Free Promos are Not Free

[4774Papa]

That’s not a trick. That’s people not paying attention or not reading. They charge you less per gallon for a full tank. Or you can go on your own and fill what you need to. You pay for the convenience. It’s all very clear if you actually read what you sign.

 

As for the “free at sea” items, they are not forced upon you. You can book a cruise without them. If you don’t find the perk to be worth the fees, decline. The fees are very plainly explained when you book. They are on the invoice that comes up before you enter your credit card. No one is scamming you. If you can’t manage the reading comprehension, that’s not the cruise line’s fault.

 

Is it marketing? Sure. Are you always getting “new and improved” things when they change the packaging? Nope. Sometimes they’ve just shrunk the amount and kept the price the same. When they say on tv that if you call “right now” you’ll get a special deal do you believe that? No one is monitoring your television go know if you are calling during the advertisement or not. That special deal is the normal deal. M&Ms don’t talk. Energizer batteries don’t last forever. Become a discerning consumer.

 

 

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As for the “free at sea” items, they are not forced upon you. You can book a cruise without them.

 

 

People say this on cc boards, but I have not found this to be the case, except when booking closer to the cruise and NCL offers guaranteed balconies.

 

 

I don't want the promos, just a good bottom line price.

[JamieLogical]

As for the “free at sea” items, they are not forced upon you. You can book a cruise without them.

 

 

People say this on cc boards, but I have not found this to be the case, except when booking closer to the cruise and NCL offers guaranteed balconies.

 

 

I don't want the promos, just a good bottom line price.

 

They offer Sail Away options for each room meta (inside, ocean view, balcony, mini-suite) except Haven. The Sail Away option does not include the Free At Sea promos. Additionally, if you do choose a room that includes promos, you can choose the ones that don't incur any additional service charge like the internet plan or excursion credit.

[Gampy1967]

As former NCL cruisers DH and I were open to trying NCL again. When attempting to book a 5-day cruise out of Tampa I selected the Free Drinks promo. Imagine my surprise when the total cruise cost amount included a $178 service charge for the "Free Drinks." What is free about that? I chatted with a NCL rep and was told the service charge is the 20% gratuities for the free drinks! Free drinks should include the gratuities or it isn't really free. No thanks, we'll stick to Carnival and Holland America where there aren't service charges for "free" promos. By the way, their drink gratuities are 15%, not 20%.

 

Actually, depending on when you booked your cruise, free perks are in fact free. I booked our 3/24/19 cruise well over a year ago in a suite. This was before they added the "service charge" on the perks to people in the suites. Even so, why would you think that something free (that you would normally tip on) include free gratuities. If you received a certificate for a free dinner at a local restaurant, would you then stiff your waiter/waitress on the tip because 15-20% of zero is zero? Of course not, most people would tip 15-20% on the value of the free meal (assuming good service). You may have a legit complaint on the suggested retail value of the perk that the gratuity is based on, but the actually gratuity itself is pretty normal.

[graphicguy]

As for the “free at sea” items, they are not forced upon you. You can book a cruise without them.

 

 

People say this on cc boards, but I have not found this to be the case, except when booking closer to the cruise and NCL offers guaranteed balconies.

 

 

I don't want the promos, just a good bottom line price.

 

The perks are a la cart. You can “check” or “uncheck” any of the perks you may or may not want. Easy to do on their WEB site.

 

TIPS and service charges are a part of the cost of ANY vacation. Who gets what money isn’t my concern.

 

I agree with most, the charges are known when you look at any of the cruise lines. To pretend like they aren’t known or were some sort of surprise is either disingenuous (feigning fake shock), or a sign the poster really shouldn’t be booking their own cruises (given their lack of understanding).

[graphicguy]

As for the “free at sea” items, they are not forced upon you. You can book a cruise without them.

 

 

People say this on cc boards, but I have not found this to be the case, except when booking closer to the cruise and NCL offers guaranteed balconies.

 

 

I don't want the promos, just a good bottom line price.

 

The perks are a la cart. You can “check” or “uncheck” any of the perks you may or may not want. Easy to do on their WEB site.

 

TIPS and service charges are a part of the cost of ANY vacation. Who gets what money isn’t my concern.

 

I agree with most, the charges are known when you look at any of the cruise lines. To pretend like they aren’t known or were some sort of surprise is either disingenuous (feigning fake shock), or a sign the poster really shouldn’t be booking their own cruises (given their lack of understanding).

[April42749]

Most people just "book a vacation". They don't spend hours doing research about what's included, what's extra etc....

