Can't bring soda on board anymore

[richstowe]

RCL already has this policy. They just don't always enforce it.

Have you , has anyone , heard them enforcing this policy lately ? I haven't .

[Square]

We have 3 rooms booked on the Escape in November. Was looking forward to NCL but this could be a deal breaker. My wife loves Coke and can't stand Pepsi. Final payment isn't until next month so we'll probably look around for other options. NCL'd and dimed.

[Swells1]

I just went to the NCL site to check out the soda package. I saw the disclaimer stating everyone in the cabin has to purchase, but I was given the option to 'uncheck' the hubs and only put one in the cart.

 

So, help me understand- the soda package DOES or DOES NOT include canned sodas?

 

I am not happy about buying this package. I hate Pepsi products, the only one I can tolerate is Mountain Dew, and it makes me so thirsty! :mad:

[NMLady]

We are booked on quite a few NCL cruises, but have NOT received any email notification about this change in policy.

 

What is interesting is that we are still in a time period where we could cancel all of our reservations withOUT penalty.

 

It appears that NCL is *only* notifying passengers once their cancellation penalties are already in place.

 

If this is correct, then that is *really* sleazy. :mad:

 

Has ANYONE who is NOT yet within any penalty for cancelling received a communication directly from NCL about this new policy?

 

???

 

Our final payment date for Oct cruise is August 1st. We have not received any notice of this new policy.

 

I just went to the NCL site to check out the soda package. I saw the disclaimer stating everyone in the cabin has to purchase, but I was given the option to 'uncheck' the hubs and only put one in the cart.

 

So, help me understand- the soda package DOES or DOES NOT include canned sodas?

 

I am not happy about buying this package. I hate Pepsi products, the only one I can tolerate is Mountain Dew, and it makes me so thirsty! :mad:

 

Soda package does NOT include canned sodas.

[Rhea98]

No email for Oct 30 cruise.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edited July 2, 2016 by Rhea98

[mm3386]

We are booked on quite a few NCL cruises, but have NOT received any email notification about this change in policy.

 

What is interesting is that we are still in a time period where we could cancel all of our reservations withOUT penalty.

 

It appears that NCL is *only* notifying passengers once their cancellation penalties are already in place.

 

If this is correct, then that is *really* sleazy. :mad:

 

Has ANYONE who is NOT yet within any penalty for cancelling received a communication directly from NCL about this new policy?

 

???

 

My final payment is due today, and I have not received notice of the change. Luckily, this does not affect me since I'm booked in an owner's suite. However, this definitely affects any desire to sail NCL in the future, as the upcoming cruise is our honeymoon and the only reason we splurged on a Haven cabin.

 

 

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[jakesnana]

RCL already has this policy. They just don't always enforce it.

 

RCCL USED to have this policy but they rescinded it awhile back. You can now bring bottled water onboard.

 

They may change their stance based on what NCL is doing, but hopefully they'll follow CCL's policy and offer bottled water at a reasonable rate. FWIW, I don't mind paying $3.99 for a 12 pak of water on CCL. To me it's worth it not to hassle with carrying it onboard. NCL should do this and then it would be a win/win for everyone.

[LMaxwell]

RCCL USED to have this policy but they rescinded it awhile back. You can now bring bottled water onboard.

 

 

They did not rescind their policy or modify it. Except for bringing on 2 bottles of wine per stateroom and no corkage fees, the policy is largely similar to NCL's new policy. Being rarely enforced does not mean they changed it.

[Boschmann]

We are booked on quite a few NCL cruises, but have NOT received any email notification about this change in policy.

 

What is interesting is that we are still in a time period where we could cancel all of our reservations withOUT penalty.

 

It appears that NCL is *only* notifying passengers once their cancellation penalties are already in place.

 

If this is correct, then that is *really* sleazy. :mad:

 

Has ANYONE who is NOT yet within any penalty for cancelling received a communication directly from NCL about this new policy?

 

???

 

You may be on to something here, I was wondering why I haven't seen this email. My final payment is in September.

[Frick_&_Frack]

I only got the e-mail for my Escape cruise; I didn't for my 2 upcoming Breakaway bookings.

