while experiencing the freedom and flexibility that only Norwegian Cruise Line can offer.

 

As a result of the scheduling changes, Norwegian Star's 10-Day Western Caribbean sailing from Tampa on October 13, 2016 is no longer available. We

sincerely apologize for this cancellation and would like to thank you for your understanding. Our goal is to ensure that you still have the vacation of a

lifetime with Norwegian and it would be our pleasure to assist you in selecting another available sailing from the following options:

 

 

- Option 1: Select Norwegian Jade's 10-Day Eastern Caribbean sailing from Tampa departing on January 15, 2017 and your cruise fare will be protected.

If you choose this option, a $50 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used on any expenditure on the ship excluding service charges, will be issued

to your onboard account. If you are currently booked in a suite (categories beginning with S or H), a $100 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used

on any expenditure on the ship excluding service charges, will be issued to your onboard account.

 

- Option 2: Select any available sailing in our fleet from now until April 30, 2017 at the selected sailings current published fare. If you choose this option, a

$50 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used on any expenditure on the ship excluding service charges, will be issued to your onboard account. If

you are currently booked in a suite (categories beginning with S or H), a $100 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used on any expenditure on the

ship excluding service charges, will be issued to your onboard account.

 

We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Please let us know how you would like to proceed. We look forward to hearing from you and I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

 

The itinerary of the eastern sailing that is price protected will be given to us on the 17th. Like I said...they have gall to think I should switch over and not know where I'm going.

IF those people you are referring to are correct...although I don't know why people would know more than NCL (????) and on the 17th, they will give me more options, that will definitely be better, but that isn't how I see this going down. The letter I received is pretty clear to me.

Edited August 9, 2015 by halos

[GeezerCouple]

This is what I got from NCL

 

Good Afternoon Angela,

 

 

On Monday, August 3, 2015, Norwegian Cruise Line will announce exciting and exotic new itineraries for the Fall/Winter 2016/2017 deployment, bringing

the world to guests who want to explore new sights while experiencing the freedom and flexibility that only Norwegian Cruise Line can offer.

 

As a result of the scheduling changes, Norwegian Star's 10-Day Western Caribbean sailing from Tampa on October 13, 2016 is no longer available. We

sincerely apologize for this cancellation and would like to thank you for your understanding. Our goal is to ensure that you still have the vacation of a

lifetime with Norwegian and it would be our pleasure to assist you in selecting another available sailing from the following options:

 

 

- Option 1: Select Norwegian Jade's 10-Day Eastern Caribbean sailing from Tampa departing on January 15, 2017 and your cruise fare will be protected.

If you choose this option, a $50 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used on any expenditure on the ship excluding service charges, will be issued

to your onboard account. If you are currently booked in a suite (categories beginning with S or H), a $100 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used

on any expenditure on the ship excluding service charges, will be issued to your onboard account.

 

- Option 2: Select any available sailing in our fleet from now until April 30, 2017 at the selected sailings current published fare. If you choose this option, a

$50 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used on any expenditure on the ship excluding service charges, will be issued to your onboard account. If

you are currently booked in a suite (categories beginning with S or H), a $100 per stateroom onboard credit, which can be used on any expenditure on the

ship excluding service charges, will be issued to your onboard account.

 

We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Please let us know how you would like to proceed. We look forward to hearing from you and I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

 

The itinerary of the eastern sailing that is price protected will be given to us on the 17th. Like I said...they have gall to think I should switch over and not know where I'm going.

IF those people you are referring to are correct...although I don't know why people would know more than NCL (????) and on the 17th, they will give me more options, that will definitely be better, but that isn't how I see this going down. The letter I received is pretty clear to me.

 

Yeah, it was an especially "nice touch" to "allow us" to select a cruise at the "current published fare".

What - are we supposed to be pleased that they didn't charge us a PENALTY to choose any cruise we actually want?

 

All that does is make it absolutely clear that they will NOT offer any discount or anything like the canceled fare for what the CUSTOMER might actually want.

 

Thoughtful indeed.

 

(How many of the NCL eyes that saw this "offer" would actually be pleased to be told that their own planned vacation - probably coordinated with others - is cancelled, and then be told *when* they are to go instead - or else pay much more than planned/previously guaranteed?)

 

GeezerCouple

[NLH Arizona]

Yeah, it was an especially "nice touch" to "allow us" to select a cruise at the "current published fare".

What - are we supposed to be pleased that they didn't charge us a PENALTY to choose any cruise we actually want?

 

All that does is make it absolutely clear that they will NOT offer any discount or anything like the canceled fare for what the CUSTOMER might actually want.

 

Thoughtful indeed.

