Had to finally book with NCL because Disney wanted me to sell my house... lol

[Kathysf1014]

I've only sailed DCL for the past 9 years and needless to say I love it and have never had or wanted a reason to try anything else until this summer. Unfortunately because of the prices I wasn't able to book my summer cruise with DCL this August. The Norweigen GEtaway has a great rate right now so we went with them. But why Am I so bummed? I feel like I'm settling but the price was 1/4 of DCL so it was a no brainer. I'm worried about my 3 year old not being able to do much, will she have fun? Has anyone been on the Getaway and was it a good experience?

I guess I'm just spoiled by Mickey, lol...

 

[Crystal O_o]

I know how you feel, I booked RCCL for next June for Alaska and I felt the same.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I'm in the same boat as you, we booked the new Carnival Vista for the Mediterranean next summer. The ship looks like it's going to be amazing and if it had 2 red funnels instead of a red white a blue whale tail I'd be overjoyed. I'm excited, but cautiously optimistic.

My wife and I were talking the other day and have resigned that our upcoming Vancouver to San Diego cruise on the Wonder will probably be our last on DCL. It's been a great ride but I thinks it's time try something else.

I'm sure you're going to love your new ship, just go into it thinking it won't be DCL and its ok, you're creating memories with your family and that's the most important thing.

 

[erocrobro]

I feel your pain. We really wanted to cruise DCL again, but ended up also booking the Getaway because the rates were too good to pass up (the included beverage package also helped sway the decision.). My kids are older than yours, but they are excited for all of the water slides, rock wall, ropes course, and zip line.

 

[mevelandry]

I might end up trying another cruiseline too after this one...

I remember going to WDW and staying moderates/deluxe and even Club Level once... When we decided to try to stay in a value once... I was really scared. Well, with the exception of the bad soundproofing, our stay was excellent and we had a good time!!!

And that time I decided to go to Universal instead of Disney? It was not Disney, but it was amazing too.


Change can be scary (especially when something/a situation makes you really really happy) but you have to give yourself the chance to enjoy that vacation. I think the best thing you can do is trying to make the non-dcl cruise "magical" by adding little things like ordering/bringing decorations, ordering flowers, etc.

I've had many friends who went on NCL and they had a GREAT time. Go there with an open heart and an open mind. I'm sure you'll like it.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Enjoy your Cruise!............BTW....NCL about 2 weeks ago, just raised the gratuities about 30%. Not to mention many new nice and dime measures over the last 6 months or so.

AKK

 

[GWS]

I have always been curious about sailing with another cruise line, my family and I have only sailed with DCL. My DW will not let me even talk about sailing on another cruise line, according to her that is blasphemy in our house.
My DS is getting older and he is would like to see and do stuff other than Disney. He loves cruises and going on new adventures, so to try something else would not be hard to convince him. My DW on the other hand has no interest in anything that is not Disney, she is the challenge.

My biggest fear is that if I EVER got the opportunity to try a cruise line other than DCL and it did not meet the high level of excellent customer service that DCL gives, I would never hear the end of it.

 

[rrehman]

We booked on Carnival a few years ago for the same reason. Disney's prices were through the roof. When speaking with our travel agent, she advised us that its not Disney, but we will still have a good time. She was right, but we knew that going into the cruise. Our expiations were less, but we ended up enjoying it much more than we thought we would. That cruise we went without our kids, but we did pay special attention to the kids clubs in case we ever did Carnival again. We were not impressed, but from what I understand Carnival has made great strides on their kids programs since 2013. We have also been on RCL, on the Grandeur out of Baltimore. Carnival's food was the best compared to the three cruise lines we have been on, and RCL was the worst. Disney is by far the best experience, but I am not convinced it is worth paying three to four times more for a similar experience. Still a DCL fan, but am exploring other options due to the price. We just book our first NCL cruise last night on the new Escape in April 2017.

 

[disneybass]

We are in the same boat as you. Only sailed DCL for the past 5 years but the prices are really crazy now. We are trying RCCL in November on the Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa

 

[perditax]

Enjoy your Cruise!............BTW....NCL about 2 weeks ago, just raised the gratuities about 30%. Not to mention many new nice and dime measures over the last 6 months or so.