 

Guest Relations last evening (when they called me), said that the e-mails had only started being sent at 12:30pm Eastern. And it was going in "batches" so it would be some time before everyone was notified (FWIW). :rolleyes:

[travelbugforever]

Good point Darla250... if you've already booked, you should be grandfathered for this.. :)

 

We are also booked for July 23rd and I am very annoyed with this new policy.

I always bring water on board as my doctor recommends drinking lots of water for my high blood pressure.My husband also has to drink a lot of water due to kidney stones and diabetes.

I am extremely unhappy with the price of the water package and will not cruise NCL again after this cruise. I would gladly cancel my cruise, if I could, without penalty.

[Crusin6]

riddle me this "do the T&Cs for the CruiseNext certificates guarantee future cruises to have same promos, services, prices, ships, itineraries, etc that are available at the time of purchase?"

 

I might just call and dispute my November cruise, when I used a CruiseNext certificate because my itinerary now arrives in GSC on Thursday instead of Wednesday when I bought it..... damn NCL

 

and while I'm at it..... I'm going to write a letter to Congress because the frickin prices have increased and the model TV I wanted was discontinued at Best Buy after I bought a gift card.... the products and prices available to me at the time I bought the gift card are no longer available

 

 

Seriously you don't want to understand why asking for a refund of a cruise next is valid do you?

 

 

The point is as a previous pax you gave ncl your cash up to 4 years in advance ....the obc is meaningless...you gave them $150 to help their cash flow.....

 

In return not only will they give you an extra $100 when you book in the future which means even more $$$$ for them they will provide a product that you wanted when you bought them

 

 

So the pax has a Valid argument to request a refund.....something ncl doesn't want you to do....because they don't want to give it back to you....

 

 

It doesn't take a genius to see a few things....

 

1. a cruise next holder has leverage

2. There are lots of cruise next holders

3. Ncl doesn't want to give you back your cash

 

4. Requesting a refund of a cruise next cert is not something ncl expected with this water change

 

5. Ncl will listen because it's just another item of leverage the pax has found to use...

 

 

 

 

 

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[travelbugforever]

"it's a security issue, but we've received assurances from all active terror organisations that it won't be a security issue until july 15. Enjoy your cruise."

 

--ncl

LOL and soooo true!

Edited July 2, 2016 by travelbugforever
Too short

[GeezerCouple]

My final payment is due today, and I have not received notice of the change. Luckily, this does not affect me since I'm booked in an owner's suite. However, this definitely affects any desire to sail NCL in the future, as the upcoming cruise is our honeymoon and the only reason we splurged on a Haven cabin.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Please let us know if you "coincidentally" receive the email about this change shortly after your cancellation penalty takes effect.

 

And BTW, for us, even when we are in a DOS or OS with the free soft drinks, it doesn't help.

 

We hate Pepsi products, and thus always carry on a lot of Diet Coke.

 

We are about to cancel quite a few NCL cruises.

All of them are with deposits (of course), but...

 

None of our planned NCL cruises are in any penalty phase yet.

And we have not received a single email from NCL about the new policy.

How "interesting"...

Needless to say, we are unwilling to do the little experiment of waiting until a penalty period starts to see if - and WHEN - we get notified.

 

We are about to start cancelling all of our reserved NCL cruises, and we've already found a couple of cruises on another line that look appealing.

[Boschmann]

I only got the e-mail for my Escape cruise; I didn't for my 2 upcoming Breakaway bookings.

 

Guest Relations last evening (when they called me), said that the e-mails had only started being sent at 12:30pm Eastern. And it was going in "batches" so it would be some time before everyone was notified (FWIW). :rolleyes:

 

Sounds fishy. Say 400 cruises in the next year and a half at average of 3500 people per cruise makes 1.4 million people. I figure they only have to notify one email address per cabin so about 700,000 emails need to go out. In my estimation that is nothing compared to the mass marketing emails I see them putting out. Can any IT techs weigh in? Maybe it has more to do with their customer support can't handle all the backlash at once. But I suspect damage control....