 

 

As "a researcher" I am aware of all the "terms and conditions". I'm retired; I have a lot of extra time.

 

 

If I were working, had a couple of kids and "in other words" very busy, I would just read the descriptions and think I was getting "free meals and free drinks" and assume free to mean just that: Free!

 

 

I doubt I'd even bother with "sail away rates" since you don't get anything "for free". And I'm sure I wouldn't sit around doing cost comparisons. I'd look at the bottom line, inclusive of the service fees and decide if the trip's worth it.

[broberts]

As for the “free at sea” items, they are not forced upon you. You can book a cruise without them....

 

Not the entire story. One cannot reserve a particular cabin when eschewing free at sea.

 

 

The perks are a la cart. You can “check” or “uncheck” any of the perks you may or may not want. Easy to do on their WEB site.

 

...

 

Try moving past the perks screen with no perks checked.

[JamieLogical]

Try moving past the perks screen with no perks checked.

 

It's certainly possible. We accidentally did it on our cruise in February and had to call to get our perks added.

[lantzalot]

Most people just "book a vacation". They don't spend hours doing research about what's included, what's extra etc....

 

 

 

 

 

As "a researcher" I am aware of all the "terms and conditions". I'm retired; I have a lot of extra time.

 

 

 

 

 

If I were working, had a couple of kids and "in other words" very busy, I would just read the descriptions and think I was getting "free meals and free drinks" and assume free to mean just that: Free!

 

 

 

 

 

I doubt I'd even bother with "sail away rates" since you don't get anything "for free". And I'm sure I wouldn't sit around doing cost comparisons. I'd look at the bottom line, inclusive of the service fees and decide if the trip's worth it.

 

 

 

But that’s not NCLs problem or some sort of trick if you can’t or won’t read your invoice before you commit your credit card. You don’t even need to dig deep or read fine print. Before you “book your vacation” there’s an itemized bill on the screen for you to accept. If you can’t be bothered to look at a simple list of charges then you’re going to fall prey to actual scams everywhere.

 

 

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[ukbecky]

Researching dates and itineraries on NCL shows FREE, FREE, FREE for each offer. The fine print is available once you start booking - it is not there for general browsing and research.

 

Celebrity has the fine print for perks on the first page.

 

Princess has the fine print on the first page when Sip + Sail promo is running.

 

Both Celebrity and Princess include gratuities in those perks -- so it is understandable that NCL's policy comes as a surprise if someone has booked with those lines before, or is doing research across the lines. Of course, the cost is built into the cost of the fare. That is not the point of this thread.

 

The point of the thread is to inform people that NCL's FREE promos are not free. There are additional costs that will be added when you book.

 

The point of CruiseCritic is to inform. Not everyone does mock bookings before making decisions. Not everyone reads all the Terms and Conditions. Not everyone reads the cruise contract.

 

Not everyone knows everything about every cruise on every cruiseline. I can't believe that has to be said.

 

People come to CruiseCritic to research, read, ask questions, and make comments -- posters telling people they deserve to be scammed, 'just don't get it', should have already known that, etc.? That is not helping anyone, nor is it informing anyone.

[SeaShark]

The point of CruiseCritic is to inform. Not everyone does mock bookings before making decisions. Not everyone reads all the Terms and Conditions. Not everyone reads the cruise contract.

 

Not everyone knows everything about every cruise on every cruiseline. I can't believe that has to be said.

 

People come to CruiseCritic to research, read, ask questions, and make comments -- posters telling people they deserve to be scammed, 'just don't get it', should have already known that, etc.? That is not helping anyone, nor is it informing anyone.

 

 

That is certainly an interesting take on it. You state that there are people who can't be bothered to do mock bookings before making decisions. You state that there are people who can't be bothered to read the Terms and Conditions. You state that there are people who can't be bothered to read the cruise contract. You state that there are people who can't be bothered to learn things about the cruise line.

 

However...in every case, they could do so if they wanted to do so. So, why then, are they so uninformed??

 

 

The funny thing is that even though there are all these people with self-inflicted knowledge gaps, you think that they will come to Cruise Critic to research, read, ask questions and make comments? Doesn't seem to me that a person can ignore all of that information yet be so diligent when it comes to Cruise Critic.

[JamieLogical]

Researching dates and itineraries on NCL shows FREE, FREE, FREE for each offer. The fine print is available once you start booking - it is not there for general browsing and research.

 

Today they are advertising the Haven on the home page, but usually they are advertising Free At Sea on the home page and right on that ad it says something like "taxes and service charges may apply".

