Free At Sea changes for new bookings made on & after Jan 18, 2022

[shof515]

9 minutes ago, Wendy&Grumpy said:

 No discount on FaS upgrade.

the discount now seems like useless. i dont need unlimited and i am fine with time package when i just need to check emails every now and then

[Oxo]

32 minutes ago, shof515 said:

the discount now seems like useless. i dont need unlimited and i am fine with time package when i just need to check emails every now and then

That's fine that you don't need unlimited. 

However, I'm sure there are others who may need it. 

JMHO!

[luckyinpa]

22 hours ago, Calvin said:

Yeah, it's tough. Cruise lines have to raise revenue, and they usually try to raise it in a way that doesn't SEEM like they are doing it. IE, over the years, containers of OJ  we bought from the supermarket went to 59 oz. from 64, and cans went from 16 oz. to 14 1/2 with similar pricing. The specialty dining offers used to be 3 nights, instead of 2. No one likes price increases but I suspect it's a necessary evil.

 

i have a 6.25 oz can of star kist tuna in my cabinet. never giving it up! they are 4 now.  half gallons of ice cream arent half gallons anymore.  family bags of chips are the old standard size. who they kidding. we need to revolt! i expect 12 oz soda and beer cans will be gone within 5 years. 

[mking8288]

20 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 ... i expect 12 oz soda and beer cans will be gone within 5 years. 

It's been widely available elsewhere and also sold as packs on supermarket shelves for a while -

the smaller 10 oz (284 ml.) and mini 7.5 oz (222 ml.)  - the 10 oz. (385 ml.) can easily be replaced by automated dispensing machines, just a matter of retrofitting them here in US of A - if and when.  Traveling abroad pre-Covid, it's not unusual to see 10 oz. becoming the standard.  Airline catering services already doing that for certain international carrier when stocking the FA's gallery carts.  Probably, sooner or not going to take less than 5 years. 

 

But, not going to rush to book more cruises just b/c of these changes hitting next week 🙄 🤣

[yamiangie]

Wait I don't remember an activation fee at all for my wifi in Oct to they charge that upfront when you book?

 

I'd think the 2 logins is better though I could never get the stupid QR codes on the Breakaway to work in Oct.

[phillygwm]

10 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Thanks for the heads up ... I wonder what solo cruisers including those booked in a studio (larger & newer ships) think vs. the cheerleading loyalists.  

 

I'm a solo traveler, though I've only stayed in a studio once (my first cruise.) Subsequent cruises were in balconies or better because I got comped by CAS.  For that reason, I'm a "loyalist."  I've occasionally shopped around but nobody can match the deal I get from NCL.

 

If you're looking for the best value, a studio cabin usually isn't it.  Yeah, there's no supplement but the studios are generally priced close to what an inside cabin would be with the supplement and the room is considerably smaller.

 

That being said, nobody likes to lose benefits and most people will weigh the benefits (including tier benefits) of their NCL cruise versus what they could get elsewhere.  For its part, NCL has lost a ton of money over the last couple years and will be chipping away around the edges to get profitable again.  So, I suspect, will everyone else.  If NCL becomes uncompetitive, they'll lose occupancy and things will revert back to the mean.

[GEMarshall]

10 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

For several years NCL has been offering more frequent and easier access to free specialty dining.  With double or sometimes triple points, getting to Platinum and it's two free specialty dinners has come sooner for more and more passengers.  There was a time when Inside cabins received maybe one Free at Sea option, Ocean View got one or two, and Balconies had their choice of two perks.  Now it seems that everyone gets all of the perks on every cruise.  That makes for a lot more folks wanting reservations in specialty restaurants.  I think NCL finally realized that "their mouth wrote a check that their butt couldn't cash" and they needed to cut down on the number of freebies that they were handing out.  It's a bummer for us, but it may be a stark reality of what's going to happen when ships again start sailing at or near full capacity.  There simply may not be enough seats at the table if they continue with their old policies.

 

I was thinking that too, that it would be hard to get dinner reservations at a time I would want with so many people getting them as included in their fare.  Also, now if we want to use our Platinum dinners we can't reserve until we get on the ship unless we want to prepay for the dinner.  

 

Related to the issue of costs going up, I went to the car wash today it is now $10 for the previous $7 short, automated car wash and the fast food place that I tried to go to was closed from 3:00 - 5:00pm on a Saturday afternoon due to staffing shortages. When I went back after 5:00, the grill was down and only fried was available.  CVS, Walgreens, Walmarts and other stores are cutting hours they are open due to staffing shortages.  When I asked the nurse at the hospital that I have to go to once a month for infusions if they were given at-home covid tests to take home with them, she said no and that she assumes they don't want to know if the staff is testing positive but isn't sick according to the new CDC rules.  I saw a fast food place advertising that they were looking for cooks & paying $16/hour or servers for $15/hour.  There are also a lot of empty shelves in the stores.  I know that one of the cruise YouTubers was complaining about a cruise which didn't have white potatoes more than every other day; the complainer didn't know that there is a global shortage or if he did he still thought he should still get everything he wants on a cruise for the include price.  We are emerging into a new world for sure.  

