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Hold on to your wallet!


SailorJeff66
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The only way I will book a NCL cruise now is if it a last minute deal from a nearby port.  With about the same itineraries RCI has been a better deal for me 4 out of the last 5 cruises.  Being plat plus does not provide enough extras to make NCL worthwhile.  

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On 2/23/2019 at 2:47 PM, sfaaa said:

NCL cruises are no longer a bargain like they used to be a few years ago.  That's why I stopped buying their FCC onboard. 

 

I agree, we have 3 left and finding it hard to use them.  We have 4 MSC cruises booked and looking at 2 NCL but NCL's is so expensive that we might end up selling our Cruise next certificates.

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18 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

I agree, we have 3 left and finding it hard to use them.  We have 4 MSC cruises booked and looking at 2 NCL but NCL's is so expensive that we might end up selling our Cruise next certificates.

Similar - 3 MSC booked, likely to add a Paul Gauguin summer 2020.  Luckily only one cruise next expiring late 2020.  Likely looking for a home for it as at this time unlikely to be sailing NCL.  Plat Plus.

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Our first ocean cruise was in 2010 when I retired.  That was with NCL.  Since then we have done 10 cruises on Celebrity, 7 on NCL and 1 on Royal Caribbean.

 

We still compare prices on all three when looking at comparable itineraries.  Also, we check Princess as well.

 

We gravitated toward Celebrity after our first cruise because NCL didn't do many of the places we wanted to go, like Australia, South America, East Asia and more.  NCL eventually expanded to include many of those places, but we came to love the dining and great service on Celebrity.

 

What has happened in the  last few years with the cruise industry is major price inflation as well as price bundling.

We have done more than a few cruises where the fare was under $1000 per person for a 12-14 day cruise, but that is very hard to find these days unless you wait for late bookings (we book early).

 

Also, Celebrity and Royal have great loyalty programs that include excellent free happy hours in the evening with free drinks.  This amounts to a savings of hundreds of dollars.   NCL doesn't provide such benefits.  Now to book with NCL you have to book a bundled price that usually includes the beverage package (we don't care for the red wine choices) and the 20% gratuities on an overvalued benefit means if we book NCL, we don't pick the beverage package.  We do better bringing our own wine.

 

Celebrity also bundles pricing, but doesn't do that on its repo and transatlantic and transpacific cruises, so there are still some good prices there.  Still, we are now gravitating more to Royal Caribbean, since it doesn't bundle and the prices are generally better than Celebrity or NCL.

 

Profit is good for any commercial operation in the free enterprise system.  I don't fault NCL for wanting to make money, BUT competition means that NCL may price its cruises too high for us to pick NCL.  That already seems to be the case.

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On 2/23/2019 at 2:16 PM, Visigoth said:

 

"Hope NCL parent company makes a huge profit for themselves and the stock holders.  That's what it's all about."

 

Really?  In October of 2015 NCLH  (NCL holding company) stock was selling at $63.62 per share and they closed Friday at $53.70 per share.  NCLH does not issue dividends so if you are one of those lucky stock holders you would have lost nearly 16% of your investment.  With about an 8% market share and an 8% revenue share they certainly appear to be very average in pricing versus fill rate.  

 

 

Lucky share holder here.  Since I paid about $30/share, how is that a loss?  You really should think more before you post.

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39 minutes ago, vince_g said:

Lucky share holder here.  Since I paid about $30/share, how is that a loss?  You really should think more before you post.

it is clear the poster was referring to people who bought stock from $63.62 down to $53.70,  (so far not so good) not for people who bought at 30, 40, or even 50.  

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9 hours ago, SailorJeff66 said:

SailBreakaway, 

That was my point exactly. Rational people understand price increases over time as a normal function of business. But the cavalier attitude exhibited by the CEO of "screw 'em, we're gonna crank up prices because we can" is pretty galling. 

yes it is, but like anything whether is house prices, and in this case cruise prices, the bubble will burst and in the hospitality industry once you lose loyal buyers is very hard to get them back, not impossible, but harder...

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35 minutes ago, Newleno said:

it is clear the poster was referring to people who bought stock from $63.62 down to $53.70,  (so far not so good) not for people who bought at 30, 40, or even 50.  

 

but this would be the same regardless of what line one bought into. Stocks do go up and down. We all know that. The 60 plus was for a very short time. Stock is not something you buy for short term, but for long term.. We bought ours for just over $30 a share about 5 years ago. Sure it has been up around 60 plus a few times, but as of yesterday it was about $55. We are happy with our investment. 

 

This is the same as buying a home. If you buy at the high end and there is a crash of some king you better not plan on selling, but if you buy for the long run you will make money. Just think of how much we all purchased our first home for and what that home is worth today. 

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We’re platinum on NCL but last year booked two cruises on Princess due to price.  The price of the NCL cruises eventually came down but we were already booked with Princess. We have a TA coming up with NCL which was IMO a reasonable price to start with and then our next cruise is with another line. Won’t rule NCL out totally but they now have me looking around more.  And booking while the current bundle including airfare is still on, not going to happen 

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On February 25, 2019 at 8:00 PM, SailBreakaway said:

 

MSC will match your status, Platinum for NCL? You’re instantly Platinum on MSC with 5% off total cruise cost and better benefits! 

 

Just my $0.02. 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe that if you are Platinum on NCL that gets you Black on MSC with their loyalty match program.  This is their highest tier, as far as I know.

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51 minutes ago, jakesnana said:

 

I believe that if you are Platinum on NCL that gets you Black on MSC with their loyalty match program.  This is their highest tier, as far as I know.

 

ah, good to know.  I also plan to try out MSC since I've never been on one of their ships.    I like variety and finding what's different (not a lot) on each.  All have been fun cruises.  I'm glad we have options.  🙂

 

We priced NCL Bliss for Thanksgiving week and OUCH, so we're going on Anthem instead.  One day longer for less $.  Yes I know it's not brand new like Bliss, but it is a fabulous ship. 

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"Del Fee-O" hadn't heard that before but it's funny.   And seems to be true.   And I agree he could have stated his intentions in a more tactful way than "we're going to see what we can get away with."   

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15 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

That changed this past November.  If you are Platinum on NCL you now match to Gold.

 

Well that stinks :(  I had hoped to try out MSC later this year and was hoping I would get Black status. I guess they got the number of "crossovers" they wanted and decided to dilute the "loyalty match" benefit. I purposely waited until I was Platinum on NCL to request status match, guess that wasn't a good idea.

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