On 3/13/2023 at 9:23 AM, smile145 said:

 

Thank you!  That sounds like that portion won't impact cruisers.  So it will just be those trying to get to the port that day that will need to look at road closures.  

Yes, that's me, coming from the north. It is looking like a nightmare. Wish I know this when I booked and I would have waited a week!!  A ferry might be the easiest. Or thinking of finding a hotel....and of course they all have their highest rates because of the crowds.

Lets hope it's not too terrible, but probably should plan for the worst.  Good luck!!

I have been on both.....Both on a 7 day to Bermuda in a balcony cabin.

Food and service was MUCH better on Escape, however it was also more expensive.

Also, the thermal spa in the Escape was nicer and not as crowded for whatever reason.

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

Lower affected population than the US and lower deaths per thousand than the US.
 

I have done over 60 cruises and neither Carnival or NCL impress me but all the mainstream lines are flawed in one way or another but I don’t book NCL at all anymore. If you are not in the Haven on NCL or similar category on the other cruise lines you will be at the bottom of their totem pole these days. Did you book in the Haven?

 

Bermuda needs all the revenue it can get for sure. Their economy has been hurting for years. The Travel Authorization is not singling out cruise passengers. All travelers including their own residents returning from abroad do the TA and pay the fee. Bermuda is a small island of 67,000 people with one hospital. They don’t have a US, Canadian or UK health system. That is the reason for the TA.  Bermuda has been a safer place to travel too than many places including the US. 

I was thinking Bermuda would be safer too, but not according to the CDC. They have Bermuda listed as High risk. The Bahamas are listed as a moderate risk, which I was surprised at. My own city is listed as moderate risk.

I don't mind paying them $40....I really don't. But it could have been handled better. NCL should have sent out an email explaining the situation, if Bermuda couldn't, and what to do. I'll bet there are thousands of people not sleeping tonight because of this.

Like ME!  

57 minutes ago, AmbitionatBay said:

I just found this on the Bermuda gov Twitter page

Thank you so much for posting this.  One would think they would/could  let us know, but CruiseCritic comes through.  I have all my documentation printed off...I did everything on my end. 

Maybe I can get a few hours sleep now before heading to the port.  I sure hope it's not a huge hassle!

Thanks again!!

38 minutes ago, kjpn44 said:

If it makes you feel any better, I spent over 4 hours on hold, got to #3 and then disconnected.   I don’t have my approval either.  Definitely not a happy cruiser either.  NCL gives conflicting answers.  Not even sure what to do at this point as they are closed. 

I'm sorry....that really sucks!  4 hours...I'd need a sedative. I need one myself!

I think probably there are a LOT of us in this same "boat".  It is absolutely wrong. 

I am printing off all my documentation and taking it with us to the pier tomorrow. 

Think how much money Bermuda is making on this.....Lets see, 6 ships a week, at least,  at lets say 3,000 passengers per ship...Thats 18,000 people, at $40 a pop, is $720,000 per week on EXTRA revenue....and I'll bet it's closer to a million dollars a week.  For nothing.  For vacationing in a place with one of the highest Covid rates in the WORLD.  

Glad I didn't book any excursions....and if I could get a refund, I would in a heartbeat!

Hopefully Charles 4515 is correct that it will be corrected at the pier...Thank you for the info.

I am a new cruiser, only my 2nd cruise...And NCL does NOT impress me, not one little bit!!

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

As long as they acknowledged reciept I would not worry. You will get approved. 

Yeah maybe but I am worried.   

Cant even get on the ship without it, and we embark tomorrow!!  And I am 3 hours away.

Pretty poor way to do business!!!  That goes for NCL AND Bermuda!

I just tried calling Bermuda's Covid site and there were 90 people in the que ahead of me....after 10 minutes waiting it was down to 87 and I hung up.   *****?

They close in 30 minutes for the day!!

Not looking too good!  I will post if I get the approvals. But I am not a happy cruiser ATM!!

10 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

Can you post the letter stating this? I have not heard that anywhere. 

Certainly...

