NCL post covid? A couple of questions

[NCteacherlovescruising]

I have only sailed with NCL once and it was pre-covid.  My TA says they have went way down hill, canceling rooms for no reason and poor customer service.  Is this something you have experienced?  We're planning on booking a short girls cruise with either them or Celebrity this December.  I love Celebrity, but to get their beverage package it would be quite a bit more.  How do they compare currently?  How much does it cost to upgrade the included beverage package to premium?  I'm interested in water bottles and specialty coffee.  What red wines are available in each package?  I have two cruise next certificates, but I believe I can only use one of them.  The other is about to expire if I don't book something over the next couple of months.  Is selling them still a thing?  

[ColeThornton]

4 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

How much does it cost to upgrade the included beverage package to premium?  I'm interested in water bottles and specialty coffee.

 

Straight from the website...

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

[NCteacherlovescruising]

20 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

Straight from the website...

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

Thank you!  I don't think it's worth that much per day to upgrade.  I will just carry my yeti around.

[JGmf]

3 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I have only sailed with NCL once and it was pre-covid.  My TA says they have went way down hill, canceling rooms for no reason and poor customer service.  Is this something you have experienced? 

 

I've sailed pre-covid, mid-covid (is that a thing?), and now post-covid.  No appreciable difference in customer service.  It's always been excellent.  In fact, it may have improved even more, especially during those days when the ships were at or near half empty.  Go ahead and book it!

 

 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

^ Agree.  If anything, I felt customer service was better after they started sailing again.

[davencl]

Excellent customer service post covid.  Been on 3 NCL cruises now. 

[Lightnin42]

I also have done 3 cruises on NCL in the past year, and all were excellent. The Gem, bliss, and Breakaway. Never had a problem. I even used their air promotion for 2 of them. Have fun!

[PATRLR]

@NCteacherlovescruising I've spent a lot of time on these boards (and others) prepping for my return to cruising after a couple years away.  The only cancellations I've read about are Pride of America in Hawaii where they are having staff issues because that ship being American flagged uses American staff.  NCL also cancelled one cruise due to the hurricane but that's understandable. 

 

You can always find people who complain about customer service.  I don't think I've noticed any more recently than before the pandemic.  

Search these boards, read some trip reports, I don't think you'll find much of what your TA is telling you.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Thanks for your responses. We ended up going with Celebrity but will certainly keep NCL in mind for the next one. I do have two cruise next certificates I need to use or lose. 

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I have only sailed with NCL once and it was pre-covid.  My TA says they have went way down hill, canceling rooms for no reason and poor customer service.  Is this something you have experienced?  We're planning on booking a short girls cruise with either them or Celebrity this December.  I love Celebrity, but to get their beverage package it would be quite a bit more.  How do they compare currently?  How much does it cost to upgrade the included beverage package to premium?  I'm interested in water bottles and specialty coffee.  What red wines are available in each package?  I have two cruise next certificates, but I believe I can only use one of them.  The other is about to expire if I don't book something over the next couple of months.  Is selling them still a thing?  

We have been on a half dozen NCL post-covid cruises. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no random cancellation of rooms for no reason across the fleet and the customer service has been outstanding. Your trust in your TA should go down. 

 

Yes, there are specific ships like Pride of America, the only US Flagged cruise ship in the cruise industry, which have had problems getting Americans back to work. That is truly an isolated case. 

 

I think that for a short cruise, you can pay for a Starbucks a day (or even use your Starbucks card) and not waste money on upgrading your beverage package. The vast majority of drinks are available with the default unlimited beverage package. You can start with mimosas for breakfast and move up throughout the day. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by BirdTravels