julig22

Yes to the upgrade after midnight, but you do not get any latitudes discount. That only applies if you are buying a wifi package, not upgrading your FAS.

It's only a 4 hour stop for 7-day cruises from Seattle, from 8pm-midnight. Hardly a stop to begin with. But required.

While the details probably won't ever be made public (no need), it could be fairly easy to actually determine what most likely happened. Phone records plus driver records - assuming their arrival time is documented. If the last bus to arrive was destined for Regent, they were trying to get on the wrong bus - and that driver might have been correct that there would be another bus, just later. If the driver for tour bus ### says 9 people didn't show up, they missed their bus. Or nobody was checking on anything and people without tickets took their seats. Or the NCL rep that should have been there to direct traffic didn't show up - or left. What will happen - NCL will just cover the expenses or the tour company will make a claim to their insurance. Just like NCL is being held responsible because they hired the tour company, the tour company is responsible because they hired the drivers. Most of the bus drivers are college students there for the summer so the actual employees might get sent home, more likely just told to step up their game. And NCL needs to make sure that there are NCL reps directing traffic at the end of the show.

Use it for an upgrade, assuming the FCC is 20% off of a future cruise.

Yes, there was another ship in port. Whether or not the family was actually trying to get on "their" bus - hard to actually say. Odd that only a family group of 9 had an issue. It's also possible that they were trying to board a regent bus (they said there were people on the bus from the other ship), not their own. And that bus was full. But doubtful anyone will ever know those details. But because the Regent ship had a much later sail time, the regular shuttle to Ward Cove would have still been running.

Prime Rib in the buffet on night one is fairly common in my experience. Other nights in the MDR.

There are multiple scenarios. If your excursion ends with the lumberjack show and the show ends close to sail time, there should be busses specifically for NCL tours. I believe when I went, I was on the same bus that had brought me to the show in the first place. If there is additional time for shopping, then you might be directed to the shuttle. The shuttle usually stops running about 1.5 hours before sail time. In this case, there were additional complications. Another ship in Ward Cove (probably also on ship excursions). But on the other hand, the shuttle should have still been running, since the other ship wasn't leaving for a few more hours.

Umm, from the NCL response that was also posted. And what is immediately? As soon as the bus left without them or after they realized that there wasn't another bus coming.

Sure, the family said they called. That wasn't my point. You keep asserting that they called BEFORE NCL tried to call them. Where was that timeline posted? Note, NCL said they tried to call, so that must also be true since that's what's been reported.

And you know that how? The family says they called at some point, have yet to see any timeline. And as a point of fact - since people seem to be nit-picking- I don't think NCL actually publishes a contact number for the ship - they give contact for the Port Authority. So no, they never called NCL at all. And the Port Authority is not NCL.

You know that how??? From previous reports from pier runners, NCL does try to call. If things are as stated, NCL would have known they were missing long before the family realized there wasn't another bus coming.

Also the reports (citing the NCL response) say that NCL called the port agent to assist with making arrangements for flights, transportation, hotels, etc. And that NCL tried to call the family. Totally not clear who called who and when.

I 100% agree. Merely stating the possibility that it was the family trying to board the wrong bus, not that there were 9 or more others on "their" bus. There is always the possibly they were late and their bus left without them if they hadn't arrived at the correct bus at the designated time.

Methinks you've creatively expanded on the "facts" as reported. "Their" reserved tour bus is something assumed IMHO. Have you ever actually been on the lumberjack tour from the cruise? Or even to Ward Cove? It's a S***show trying to get on the CORRECT bus. You are assuming that people not on the NCL excursion made it to the NCL bus - how would the last people to arrive even know that? It's entirely possible that family on the NCL excursion were trying to make it onto the Regent bus - pretty easy to assume that both ships offered excursions to the same showing. As to Regent being in port, it has everything to do with the story, as the family stated that there were others from another ship on the bus they were trying to board. So my comments actually support part of the story that wasn't originally making sense. Nobody is saying mistakes weren't made and that NCL isn't taking responsibility.

A little research shows there were 2 ships docked at Ward Cove - the Encore and Seven Seas Explorer (Regent). Encore set to sail at 1:15 pm, Regent at 5 pm. So it is entirely possible that the tour guide/attendant was absolutely correct that there would be another shuttle, just later, plus the regular shuttle should have still been available. What isn't clear is timing - were they trying to get on the NCL shuttle that had Regent passengers - or were they trying to get on the Regent shuttle that was full of Regent passengers?? An actual timeline would help for all of the back-seat detectives LOL.

