Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is playing dirty, and I don't like it.

First off, it came out that their call center managers instructed employees to lie about the true danger of the coronavirus in order to get bookings in February.

Now NCL has shut down all cruises, as have other US-facing lines, and the company is facing a grim future. They were already operating with a lot of debt before all of this happened. Their stock fell from $59.65 on January 14 to $7.77 yesterday.

You'd think that they'd be highly discounting future bookings -- especially ones in the coming 6 months -- in order to get things going again, right?

Wrong.

Here's the prices (per person) for an upcoming cruise itinerary in May/June -- one which is not even likely to go. Keep in mind this is a very ordinary 7-day Caribbean cruise.

Name: ncl.png Views: 677 Size: 36.4 KB

Could there really be such demand for a cruise in May, given the coronavirus fears and the recent bad press regarding cruising? How could they fill cabins at these prices? These prices are actually MORE expensive than they'd typically be for a cruise 2 months away in a normal year. Most cruise prices go DOWN as you get about 2 months from sailing date, as they need to fill cabins.

Is it just this itinerary? No. I checked them all, and there's no good deals to be had in 2020. So what gives?

Here's what gives:

Guests who are currently booked on cruiess with embarkation dates from 3/13/20 to 4/11/20 will receive a full refund for their cruise fare in the form of a future cruise credit which can be applied towards any NCL voyage through 12/31/22. As an added incentive, guests who choose to reschedule their vacation will receive an additional 25% to 50% future cruise credit dependent upon their embarkation dates. Guests who prefere not to take advantage of a future cruise credit can receive a full refund in the amount of cruise fare paid.

As a bonus for guests impacted by the temporary suspension, as well as guests who previously canceled via our Peace of Mind (2 day cancellation window) policy, we are offering them the ability to use their future cruise credit with a 20% discount off published fares for voyages from 7/1/20 to 12/31/22. All affected guests must book no later than 4/10/20.

See what's going on here?

They are required by law to refund passengers for cruises which aren't taking place. However, instead you can choose to convert the refund into a 125-150% "future cruise credit" which can be used until the end of 2022. Then they're also giving 20% additional off, if you book before April 10.

This is why they aren't charging market rates for future cruises, but instead are charging inflated prices. They're hoping that idiots take the future cruise credits with the "extra" credits instead of the cash discount, and are incentivizing them to rebook within the next month by giving them another 20% off. Rather than giving these dolts an actual good deal, they're charging inflated prices for the future cruises, so they completely negate the "discounts" and extra credits they're giving these people.

Dirty.

NCL needs cash now, so they really don't want to refund people. This is the way they can get people to choose to give up their refund, while not sacrificing future profits, by falsely jacking up the prices in order to negate the "incentives" these suckers are getting.

This is all completely legal, by the way. Just very unethical in my opinion.