AKK

Hm, pretty sure they increased the service charge by $0.55/day this time (that's fifty-five cents). Mind you, I'm not happy about some of their weird changes lately, but it's nowhere near 30%. So DCL is $12 (or whatever), NCL is $13.50.

You can also have the service charge removed onboard, although that's not very cool.

To OP: I had a great time on the Getaway last month and saw lots of happy families, I think you will like it. Feel free to ask/PM questions.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Hm, pretty sure they increased the service charge by $0.55/day this time (that's fifty-five cents). Mind you, I'm not happy about some of their weird changes lately, but it's nowhere near 30%. So DCL is $12 (or whatever), NCL is $13.50.

You can also have the service charge removed onboard, although that's not very cool.

To OP: I had a great time on the Getaway last month and saw lots of happy families, I think you will like it. Feel free to ask/PM questions.

OK......Yahoo had it listed as $15.00 +, and 30%..........But Ill take your word for it!

 

[hubbard53]

The only real reason we use DCL is that we feel the kids club is safe and fun for our son. I do want to try another cruise line but not sure about the kids clubs. I'll be following to look for any info on other cruise line kids' clubs.

 

[Scoobypop]

Hm, pretty sure they increased the service charge by $0.55/day this time (that's fifty-five cents). Mind you, I'm not happy about some of their weird changes lately, but it's nowhere near 30%. So DCL is $12 (or whatever), NCL is $13.50.

You can also have the service charge removed onboard, although that's not very cool.

To OP: I had a great time on the Getaway last month and saw lots of happy families, I think you will like it. Feel free to ask/PM questions.

Hi, can you please tell me some of the other weird changes they made lately? I know about the .55 cent. Gratuity raise, but haven't heard of anything else. We went on our first NCL this spring and loved it a lot. Have another booked for next spring, just want to know what to expect that I hadn't heard about.

To the OP-we did love NCL way more than we thought, and we've sailed DCL 14 times. Also did Royal last spring, all for the same reasons, DCL prices got so astronomical the past two years. We loved the included beverage package, we loved how many dining options there were, and loved the entertainment way way more than we expected. It's been discussed on these boards many times on various threads, but I too never understood the "other cruise lines nickel and dime you" comments. I find it untrue. You don't want to pay anything extra for food or snacks, don't, there are plenty of free dining options all over the ship. You want to pay extra for specialty dining, you do, just like on DCL. The biggest complaint I see on the boards is the lack of free soda. Fine, the soda may not be free like it is on DCL, but for $20 a day, buy the soda package if that is important to you, and it will add $140 to your fare, which is probably still hundreds or thousands of dollars less than your DCL fare. And you'll get way more soda choices on the ships,with the freestyle coke machines, and they're in several locations on the ships, not just one station on the top deck. Just my opinion, but I've never understood the "nickel and dime" comments. Still love DCL but have had no problem choosing other lines due to pricing and found several things about both cruise lines that I liked better than DCL, and can't wait for my NCL escape trip next spring.

 

[perditax]

OK......Yahoo had it listed as $15.00 +, and 30%..........But Ill take your word for it!

I think $15 is the price if you're in a suite, so it probably went up from $14 or something. Normal cabins are $13.50, up from $12.95.

Hi, can you please tell me some of the other weird changes they made lately? I know about the .55 cent. Gratuity raise, but haven't heard of anything else. We went on our first NCL this spring and loved it a lot. Have another booked for next spring, just want to know what to expect that I hadn't heard about.

The big ones are:
--Room service is no longer free, there is a $7.95 flat order fee for anything but continental breakfast (which is still free)
--Gratuity charges mentioned above (Basically they have increased a total of $1.50/day in 2015.)
--They keep shuffling around things with the upcharge dining venues. (Which package includes what, and possibly some of them will also go to a la carte pricing, but that won't affect people who already have dining packages? Or something?) And an auto-gratuity added to the upcharge restaurants.