 

(How many of the NCL eyes that saw this "offer" would actually be pleased to be told that their own planned vacation - probably coordinated with others - is cancelled, and then be told *when* they are to go instead - or else pay much more than planned/previously guaranteed?)

 

GeezerCouple

I think NCL should make all those involved whole. By that I mean, let them transfer to a like cruise at the fare they paid (putting a dollar amount that they can go over the price of their cancelled cruise, not allowing someone to book a cruise that is much more expensive at the published price), give them all the perks that they were offered with the cancelled cruise and give a small OBC for the inconvenience.

 

Will NCL lose revenue because of this, yes, but it will garner them a lot of goodwill and probably get them a lot of very positive press.

[Brooklyn Boy]

BROOKLYN BOY -

 

I got your back pisan.

Fellow brooklynite. Of course it depends on what part?

 

Williamsburg.

 

Will not return until that greatest crime committed against the good people of the city is corrected and the Dodgers return to where the universe meant them to be.

 

Besides, you just can't get the same pizza in FL. Something to do with the water.

[fshagan]

They worked very very hard to get her there, so unless she is really bleeding money it would be foolish to move her (since once they do they wouldn't be able to move her back).

 

The POA doesn't have a casino, so it would take a lot of reconfiguration that they probably couldn't do while paying passengers are on board. They are taking her out of service in early 2016 for a week of maintenance; if they add a casino you can start to worry. But otherwise, unless they want to base her somewhere that doesn't allow gambling (like around the British Isles), then she'll probably stay.

 

Although, if there are times of the year she is not fully utilized, I could see NCL doing some longer west coast to Hawai'i cruises.

[motleyfan]

They are the only year round cruise in Hawaii, that's a heck of a selling point.

[Hendricks Clan]

They are the only year round cruise in Hawaii, that's a heck of a selling point.

 

Very true and something we can finally agree on! However, it also brings with it a much higher cost to keep that ship there year round.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Hendricks Clan

[Shawnino]

Yeah, it was an especially "nice touch" to "allow us" to select a cruise at the "current published fare".

What - are we supposed to be pleased that they didn't charge us a PENALTY to choose any cruise we actually want?

 

All that does is make it absolutely clear that they will NOT offer any discount or anything like the canceled fare for what the CUSTOMER might actually want.

 

Thoughtful indeed.

 

 

GeezerCouple

 

Exactly, but so many sheeple won't stop to consider the logical points you just made.

[motleyfan]

Very true and something we can finally agree on! However, it also brings with it a much higher cost to keep that ship there year round.

 

I can imagine it could get costly. I just learned some things from My Cruise consultant that I did not know, I heard that all the employees on that ship are American, I am by no means racist but sometimes when you are on a cruise ship some of the actions can get hard to understand. I eventually would love to Cruise on that ship, unfortunately with any Cruise not in Florida for me that would involve airline travel and I've never flown on an airplane and I'm deathly afraid of it lol.

[halos]

I can imagine it could get costly. I just learned some things from My Cruise consultant that I did not know, I heard that all the employees on that ship are American, I am by no means racist but sometimes when you are on a cruise ship some of the actions can get hard to understand. I eventually would love to Cruise on that ship, unfortunately with any Cruise not in Florida for me that would involve airline travel and I've never flown on an airplane and I'm deathly afraid of it lol.

 

LOL..I assume you meant 'accents' not actions, right??

It made me laugh because I have NO issues on a cruise ship...I guess after a lot of cruises, you adjust to the accents of the crew.

HOWEVER, I have lived in the mid Atlantic, then for 14 years in New England and now in the south. I have a difficult time understanding the English language and all of it's accents here in the US!

[motleyfan]

LOL..I assume you meant 'accents' not actions, right??

It made me laugh because I have NO issues on a cruise ship...I guess after a lot of cruises, you adjust to the accents of the crew.

HOWEVER, I have lived in the mid Atlantic, then for 14 years in New England and now in the south. I have a difficult time understanding the English language and all of it's accents here in the US!

 

Yes i ment accents lol sorry i voice text and I'm a bit of a mush mouth lol. Is it true that the poa crew is American only?

[nbsjcruiser]

Well said OP. Changes are occurring everywhere on every line and they all amount to this one thing - less service and lower quality for more money. Its unavoidable. So either suck it up and enjoy or stop cruising. The only thing that really makes me feel sad is that on our first few cruises it really was special. You were treated special, the food was top notch and you were really sad to leave. Now, if you can get through a week with no food complaints then consider yourself quite fortunate. I for one have lowered my expectations but still enjoy the week away from stress, drama and work. Its a slice of heaven in a tranquil ocean.

[halos]

Is it true that the poa crew is American only?

 

yes.