 

Gwen 

[GEMarshall]

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

It's been widely available elsewhere and also sold as packs on supermarket shelves for a while -

the smaller 10 oz (284 ml.) and mini 7.5 oz (222 ml.)  - the 10 oz. (385 ml.) can easily be replaced by automated dispensing machines, just a matter of retrofitting them here in US of A - if and when.  Traveling abroad pre-Covid, it's not unusual to see 10 oz. becoming the standard.  Airline catering services already doing that for certain international carrier when stocking the FA's gallery carts.  Probably, sooner or not going to take less than 5 years. 

 

But, not going to rush to book more cruises just b/c of these changes hitting next week 🙄 🤣

 

When it comes to booking with NCL, there is no penalty to booking early and deciding before final payment because unlike RCCL the NCL deposit is completely refundable.  I book as early as possible and hope the price goes down and then take advantage of that too.  I have one NCL cruise that I booked that is now at least 5 times as expensive as when I booked it.  It was a popular itinerary because it is a 'one of" at this point. 

 

Gwen 

[em-sk]

5 hours ago, mking8288 said:

It's been widely available elsewhere and also sold as packs on supermarket shelves for a while -

the smaller 10 oz (284 ml.) and mini 7.5 oz (222 ml.)  - the 10 oz. (385 ml.) can easily be replaced by automated dispensing machines, just a matter of retrofitting them here in US of A - if and when.  Traveling abroad pre-Covid, it's not unusual to see 10 oz. becoming the standard.  Airline catering services already doing that for certain international carrier when stocking the FA's gallery carts.  Probably, sooner or not going to take less than 5 years. 

 

But, not going to rush to book more cruises just b/c of these changes hitting next week 🙄 🤣

 

That comes down to cultural values.  The smaller cans of pop are not new in Europe.  They have been the standard for 30+ years.  A cup/glass in most parts of the world is considered to be 250 ml.   

 

You will find most fast food restaurants use larger serving sizes in the US and smaller serving sizes in the rest of the world.

[Wendy&Grumpy]

9 hours ago, GEMarshall said:

Also, now if we want to use our Platinum dinners we can't reserve until we get on the ship unless we want to prepay for the dinner.  

 

Where are you seeing this?

[shof515]

10 hours ago, GEMarshall said:

 

I was thinking that too, that it would be hard to get dinner reservations at a time I would want with so many people getting them as included in their fare.  Also, now if we want to use our Platinum dinners we can't reserve until we get on the ship unless we want to prepay for the dinner.  

 

 

that is not experience. i was on the gem back in December and i was able to make reservation online before the cruise. Next month i am sailing on the Getaway and i just made all of my reservations for that sailing with no additional costs

 

[The Traveling Man]

12 hours ago, GEMarshall said:

 

I was thinking that too, that it would be hard to get dinner reservations at a time I would want with so many people getting them as included in their fare.  Also, now if we want to use our Platinum dinners we can't reserve until we get on the ship unless we want to prepay for the dinner.  

 

 

Our most recent NCL cruise was in October, and we had no trouble booking our Platinum dinners pre-cruise without having to prepay.  It's possible that circumstances have changed since then, but could you be more specific about your experience.  Keep in mind that when you book multiple specialty dinners, using both Platinum and Dining Package credits, it sometimes matters the sequence in which you reserve each restaurant.

[Captain-John]

Oh dear. I wouldn't notice another few hundred pounds on the price of the cruise (which they are doing anyway!) but this kind of thing I notice, and care about - a lot. Sad. I have one NCL booked for October, beyond that, definitely going to have broader horizons. 

[GEMarshall]

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

 

that is not experience. i was on the gem back in December and i was able to make reservation online before the cruise. Next month i am sailing on the Getaway and i just made all of my reservations for that sailing with no additional costs

 

 

Are you saying you made dinner reservations using your two free Platinum Plus dinner coupons or are you saying that you made dinner reservations from the room perks?  Maybe the Jade had a different policy?  I'll have to look into this again.

 

Gwen 

Edited January 16, 2022 by GEMarshall
corrections

[shof515]

Just now, GEMarshall said:

 

Are you saying you made dinner reservations using your two free Platinum Plus dinner coupons or are you saying that you made dinner reservations from the room perks?

