allyfrizzle

I'm going on the Escape this Sunday and will try my luck. I always book the angled balcony in the hopes I can get a lounger from my steward. I've always been lucky by leaving a $20 and a note asking for one, but that was pre-COVID. We'll see!

17 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Glad to hear this. Sometimes we were in a hurry and had to wait and wait for our server to bring the sign slip.

I HATED that about cruising with Carnival. Also, couldn't order a shot n a beer, because you had to wait at least 5 minutes between ordering the first drink to get a second one.

3 minutes ago, Scotto97 said:

So even if you have the drink package, the fridge is pre-stocked with items of which everything will have a (High) price to consume?

Yep, you got it. We ask the staff to take them out on day one so we have space for drinks/leftovers. 

Just now, gracebest said:

Interesting, because someone here on the boards said they don’t offer it, but you can ask them to take over the reservation from a travel agent or cruise for a $50 fee.  That person said they have had good luck with that. When we changed our SW flights they told us that NCL would no longer have control of our booking.  I’m just fine with that!  

I asked about this but they said this specific type of flight that NCL booked was unable to be taken over. I mentioned pretty much everything on this board, and the gals I spoke to wanted to help, but basically it came down to: this ticket is "locked".

When we get on the ship, we ask our room steward to empty our mini fridge and leave a few bucks as a courtesy.

My husband and I usually take advantage of being able to order two beers at a time w/NCL's drink package. We'll enjoy one and take the other (unopened) one to the room. Do this a few times and you've got a nice lil stash of beers for when you're feeling lazy and don't want to leave the room.

2 minutes ago, gracebest said:

You may be able to change flights for a fee, depending on the airline.  We changed our southwest flights, no change fee, just had to pay difference of new flight costs.  I think you can also change with Delta and American. 

I called and spoke to two different Delta agents. They said they're unable to change the flights, even for a fee. Something to do with the contract they have with NCL, which basically locks them in at their discounted rate. I gave up.

On 3/25/2023 at 8:39 PM, victory2020 said:

What were the terrible flights compared to the ones you want to book? What itinerary?

The flight there is okay, though I'd like to get there the day before. And because life happened, I called NCL too late for them to move it for me for a charge.

The flight back, though, is the real kicker. It leaves Miami at 8pm, has a layover in Atlanta and doesn't get to my destination until 1am. Knowing we get kicked off the ship by 9am and are gonna have four pieces of luggage with us for a long time at the airport just really sucks.

Again, this is something I knew could happen when I booked FAS, but not something that's ever happened in the many flights I'd gotten through NCL before. These flights cost me $518 versus the $1000+ I'd be spending had I booked myself. So, it's a trade off.

25 minutes ago, gracebest said:

What airline are you booked with?  We were able to make changes to ours by calling the airline directly.  We did have to pay the difference, but it was worth it to us and ended up still costing a bit less than if we had booked it ourselves.

We're booked with Delta. I'll check their flights and try giving them a call. Changing the flight online wasn't an option (that was the first thing I tried!) 

10 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

As a general rule, if you pay for a flight and don't use it NCL has no cost to them.  The only cost is to you for the value of the flight not used.  You paid for the flight which includes the transfers however only for the NCL flight schedules so you new flight may or may not be honored or even have availability.  

 

You might not have wanted the thread to take a turn to whether to use or not use NCL Air.  However, you have made the point that those decisions need to be made with full knowledge of the good, bad and ugly.  Being prepared and realistic is the key and I thank you as well a commend you on your attitude.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to seven days in paradise 8-)

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

They don't care if you just don't take their flights. They have your money and you will not get it back. 

 

But be aware if you book parallel flights on the same airline, the airline system may detect it and auto-cancel your duplicate reservations. 

This is the info I am interested in knowing. I'm not worried about the money I already spent, I just don't want to be screwed over somehow and owe additional OR screw up a new fight. Thanks. 

9 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The answers to these questions are available on the NCL website under Terms and Conditions and Ticket Contract.

 

The land package section applies to flights and transfers.

 

 

Is the cancellation fee simply a forfeiture of what I paid? Or is there an additional fee?

Would NCL "penalize" us if we book our own flights because the ones booked for us are terrible? My cruise leaves next month and our flights there and back are awful (no comments on booking flights thru NCL, I knew what I was getting myself into.)

My question is this... can I be penalized if I DON'T take the flights they booked for me? Would they charge me something, cancel my transfers, etc? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

Had it on my blue cash everyday card. Thanks.

Thanks for the article.  I still haven't been refunded for the Feb 23rd - March 1st cruise we took that ended up being a bit of a disaster.

