Good info, though personally after doing NCL and now Princess, I would take that $159 and pay it towards Princess Premier and get everything included without thinking through things.
It is compelling when you see the math isn't it. People often scoff at the price of Princess Premier, but when you put all the numbers on the table, it's a good deal for most. Not so much if you don't drink, but can't please everyone. Thanks for watching!
I am going on first ncl january 11th an I took the Haven package with unlimited everything at an extra cost, they cancelled the free at see and now I am curious what I lost. I had unlimited Starbuckks which I think I lost. I even took a penthouse at the back of the boat.
My understanding when I was researching this video was that if you were booked on a voyage before the changes were announced, you would still get your "Free at Sea" benefits in addition to More at Sea. Unfortunately I'm not super familiar with the last version of Free at Sea, so I can't help tell you what was in it. It should be on your booking confirmation. Probably best to call NCL and confirm.
Same exact here. I booked under FAS and had two "free" specialty dining, now I am not sure what these new dining "cover charges" are, doesn't look free to me! Can you let us know what you experience on your cruise on Jan 11? thanks!
We have been on three NCL cruises and have another booked for January. We have been very happy with NCL and we just completed a Celebrity cruise last year.
As someone who has been on a few NCL cruises and probably used the Free at Sea, what do you think about the changes? Or are they really changes at all for you? Thanks for watching!
It is hard to say until I see the details. I enjoy higher end cocktails, so if I have access to those at a similar price point I would be happy. The details needed to be released to make a more informed decision.
I just got off the NCL Bliss and had the unlimited non streaming wifi. I would turn on my express vpn and was able to watch any video online with no issues. You cant upload big files but streaming was no issues at all when i had the vpn on.
It includes gratuities on the food and drink you'll be having.. It doesnt include room gratuities if that's what you are asking.. You do not have to pay anything on drinks or meals though.. (if they are part of the plan)
No, both Carnival and Royal have different packages that concentrate more on the drinks part. I haven't really done a video review of them. I may try and do a run down of all the top cruise lines' packages but it's a ton of information to go through.
@TidalHorizons u GOT to do it. u will be the only one doing the cost math analysis in the seas of too much same over and over, overkill topic/reviews of cruising/cruise lines that nothing to do in saving cost. u will be different, so u will get more views.
Been on 5 NCL cruises. Never had a bad experience overall. That said, the free at sea worked for us. Never cruised on Princess but I may look into it. You just showed the cost is not far off and Princess is a higher class line.
It would be interesting for you to compare for sure! I'm going to have to try an NCL cruise at some point and look into all the "nickel and diming" complaints that I always hear about. I don't get into that in videos because I have no personal experience with it. My only complaint with Free at Sea was that it wasn't actually Free! You were Free to choose it, that's about it. Thanks for watching!
I have used NCL a lot, used to love the shows and food was decent/very good. Since covid, the cutbacks on NCL are terrible. The entertainment staff has been cut in half, the broadway shows are gone except for the newest ships like Prima and Viva. The formerly second tier shows like the acrobatics, Noise Boyz, Burn the Floor ballroom dancing are gone as well. The formerly second tier show Choir of Man on NCL is now the primary show, but at least that show is excellent. Princess is not particularly better than NCL-the entertainment is ok but their Bar show is a cheap rip-off of Choir of man. The food was previously on par but now the buffet and main dining room and specialty restaurant food on Princess is better than NCL due to the cutbacks. The excursions and ports of call offered by NCL generally are superior to Princess offerings. However, due to the cutbacks, you can expect NCL to slow the ship speed down and you may miss a scheduled port for no reason. If you spend the money for the Princess plus or premier, the drinks package is superior to NCL because it includes specialty coffees and small bottles of water, whereas NCL the drinks package does not include the coffees or bottled water. I will still take NCL because it has better ports of call than Princess sometimes, but given similar itineraries, I would choose Princess. I am platinum level on both cruise lines.
That's my feeling as well with NCL but I'm up-front that I've never sailed with them (yet) so I don't want to talk about things I haven't personally experienced. The package at least is pretty black and white and comes down to the math. Thanks for watching!
I’m a travel agent and even though I am qualified to sail at a discounted rate on NCL - I don’t sail on NCL! …. Because - even with the T.A. Discount (that has to be earned thru education and sales and is not an easy process and takes a lot of effort and time) is convoluted and confusing and you are never really convinced that you are truly receiving any type of promised discount. Also - their commissions are abysmal compared to other cruise lines.
Im excited for MAS. I'm platinum with NCL and love sailing with them. Personally I think the whole nickle and diming thing is more overhyped on social media than anything you see on board unless you have kids who go wild at go karts, laser tag or the galaxy Pavillion. Things im just not into so I dont worry about it.