 

Gwen 

I made dinner reservations for both the platinum dinner coupons and the free at sea dinning perk.As the traveling man said sometimes you need to book things in the correct order to make reservations with zero costs. Usually you will need to book the restaurants with the cover charges first and then al la carte restaurants last. So book teppanyaki and moderno first and then others last

[KeithJenner]

49 minutes ago, GEMarshall said:

 

Are you saying you made dinner reservations using your two free Platinum Plus dinner coupons or are you saying that you made dinner reservations from the room perks?  Maybe the Jade had a different policy?  I'll have to look into this again.

 

Gwen 

You can certainly make reservations for your platinum meals in advance. They are just booked in the same way as any other meals. How you will pay for them onboard is irrelevant at that point.

 

The only issue you have is if one of those meals is at Moderno, as there is a payment due for that when booking. If you haven't got a dining package then you will have to pay up front (as you would if you were booking and paying for the meal individually). If you do have a dining package then just make sure that you book Moderno and Teppanyaki first to ensure that you don't get charged.

 

There is more detail in the link in my signature.

 

One impact of reducing the number of meals in the free at sea dining package is that it limits the number of Moderno/Teppanyaki meals that you can book in advance without paying or buying an additional package.

[KeithJenner]

On 1/15/2022 at 6:42 PM, The Traveling Man said:

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I know that my wife has ordered a cappuccino or espresso with dinner, both in the MDR and specialty restaurants, and we haven't been charged extra for it.  We have each been Platinum Plus for the past five years, so that may have something to do with it.  Still, I think specialty coffees have been available without charge with a meal, but an extra cost if you order them at a bar.  Our last two NCL cruises were in August 2021 on the Encore and October 2021 on the Epic.  She drank free specialty coffees at dinner on each of those cruises.

Coffee with meals is chargeable, but we also find that they are often not actually charged for.

 

The post you were responding to was from someone in Europe.They are referring to a specific "all inclusive" price that NCL offered in Europe a few years ago. For a short while our bookings had no DSC, coffee with meals specifically included and a bottle of water each per day. It didn't last long.

[The Traveling Man]

38 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Coffee with meals is chargeable, but we also find that they are often not actually charged for.

 

The post you were responding to was from someone in Europe.They are referring to a specific "all inclusive" price that NCL offered in Europe a few years ago. For a short while our bookings had no DSC, coffee with meals specifically included and a bottle of water each per day. It didn't last long.

Thanks for pointing out the location of the person who made that previous post.  I missed that, and you're right that the terms & conditions can be quite different for those booking their cruise somewhere other than in the USA.  You may be correct about specialty coffee at meals, but I know that my wife has never been charged for it on more than 20 NCL cruises on which we have had a beverage package.  That's probably several dozen free cups of cappuccino or espresso.

[derek005]

On 1/15/2022 at 1:50 PM, kylenyc said:

There is substantial value to me to have a vacation experience where I'm assured to be surrounded by all vaccinated guests and staff most of whom are of similar values, beliefs and respect -- Those who vaccinate and nearly all consistently wear masks on board where required. I don't see the cost of an NCL cruise to be prohibitive nor do I know of an alternative vacation experience where I can selectively mingle with strangers or served by waitstaff and be assured they are vaccinated.

 

There are no guarantees. This is all about managing risk -- Of contracting the disease and potentially bringing it home to vulnerable family members or delaying my ability to care for them should I be quarantined.

 

I can't blame NCL for running their business. I think the choices they made make good business sense while giving consumers a 100% vaccinated, lower risk (not zero risk) vacation experience.

 

P.S. I sympathize with the folks whose cruises are cancelled or those whose cruises turn into cruises to nowhere. I guess they have better options and experience than those were are stranded over Christmas/New Years by the over a thousand(s) of cancelled flights. Relatively speaking, a cruise is the best and NCL my first choice not only for the safety and experience, but because they aren't illegally dumping and subsequently violating probation (hello CCL). Note: NCL voluntarily reported an improper discharge in Bahamian waters. CCL prefers to pay their fines rather that adhere to the terms of their probation.

 

 

Well said!

[shof515]

The changes is now live if you look at the T&C page for the free at sea:

https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

[Sand and Seas]

4 hours ago, shof515 said:

The changes is now live if you look at the T&C page for the free at sea:

https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

Thanks for posting the link

 

I found this (below) on the page under the Dining changes.   Not sure what it means for Casino booked reservations.  Is there something different for CAS bookings?

• For Casino booked reservations – promotion code CASFAS will be added under referral code CASUPALL on sail lengths 7 nights or longer for Balcony and above staterooms

Edited January 18, 2022 by Sand and Seas