Edited July 2, 2016 by Boschmann

[Crusin6]

I refuse to go to the ncl fb page because I'm not opening up my fb account to a huge number of fb users nor am I willing to publicly post my cruise dates etc....

 

But anyone here who does go on the fb page could you post the requesting the cruise next refund suggestion?

 

Thanks

 

 

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Edited July 2, 2016 by Crusin6

[GeezerCouple]

I only got the e-mail for my Escape cruise; I didn't for my 2 upcoming Breakaway bookings.

 

Guest Relations last evening (when they called me), said that the e-mails had only started being sent at 12:30pm Eastern. And it was going in "batches" so it would be some time before everyone was notified (FWIW). :rolleyes:

 

Sounds fishy. Say 400 cruises in the next year and a half at average of 3500 people per cruise makes 1.4 million people. I figure they only have to notify one email address per cabin so about 700,000 emails need to go out. In my estimation that is nothing compared to the mass marketing emails I see them putting out. Can any IT techs weigh in? Maybe it has more to do with their customer support can't handle all the backlash at once.

 

Yeah, right. "Batches" over "some time" :mad:

 

Then... How in the world are they able to send out the assorted new promotional announcements to everyone on the same day?

 

(We ended up on numerous NCL distribution lists, with different e-addresses because we've made several reservations for others, at their request, of course. So we get all the email. And ALL of the identical promotional emails arrive on the same day, and within a relatively short time period. Golly gee, how did NCL manage to do that!??)

[jm485]

Sounds fishy. Say 400 cruises in the next year and a half at average of 3500 people per cruise makes 1.4 million people. I figure they only have to notify one email address per cabin so about 700,000 emails need to go out. In my estimation that is nothing compared to the mass marketing emails I see them putting out. Can any IT techs weigh in? Maybe it has more to do with their customer support can't handle all the backlash at once.

 

 

 

I have my email address as the email contact for my husband. I received two emails -- one for him and one for me (the name was in the subject line) -- for our 9/3 cruise.

 

I've seen a couple of posts that this policy "doesn't matter" if you're in a suite. We have an SF -- do we get free bottled water or mini-bar access or something? Just asking because I really hadn't thought about it and we were planning to bring water since we drive to port.

 

edited to add: One of the emails came yesterday afternoon and the other overnight last night.

Edited July 2, 2016 by jm485

[Frick_&_Frack]

Sounds fishy. Say 400 cruises in the next year and a half at average of 3500 people per cruise makes 1.4 million people. I figure they only have to notify one email address per cabin so about 700,000 emails need to go out. In my estimation that is nothing compared to the mass marketing emails I see them putting out. Can any IT techs weigh in?

 

It's absolutely fishy. I said that to the person I spoke with that (at that point) I hadn't even been notified yet. smh (That was after he tried to sell me on "security issue" - which was backtracked to "taking too much time to screen" and then went on to misquote Carnival's policy - and I nicely read it to him :D )

 

When I e-mailed my TA yesterday morning to start pricing options, they hadn't been notified (and that was crazy early). I know they were a bit disturbed that I notified them (and not the other way). It didn't surprise them with all the recent changes; however, they certainly should have been notified.

 

My option search is continuing. While I really love, and am used to, the NCL Haven product, I have to say that it may be time for me to change it up a bit and explore. I'm such a creature of habit that all the changes recently just are unsettling to me. May be silly to some; however, to me, it's all finally just added up to one too many changes (and too quickly).

[jm485]

I refuse to go to the ncl fb page because I'm not opening up my fb account to a huge number of fb users nor am I willing to publicly post my cruise dates etc....

 

But anyone here who does go on the fb page could you post the requesting the cruise next refund suggestion?

 

Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

I use a "fake"book account for stuff like that, tied to an email address that I only use for marketing related stuff.

[Frick_&_Frack]

Yeah, right. "Batches" over "some time" :mad:

 

Then... How in the world are they able to send out the assorted new promotional announcements to everyone on the same day?

 

Exactly ^^^

 

I just detest being fibbed to. (OK, outright lied to).:mad:

 

I think, for me, that it's the way they are handling this that is the driving factor at this point (that and, seriously, no one wants to cruise with me if I'm not properly caffeinated :eek:).

