Why are you loyal to NCL?

[lamchops]

cruiselover19811981,

 

A rule of thumb: no loyalty to any cruise line.

 

Three things that limit cruise life:

1. Budget

2. Free time

3. Loyalty to a particular cruise line

 

Enjoy the best option when and where it's available.

No loyalty.

 

Happy cruising!

 

I’m also loyal to my wallet.:)

My order is:

1) free time

2) itinerary

3) budget

4) cruise line as they’re all a floating hotel to me

 

I’ve tried many as my signature notes but it seems NCL has offered the best itineraries and pricing for us lately.

[mugtech]

Being Loyal to NCL for us meant not having to dress up for dinner or eating with the same people at dinner, we love the freestyle. We love the itineraries for transatlantics, ( our destination preference) and the fact that once upon a time NCL had the best prices for them. We used to love the personal touch for recurring customers which has changed throughout the years. Are we as loyal now? hmmmm not so much, we are keeping our options open and may give NCL a pause for a while..

Made it to Platinum Plus by cruising with NCL 10 times over 7 years. We since tried Princess, not impressed, and a TA on Carnival Horizon, which was nothing special. Royal Caribbean has their own my time dining now, so we sail either RCI or NCL for price/itinerary. Last 3 cruises were RCI, but next one scheduled is Jewel out of Singapore next March. Wish the new African cruises on the Spirit weren't so expensive, would like to work them in. We leave Asia every spring and return every fall, so we have a lot of choices for trans Pacific travel.;p

[dcruiser50]

Why because after 20 cruises it`s like home. I really dont care where its going just go for the ride. Since my wife and I are both retired we cruise spring and fall. We love the casual dress code, and anytime dinning. Cruise next purchase and booking on the ship is a big plus. Loved the Dawn relocation cruises, took them both wzys until they started to end in PR.

[luv2gonow]

I am not locked into any cruise line!

My favorite right now is NCL because of casual atmosphere...many dining choices.and . can’t beat the beverage package for perk!!

I go for itinerary 1st now! Then line and ship.

[yearsofcruising]

Just so laid back after many cruises. I use a concierge for many yrs who sets everything up even complimentry places n shows n restaurants

[Joebucks]

I also can't believe some of these same people have sailed the same ship 12 times on the same itinerary 7 of those times ...... all without trying another line.

 

This one blows my mind too. For some people, they love their traditions.

 

I am looking to give NCL my first try eventually. With all due respect, I don't know that this thread explained to someone like me why NCL was their favorite. Seems to be a lot of "I just liked it".

[dcruiser50]

Why am I loyal?

Cruise next program, free money

Perks UBP,

Latitudes program ( actually getting smaller each year)

Prefer smaller ships,

Great crews friendly and responsive

Anytime dinning, without having to share a table

[beerman2]

This one blows my mind too. For some people, they love their traditions.

 

I am looking to give NCL my first try eventually. With all due respect, I don't know that this thread explained to someone like me why NCL was their favorite. Seems to be a lot of "I just liked it".

Freestyle dining -Shorts and Golf shirt

Perks ( Drinks and Specialty Restaurants-3) although not technically "free" are very good.

Way more choices of Specialty Dining.

An actual 24/7 sit down Restaurant

Shows are very good

Piano Bar (Howl at the Moon) that puts others to shame. We actually walked out of Carnival Vista piano bar last cruise.

Waterfront Area is excellent.

[david_sobe]

Freestyle cruising. When I watch cruise vlog videos of people in suits and ties cruising the Caribbean it drives me crazy. You are supposed to be on vacation. Why would you bring a suit on a vacation. No formal nights. Eat when you want and where you want.

[graphicguy]

Freestyle cruising. When I watch cruise vlog videos of people in suits and ties cruising the Caribbean it drives me crazy. You are supposed to be on vacation. Why would you bring a suit on a vacation. No formal nights. Eat when you want and where you want.

Hi David....If you don't mind, like to ask a quick question. I see you live in Miami. I am sailing the Getaway in a couple of weeks.

 

Unfortunately, I'm going to be coming from a business trip that won't get me home until Spet 8. I sail Sept 9. So, in brief, I'm coming home from the business trip....unpacking all my work stuff....washing some clothes. Repacking with vacation clothes. And, flying out the morning of the 9th.

 

Because of not wanting to have a layover (which I would have had to do to fly to Miami), I'm flying direct into FLL the morning of the cruise.

 

Dicey, I know. But, really no way around it. What's traffic like on a Sunday morning (say 11:00 a.m.) going from FLL to the Miami Cruise ports? Any recommended service you'd take from FLL?

 

Appreciate your help!

[Dinthesea]

Why am I loyal?

Cruise next program, free money

Perks UBP,

Latitudes program ( actually getting smaller each year)

Prefer smaller ships,

Great crews friendly and responsive

Anytime dinning, without having to share a table

Ditto on that !