Yes, I intentionally left out discussion on the whole "nickel and diming" discussion because I haven't been on an NCL cruise. I know that discussion has stopped me in the past because I'd have kids with me, but it's probably time to take a cruise with them and break it all down. Again, it's simple math if you know what you are getting into. Stay tuned for that! Thanks for watching.
We are saying goodbye to NCL with this change. Sad because we have 300 points with them. They've gone downhill since we began sailing with them. This is one step too far. 150 wifi minutes for a 15 night cruise is a joke in the day and age of Starlink. Upgrade options are a joke. No bottled water, no specialty coffee. No bundled package to upgrade dining. We're done.
You absolutely should be comparing More at Sea with the Free at Sea package, since that is what it is replacing. It's also the reason we have taken a number of NCL trips. You would understand that if you had actually taken a few NCL trips. More at Sea is really Less at Sea compared to the previous package.
I don't have sufficient information to do the comparison, also Free at Sea changed frequently, so it depended what the offers were at the time you booked. It would be a disservice to guess, this is strictly a math exercise and comparison to other packages that are currently available, I can't buy a cruise with Free at Sea any longer, so I can't really compare. I plan on doing an NCL cruise in the future, but that doesn't change the math on the package. What I'm more curious about is how many people talk about "nickel and diming" on NCL cruises, what is your thoughts on that? Thanks for the comment and for watching.
@@TidalHorizons They do nickel and dime, but I thought the Free at Sea package was pretty consistent. A big part of that was the included drinks up to $15. I think most adults on a cruise are going to be drinking alcohol. I could order a glass of wine without thinking about the cost. Buying drinks adds up pretty quickly, and drink packages seem to be priced where one would have to get 8 drinks a day or more to be worthwhile. I think you're right that neither plan would pay if you don't drink.
…and it is shameful that NCL excludes bottled water from the ‘More At Sea’ package. Makes them appear cheap… I don’t know of another major cruise lines that excludes bottled water from their drink packages.
The new more at sea to me is nothing more than a revenue increase to NCL. I've sailed with them for over 10 years. I'm almost at Sapphire level. I normally sail in a Haven cabin and have issues with how the drink plan works for Haven guests. But when I compare this to Royal or Princess, I still think NCL comes out a better value. I never understood why NCL classified the spirits they do in the certain categories. For instance, Grey Goose is in what used to be called their premium plus beverage plan, but this doesn't cost more wholesale than any of the other spirits available in the included beverage plan. The whole thing really makes no sense. So what this really just boils down to is NCL raised the price of the included beverage plan to 30/day. It went up 7.00. Big deal. It's still worth it. From what I can tell, Royal, Princess and others charge a lot more per day for the same thing. The specialty dining plan is another thing. Not too long ago, cruises of 7 nights used to get 3 specialty credits per sailing, for the first 2 in a cabin. That was reduced to 2 not too long ago. So with this new plan, it goes back to the old way. Again - this is nothing more than a revenue increase to NCL.
Thanks for the breakdown, I have some similar opinions as you on the package as it stands now, but since I haven't sailed with NCL, I don't have that first hand experience,, so I wanted to stick with the math on things in doing the comparisons. I felt somewhat obligated to include the specialty dining when I compared with Princess Plus, but if you took that out on both sides, Princess Plus would probably come out looking like a better value because of the included Stateroom Gratuities. Every cruise line is looking to increase their pre-cruise package sales right now, it's where their growth is. They get to sit on your money for an extra 90 days and build interest. Thanks for watching!
@@TidalHorizons You bring up an interesting point, stateroom gratuities. I always request a refund on the second to last day. I then give the people that deserve it, cash. The money you think goes to the employees, does not -it's complicated. The short story is all the employees are on contracts, and are on a fixed salary. That salary has the gratuity included. They're not handed an envelope at the end of each sailing with tips. So if you ask for a refund (for which they have to give you), the employees are not shorted that money. You're just giving the cruise line more revenue. There should be no guilt in asking for that back. Just give who think deserves it, cash.
Great analysis - thanks! Never been a fan of hidden and “nickel and dimeing” of many cruise lines. We usually sail with Princess when possible and their Premier package gives us the “all inclusive” feel that we prefer. Thanks again.
Yes, that whole thing needs to be looked at, it's something that I don't bring up in the video because I haven't personally been onboard. I'll have to see about a trip with NCL and break all that down, see where these charges are and then compare to other cruise lines. Until then, I'm withholding judgement! Thanks for watching!
