My take on the current state of NCL.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

One cost NCL is holding down is advertising. I have seen RCL, CCL, Virgin and Viking ads on TV, but no NCL.  NCL cut their mailing ads way down. I still get Princess mailings every 6 weeks, and I have only sailed them once. 

And NCL is still around 99% capacity overall.  

We get a lot of mailing ads from NCL. We did sail on NCL this past summer on a cruise we found on one of their mailing ads we received in 2021. We had sailed with them twice before, but the last time was in 2012.

[N-8]

14 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We get a lot of mailing ads from NCL. We did sail on NCL this past summer on a cruise we found on one of their mailing ads we received in 2021. We had sailed with them twice before, but the last time was in 2012.

Same here. We probably get a NCL mailer every two months but we've sailed with them 3 times in the past three years.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, N-8 said:

Same here. We probably get a NCL mailer every two months but we've sailed with them 3 times in the past three years.

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

[schmoopie17]

15 hours ago, IAcruising said:

 

Don't confuse me with a financial advisor, but I wouldn't count on a big dip anytime soon.

 

There are a few big dips on CC...and arguably, I am one of them. 😋

[IAcruising]

6 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

There are a few big dips on CC...and arguably, I am one of them. 😋

 

I often roll my eyes at you schmoop. But that's a good one right there.

 

[cruiseny4life]

On 3/22/2024 at 9:01 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

One cost NCL is holding down is advertising. I have seen RCL, CCL, Virgin and Viking ads on TV, but no NCL.  NCL cut their mailing ads way down. I still get Princess mailings every 6 weeks, and I have only sailed them once. 

And NCL is still around 99% capacity overall.  

We cut back too. Now we have Hulu with ads. Argh! I watched two 30 minute shows and saw five Royal Caribbean ads and one Carnival ad. No NCL. I now want to go on Utopia of the Sea...for the weekend! Thanks to the ad I saw. Actually, I think I'd still choose Icon since it's not such a short trip. I don't want short. I want long times away at sea! And at least on Icon I can escape for a week, whereas on Utopia it's just hours. 

 

Anyway, we were getting NCL mailers every week, but that's been cutback to about once a month. Definitely not as exciting as seeing a cruise ship ad on Hulu! Makes the ad experience much better. To be fair, I don't think NCL could produce an ad as exciting as RCL or CCL. What would they show? The weird floor chandelier in Le Bistro? That's about as "exciting" as their ships get...or they could show beached whales (me included) napping away in the thermal lounge! 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

20 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

To be fair, I don't think NCL could produce an ad as exciting as RCL or CCL. What would they show? The weird floor chandelier in Le Bistro? That's about as "exciting" as their ships get.

I don’t think they make their own ads, they likely use an ad agency. But the average commercial is just 30 seconds. That’s plenty of time to show quick clips from the casino, pool, a show, maybe some excursions, food, drinks, some kids smiling on the go carts, etc.

 

Cut it up quick enough, add some music, promote some sale, etc. It doesn’t seem that difficult to make an “exciting” 30 seconds. 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

I don’t think they make their own ads, they likely use an ad agency. But the average commercial is just 30 seconds. That’s plenty of time to show quick clips from the casino, pool, a show, maybe some excursions, food, drinks, some kids smiling on the go carts, etc.

 

Cut it up quick enough, add some music, promote some sale, etc. It doesn’t seem that difficult to make an “exciting” 30 seconds. 

Next time I guess I'll just use emoji-speak.

[DCGuy64]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:30 AM, Sailing12Away said:

There's more to it than that. Nothing wrong with staying at a Holiday Inn, but it's certainly not the same experience you would get staying at a Ritz. It's the little things, the types of linens, the fixtures in the bathroom, the furniture, room size, the little touches. Can you still have an amazing vacation without marble sinks, fresh flowers, and 1000+ count egyptian sheets? Of course. If not, none of us would be here on the NCL boards. But if the prices were somewhat similar, wouldn't you rather be at the Ritz when the occasion called for a vacation splurge?

