“NCL is the worst offender.”
Not in my experience. One extra charge for the free at sea, and you get:
Enough Internet to check your e-mail and do some basic things every day
Extra specialty meals
Drink package
Small credit toward shore excursions
You COULD pay for all of these separately, but why?
I took a family vacation on NCL bound for Bermuda in 1995
...parents, husbands and wives, children. The works for 20
people.
The first sign of trouble was when Captain Odd Strom
(not kidding) decided to leave the safety of New York harbor
and venture out into the Atlantic. Unfortunately, Hurricane
Eduardo was racing up the East Coast at the same time. The
result was our sharing the same patch of ocean with a
hurricane about 200 miles east of Cape Cod.
We were at sea for 3 1/2 days in weather I wouldn’t wish on
my worst enemy. If we weren’t throwing up, we were clinging
to our spouses with prayers and tears as the contents of our
staterooms disintegrated around us.
Finally arriving in Hamilton, we got to spend 2 days of our
planned week in Bermuda on dry land before we had to reboard
for the return trip.
Shortly before arriving back in NYC, the cruise line rewarded
us with a $50 credit in the duty-free shop.
Never again.
PS- My father was thrown off his feet by a rogue wave that
struck the ship on the second day. He broke his neck in the
resulting fall and spent his 75th birthday in the ship’s
sick bay. His only experience with Bermuda was the ambulance
ride to the airport to take a life flight to Boston.
I repeat: Never Again!