Freestyle 2.0 Announced

[Dolphins]

In keeping with NCL's promise to give us "an enhanced Health and Wellness Program," I hope they will restore some of the no-fee aerobics classes that were discontinued when Steiner took over.

[drsb]

Change the duvets?! I love the NCL duvets, I can't imagine them getting better?!

[Cosmopolitan]

Guess I'm hooked.

 

Keep wanting to "try" another cruise line.

 

After 7 cruises on NCL during the past 3 years, they just keep getting better and better:) They give me no reason to "wander".

 

Thanks scotto72 for the thread;)

[Brad1185]

NCL had to do something. They simply could not afford any more losses. To me considering how bad things have been on NCL, it has to be a wait and see but at least they might be able to compete by delivering a semi competative product now.

[Cosmopolitan]

NCL had to do something. They simply could not afford any more losses. To me considering how bad things have been on NCL, it has to be a wait and see but at least they might be able to compete by delivering a semi competative product now.

 

When was your last cruise on NCL? What ship?

[deepnite10]

hopefully with the announcement of 2.0..we will begin to see

significant change s as soon as the beginning of the yr..

 

this way we and our CC friend s can enjoy it first hand on the Star..:D

[dharmapath]

Seems like another marketing ploy to extract money out of their customers. Like a few poster's have mentioned, the prices on NCL are up from last year and this year. I went with NCL because of the good deals and stayed because of freestyle dining, but as a solo cruiser it is getting more and more expensive for me to choose NCL. Not to mention I have to pay double the fuel surcharge. In the end, their prices will fall because of competition, but Freestyle 2.0 is suit speak for a little more for you = a lot more for us.

[zqvol]

The cruise that I've been watching for weeks suddenly increased a couple hundred dollars today...do you think this announcement is the reason or do you think the timeline of departure getting closer??

 

No question in my mind that part of the increase deals directly with this announcement. NCL is typically the least expensive of the mass market lines and these changes are going to cost money. You can't upgrade your product to finally equal the other mass market lines without getting your costs in line.

[zqvol]

This will depend on whether the pricing holds or not. As NCL tries to change its image it is trying to cater to a different and more affluent clientele(same as Oceania and Regent Seven Seas),...higher prices = higher profit. The new ships the new image part of that change. Post 9-11 pricing has kept cruising at historic low(in real inflated dollar term)....Prices are up in general. The investment bankers want to see a return and we shall see if the pricing holds. Its also the reason why NCL has redeployed its best ships to Europe for the summer....higher potential prices and opened an office in Germany....

 

NCL is now trying to reach the people that cruise Carnival and RCL, not Oceania and Regent. Higher prices do not necessarily = more profit. In fact with the announced changes higher prices are need to keep profits equal to what they are now. Not only will pricing hold it is going to go up at least 25% plus whatever it takes to make up for added energy costs. NCL is about to have to compete with the other mass market lines on quality not price.

[ron46936]

I don't think NCL needed to make any changes to compete with RCCL and Carnival. This seems to take aim at Princess and Celebrity. When looking at cruise prices I still remember our first cruise. It was in 1995 on Sovereign of the Seas in a miniscule inside cabin. With air we paid $2600. We would consider that outrageous today.

[jt1120]

Hope this doesn't mean flip flops on formal night...

[taxmantoo]

Great news !!! Bring it on !!!

[Retired not Expired]

Higher fares will come if the booking demand is there. If they start high and people aren't booking, prices will come down. Profits come from on-board spending. How full are the ships will determine fares. Full ships are a must.

[NorthernNeighbour]

I hope they can bring these on quickly, we leave on Jan 11. Some of these will be really nice, since we are in a balcony for the first time.

Michelle:)

 

Please let us know either during the cruise or after the cruise if this is implemented and how it was.

[bearswife]

Nice changes! I hope some are done by my sailing in 2 weeks. Many on the list I see can be done right away. I don't think I will see a lot of perks but maybe some:D I will let you guys know when I return.

[wxtrix]

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the transaction between Norwegian Cruise Line

(NCL) and Apollo Management, LP (“Apollo”) nears completion and the infusion of $1 billion comes into the company, NCL announced today its Freestyle 2.0 fleet wide initiative featuring significant enhancements in its onboard product that will further improve the guest experience.

