Loyalty Level perks?

[The Shrike]

We're Sapphire and could care less about dining with the officers.  We do like two free bags of laundry, excursion discounts, and occasionally will take advantage of the spa discount during port days.

[complawyer]

AH! shrike, finally, we agree on something!

[The Shrike]

3 hours ago, complawyer said:

AH! shrike, finally, we agree on something!

I disagree!


😜

[romalley99]

As cruising continues to get back to normal, I am looking forward to giving the new perks a try (sail and sustain mixology and wines around the world) for now, I am more than happy with the $100 OBC I am getting each cruise in replace of the missing perks due to the ongoing circumstances. 

 

I agree with all of the above -- once you hit Platinum, you've got it all. 

[The Shrike]

10 hours ago, romalley99 said:

As cruising continues to get back to normal, I am looking forward to giving the new perks a try (sail and sustain mixology and wines around the world) for now, I am more than happy with the $100 OBC I am getting each cruise in replace of the missing perks due to the ongoing circumstances. 

 

I agree with all of the above -- once you hit Platinum, you've got it all. 

The Wines Around the World is something I'm curious about, too.  Our next cruise is in January and hopefully things are back to normal by then.

[nferr]

I'm close to Platinum. After that I really don't care. Platinum gives me the two extra nights in specialty dining.

 

Same thing with RCL. I just hit Diamond which gives me four free drinks a day. It's another 85 points to get to the next level which basically gives you one more drink per day. 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

17 minutes ago, nferr said:

Platinum gives me the two extra nights in specialty dining.

Some also appreciate the free bag of laundry and (when it works) the 125 day booking for dining.

 

At Saphire, the extra 5% off shore excursions beats a stick in the eye.

[nferr]

12 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Some also appreciate the free bag of laundry and (when it works) the 125 day booking for dining.

 

At Saphire, the extra 5% off shore excursions beats a stick in the eye.

 

Any extra perks are nice of course. Just that the ones i really care about I get with Platinum on NCL and Diamond on RCL. After that it's minimal for me.

[spanishguy1970]

We are diamond by pure luck and quite frankly not in a rush to make it to Ambassador since the perks are all the same  except you get the " free" one week cruise. It doesn't make any sense to spend thousands of dollars and rush to make ambassador just to get that perk LOL.

[cruiserbear55]

1 hour ago, spanishguy1970 said:

We are diamond by pure luck and quite frankly not in a rush to make it to Ambassador since the perks are all the same  except you get the " free" one week cruise. It doesn't make any sense to spend thousands of dollars and rush to make ambassador just to get that perk LOL.

Those "free" Ambassador balcony cruises cover cabin fare only. You still pay port fees, taxes, other fees they can dream up, and DSC. A free cruise to Bermuda right now would cost you $745.54 ($521.54 in fees and $224.00 for the DSC.)  If you then added the FAS drink/dining package, you'd be looking at $1062.34 for your free cruise.

   A person/couple could theoretically go on one hundred cruises at seven points per cruise to reach Ambassador. You would think after spending that huge amount of money over the years their free cruise would actually be free. But we are talking NCL here. NCLs definition of free and Merriam-Webster's definition of free don't reside in the same dictionary.

[spanishguy1970]

14 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

Those "free" Ambassador balcony cruises cover cabin fare only. You still pay port fees, taxes, other fees they can dream up, and DSC. A free cruise to Bermuda right now would cost you $745.54 ($521.54 in fees and $224.00 for the DSC.)  If you then added the FAS drink/dining package, you'd be looking at $1062.34 for your free cruise.

   A person/couple could theoretically go on one hundred cruises at seven points per cruise to reach Ambassador. You would think after spending that huge amount of money over the years their free cruise would actually be free. But we are talking NCL here. NCLs definition of free and Merriam-Webster's definition of free don't reside in the same dictionary.

I remember the days when companies were  chastised for " false advertisement" yes, with NCL free is not free. 

[complawyer]

with ncl, "free" is not even close.  especially the "free" shore excursions!

[spanishguy1970]

On 8/29/2022 at 3:44 PM, The Shrike said:

We're Sapphire and could care less about dining with the officers.  We do like two free bags of laundry, excursion discounts, and occasionally will take advantage of the spa discount during port days.

Hear hear. We could care less dining with the officers, or tour of the ship etc  some of those perks for us are negligible.

[cruiseny4life]

Let's be fair...all the big boy cruise lines do this. It's not just frankie boy, it's everyone. I think NCL does a lot of stupid crap, but I'll be equitable in castigating them all when it's right to do so. 