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Forums mobile app

[davesgirl51]

Hi David....If you don't mind, like to ask a quick question. I see you live in Miami. I am sailing the Getaway in a couple of weeks.

 

Unfortunately, I'm going to be coming from a business trip that won't get me home until Spet 8. I sail Sept 9. So, in brief, I'm coming home from the business trip....unpacking all my work stuff....washing some clothes. Repacking with vacation clothes. And, flying out the morning of the 9th.

 

Because of not wanting to have a layover (which I would have had to do to fly to Miami), I'm flying direct into FLL the morning of the cruise.

 

Dicey, I know. But, really no way around it. What's traffic like on a Sunday morning (say 11:00 a.m.) going from FLL to the Miami Cruise ports? Any recommended service you'd take from FLL?

 

Appreciate your help!

 

I’m not David but SAS shuttle Steve Sadowsky

954-600-0240. Great. Give him a call, tell him Cinci and David recommended him. Under $20. However, very dicey indeed to fly in on day of cruise :). Good luck and have fun.

 

Cinci

[Notnewtoit]

Why am I loyal?

Cruise next program, free money

Perks UBP,

Latitudes program ( actually getting smaller each year)

Prefer smaller ships,

Great crews friendly and responsive

Anytime dinning, without having to share a table

 

This also... I'd add The Haven.

 

We're not in the 12x the same thing category but having already been around the world three times and covered most corners of almost every continent, the name of the Caribbean island we're currently moored at matters little. It's about being warm and being able to remove our brains as we walk up that gang plank, leave work, clients, shareholders, FDABS behind and just relax, knowing we're in good hands. NCL has never failed to deliver on that.

[david_sobe]

Hi David....If you don't mind, like to ask a quick question. I see you live in Miami. I am sailing the Getaway in a couple of weeks.

 

Unfortunately, I'm going to be coming from a business trip that won't get me home until Spet 8. I sail Sept 9. So, in brief, I'm coming home from the business trip....unpacking all my work stuff....washing some clothes. Repacking with vacation clothes. And, flying out the morning of the 9th.

 

Because of not wanting to have a layover (which I would have had to do to fly to Miami), I'm flying direct into FLL the morning of the cruise.

 

Dicey, I know. But, really no way around it. What's traffic like on a Sunday morning (say 11:00 a.m.) going from FLL to the Miami Cruise ports? Any recommended service you'd take from FLL?

 

Appreciate your help!

 

I cant really suggest a taxi service. I suppose any of them can get you to the port. I like Super Shuttle though. Traffic is not normally bad on weekend mornings. With no traffic and no stopping would take you about 45 mins. With some traffic about an hour or more. Just now there is a dump truck that overturned on 95 near Miami causing almost the entire interstate to close down. This kind of stuff happens way too much. But you are safe as long as your plane is on time. You have several hours to make it to the port. Your biggest fear is not Miami traffic but airline delay since flying in the same day carries a risk.

[Tx-Bev]

Much as we enjoy cruising, Hubby and I get to go only infrequently due to a somewhat limited travel budget and, because up until very recently, we've been responsible for caring for both his and my elderly parents. We've taken 2 previous NCL cruises and one Carnival cruise and decided that we MUCH preferred NCL, mainly because of its freestyle dining. We found the food offered in the main dining rooms of both lines to be excellent and the menus to be plenty varied enough for our tastes. (Because our budget is limited, we choose not to spend extra money on "sprecialty" dining.)

 

 

 

NCL won out because 1) We can eat when we get hungry rather than at a set time. 2) At each meal we get to choose whether we want to sit at a table for two and dine privately or sit at a larger table and meet other passengers. On both prior NCL cruises, the maitre d ALWAYS accommodated our request. This is important b/c I'm a total extrovert and am always up for meeting new people, but Hubby is a bit introverted. So, we switch back and forth between meeting his introverted desire for privacy and my extroverted desire "a party!" On the Carnival cruise (this was back before Carnival started "Your Time" dining, we wound up assigned to a table for 10 that included a party of 6 that, while generally polite, pretty much ONLY talked amongst themselves. And, the other couple assigned to our table apparently decided to eat at the specialty restaurants for most meals because they only appeared a 2 or 3 times during the entire cruise. So Hubby and I wound up stuck the entire trip eating with 6 strangers who clearly weren't at all interested in chatting with us. I wasn't happy b/c it deprived me of a chance to meet anyone new and Hubby wasn't happy because he was forced to sit with and (attempt to) interact with strangers at every meal. Worst of all possible worlds!

 

 

 

On both prior NCL cruises, we wound up meeting other couples that we hit it off with and wound up agreeing to meet up with for dinner and other events. And, even when we ended up seated with incompatible people, it was for ONE meal...and therefore not a big deal. So, we're booked for cruise #4 in December...and chose NCL again.