The distance between Ketchikan and Victoria is not short, they have to leave on time and move fast in order to make Victoria. Which is why the Bliss and the Encore have short times in ports - the only way they could expand the time in ports would be to eliminate a port or add another day to the trip. NCL does offer longer Alaska cruises, just not on those ships.

AFAIK, there is no reason you couldn't use BOGO for a B2B - are you booking as 2 trips or 1? That could make a difference, although any NCL rep with a little experience should be able to figure it out. Unless something's changed recently, you always have the option for 1-way airfare. So it's simply 1-way going on cruise #1, 1-way return on cruise #2

I'm not sure that NCL recommends that you take your passport with you unless you need it for your current port- that tends to be a personal choice, as many consider leaving it on the ship to be a safer option. But you should ALWAYS leave it in your safe if you leave it on the ship. That's where the crew will look if they need to get it to you.

Details, yes. More likely that they couldn't find...

From the sketchy info given (yes, there are some gaps in the story), NCL tried to call, nobody answered. NCL did apparently go to get their passports but were not able to locate all of them. NCL only knew they weren't on the ship, as far as NCL knew they hadn't returned (NCL excursion or not). NCL waits for the bus to return, no guarantees if you aren't on the excursion bus when it returns. Gotta wonder why just this group of 9 - out of probably hundreds of passengers on multiple busses/tours - missed "the" bus. It's been awhile since I took one of the Lumberjack excursions but I'm pretty sure we were assigned busses and there were people directing passengers to "their" bus. So did "their" bus leave without them (and 9 empty seats) because they were late for returning, did people not on the tour get on the bus - the shuttle usually stops running quite a bit before all-aboard. Or some combination of the above. @luv2kroooz I am in no way absolving the tour operator of blame, I am holding judgement on what, if any, responsibility falls on the family, not sure what NCL could have done differently under the circumstances. Hindsight and all of that.

Not all of us LOL.

Not sure where you get some of your info, since you say you don't book ship excursions anyway. As to cost - Because of the $50 discount AND a 15% latitudes discount, many ship excursions are actually cheaper in my case. And they provide transportation, priority tenders if necessary. As a solo traveler, that's worth quite a bit. Refunds on NCL -never once have I had an issue getting a refund if an excursion is cancelled - or I change my mind, as long as I give enough notice. I've usually paid in advance for private excursions, I've paid on arrival for others. Similar cancellation policies - most -but not all- independents will refund if the ship skips the port. I recently had an independent cancel on me at the last minute - and they conveniently forgot to refund me until I contacted them after the cruise. It's obvious from NCL's response that they did provide refunds, flew them to the next available port, etc. So yes, they DID keep their promise. Yes, things happen - a tour operator, hired by NCL, seems to have screwed up - and NCL is fixing the mess, following the contract terms. And it also happens to private tour operators. And contrary to your assertion that they can't call the captain - they most certainly can - and the captain will wait if at all possible. Nobody here really knows the timeline in this case - but unfortunately waiting is not generally possible in Ketchikan.

Price adjustments after final pay have been as a one-time courtesy for as long as I've known about them, so they make the rules. A couple of years ago they standardized them, more or less, and added the task of making adjustments to a specific department. At that time, it was either 100% FCC or a paid upgrade (even if the difference was $1). And available after you sailed. Prior to that time I believe it was 25%, not sure if it was FCC or OBC. It is entirely possible that the terms have changed - the internal "rules" memo/terms has been shared over time by some TA's - so it could have changed. And CAS has it's own set of rules LOL.

Been on many excursions that address the shopping issue. Once the excursion is over (bus gets to it's final destination), you are on your own. Many excursions will allow you to get off of the bus in town for example - and at that point you are no longer on the tour. And since they were apparently the last ones to the bus, it is entirely possible that there was a bit of shopping/malingering involved.

You mean like this one LOL 6 American cruise ship passengers stranded on African island after Norwegian Cruise refused to let them board (nypost.com) To repeat, they have never guaranteed to get you back, if they (or their contracted tour company) is at fault. Stand on your head if you wish, the contract spells out the terms. You are guaranteed to get to the next port if the ship can't wait. Not a different story.