[Two Wheels Only]

Researching dates and itineraries on NCL shows FREE, FREE, FREE for each offer. The fine print is available once you start booking - it is not there for general browsing and research.

They should have something like....

 

*Gratuities, Beverage, Specialty Service Charges & other restrictions may apply.

 

...on the homepage? :confused:

[broberts]

It's certainly possible. We accidentally did it on our cruise in February and had to call to get our perks added.

 

Try it now. It simply is not possible to continue with a booking without choosing free at sea options. Unless, that is, one selects the Sail Away fare which is the equivalent to choosing a guaranteed cabin on other lines.

[PTC DAWG]

Some of y’all crack me up. Go to the street corner and argue with a stop sign.

 

Me, I understand paying a tip on a free package of value. Same with a restaurant gift certificate. No wonder servers complain about some folks, you just don’t want to get it.

[ColinIllinois]

Researching dates and itineraries on NCL shows FREE, FREE, FREE for each offer. The fine print is available once you start booking - it is not there for general browsing and research.

 

 

 

If you click on the promo on NCL home page and then scroll down, the link to the Terms and Conditions is right there.

[JamieLogical]

Try it now. It simply is not possible to continue with a booking without choosing free at sea options. Unless, that is, one selects the Sail Away fare which is the equivalent to choosing a guaranteed cabin on other lines.

 

Okay, you are right. I am seeing that the "Continue" button is grayed out on that screen until you select a perk(s). I am sure you could call and do your booking over the phone without selecting one, though. Also, you could just chose the perk(s) that incur no additional fees or charges, like the internet package or the shore excursion credit.

[PTC DAWG]

Okay, you are right. I am seeing that the "Continue" button is grayed out on that screen until you select a perk(s). I am sure you could call and do your booking over the phone without selecting one, though. Also, you could just chose the perk(s) that incur no additional fees or charges, like the internet package or the shore excursion credit.

 

Re perks with no gratuities, they are there, folks just don't want to understand. . You've tried...you've done all you can do, fence posts do not like to listen.

[Tatka]

Try it now. It simply is not possible to continue with a booking without choosing free at sea options. Unless, that is, one selects the Sail Away fare which is the equivalent to choosing a guaranteed cabin on other lines.

We could decline our free perk.

Actually we were asked if we wanted to use them.

Our cabin was inside cabin so we could pick only one.

By the way price was the same as for Sail Away in some reason

[Two Wheels Only]

Try it now. It simply is not possible to continue with a booking without choosing free at sea options. Unless, that is, one selects the Sail Away fare which is the equivalent to choosing a guaranteed cabin on other lines.

It depends.:)

The website is a bit wonky and changes have been made.

 

People booking are (at the moment) sometimes forced to select a promo or two. The "no cost" promos such as excursion credit and wifi can be selected as the two and the total will not rise. If booking a suite, the booking engine will allow you to continue without selecting anything...as the "no cost" promos are included even if not selected. Even if a suite booking selects wifi then removes it, the wifi stays...weird.

 

 

Before, there was the option to select "Norwegian Rate" which would be "no promos" for any stateroom type including suites and still allow stateroom selection. It was an in-between option alternative to Sail Away and Free at Sea. It might return.

[IrieBajan54]

We could decline our free perk.

Actually we were asked if we wanted to use them.

Our cabin was inside cabin so we could pick only one.

By the way price was the same as for Sail Away in some reason

 

That is very odd. I book the "bare bones rate" aka Sail Away Rate all the time. Never seen that before.

[Tatka]

That is very odd. I book the "bare bones rate" aka Sail Away Rate all the time. Never seen that before.

Well, we usually too, but it didn't hurt to check.

We used ultimate drink package. :)

[Toofarfromthesea]

Most people just "book a vacation". They don't spend hours doing research about what's included, what's extra etc....

 

 

For the amount cruises cost they are being foolish, and any untoward surprises are their own doing. Grownups understand that marketing talk is marketing talk.

[Toofarfromthesea]

The point of CruiseCritic is to inform.

 

 

Yes, and the most important thing to be informed is that you need to read terms and conditions.

[April42749]

So, think about this:

 

 

The cruise is advertised at "Starting at $499/pp". Now, based on this advertising, 2 people should be cruising for $998. Oh wait...they didn't mention port fees and taxes in those commercials. And they didn't mention "optional" daily service fees. By the time you finish....$998 is close to $1998.

 

 

 

Is this any different than "Free Free Free"? If you don't like the final bill for NCL's "Free Free Free" you aren't obligated to buy it.