 

But that's my point and rationale in saying you can't compare a basic balcony on NCL to a basic balcony on those other lines. It's the little things beyond the basics that add up to justify the higher prices beyond extra sqft, free mini fridge access, unlimited specialty dining, etc. Plus the rom sizes are much bigger on the other lines, more akin to the club balcony rooms at least on these older NCL ships.

 

Since you're not in the realm of 10K vacations, those things may not matter to you at all. But for folks like myself who do splurge for mostly Haven trips on NCL, we hit that price point often - and at that price point you question what else are you not getting for that money that you can get from another line. Since you've stayed in the Haven - can you honestly say the experience and touches within the room are the same from your regular balcony room to your Haven room? Bathroom sink is the same? Shower is the same? Decor/touches the same? Room size/comfort the same?

 

To keep things as fair as possible, here's Asian trip options on the 3 lines, and comparing 3 cabin types on NCL Sun (Sky is sold out for suites for that trip), all around the same month. Your own logic - who in their right mind would consider paying 6-7K for a basic balcony room on NCL when many of us have been able to get into the Haven at that price point? For that extra $260/day I will gladly take the upgrade where you get 100+ things for it and the overall experience will be significantly different with half as many passengers around you.

 

But again - completely depends on the person. Folks who are not afraid of NCL free air program can have substantial savings (those luxury lines don't have good pricing on flights at all unless you pick business class). Folks who don't care about wifi, specialty dining, the spa, robes, fancy linens.... not a value add to them so they'll stick with whoever is cheapest.

 

Viking vs NCL Sun in a Club Balcony - would love to hear the rationale for wanting to pay more for NCL (beyond the casino argument for those who like to gamble).

 

This is a really handy spreadsheet, thank you for providing it. I have to agree that when you factor everything in, Oceania offers quite a competitive product vs NCL (although it's kinda funny since both lines are owned by NCLH, same parent company). One thing I was curious about: your spreadsheet says drinks are free on Oceania. Is that right? And it's all day, anywhere, any drink, just like NCL? When we did our wonderful Oceania Japan cruise last year, we only got beer and wine, and only in the restaurants during lunch and dinner. So any cocktail cost extra, as did wine and beer outside of the restaurants. Maybe that's changed since last April.

[Sailing12Away]

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

We cut back too. Now we have Hulu with ads. Argh! I watched two 30 minute shows and saw five Royal Caribbean ads and one Carnival ad. No NCL. I now want to go on Utopia of the Sea...for the weekend! Thanks to the ad I saw. Actually, I think I'd still choose Icon since it's not such a short trip. I don't want short. I want long times away at sea! And at least on Icon I can escape for a week, whereas on Utopia it's just hours. 

 

Since you're a dog person, Icon also has their resident yellow lab on board for people to pet and say hi to. That reason alone is why I've considered a short trip with them to try it - just to pet the dog each day.

 

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

This is a really handy spreadsheet, thank you for providing it. I have to agree that when you factor everything in, Oceania offers quite a competitive product vs NCL (although it's kinda funny since both lines are owned by NCLH, same parent company). One thing I was curious about: your spreadsheet says drinks are free on Oceania. Is that right? And it's all day, anywhere, any drink, just like NCL? When we did our wonderful Oceania Japan cruise last year, we only got beer and wine, and only in the restaurants during lunch and dinner. So any cocktail cost extra, as did wine and beer outside of the restaurants. Maybe that's changed since last April.

We haven't sailed with them yet to know for sure, just going based on their "free drinks" promotion. When you dive deep into the weeds it's got a lot more holes than NCL's "free drinks" promo, but there's no 'hidden' cost for adding the "free" package on. I think it is only with meals as you said, but if the mini bar in the cabin is free (even if it's just soda) that alone will be sufficient for many of our needs. We're fine with brining a bottle or two of port or regular wine with us to have in the room too.

 

The eye opener for us though was just previously thinking some lines were out of our price point - when in fact they're not. At least for what NCL is charging for the type of experience we appreciate. Folks who are fine with an inside balcony are still a few leaps from switching companies, but those who regularly sail in the Haven are much closer than they may think.