The streaming wifi for a 7 day cruise on NCL Bliss is $279 per person, not per stateroom...this applies for folks who had Free At Sea Plus (me!). NCL removed the unlimited wifi, dining credits and other perks and is making passengers repurchase at higher unbundled rates for the same perks. Asinine. Total money grab. This will be my last NCL cruise.
For the conservative folks, is it true that, if you don't get any packages, you can't take advantage of these "more" perks? By the way, terms say Wi-Fi minutes have an activation fee.
The math isn’t mathing. Princess you need to pay for WiFi, specialty dining, alcohol, not sure why you think it’s included. Both sets of parents are the highest elite status. They complain that they keep losing their loyalty perks. You seem to be trying to sell Norwegian folks Princess. The parents don’t get specialty dining, drink package, or WiFi. They don’t want to pay the up charges.
The math does math, Princess Plus was added to the calculations to show an even comparison. As to your parents and their Elite status, what benefits have been taken away from them in the past years? I too am Elite with Princess and they haven’t changed since Ruby was added about 12 years ago, give or take.
We love all your tips and numbers..!! We have a 71 day DIY World Cruise, 3 ships, 3 lines and 30+ ports. Retired Time to Cruise. Check us out. The first 21 days is NCL Encore, the MSC Magnifica ending on the Island Princess. As fellow Canucks we need to stick together;-) We are subscribed.
And I love how adventurous you are putting together your own world cruise! For me, half the pleasure is in the planning, I'm glad you've subscribed because we'll want to hear about your travels as you go. The Island Princess is a personal favorite of mine, we spent 30 days onboard her around this time last year in Europe. Thanks for watching!
@@TidalHorizons Darren likes the planning more than I do. I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants planner which means we often miss out on ship offered excursions.
Good info, though personally after doing NCL and now Princess, I would take that $159 and pay it towards Princess Premier and get everything included without thinking through things.
It is compelling when you see the math isn't it. People often scoff at the price of Princess Premier, but when you put all the numbers on the table, it's a good deal for most. Not so much if you don't drink, but can't please everyone. Thanks for watching!
I am going on first ncl january 11th an I took the Haven package with unlimited everything at an extra cost, they cancelled the free at see and now I am curious what I lost. I had unlimited Starbuckks which I think I lost. I even took a penthouse at the back of the boat.
My understanding when I was researching this video was that if you were booked on a voyage before the changes were announced, you would still get your "Free at Sea" benefits in addition to More at Sea. Unfortunately I'm not super familiar with the last version of Free at Sea, so I can't help tell you what was in it. It should be on your booking confirmation. Probably best to call NCL and confirm.
Same exact here. I booked under FAS and had two "free" specialty dining, now I am not sure what these new dining "cover charges" are, doesn't look free to me! Can you let us know what you experience on your cruise on Jan 11? thanks!
We have been on three NCL cruises and have another booked for January. We have been very happy with NCL and we just completed a Celebrity cruise last year.
As someone who has been on a few NCL cruises and probably used the Free at Sea, what do you think about the changes? Or are they really changes at all for you? Thanks for watching!
It is hard to say until I see the details. I enjoy higher end cocktails, so if I have access to those at a similar price point I would be happy. The details needed to be released to make a more informed decision.
For those that drink, for more at sea, basically 3 drinks per day makes it "worth" it.. That's really the important part here..
I just got off the NCL Bliss and had the unlimited non streaming wifi. I would turn on my express vpn and was able to watch any video online with no issues. You cant upload big files but streaming was no issues at all when i had the vpn on.
Does the more at Sea dining package and drink package? Also include gratuities.
No, it doesn't included them so you'll need to factor that in.
It includes gratuities on the food and drink you'll be having.. It doesnt include room gratuities if that's what you are asking.. You do not have to pay anything on drinks or meals though.. (if they are part of the plan)
@@DB-zp9un 👍
Ncl package is still good. I do Ncl and drink. Works for me
Been with Ncl30+ years. Platinum now. I like Ncl best. But some cruises expensive. Will stay ncl
Isnt this the same in carnival and rci?
No, both Carnival and Royal have different packages that concentrate more on the drinks part. I haven't really done a video review of them. I may try and do a run down of all the top cruise lines' packages but it's a ton of information to go through.
@TidalHorizons u GOT to do it. u will be the only one doing the cost math analysis in the seas of too much same over and over, overkill topic/reviews of cruising/cruise lines that nothing to do in saving cost. u will be different, so u will get more views.
Been on 5 NCL cruises. Never had a bad experience overall. That said, the free at sea worked for us. Never cruised on Princess but I may look into it. You just showed the cost is not far off and Princess is a higher class line.