In total it doesn't add up to very much, esp. not when you consider the cost vs DCL, and the food stuff doesn't affect any of the current complimentary dining. I think it's more a matter of the fact that there's a new CEO and he's being kind of spasmodic with his changes. At one point he decided people weren't allowed to take food from the buffet to their rooms (right after the room service fee was enacted), but that only lasted about two weeks due to outrage.

I didn't feel terribly 'nickel and dimed' on NCL; I paid extra for the same things I would pay extra for on DCL (internet access and a spa thermal suite pass). They *advertised* things like upcharge dining and shows in the daily activity guide, but no one acted like I was doing anything wrong by not buying them, and no one ever tried to sell me anything. I interacted with the spa desk staff at least twice a day for a week (to get into the thermal suite) and they never tried to sell me so much as a shampoo and blowout.

(Additionally, I was in a solo studio that was steps away from a free refreshment lounge (solo only), so i had all the beverage and caffeine I needed, even free espresso drinks.)

 

[Scoobypop]

perditax, thanks for the info, good to know. I did know about the no taking food from buffet to room thing, but that never affected me anyway since I never did that. I agree, the cost doesn't add up to much considering cruise fare costs of each line.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I think $15 is the price if you're in a suite, so it probably went up from $14 or something. Normal cabins are $13.50, up from $12.95.



The big ones are:
--Room service is no longer free, there is a $7.95 flat order fee for anything but continental breakfast (which is still free)
--Gratuity charges mentioned above (Basically they have increased a total of $1.50/day in 2015.)
--They keep shuffling around things with the upcharge dining venues. (Which package includes what, and possibly some of them will also go to a la carte pricing, but that won't affect people who already have dining packages? Or something?) And an auto-gratuity added to the upcharge restaurants.

In total it doesn't add up to very much, esp. not when you consider the cost vs DCL, and the food stuff doesn't affect any of the current complimentary dining. I think it's more a matter of the fact that there's a new CEO and he's being kind of spasmodic with his changes. At one point he decided people weren't allowed to take food from the buffet to their rooms (right after the room service fee was enacted), but that only lasted about two weeks due to outrage.

I didn't feel terribly 'nickel and dimed' on NCL; I paid extra for the same things I would pay extra for on DCL (internet access and a spa thermal suite pass). They *advertised* things like upcharge dining and shows in the daily activity guide, but no one acted like I was doing anything wrong by not buying them, and no one ever tried to sell me anything. I interacted with the spa desk staff at least twice a day for a week (to get into the thermal suite) and they never tried to sell me so much as a shampoo and blowout.

(Additionally, I was in a solo studio that was steps away from a free refreshment lounge (solo only), so i had all the beverage and caffeine I needed, even free espresso drinks.)

Perditax..I am pretty sure NCL got so many angry passenger complaints over the $7.95 room service charge, they backed up and removed the charge. It more been a steady addition of charges for this and that over the last 6 to 8 months that has most of the NCL fans upset.

NCL has a good number of new vessels, big mortages and with their rates depressed, they have to make money somewhere. somewhere!

AKK

 

[MakiraMarlena]

They didn't remove the charge. It's $7.95 per room service order except for morning coffee and continental breakfast. They did rescind the rule that passengers were not allowed to remove food from the dining venues (such as the buffet) and bring it to their rooms.

I'm doing Europe with Royal Caribbean next year (instead of Disney).

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

They didn't remove the charge. It's $7.95 per room service order except for morning coffee and continental breakfast. They did rescind the rule that passengers were not allowed to remove food from the dining venues (such as the buffet) and bring it to their rooms.

I'm doing Europe with Royal Caribbean next year (instead of Disney).

Ahh..........ok................they only removed the $7.95 charge on the food brought into the rooms.


The la A carte costs in the up sell restaurants are going to be expensive.

AKK

 

[AquaDame]

haha! We are going to have to book someone else next year also. My sister in law wants us all to go together on an Alaska cruise and I am not about to ask them to fork over more money to sail on DCL! Secretly I am hoping for Princess, but will ultimately sail on whomever they choose.

 

[jjgarv]

We are also looking elsewhere for 2016 due to DCL's prices.