[cruiseny4life]

10 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Since you're a dog person, Icon also has their resident yellow lab on board for people to pet and say hi to. That reason alone is why I've considered a short trip with them to try it - just to pet the dog each day.

The isolation onboard without my favorite pooches is monumental! Being able to say hi to this pupper every day would be nice. I'm shy with other people's dogs though. I'm the kind of person that wants to go and cuddle every dog I see...then realize that would be weird, so I just hold my hand out for the pup to sniff. If I'm lucky, the dog will let me pet them after the sniff! 

 

But yes, having a Chief Dog Officer is a really great way to get my attention! (NCL are you listening)? 

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

We haven't sailed with them yet to know for sure, just going based on their "free drinks" promotion. When you dive deep into the weeds it's got a lot more holes than NCL's "free drinks" promo, but there's no 'hidden' cost for adding the "free" package on.

The drinks package on Oceania was one of just a few issues with had with them. Most everything else was wonderful. It was our first outing with Oceania, and we learned a lot. It was a pretty expensive cruise for us, and the fact that we didn't have truly all-inclusive beverages was, to be candid, kind of a letdown. It bills itself as a premium-ish line, and that seemed a bit stingy to us. Being restricted to just wine (including sparkling wine) and beer during mealtimes, and in the restaurants only, felt cheap. They *do* have a BOGO deal in the lounge, but only from 5-6 pm and, I believe, 10-11 pm, but you MUST buy the same drink, no mix-and-match allowed. That was also stingy, in my view. We were also letdown by the extremely slow food service, especially at dinner. Since you haven't sailed with them yet, just be prepared. Dinner often took 2-3 hours. And the sommelier who would come around for drink orders refused to get anything else. If you wanted soft drinks or tea, etc., you had to flag down your own server. 😏

[Sailing12Away]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

Dinner often took 2-3 hours. And the sommelier who would come around for drink orders refused to get anything else. If you wanted soft drinks or tea, etc., you had to flag down your own server. 😏

That's been our norm with NCL lately anyway at places like Cagneys especially, so nothing new there. Our last trip the sommelier gave my Haven card to someone else, so we had to sit there an extra 15 mins after finishing our meal so they could go to guest services and get me a new room card. 

 

It's odd for me to not have another 1-2 NCL trips booked to look forward to (I have none right now for the first time in 5+ years), but I'm exploring all options and we'll go with itinerary first, and our perceived value next. If I can find 6 Haven level friends with flexibility in their vacation schedules I may even go completely off the deep end and look into private yacht charters at this point. I think the one I had priced out for a week in the Caribbean would have cost around 30K for 8 people before adding on food and drink choices. So gee..... a boat for only 8 people going wherever we wanted for as long as we wanted, or a ship with 3000+ other people and you're on their schedule and time and itinerary.... 

[DCGuy64]

16 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

It's odd for me to not have another 1-2 NCL trips booked to look forward to (I have none right now for the first time in 5+ years), but I'm exploring all options and we'll go with itinerary first, and our perceived value next.

We have one NCL cruise booked for next year and our first on Virgin Voyages, also next year. We aren't totally loyal or beholden to any one cruise line (which I guess might make it harder for us to rise in terms of status levels, but that's OK). The private yacht charter idea sounds fantastic. I hope you do that! 😃

[IAcruising]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Dinner often took 2-3 hours.

 

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

That's been our norm with NCL lately anyway at places like Cagneys especially, so nothing new there.

 

That seems very odd to me. It's never taken 2 hours for any meal in any restaurant for us on NCL. Maybe, a few times, maybe, it took 1:45 with dessert and after-dinner port. Never has it exceeded 2 hours, let alone approach 3. We eat at regular dining times. What are you guys doing when you eat?

 

[DCGuy64]

39 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

 

That seems very odd to me. It's never taken 2 hours for any meal in any restaurant for us on NCL. Maybe, a few times, maybe, it took 1:45 with dessert and after-dinner port. Never has it exceeded 2 hours, let alone approach 3. We eat at regular dining times. What are you guys doing when you eat?