[GeezerCouple]

I have my email address as the email contact for my husband. I received two emails -- one for him and one for me (the name was in the subject line) -- for our 9/3 cruise.

 

I've seen a couple of posts that this policy "doesn't matter" if you're in a suite. We have an SF -- do we get free bottled water or mini-bar access or something? Just asking because I really hadn't thought about it and we were planning to bring water since we drive to port.

 

edited to add: One of the emails came yesterday afternoon and the other overnight last night.

 

Are you already in any penalty phase if you cancel?

 

Only Owners Suites, Deluxe Owners Suites, and Garden Villa get unlimited free cans of soft drinks plus bottled still and sparkling water (plus either 3 or 6 free bottles of booze).

 

But of course, NCL only provides the brands they regularly carry, so still... no Diet Coke, or other Coca Cola products...

 

And one can't even purchase them on board, which we would do if NCL would offer Coca Cola products.

[Newfun4me]

FWIW, previously posted ... following prices were valid on the Breakway in our late May 2016 sailing - based on Mini Bar list (attached) plus an 18% restocking fee / replenishment.

 

Pepsi products (12 oz. can) - $2.95 per can

Bottled Water 1L (33.8 oz) - $5.50

San Pellegrino 750ml (25.4 oz) - $5.50

 

 

It is wishful thinking, IMHO, that soda and bottled water pricing will be lowered with the introduction of this new policy scheduled in 2 weeks to soften a hard landing for many.

 

I rather be proven wrong but all you need to take a look is their recent pricing trends for the iConcierge App for calling & texting onboard - went from $7.95 per device to $9.95 and $12.95 ... this week, reported to be as high as $14.95. Apples vs. Oranges in the comparison, I'll say it but the patterning is there.

 

Funny in how other cruiselines are charging less for these products and yet doing nicely on their financials, but, never enough for NCL - perhaps, it has to do with its massive debts for the new ships.

 

Just wait till NCL start charging for Priority Disembark and Express Walk-Off ... and, an easy one to get rich - Checked Luggage & Excess Baggage fees and fees for selecting one's stateroom/suite, etc. The possibilities are endless with the new spins on Freestyle Cruising.

 

Change is good. For Some. Not so much, for others. Customers satisfactions - are just, collateral damage.

 

Thank you. I appreciate the info. I knew I had seen the pricing somewhere, but couldn't easily find it again.

[NLH Arizona]

 

I've seen a couple of posts that this policy "doesn't matter" if you're in a suite. We have an SF -- do we get free bottled water or mini-bar access or something? Just asking because I really hadn't thought about it and we were planning to bring water since we drive to port.

 

I always cruise in a SF suite and I get a 1 liter bottle of water upon arrival. I don't believe it is unlimited, but my cabin stewards have always brought me additional bottles when needed at no charge, not sure why but they do. I also ask for a pitcher of water and iced tea to be in the mini fridge daily.

[LMaxwell]

Just wait till NCL start charging for Priority Disembark and Express Walk-Off ... and, an easy one to get rich - Checked Luggage & Excess Baggage fees and fees for selecting one's stateroom/suite, etc. The possibilities are endless with the new spins on Freestyle Cruising.

 

They already charge a fee for selecting your own room versus taking a guarantee. that is not new and is common industry practice. Want a particular location, costs more than GTY.

 

They already have a baggage policy but they have never enforced it. I think that is coming next, to be honest. Weighing the bag at drop off would be very easy to do and they can charge a handling fee. I wouldn't think it would be guest friendly, but it is already "primed".

 

Priority disembark and walk off; not sure this one would go over. They basically want people off the ship as soon as practical; if they charged to do so there might be a backlash of people saying 'fine, we'll have a slow breakfast and sit out on deck and wait'. And it reeks of taking advantage of people with earlier flights. Could they do it? Sure. But I think that one is pretty offensive.

 

I would not be surprised to see a Carnival FTTF-type program added. The way people get there early and race for Vibe passes on some ships. Those that want the Vibe passes would probably pay the additional fee for a FTTF program as well. Honestly, I am shocked NCL does NOT offer this type of program already...

Edited July 2, 2016 by LMaxwell