 

 

 

Will we try another cruise line in the future? If the price and itinerary are right, probably. But if prices are similar and itineraries are similarly interesting, NCL will have the edge over other cruise-lines where the only options are traditional (assigned dining times/tables), buffets, or specialty restaurants at an additional charge.

[SeaportMike]

Great perks!

[graphicguy]

Dave and Dave...thanks so much.

 

Yeah...not ideal, but the only other way I can get in the night before is to haul some pretty hefty technical gear with me, as well as 10 lbs of marketing material as well as dress clothes.

 

I get back (to OH) from SFO, Saturday 9/8. No red eyes from OH to Miami or Ft Lauderdale. First flight out 0n 9/9 have a connection through Atlanta. Heartsfield Int’l is notorious for not meeting their arrival or departure schedules. Plus, I would be relying on two flights to be punctual.

 

So, the first direct flight gets me into Ft Lauderdale at 10:35 a.m. (11:00 by the time I hit the curb)......IF everything goes according to plan. All aboard is 3:00 p.m. Ship sails at 4:00 p.m. That gives me about a 4 hour window to get from FLL to MIA.

 

So, with fingers crossed, I’m hoping a flight delay or traffic won’t eat up that entire 4 hour window!

 

Probably could withstand one of those going sideways, but not both.

 

Thanks, again!

[KeithJenner]

Many of them insist they are happy and feel no need to change. I feel sorry for these people because in reality they say this out of fear.

 

 

Absolute rubbish

 

Different people have many different reasons for their decisions. You have absolutely no idea of other people’s circumstances and preferences. There is far more to these decisions than “fear”.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[graphicguy]

This one blows my mind too. For some people, they love their traditions.

 

I am looking to give NCL my first try eventually. With all due respect, I don't know that this thread explained to someone like me why NCL was their favorite. Seems to be a lot of "I just liked it".

 

There’s a litany of points made you can choose from. Lots of people giving you our reasons for liking NCL. I guess the only thing left for you is to try them.

 

If you can’t find a good reason to go on an NCL cruise, no one here is going to all of a sudden change your mind.

 

Hope you find what you’re looking for.

[TFLG]

Hubby and I have cruised:

2005 RCL Voyager

2012 CCL Paradise

2016 NCL Escape, with our 2 kids

2018 NCL Bliss, with our 2 kids

2019 RCL Adventure booked (so kids can try Voyager class & a different line

 

So...after next year, we will have sailed RCL and NCL 2 apiece. Hubby & I have enjoyed each above cruise and made most of what each ship/its size/amenities had to offer. Question...in perhaps wanting to stick to either NCL or Royal after next year's sailing, for a family of 4 with kids now 8 & 10, would you say NCL is the way to go? We did enjoy Voyager, hence why we want to try RCL again (before megaships)...and feel we don't think we are interested in anything larger than Breakaway Plus...actually, we are kind of excited for Leonardo class. For ships of 3500-4000 and under, who do you prefer? NCL or RCL if we wanted to start building loyalty to one? Sorry for the long msg;);););););)

 

They all have their strong points and they all fall short in other areas. Up until the recent NCL price hikes I would have said go NCL but now I'm not so sure. The cruises I've been looking at recently are a lot less on Royal. Yea, no booze or SDP but add those in and Royal is still less on the future cruises I'm interested in. My favorite line is Celebrity but it's not really a kid friendly line. More adult, more refined and way better MDR/buffet food. For me it's a toss up between NCL and Royal and I usually pick based on the value, sometimes NCL wins, sometimes Royal (but not recently, NCL's prices have really shot up).

I think NCL might have better entertainment but the upcharging for everything on NCL is pretty irritating sometimes and the prices for stuff like a bottle of water is mind blowing. I think the "free" food is a little better on Royal, way less upselling which is nice. Once you start paying extra for food it's again a toss up. I also really like the big ships, the Oasis class are amazing.

 

The whole "loyalty" thing to me is minor (I'm Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal). Royal has a nice free happy hour for Diamond, so does Celebrity although they normally throw in a booze package so that perk is useless to me. The extra loyalty benefits are nice to have but won't affect my choice of a cruise. I look at itinerary and the total price (with booze and any other perks) then choose.

[cruiselover19811981]

Much as we enjoy cruising, Hubby and I get to go only infrequently due to a somewhat limited travel budget and, because up until very recently, we've been responsible for caring for both his and my elderly parents. We've taken 2 previous NCL cruises and one Carnival cruise and decided that we MUCH preferred NCL, mainly because of its freestyle dining. We found the food offered in the main dining rooms of both lines to be excellent and the menus to be plenty varied enough for our tastes. (Because our budget is limited, we choose not to spend extra money on "sprecialty" dining.)