It would be interesting for you to compare for sure! I'm going to have to try an NCL cruise at some point and look into all the "nickel and diming" complaints that I always hear about. I don't get into that in videos because I have no personal experience with it. My only complaint with Free at Sea was that it wasn't actually Free! You were Free to choose it, that's about it. Thanks for watching!
I have used NCL a lot, used to love the shows and food was decent/very good. Since covid, the cutbacks on NCL are terrible. The entertainment staff has been cut in half, the broadway shows are gone except for the newest ships like Prima and Viva. The formerly second tier shows like the acrobatics, Noise Boyz, Burn the Floor ballroom dancing are gone as well. The formerly second tier show Choir of Man on NCL is now the primary show, but at least that show is excellent. Princess is not particularly better than NCL-the entertainment is ok but their Bar show is a cheap rip-off of Choir of man. The food was previously on par but now the buffet and main dining room and specialty restaurant food on Princess is better than NCL due to the cutbacks. The excursions and ports of call offered by NCL generally are superior to Princess offerings. However, due to the cutbacks, you can expect NCL to slow the ship speed down and you may miss a scheduled port for no reason. If you spend the money for the Princess plus or premier, the drinks package is superior to NCL because it includes specialty coffees and small bottles of water, whereas NCL the drinks package does not include the coffees or bottled water. I will still take NCL because it has better ports of call than Princess sometimes, but given similar itineraries, I would choose Princess. I am platinum level on both cruise lines.
FYI, you don’t have to pay the NCL room gratuity. You can have it taken off on the last day. 😃
This is true, but we aren't going to open that debate up right now. Perhaps in a future video!
There are still to many extra costs on NCL, which by the nickel and diming, NCL is a hard pass
That's my feeling as well with NCL but I'm up-front that I've never sailed with them (yet) so I don't want to talk about things I haven't personally experienced. The package at least is pretty black and white and comes down to the math. Thanks for watching!
Compare to RCl $90 pp per day
I’m a travel agent and even though I am qualified to sail at a discounted rate on NCL - I don’t sail on NCL! …. Because - even with the T.A. Discount (that has to be earned thru education and sales and is not an easy process and takes a lot of effort and time) is convoluted and confusing and you are never really convinced that you are truly receiving any type of promised discount. Also - their commissions are abysmal compared to other cruise lines.
@@AngieRTaylor yes quite true Ncl very little for travel agent. Maybe I am too easy. Ncl a perfect fit to me. As pltium will continue Ncl
Im excited for MAS. I'm platinum with NCL and love sailing with them. Personally I think the whole nickle and diming thing is more overhyped on social media than anything you see on board unless you have kids who go wild at go karts, laser tag or the galaxy Pavillion. Things im just not into so I dont worry about it.
Yes, I intentionally left out discussion on the whole "nickel and diming" discussion because I haven't been on an NCL cruise. I know that discussion has stopped me in the past because I'd have kids with me, but it's probably time to take a cruise with them and break it all down. Again, it's simple math if you know what you are getting into. Stay tuned for that! Thanks for watching.
We are saying goodbye to NCL with this change. Sad because we have 300 points with them. They've gone downhill since we began sailing with them. This is one step too far. 150 wifi minutes for a 15 night cruise is a joke in the day and age of Starlink. Upgrade options are a joke. No bottled water, no specialty coffee. No bundled package to upgrade dining. We're done.
You absolutely should be comparing More at Sea with the Free at Sea package, since that is what it is replacing. It's also the reason we have taken a number of NCL trips. You would understand that if you had actually taken a few NCL trips. More at Sea is really Less at Sea compared to the previous package.
I don't have sufficient information to do the comparison, also Free at Sea changed frequently, so it depended what the offers were at the time you booked. It would be a disservice to guess, this is strictly a math exercise and comparison to other packages that are currently available, I can't buy a cruise with Free at Sea any longer, so I can't really compare. I plan on doing an NCL cruise in the future, but that doesn't change the math on the package. What I'm more curious about is how many people talk about "nickel and diming" on NCL cruises, what is your thoughts on that? Thanks for the comment and for watching.
@@TidalHorizons They do nickel and dime, but I thought the Free at Sea package was pretty consistent. A big part of that was the included drinks up to $15. I think most adults on a cruise are going to be drinking alcohol. I could order a glass of wine without thinking about the cost. Buying drinks adds up pretty quickly, and drink packages seem to be priced where one would have to get 8 drinks a day or more to be worthwhile. I think you're right that neither plan would pay if you don't drink.