I saw your signature... were you able to cancel your March 2020 cruises with no penalty/full refund or FCC? If that was an option when I sailed, we'd have gone that route rather than taken the cruise.

On 5/1/2020 at 10:17 AM, SoundmixerVO said:

Oh boy, we just got off the phone with customer service. The first person we spoke with asked for a refund reference or case number and said she didn’t see that we were getting a refund since our ship actually sailed and told us to email the existing reservations department. She then transferred us to customer service who said that they haven’t heard anything from upper management and that they figure it will be another 30-40 days. 
 

I know that this is a difficult time but this is disappointing.

I initiated a chargeback with my credit card company yesterday, citing "service not as promised". I'm faxing them a copy of the letter we got in our stateroom, promising a refund, tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

On 4/14/2020 at 3:45 PM, SoundmixerVO said:

We called MSC to check up on the refund and they said that it may take up to 60 days, the representative said that the refund are being processed through their office in Naples and that she could see that our refund was “being processed.”  I’m assuming we’ll see our refund around the same time that we receive our stimulus checks 😉😉
 

 

 

Still nothing for us, either. The letter says 30 days...

On 4/3/2020 at 12:30 PM, chrisgalwv said:

For all waiting for MSC refunds..... I was on the first cruise affected by COVID-19, the Meraviglia that sailed from MIami on 2/23/2020. The original 'coronacruise" that was all over the news for being turned away from all ports except Cozumel where we sat and waited 16 hours for clearance.

I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REFUND. It's been a month and a week and still nothing. I have called 3 times and emailed more times than I can count, and get nothing but the runaround every time. I'm reading on here of people who have already been refunded for cruises they never even got to go on, yet here I am, one of the first and most affected and have gotten Z E R O money back or any help at all. Seriously considering getting legal representation at this point. 

Our first MSC cruise on the Divina was awful, and we swore we'd never go again. Cold food, terrible service, a rude room steward who never spoke to us, a much less took time to learn our names, a store employee who referred to us as cheap Americans. When MSC practically begged us for a second chance, we caved and booked this cruise, and this is the thanks we get. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER WILL I STEP FOOT ON AN MSC SHIP AGAIN. E V E R.

Anyone else onboard having the same issue with these refunds? I'm looking for others who may want to join the fight. This is ridiculous.

I was on this ship as well and haven't gotten a refund. I'm thinking of providing the letter to my CC company and requesting a chargeback refund.

2 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

Doesn’t matter.   There will be any cruises sailing in October, November or December.  We have a much larger problem to fix than when ships will sail.  I don’t believe that it will be safe to sail until there is a sound treatment or vaccine.   JMO.  If we try to reopen the economy by May, it might push cruising back till mid 2021.  

Do you know if cruising has resumed in Europe?

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

just an FYI: I just now applied for my refund of our cancelled April cruise and it said: 60 days.

How did you apply for a refund? The difference is that I took the cruise.

I was on the cruise before this one (the one that got denied porting at Jamaica and Grand Cayman) and came home very very sick. I was knocked on my ass for two weeks. If testing kits were available two weeks ago, I'd have definitely gotten tested. I either had the big C, or a very bad flu.
 

OP, I hope you are doing well. I relied on Tylenol Severe Cold & Flu for ten days.

On 3/11/2020 at 12:48 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that particular sailing passengers got a 100% refund.

We are on it in April, and so far MSC hasn't communicated any port cancellations or changes.

Correction: I have not received *anything* from MSC in the form of refund. I'm giving them their full 30 days to refund me, as stated in the letter we received in our stateroom. After that, I will request a chargeback from my credit card company for the cruise-only fare (which was around $1400), using the official MSC letter as proof we were offered a refund.

Thank you! 

15 hours ago, KittyCruz said:

We were on the ill fated 'Flu cruise' last week. Lots of lounge chairs, stuff by the pool filled up fast, but nearly every spot where you could put a lounge chair was it could be occupied. In the polar park plenty of areas to scope out.  The horizon pool some days was less crowded (downside smokers)

I was on this cruise as well. We didn't have much luck finding loungers after the second day of the cruise. Not like it was nice weather, anyway. I don't wanna hang on deck when it's only 70° and cloudy. 

You can have the fridge emptied. There's small cartons of milk everyday at the buffet at breakfasttime, so grab a few then and bring them back to your room for your kiddo. 

I was on Meraviglia last week and my steward had no issue in emptying it (Oceanview room).

Tip: the bartenders didn't crack our Miller Lite cans, so we ordered two each and stockpiled them in the fridge 👍🏻 

Probably trying to sell rooms that people are canceling in fear of the current virus situation.