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NCL Freestyle bonus offers

hbboers

By hbboers,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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RobTheGob

RobTheGob

Posted
Posted
We booked a 21 day cruise and do not qualify for any offers as it it more than 16 days. If I buy a 3 day $200 cruise I get the offer. I spend $2200 plus and get nothing. That makes no sense at all.

 

I agree! (and said so a few days ago!)

 

We are taking a 21+10 day cruise - back to back. We do get the "pick 2" on the second, 10 day leg.

 

I knew about this oversight before we booked - and initially considered changing the 21 day to 16+5. But it was slightly more $$ and when combined with the mandatory gratuities on the UBP - it will likely more than pay for the drinks that we'll actually have...

 

So - if you're not a BIG drinker, you'll probably be OK!

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Demonyte

Demonyte

Posted
Posted
We booked a 21 day cruise and do not qualify for any offers as it it more than 16 days. If I buy a 3 day $200 cruise I get the offer. I spend $2200 plus and get nothing. That makes no sense at all.

 

 

Your 21-nighter is 30% cheaper per night than the 3-nighter and you still want to get some free extras?!? O_o

 

O tempora o mores

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Demonyte

Demonyte

Posted
Posted
Your 21-nighter is 30% cheaper per night than the 3-nighter and you still want to get some free extras?!? O_o

 

O tempora o mores

 

 

Oops... having just woken up I divided $300 with 2 instead of $200 with 3 - my bad, disregard that post. :)

 

But long cruises usually are ones that are excluded for several reasons: less competition from other cruise lines (remember that the real reason for promos is to increase sales, not to make customers happier), often one-of-a-kind itineraries that sell quite well for those that really want to take them, a lot of sea days (less profit), etc, etc.

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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

Posted
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I knew about this oversight before we booked
Not sure what you mean by "oversight", but it was definitely a deliberate choice on NCL's part. During the first few rounds of the Choice promotion (through about April 2015), there was no such restriction on the cruise length. The offers were "Valid on 3+ day sailings." Then it turned into "3-16 day sailings".

 

I suppose this only affects a very small percentage of NCL's customer base, but these customers are buying their most expensive cruises, so I would certainly feel snubbed. I don't know if the per day pricing on these long cruises is really low enough to make up for it. Certainly not low enough to make buying the UBP for way over $1000 a viable option.

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RobTheGob

RobTheGob

Posted
Posted
Not sure what you mean by "oversight", but it was definitely a deliberate choice on NCL's part. During the first few rounds of the Choice promotion (through about April 2015), there was no such restriction on the cruise length. The offers were "Valid on 3+ day sailings." Then it turned into "3-16 day sailings".

 

I suppose this only affects a very small percentage of NCL's customer base, but these customers are buying their most expensive cruises, so I would certainly feel snubbed. I don't know if the per day pricing on these long cruises is really low enough to make up for it. Certainly not low enough to make buying the UBP for way over $1000 a viable option.

 

OK - how about "lack of incentive" rather than "oversight"? Obviously - it was NCL's business decision to make the choice to eliminate the customers that spend the most.

 

The TA that I was dealing with informed me of the "Freestyle Choice" before I had even heard of it. Unfortunately - she was unaware of the 3-16 limitation and actually found out about it from me!

 

In my case - just under a week ago, the cost for the 16+5 day cruise was almost exactly the same per day as the 21 day option (so the per day cost was almost the same with and without the perk). But by the time we realized the perk didn't apply - the 16+5 option had risen to about 10% more.

 

The 21+10 day (which we chose) was actually quite a bit less than the 31 day option!

 

At first - I was miffed (and almost walked away from NCL). But when I thought about it carefully - it will actually work out fine for us. The delay that came from this confusion actually made it so that we got "Pick 2" on the 10 day leg...

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Demonyte

Demonyte

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OK - how about "lack of incentive" rather than "oversight"? Obviously - it was NCL's business decision to make the choice to eliminate the customers that spend the most.

 

While the total price for the cruise fare might be higher, many (bar) employees on our recent Celebrity cruise said to dislike contracts on ships that mostly do long itineraries - they said that there is a significant difference in onboard spending between those taking only a shorter cruise and those on a 14-nighter or longer.

 

Even though I'm under 40 and like longer cruises for other reasons, I have to agree that the customer base and mentality between shorter and longer cruises is definitely different.

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RobTheGob

RobTheGob

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While the total price for the cruise fare might be higher, many (bar) employees on our recent Celebrity cruise said to dislike contracts on ships that mostly do long itineraries - they said that there is a significant difference in onboard spending between those taking only a shorter cruise and those on a 14-nighter or longer.