 

I do wonder if there is a law/rule/tax regulation that requires the passenger pay the taxes and port fees though. I'm sure the big boys could pull up their suspenders and ask Congress to change those rules if they actually wanted to. 

[graphicguy]

15 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Let's be fair...all the big boy cruise lines do this. It's not just frankie boy, it's everyone. I think NCL does a lot of stupid crap, but I'll be equitable in castigating them all when it's right to do so. 

 

I do wonder if there is a law/rule/tax regulation that requires the passenger pay the taxes and port fees though. I'm sure the big boys could pull up their suspenders and ask Congress to change those rules if they actually wanted to. 

Yeah....those port fees/taxes seem to fall into a nebulous hole that no one can track.

 

But, I have taken excursions that turn out to be free with the excursion credits.  They weren't the really expensive ones, but pretty basic ones.  Still, they were at or a little less than the $50 per excursion credit.

 

Now that the cruise lines are "out of the woods" from the COVID shutdown and are sailing at or near capacity, I would like for some entity to oversee and audit the various fees and policies that cost the guests money, but seem to be in the category, "where did that come from?"

 

There seems to be some "fudging" going on with charges and fees that just can't be reliably or reasonably explained.  Not picking on NCL as all the cruise lines seem to do the same thing.

[ChiefMateJRK]

52 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

I remember the days when companies were  chastised for " false advertisement"

When were those days?  I think it's "same as it ever was."

[romalley99]

1 hour ago, cruiserbear55 said:

Those "free" Ambassador balcony cruises cover cabin fare only. You still pay port fees, taxes, other fees they can dream up, and DSC. A free cruise to Bermuda right now would cost you $745.54 ($521.54 in fees and $224.00 for the DSC.)  If you then added the FAS drink/dining package, you'd be looking at $1062.34 for your free cruise.

   A person/couple could theoretically go on one hundred cruises at seven points per cruise to reach Ambassador. You would think after spending that huge amount of money over the years their free cruise would actually be free. But we are talking NCL here. NCLs definition of free and Merriam-Webster's definition of free don't reside in the same dictionary.

 

You don't even have the option to add Free At Sea Perks... and no latitudes points as well. But yes, when I booked my Ambassador cruise, it was DSC and taxes and port fees up front. Not free!

[graphicguy]

I sort of understand the "free" concepts not including tips and fees.

 

But, took a Celebrity cruise(s) a year+ ago.  I understand they industry was just coming out of the COVID thing.  But, there were no extra tips, no extra fees.  Everything was pretty much up front.

 

Granted, the fare was much higher to cover all of that.  But, there were no extras that were added or asked for.

 

Most of us who have a few cruises under our collective belts understand how the game is played, though.

 

I always compare pricing based on adding in fees, additional tips (if any), service charges, etc into the cost of the cruise.

Edited August 31, 2022 by graphicguy

[HotRoot]

Regent base fares include port charges.

[ChiefMateJRK]

39 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

Regent base fares include port charges.

Not on NCL.com.  Where are you seeing this?

[complawyer]

hotroot. at least if youre going to comment, dont compare apples to oranges. the fares that regent charges, are astronomical in relation to ncl. so in effect youre paying them under a different a different umbrella.

[cruiseny4life]

7 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Not on NCL.com.  Where are you seeing this?

rssc.com - don't worry, you're not cruising there. I'm not either. They require actual slacks and button down shirts in the main dining room. Blech! 

 

NCLH owns both Regent and Norwegian, but one is freestyle, while the other is...well not.

[ChiefMateJRK]

I read that as "recent," not "Regent." 🤣 My bad, carry on......😎

[complawyer]

what are these "slacks" of which you speak?

[cruiseny4life]

Just now, complawyer said:

what are these "slacks" of which you speak?

Unfortunately what I have on right now since I'm in the office. I eschew the tie, but I still have to look nice, and be present in the office, so my boss can feel like she has the requisite supervisor to subordinate control.

 

If you're really asking, they're those dressy pants that pair well with a blazer. Think Dockers, but a level up. I wear these, over Dockers, 1) they look fancier, 2) they don't wrinkle as easily (I do not own an iron), and 3) they're a little bit more comfy than Dockers. 

 

One loyalty perk that would get me sailing a line is if you need to wear fewer and fewer buttons, collars, and pant legs for each cruise you take. Oh wait...that's NCL - 🎵🎵 give me a home where the shorts and flippie floppies roam!!!🎵🎵