…and it is shameful that NCL excludes bottled water from the ‘More At Sea’ package. Makes them appear cheap… I don’t know of another major cruise lines that excludes bottled water from their drink packages.
The new more at sea to me is nothing more than a revenue increase to NCL. I've sailed with them for over 10 years. I'm almost at Sapphire level. I normally sail in a Haven cabin and have issues with how the drink plan works for Haven guests. But when I compare this to Royal or Princess, I still think NCL comes out a better value. I never understood why NCL classified the spirits they do in the certain categories. For instance, Grey Goose is in what used to be called their premium plus beverage plan, but this doesn't cost more wholesale than any of the other spirits available in the included beverage plan. The whole thing really makes no sense.
So what this really just boils down to is NCL raised the price of the included beverage plan to 30/day. It went up 7.00. Big deal. It's still worth it. From what I can tell, Royal, Princess and others charge a lot more per day for the same thing.
The specialty dining plan is another thing. Not too long ago, cruises of 7 nights used to get 3 specialty credits per sailing, for the first 2 in a cabin. That was reduced to 2 not too long ago. So with this new plan, it goes back to the old way. Again - this is nothing more than a revenue increase to NCL.
Thanks for the breakdown, I have some similar opinions as you on the package as it stands now, but since I haven't sailed with NCL, I don't have that first hand experience,, so I wanted to stick with the math on things in doing the comparisons. I felt somewhat obligated to include the specialty dining when I compared with Princess Plus, but if you took that out on both sides, Princess Plus would probably come out looking like a better value because of the included Stateroom Gratuities.
Every cruise line is looking to increase their pre-cruise package sales right now, it's where their growth is. They get to sit on your money for an extra 90 days and build interest.
Thanks for watching!
@@TidalHorizons You bring up an interesting point, stateroom gratuities. I always request a refund on the second to last day. I then give the people that deserve it, cash. The money you think goes to the employees, does not -it's complicated. The short story is all the employees are on contracts, and are on a fixed salary. That salary has the gratuity included. They're not handed an envelope at the end of each sailing with tips. So if you ask for a refund (for which they have to give you), the employees are not shorted that money. You're just giving the cruise line more revenue. There should be no guilt in asking for that back. Just give who think deserves it, cash.
Great analysis - thanks! Never been a fan of hidden and “nickel and dimeing” of many cruise lines. We usually sail with Princess when possible and their Premier package gives us the “all inclusive” feel that we prefer. Thanks again.
Yes, that whole thing needs to be looked at, it's something that I don't bring up in the video because I haven't personally been onboard. I'll have to see about a trip with NCL and break all that down, see where these charges are and then compare to other cruise lines. Until then, I'm withholding judgement! Thanks for watching!
@@jackredmond6023 yes hear princess a good package.
i think I am going on Princess next time. NCL nickle and diming is sheer headache.
Replacement is more at sea
True new booking $200 more
Still good deal
The streaming wifi for a 7 day cruise on NCL Bliss is $279 per person, not per stateroom...this applies for folks who had Free At Sea Plus (me!). NCL removed the unlimited wifi, dining credits and other perks and is making passengers repurchase at higher unbundled rates for the same perks. Asinine. Total money grab. This will be my last NCL cruise.
For the conservative folks, is it true that, if you don't get any packages, you can't take advantage of these "more" perks? By the way, terms say Wi-Fi minutes have an activation fee.
The math isn’t mathing. Princess you need to pay for WiFi, specialty dining, alcohol, not sure why you think it’s included. Both sets of parents are the highest elite status. They complain that they keep losing their loyalty perks. You seem to be trying to sell Norwegian folks Princess. The parents don’t get specialty dining, drink package, or WiFi. They don’t want to pay the up charges.
The math does math, Princess Plus was added to the calculations to show an even comparison. As to your parents and their Elite status, what benefits have been taken away from them in the past years? I too am Elite with Princess and they haven’t changed since Ruby was added about 12 years ago, give or take.
We love all your tips and numbers..!! We have a 71 day DIY World Cruise, 3 ships, 3 lines and 30+ ports. Retired Time to Cruise. Check us out. The first 21 days is NCL Encore, the MSC Magnifica ending on the Island Princess. As fellow Canucks we need to stick together;-) We are subscribed.
And I love how adventurous you are putting together your own world cruise! For me, half the pleasure is in the planning, I'm glad you've subscribed because we'll want to hear about your travels as you go. The Island Princess is a personal favorite of mine, we spent 30 days onboard her around this time last year in Europe. Thanks for watching!
@@TidalHorizons Darren likes the planning more than I do. I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants planner which means we often miss out on ship offered excursions.