 

 

 

NCL won out because 1) We can eat when we get hungry rather than at a set time. 2) At each meal we get to choose whether we want to sit at a table for two and dine privately or sit at a larger table and meet other passengers. On both prior NCL cruises, the maitre d ALWAYS accommodated our request. This is important b/c I'm a total extrovert and am always up for meeting new people, but Hubby is a bit introverted. So, we switch back and forth between meeting his introverted desire for privacy and my extroverted desire "a party!" On the Carnival cruise (this was back before Carnival started "Your Time" dining, we wound up assigned to a table for 10 that included a party of 6 that, while generally polite, pretty much ONLY talked amongst themselves. And, the other couple assigned to our table apparently decided to eat at the specialty restaurants for most meals because they only appeared a 2 or 3 times during the entire cruise. So Hubby and I wound up stuck the entire trip eating with 6 strangers who clearly weren't at all interested in chatting with us. I wasn't happy b/c it deprived me of a chance to meet anyone new and Hubby wasn't happy because he was forced to sit with and (attempt to) interact with strangers at every meal. Worst of all possible worlds!

 

 

 

On both prior NCL cruises, we wound up meeting other couples that we hit it off with and wound up agreeing to meet up with for dinner and other events. And, even when we ended up seated with incompatible people, it was for ONE meal...and therefore not a big deal. So, we're booked for cruise #4 in December...and chose NCL again.

 

 

 

Will we try another cruise line in the future? If the price and itinerary are right, probably. But if prices are similar and itineraries are similarly interesting, NCL will have the edge over other cruise-lines where the only options are traditional (assigned dining times/tables), buffets, or specialty restaurants at an additional charge.

 

I agree with much of what you have said here, in terms of meeting people at dinner, but enjoying privacy at times, too. Also in terms of Freestyle and this being a plus, & having an edge when cost/ports are similar with other lines.

[cruiselover19811981]

They all have their strong points and they all fall short in other areas. Up until the recent NCL price hikes I would have said go NCL but now I'm not so sure. The cruises I've been looking at recently are a lot less on Royal. Yea, no booze or SDP but add those in and Royal is still less on the future cruises I'm interested in. My favorite line is Celebrity but it's not really a kid friendly line. More adult, more refined and way better MDR/buffet food. For me it's a toss up between NCL and Royal and I usually pick based on the value, sometimes NCL wins, sometimes Royal (but not recently, NCL's prices have really shot up).

I think NCL might have better entertainment but the upcharging for everything on NCL is pretty irritating sometimes and the prices for stuff like a bottle of water is mind blowing. I think the "free" food is a little better on Royal, way less upselling which is nice. Once you start paying extra for food it's again a toss up. I also really like the big ships, the Oasis class are amazing.

 

The whole "loyalty" thing to me is minor (I'm Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal). Royal has a nice free happy hour for Diamond, so does Celebrity although they normally throw in a booze package so that perk is useless to me. The extra loyalty benefits are nice to have but won't affect my choice of a cruise. I look at itinerary and the total price (with booze and any other perks) then choose.

 

Thanks for your thoughts & insights. I must say, while this thread didn't give me the original black & white answer I thought I was looking for, it did make me realize why I toiled with the question in the first place ---many reasons which you mentioned above, and I guess hubby and I already knew, just validated by majority of helpful cruisers in the thread replies...the lines we have tried all have +'s and -'s in their own ways. I'll continue to book based on what's right for our family at the time (itinerary, price/value & ship) that we are comfortable with then. Thanks again, everyone!! :)

[BNBR]

Why would anyone be loyal to NCL, or any cruise line for that matter.

[graphicguy]

I keep hearing that NCL has priced themselves out of the market. But, when I was looking at my current cruise (in about 12 days), I looked at CCL, NCL, RCCL, Celebrity. I looked at two categories. First category was a Balcony cabin. 2nd was in a suite (Haven, Sky, Star, Havana...depending on the cruise line’s nomenclature). NCL was least expensive in a Balcony cabin based on when I was sailing (right after the kiddies went back to school). CCL was least expensive for a suite (Havana).

 

I booked the Haven, which was less expensive than the equivalent Celebrity or Royal Suites.....by a pretty fair margin. Plus, NCL threw in all the goodies.

 

Not saying I’m loyal to any cruise line. I do feel variety is the spice of life. However, I don’t see the high prices on NCL that others here report.

 

Even the cruise I took this past Spring on NCL, I sailed in a Suite (non-Haven) with all the concierge, Butler, dining, alcohol and significant OBC for about the same price as I saw for RCCL’s Superior Balcony rates.

[BNBR]

However, I don’t see the high prices on NCL that others here report.

 

Because you book close-in sailings, which NCL is one of the last companies to discount them. That's well documented at this point and you know it.