Is NCL worth the price anymore?
When I first started cruising regularly, NCL provided the best value of all 3 resort category cruise lines available in the New York City area. Carnival competed mostly in the "Value Oriented" (low price) category with its fares, while NCL and Royal Caribbean competed with their Entertainment and Food Quality. A decade and a pandemic later, the price/value equations have changed, along with the competitive pressures in this market.
What has changed in the past decade (a biased personal perspective)?
Immediate Post-Pandemic Cruising:
In the early 2010's, I began cruising with a friend, sailing mostly on NCL out of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Although we cruised with Princess a couple of times, my friend's loyalty level with NCL allowed me to get used to the benefits I now enjoy by having a platinum level in its loyalty program, such as 2 free specialty meals for all in my cabin and a free laundry bag.
The pandemic related cruise line shutdown was a gut-punch to all major cruise line corporations, as cruising came to a halt from March 2020 to June 2021, when the gradual resumption of cruising began. Cruising had not returned to normal by the time I took my first post-pandemic cruise in December 2021, as I was on a ship sailing with less than 33% capacity. It was a surreal feeling to see hang tags on the doors of empty staterooms reading "This room has been cleaned and sanitized" on the way to my cabin. When I dined in the main dining room, I had better service than I will ever have again in any dining area, as there was an excessive number of wait personnel to diners. This couldn't last, as all the cruise lines would be bleeding money until cruising had fully resumed.
Although it took a while, cruising finally restarted, with NCL's unique 7-day Hawaii cruise being one of the last circuits to return to normal. This would be one of the last NCL cruises I'd take where cost-cutting changes would not be that noticeable, as the only important change that had been made by December 2022 was to cut cabin service (bathroom and stateroom cleanup) to once per day. NCL's Hawaii product was still in recovery while the rest of the fleet in other regions had already started to sail with normal staffing and capacity.
Post-Recovery Cruising:
In Autumn 2022, I took 2 cruises on NCL, and noticed changes which bothered me a little. NCL used to provide excellent food and service in the main dining room. However, my cruise partner and I both noticed that the quality of steak being served was not as good as it was in the past. Before, the steak stood on its own, and didn't need any sauce to add flavor, or cover up its flaws. Now, the steak was served with some kind of sauce, unless one specifically asked for the sauce on the side.
On 3 of my first 4 post-pandemic shutdown cruises, I opted for the Free at Sea (FAS) promotion and sailed in the balcony cabin of my choice. Combined with my platinum loyalty status, I enjoyed 4 specialty meals on each of these cruises. If I had chosen an inside cabin with the Free at Sea promotion, I still would have received these 4 meals at that time. (2 for FAS, and 2 for Loyalty Status) However, this would change during 2024, where NCL would give only 1 FAS specialty meal on 7-day cruises if an inside or ocean view cabin was chosen. Only if one chose a balcony cabin or mini suite would the 2 FAS specialty meals be available. In either case, if I wanted more specialty meals, I could always buy a package for extra specialty meals at a nominal price.
Another post-recovery change that I noticed was that NCL was cutting back on the "Broadway Show" entertainment, with special versions of Broadway Hits presented in the ship's theater. Now, NCL has cut back on these shows, with nothing of equivalent quality to replace this entertainment. Instead, NCL has replaced these shows with revenue generators, such as "Deal or No Deal" games where a form of Lotto ticket is sold to audience participants in hope of winning prizes.
But these aren't the only changes.
"Free at Sea" becomes "More at Sea."
This is a subtle change which might not be noticed by many. However, it is a big change for some NCL cruisers. The old Free at Sea (FAS) package allowed the cruiser to order an unlimited number of alcoholic beverages priced $15 and below. People who opted for the Free at Sea Plus (FAS+) for an extra $49/day would be exempt from this $15 limit. Additionally, FAS+ cruisers would get 2 additional specialty dining meals plus unlimited Wi-Fi.
There are some advantages to the More at Sea (MAS) package. One gets a fixed number of specialty dining meals based on the length of the cruise and the cabin category in which the cruiser is sailing. Additionally, there is no MAS+ package. One gets MAS or one opts out from it. However, NCL has eliminated the cruiser's ability to purchase extra specialty dining packages, and has reduced the number of minutes of "free" Wi-Fi each cruiser can get. To make things worse, cruisers who purchased an extra specialty dining package with FAS will lose it for sailings after 1/01/25.
The site Travel-dealz.com provides an in-depth explanation of the differences between the old Free at Sea package and the new More at Sea package. Given the nature of the changes, many cruisers who'd be willing to pay extra for these cruise perks may start looking for a different cruise line to cruise with.
Comparing NCL to Princess.
I've noticed the debasement of NCL's product on my post-pandemic cruises. Others, more sensitive than I am to these changes, have noticed them as well, and are very unhappy about them. When I do a price/value comparison between NCL's Free at Sea/More at Sea packages and Princess Cruises' Princess Premier package, I find that I get greater value for each dollar spent on a cruise. For $90/day more, one gets a decent drink package, a great specialty dining package (unlimited meals in Princess' specialty restaurants), some free photo prints (with unlimited downloads), and pre-paid gratuities!
NCL - Canada / New England Cruise out of NYC:
Princess - Canada / New England Cruise out of NYC:
You'll note that at first glance, NCL is roughly $670 cheaper than Princess. However, if one subtracts $280 from the price charged by Princess for the cruise to account for included gratuities, we have a rough $390 difference between the two fares. Choose the Princess Plus fare ($30/pp/day less than Princess Premier), and the difference drops to roughly $20 in Princess' favor. Given that Princess hasn't yet debased its product as much as NCL has, and one can easily see why some NCL cruisers are making the switch.
New Ships v. Old Ships.
I started cruising on NCL over a decade ago when the Gem was one of the ships that regularly sailed out of New York. Older ships tend to be less expensive to sail on, but do not have as many bells and whistles as newer ships. Lately, NCL is sending more of its newer ships (both the Breakaway class and the Prima class) to service the New York market. This has resulted in higher prices being charged for what were once cheap and affordable cruises out of Manhattan.
Ships such as the Breakaway and Breakaway+ class vessels are now being altered to remove many free spaces on the ship (such as part of the observation areas) replacing them with revenue generating spaces. Is NCL trying to charge more for less?
NCL now appears to be trying to attract a clientele which is more comfortable paying for things that used to be free. For example, although NCL claims there is more public space available on NCL's Prima class ships, more of the public space requires a fee for use - including the Mini-Golf, which is free on older vessels such as NCL's Jewel class ships.
Given NCL's desire to charge more for fewer amenities, I wonder whether there is a limit to what NCL will do to its ships. Luckily, there is a practical limit to how much NCL can alter the public spaces on its older ships, as NCL would have less time in the ship's life cycle to earn a return on any changes made to the ship.
What about other cruise lines?
My cruise partner and I decided to take two different cruise lines' 7-day Bermuda cruise offerings, and we found that MSC delivered this cruise for several hundred dollars less than NCL. (See last month's blog entry, "Comparing two 7-day Bermuda Cruises sailed by MSC and NCL") Although MSC didn't have any theater shows of the came caliber I've grown used to on NCL, they were entertaining. But for the price, it provides excellent value for when a couple simply wants to cruise on a budget.
Given what I'm experienced on my recent cruises, I'll likely choose MSC for when I simply want to get away for a week, and choose Princess when I want to take a bucket list cruise (excepting Hawaii). Yet, there are certain cruises for which NCL has no competition. And for those cruises, I will still choose NCL.
What do you think?