NCL has disappointed, so far

[jamesbauer]

I'm hoping that our cruise experience with NCL is better than the pre-cruise experience.

 

For background, this is my first cruise with NCL after quite a few with Princess.  We were looking for a Far East cruise early in the year and only NCL had an attractive itinery with availability, so in June, we signed up for a January cruise.

With Princess, we could sign up for excursions 7 months before a cruise. Not so with NCL. We are only four months away from our cruise and they have only offered a total of 4 excursions for a cruise that has 6 ports of call.

Princess EZ-Air has it all over the system offered by NCL. With Princess, we selected our flights and were able to choose seats, at the time of booking. Not only that but we could go into the EZ-Air system up until about 15 days before the cruise date and make changes to the air booking. These changes could be made without any additional 'administrative' charge; but there would be a credit or charge to the booking if the airline price had changed. With NCL, at the time of booking, there was a $250/per person, non-refundable charge, if cancelled or changed. In addition, again, we are only four months away from our cruise and cannot select airline seats. I was told that it would be at about the 60-day point before we could select airline seats.

Sure hope that our cruise experience with NCL is better than the pre-cruise experience which has been disappointing, at best.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@jamesbauer

 

Which cruise where and when?   Someone may then be able to help you with the reason for the lack of shorex.

 

There are threads regarding the NCL and flights (BOGO?).   Most comments are not very favourable.   There is a lot of Caveat Emptor attached!!

[FLAHAM]

Have you called the airline to select seats?

[Ken the cruiser]

Reading your initial post brought back some similar pre-cruise memories we experienced on our 2nd cruise with NCL back in Oct 2022, as well as some of the lessons learned which I listed at post #7 of my below Live From thread from that cruise. BTW that cruise on the NCL Jade turned out to be an awesome 38-day cruise once we stopped expecting to experience what we had come to take for granted when we cruised with Princess or Celebrity. 

 
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2891352-live-from-the-jade-nov-13-to-dec-21-from-athens-to-cape-town/

 

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@Ken the cruiser

 

BTW that cruise on the NCL Jade turned out to be an awesome 38-day cruise once we stopped expecting to experience what we had come to take for granted when we cruised with Princess or Celebrity. 

 

Well said.   Come without expectations, leave only with memories.

 

[JSar]

I don't know what the issue is with you not being able to sign up for shore excursions so close to the cruise. Are there just limited options? Did they fill up too fast? Some other issue? I obviously can't answer those questions for you. BUT... just so you know, I do not believe that is a NORM for NCL. I have already been on a couple cruises with them and have 2 more booked. For my December 2024 cruise, I booked before Thanksgiving 2023. I started making reservations almost immediately. For my March 2026 cruise... I can't remember what month I booked, but it was probably around March 2024. At that time (TWO YEARS before the cruise)... there were VERY few shore excursions listed. Shortly after that, most of the ports added a bunch of excursions. Of my 4 ports, I already have excursions reserved for 3 of them. The 4th has a lot listed, but I am not excited for the ones I see, so waiting to see if more pop up. And yes... as the months have progressed, I do see some new ones popping up intermittently. Again.. that cruise is still 18 months in the future.

 

I can't comment on the flights. I like to search for my own cheap tickets. I have never found that I want to pay for someone else to book flights. Same with hotel... I saved a ton of money by finding my own cheaper hotel. 

 

Hope the rest of your NCL experience is better!

[julig22]

NCL posts excursions when they become available - could be 2 years in advance, 2 months, anything in-between. If you are on an "extraordinary journey" you may be going to places that just aren't overly equipped for having cruise ships visit - and therefore limited on excursion availability. First clue would be to go to a site like Viator and see what they offer. One of the cons of booking a unique itinerary.

Had the same issue on a recent cruise to Norway/Iceland. I found lots of suggestions on the roll-call for my particular cruise and was able to book some private excursions due to the information found there. Fortunately we had long port times so no worries about missing the ship. NCL eventually posted some of the same excursions (limited capacity) but at a considerably higher price.

I've booked excursions on NCL more than a year in advance - easy to do for repeat itineraries like Alaska. Much harder for a new itinerary.

 

NCL allows you to customize your air if you use their Premium Air department. But you don't get a discounted rate. The $250 surcharge still gives you a discount but more options. Or you can go with BOGO and you get what you get. So no, not the same as Princess.