 

I was referring to Oceania, not NCL. It took a long time for our orders to get taken, and then an even longer time for the food to arrive. Mind you, some people enjoy leisurely dinners. And I'm not looking for a short order cook type situation, but 3 hours is excessive. On NCL, I'd say we're usually done in about an hour. Even at Cagney's, Moderno, Le Bistro or La Cucina, it has NEVER approached even 2 hours, let alone 3. Maybe 1-1:30 hours, tops. And I am a slow eater, too.

[Sailing12Away]

23 hours ago, IAcruising said:

That seems very odd to me. It's never taken 2 hours for any meal in any restaurant for us on NCL. Maybe, a few times, maybe, it took 1:45 with dessert and after-dinner port. Never has it exceeded 2 hours, let alone approach 3. We eat at regular dining times. What are you guys doing when you eat?

 

Thinking of the most recent Cagney's experience, after we were seated the sommelier came over within 5 mins as we had pre-ordered a bottle of wine. But we waited another 5-10 mins for the waitress to come give us a menu and glass of water. We tend to stick with the same stuff when going there so knew what we wanted, but had to wait another 10 mins or so for them to come back and take our order. So nearly 30 mins before our order was even taken and put in. 

 

Apps came out in another 5-10 mins (mine was a the simple wedge salad), and they didn't come around to take the plates away for another 20 mins or so. Then sitting and waiting another 5-10 mins for the mains to come out. After we were done eating, again, another prolonged wait for the plates to be cleared and dessert order to be taken. 

 

So it's not that we're slow eaters, but the biggest thing has always been a really slow service to move things along. 

[IAcruising]

7 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

So it's not that we're slow eaters, but the biggest thing has always been a really slow service to move things along. 

 

We've yet to experience this. But if/when it happens, I will politely prod the server to keep things moving along at a slightly increased pace.

 

[N-8]

We were on the NCL Jade about 5 months ago and service is slower than before but didn't really bother us. At Cagney's, when they took our drinks, I ordered a beer and the waiter came back with two for me. Nice of him because he knew service was going to be a little slow. Not too terribly bad and they did ask us if we were going to a show and made sure we were done by then.

[graphicguy]

I do believe it depends on the server.  You can always tell the less experienced ones...as they tend to be slower.  Ordinarily, if the restaurant manager happens by, which they often do, I just give them a quick comment about how they must be really busy (whether they are or not) since the service is lagging.  

 

Things seem pick up from that point.

[graphicguy]

I get a lot of mailers from Oceania (who I've never sailed).  I get about one/week from Royal and NCL.  Not much from Carnival, but will get one on occasion but it's a Carnival ad that's sent by my TA.  Assuming Carnival gives her marketing dollars to do those mailers.

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I get about one/week from Royal and NCL.

 

I have successfully removed myself from all NCL mailings. Feels quite liberating. Don't know what to do with all my free time now.

 

[Sailing12Away]

22 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

I have successfully removed myself from all NCL mailings. Feels quite liberating. Don't know what to do with all my free time now.

 

If you feel left out, just go on their website and do a mock booking, then leave the sailing in your cart and close the browser. Your phone will be ringing within the hour, and you'll have 2 emails remining you that you didn't finish your booking.

 

I think the next time they call I'll actually pick up and share a few choice words with them as to why I didn't pull the trigger.

[Sugar Magnolia]

6 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

If you feel left out, just go on their website and do a mock booking, then leave the sailing in your cart and close the browser. Your phone will be ringing within the hour, and you'll have 2 emails remining you that you didn't finish your booking.

 

I do receive the email reminding me to complete my booking, but I never receive any phone calls. I've noticed that they stopped calling me for the past two years, and I do a lot of mock bookings...obviously a desperate cry out for attention.

 

[cruiseny4life]

What are these phone calls you refer to? I do a mock booking almost every day and never get them. But, I think our PCC knows us well enough that she shouldn't bug us each day as it would lead to a half hour conversation about all things not cruise-related. They've even stopped sending the "Finish Your Booking" emails and yes, I'm logged in! 

 

I like getting the emails, as my husband also gets them which gets him perturbed that I'm looking at a cruise.......again. 🙂