 

isn't this the logical outcome of the August announcement that Apollo was investing in NCL? this seems, to me, to indicate that the upgrades are going to be paid for by this billion dollar infusion and not necessarily via higher fares.

[Tobintemp]

But what about the dress code in the buffet? Will someone enforce it or will we still have to put up with passengers in various stages of undress? We'll see in November.

 

Did I miss something? I skimmed the press release but didn't see anything about the dress code in the buffett changing.

[tbthomps]

No question in my mind that part of the increase deals directly with this announcement. NCL is typically the least expensive of the mass market lines and these changes are going to cost money. You can't upgrade your product to finally equal the other mass market lines without getting your costs in line.

 

Thanks for the insight!!

[smeyer418]

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the transaction between Norwegian Cruise Line

 

isn't this the logical outcome of the August announcement that Apollo was investing in NCL? this seems, to me, to indicate that the upgrades are going to be paid for by this billion dollar infusion and not necessarily via higher fares.

 

You don't think they want the money back? Its an investment not a gift.

[ts01974]

I hope Freestyle 2.0 works better the Vista 1.0 :D

Merry Christmas all

[bearswife]

Its all for the better. To debate whether the prices jumps or not is pointless at this time. I'm happy with the upcoming changes. :D

[taxmantoo]

Its all for the better. To debate whether the prices jumps or not is pointless at this time. I'm happy with the upcoming changes. :D

 

Couldn't agree more.

Try it now, enjoy it now, and if and when they raise prices in the future, decide whether you want to do it again at that time. Until that time, enjoy the present moment.

[Stillfloatin']

Stillfloatin'..wonder just how many changes to the Star by the time you return to her.

 

Only four more weeks and I'll find out. I'll post the changes when I get back. This is exciting!!!

[insidecabin]

This is a marketing campain to raise the profile of NCL. A lot of the "items/features" are already in place if you look at the newer ships, but peope are just unaware. The suite/villa benifits all look familiar, the "hot line" for balconies/minis is that not 24hr reception currently, go though the list and you will find a lot of the items in place in one form or another repackaged.

 

What is welcome is the 20% increase in the food budget that can go a long way but do not be fooled this will not increase costs that much, probably less than $25 pppw. Providing a "dining" experience at the buffet in the evening is a good idea other lines do this allready.

 

A lot of the new initiatives are cheap to impliment/promote a few $ per pax and will improve the cruise experience a lot if they get implimented consitently across the fleet allthough one problem for repeat passengers on any cruise line is that too much stuff is the same across the ships, the same, shows,lectures,menus,food demos etc become boring after a few cruises. My guess is some of the "new" stuff will be fee paying anyway so self funding like they are on the likes of princess($10 for classes)

 

One area they do need to address is the pricing model across regions and how they handle price drops, this is causing a lot of bad feelings in the market prior to people sailing.

 

Overall the improved perception of NCL will allow them to get better prices for the cruises at little cost so improve margins. one thing the bargain fares has done is introduce a lot of people to NCL I was suprised that the TA on the Gem only had around 700 latitudes IIRC.

 

At the end of the day the market will decide prices so over capacity in any region will result in lower prices as it has in the caribbean and Hawaii, allthough europe currently is demanding higher prices I think there will be some late bargains this year due to the increased capacity and as the flight prices make it prohibative for US people to travel on late bookings.

[sghetrick]

I don't think NCL needed to make any changes to compete with RCCL and Carnival. This seems to take aim at Princess and Celebrity. When looking at cruise prices I still remember our first cruise. It was in 1995 on Sovereign of the Seas in a miniscule inside cabin. With air we paid $2600. We would consider that outrageous today.

 

I agree that this is more aimed at Princess and Celebrity customers. We just got off the Crown Princess - we were completed spoiled and loved it. We started talking about our upcoming NCL cruise and we didn't think we would get the same amenities aboard NCL (even in a suite) and this new announcement appears as though NCL is really trying to offer their customers a higher level of service.

 

As to the fare increases - every cruise line, airline, and hotel are raising prices. More and more people are traveling now it's the old "supply and demand." For NCL to go through all these upgrades they either weren't selling out their rooms to begin with or receiving too many complaints. I feel this may affect prices but has more to do with getting the same type of occupany rates and praises as say Princess (the Crown has been sold out on every sailing for the past few months and had a very long waitlist).