 

That doesn't surprise me at all. I suspect people on 3 day cruises spend money like drunken sailors in port for the weekend...

 

But if the cruise lines don't care for them - why continue to offer the longer cruises at all? The TA I used blamed the "fine print" for missing the 3-16 day limitation, but once I looked at myself - it was fairly boldly stated...

 

I still think it's shortsighted to limit the perk - but that's NCL's choice and I think in the end it will actually be cheaper for us. Much to the chagrin of the bar employees...

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RobTheGob

RobTheGob

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Does NCL actually do any itineraries that are truly more than 16 days (i.e everyone on board stays for the entire 16+ days)? Or are the long cruises always two or more shorter cruises strung together?

 

The 31 day that we are doing starts in Miami, goes through the Panama Canal, up the Pacific coast, then on to Alaska and back to Seattle.

 

But it can be also made by stringing together 16+5+10 day cruises...

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Moby0215

Moby0215

Posted
Posted
Not sure what you mean by "oversight", but it was definitely a deliberate choice on NCL's part. During the first few rounds of the Choice promotion (through about April 2015), there was no such restriction on the cruise length. The offers were "Valid on 3+ day sailings." Then it turned into "3-16 day sailings".

 

 

 

I suppose this only affects a very small percentage of NCL's customer base, but these customers are buying their most expensive cruises, so I would certainly feel snubbed. I don't know if the per day pricing on these long cruises is really low enough to make up for it. Certainly not low enough to make buying the UBP for way over $1000 a viable option.

 

 

I don't think there should be any reason to feel snubbed.

 

1) you have to realize that promos are meant to drive business. If they have no need to drive business for cruises of 16+ days in length then why would they.

 

2) I think most of the cruises that are 16+ days can actually be broken up into multiple cruises and could be booked separately and in that case I think you could take advantage of the promos. However if in doing so the base fare then becomes higher....well then you are already saving money, hence another reason they may not want/need to offer the promos on the longer cruises.

 

 

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RobTheGob

RobTheGob

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2) I think most of the cruises that are 16+ days can actually be broken up into multiple cruises and could be booked separately and in that case I think you could take advantage of the promos. However if in doing so the base fare then becomes higher....well then you are already saving money, hence another reason they may not want/need to offer the promos on the longer cruises.

 

I think you missed a "in many cases" when stating the base fare becomes higher...

 

As I stated - in my case, the 16+5 day cruise was almost exactly the same cost a week ago (but it's been more since Monday) and the 21+10 day cruise was quite a bit cheaper than the corresponding 31 day...

 

So - it basically means "do your homework" if these things matter to you...

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Moby0215

Moby0215

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I think you missed a "in many cases" when stating the base fare becomes higher...

 

As I stated - in my case, the 16+5 day cruise was almost exactly the same cost a week ago (but it's been more since Monday) and the 21+10 day cruise was quite a bit cheaper than the corresponding 31 day...

 

So - it basically means "do your homework" if these things matter to you...

 

 

I did not miss it. I just mentioned that one way the customer saves money on the fare and the other way the customer receives promos. It's definitely up to the customer to research which method is best for them. But surely not worth complaining about not receiving the promos for 16+ days when the customer does have the option.

 

 

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RobTheGob

RobTheGob

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I'm not exactly sure what point that was nor did I think we were arguing. I was just saying it's not a snub because the customer has options and could break it up and receive promos if they wanted.

 

I wanted to make sure that anybody else that reads this thread knows that your statement "the base fare then becomes higher" isn't always true! In my case - I broke the long cruise into two legs and got both the lower base fare AND the perks...

 

Having said that - in my case by the time I actually booked, the cabin availability changed and we WILL be changing cabins between legs. But initially - that wasn't the situation, the same cabin could be booked for all legs.

 

But we're not worried about moving - it may help break things up a bit.

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Moby0215

Moby0215

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I wanted to make sure that anybody else that reads this thread knows that your statement "the base fare then becomes higher" isn't always true! In my case - I broke the long cruise into two legs and got both the lower base fare AND the perks...

 

Having said that - in my case by the time I actually booked, the cabin availability changed and we WILL be changing cabins between legs. But initially - that wasn't the situation, the same cabin could be booked for all legs.

 

But we're not worried about moving - it may help break things up a bit.

 

 

Oh I see where the confusion was. I was not saying that the fare WOULD definitely become higher. I was saying IF.

 

 

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