 

You will find a lot of things are different with NCL, some you might like, some maybe not so much. Try to heed the advice of @Ken the cruiser and enjoy your cruise.

[mjkacmom]

I believe NCL had 2 different air programs, it sounds like you chose the B1G1, which is discounted. NCL will probably put you on the cheapest flights.

[david_sobe]

Cruise line/travel agent deal booked airline tickets are flamed on every cruise line board.  My boss just got back from a RCCL cruise in Europe with RCCL booked airline tickets.  When he got home he said he would never again allow the cruise line to offer and secure the tickets again for any cruise.  They are always the least expensive and many times on the least reliable airlines.  No one is forcing you to take the NCL/travel agent deal on airline tickets.  You are free to book your own flights.  You may have to pay a tiny bit more but you can rid yourself of the hassle you are complaining about.

Pre-judging your cruise experience because not all excursions are on sale 4 months out is a bit dramatic.  This post may sound harsh but its reality.  Over preparing for a vacation always leads to disappointment.  Roll with the punches until you get on board.  You have already laid a trap in your mind and pre-conditioned yourself that the cruise is off to a bad start yet its a third of a year away.

Edited Monday at 01:20 PM by david_sobe

[graphicguy]

I've only given Princess a cursory look but could never find a cruise or ship I liked.

 

Want to make sure I'm comparing apples to apples.

 

That said, it looked to me like their "EZ-Air" is just a booking sight, but you pay for your air reservations.  They have to follow airline policy. Correct?  Whereas NCL, as @julig22 points out is a BOGO airfare deal.  But, any fare where you pick your own seats, etc costs more.  It's like going with Delta basic economy, you get the seats they give you.

 

Premium Air is like Princess's EZ Air, but just like EZ Air, it costs more to pick your seats and flights.

 

Sometimes cruise lines book similar/same excursion companies.  Most times, not.

 

4 months out is a pretty big lead time.  The closer your cruise gets, the more excursions will open up.

 

I think you're just finding differences between one cruise line from another.  They are similar in many respects, but they all have their differences.

 

You're used to Princess.  You're not used to NCL.  There are differences.  Not good, not bad, just different.

[Ken the cruiser]

To determine if NCL, in general, offers excursions at a particular port, here's a link you might want to try just to see if there are any at one of the ones you will be stopping at. 

 

Shore Excursion Search | Norwegian Cruise Line (ncl.com)

 

[SeaShark]

Sorry, but it seems like you are bringing this on yourself.

 

If NCL had promised that they would do things the same way that Princess does, then I would agree with you and I would believe that the thread title of "NCL has disappointed, so far" would be justified.

 

However, based on your post, it appears that you are expecting NCL to be just like Princess, and to do things just like Princess does. Your expectations don't align with reality, thus you feel "disappointed". This disappointment comes from your expectations...not from a failure on the part of NCL., thus I don't believe "NCL has disappointed", but that you've set unrealistic expectations for a cruise line that you have never experienced.

[cruiseny4life]

13 hours ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

There are threads regarding the NCL and flights (BOGO?).   Most comments are not very favourable.   There is a lot of Caveat Emptor attached!!

And yet, in this very scientific poll, more than 85% of those that used the BOGO option were quite happy with it and would use it again. Including myself.

 

You just have to have realistic expectations by reading NCL's BOGO Air Flight Standards/Terms and Conditions. Something, those that dislike the BOGO program often don't do. And, then others who flame it, just haven't used it. 

 

 

[Panhandle Couple]

Wait until the OP finds out about the lack of chocolate chip cookies or McDonalds style hash browns.

 

The Horror!! 

[musicgal]

The shore excursion thing may be a glitch... I know folks on my cruise are experiencing an inability to see available excursions while logged into our accounts.  If you look at excursions for your cruise while logged out, you can then call NCL and book that way if it is indeed a glitch. 

I understand where you are coming from- two of our ports were cancelled after our final payment and I have had to be very hands on about taking care of minutiae that should have been automatically done by the system (like manually cancelling the excursions for the cancelled ports). I like the ships and our previous NCL trip was very nice, but I would advise anyone to go through their account documents with a fine toothed comb right now to avoid standing in a line at customer service during the cruise.