Here is the list of what is considered "fully vaccinated" from the Bermuda site. Note the last line says a booster dose is not required to visit Bermuda.

 https://www.gov.bm/what-fully-vaccinated

This is insanity. First off, whatever they are doing isn't working as the CDC has Bermuda listed as "Very High" for rates of infection as of today. 

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-bermuda

I am booked on the Getaway out of NYC to Norfolk then Bermuda tomorrow, with a group of 6. 

I sent in my negative Covid results for me and my cabin mate done by Inspire Diagnostics (recommended by NCL) yesterday afternoon. I got an automated replay saying "Application Pending Review" Nothing since then.

I sent a nice email as someone else suggested, about 2 hours ago, along with all of our documentation again....

STILL nothing.  The Bermuda travel authority  closes in 1  1/2 hours, and we were planning on leaving in the wee hours of the morning as I am several hours away from NYC. None of us has gotten our approval from Bermuda yet, and without it, supposedly we can't board.

I am really regretting this trip already. 

Oh, and NCL sent out a letter a few days ago saying if we get off at the first port, Norfolk, then we will need to be tested again on board. If we stay on the ship, we don't need a re-test. 

I am hoping they re-route the ship to the Bahamas...The CDC has them rated as moderate for infection rate.

Too much money to be dealing with this nonsense!!!

Such thieves NCL are!!

36 minutes ago, babydaryl24 said:

I cancelled on March 10th a cruise that was supposed to sail May 21st.  WE bartered a 20% penalty rather than full penalty. I was told 7 to 10 business days. Still nothing. Still waiting. Should be around $7200.

It seems like they should give you as full refund under the circumstances, at minimum a full FCC offer. They ultimately cancelled for the same reasons you did, the pandemic...but honestly I think we'll all be lucky to see any money, ever. 

NCL has done a fine job of making themselves look terrible in the eyes of their customers, IMHO.

Yours is a much different situation.

Mine was specific to the trip, through NCL, and THEY cancelled, not me....So the policy never went into effect. 

What NCL and others should be doing, especially if they are going to have my money for over 7 months and keep part of it, is to give us a full refund, AND a FCC for, say 25% of the original amount, at a minimum!!

Some cruise lines, like Princess, are giving 200% FCC's,. I have read. 

10 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

Works the same way with third party insurance, the policy is not refundable.  My 4-4 family cruise was cancelled, if I had requested a full refund and not rebooked I would not have received a refund of the $400 I had paid for my independently booked policy. I did reschedule and was easily able to move the policy to my rescheduled cruise. 
 

So it was refundable ONLY if you went on another cruise.

How is that fair? Sounds like perhaps the cruise line owns or controls the insurance company. 

Funny so many are ok giving away money for something they never got, or never even went into effect. By these standards then, they should be able to keep our drink upgrade package money, excursion money...Heck, just keep it all.

Funny that the travel agency could refund me within hours but NCL needs 100 days. Lets not forget they are HUGE corporations folks,, with CEO's who's bonuses are bigger than some peoples lifetime salaries,   not some mom & pop operation who deserve our support!

41 minutes ago, Doggielover68 said:

Same here, except I had to pay $4 (yes 4) and change because the new booking was slightly higher in price. Our excursions were refunded back to new gift cards and mailed within 3 days, but that was before the wave of cancellations. It did take around 2 hours on the phone.

 

People seem to forget that the folks in Miami are going through the same shut down as the rest of us. When you have to relocate hundreds/thousands of employees from an office to a work from home situation, there are going to be some hiccups. The phone system is different, reps don't have a support system or supervisors nearby, etc. Refunds take longer than payments because they don't just go through automatically. Humans have to go through a series of steps to process the refund. Multiply that by the thousands and thousands of refunds that they are processing. It's going to take some time. 

 

The money will come. 

That's really not a legit excuse. Yes, we should expect it to take some time...maybe a week or 2 extra, NOT 90 days.

NCL has had time to calculate my FCC and keep emailing me with different incentives in an attempt NOT to pay me....and the majority of their agents worked from home BEFORE Covid 19, so nooooo!

Most industries, e.g. real estate, have rules and laws pertaining to deposits and how they are handled and returned. The treatment we are receiving from some cruise lines should be a real eye opener for the public! 

People seem to still think this pandemic is going to be over in a few weeks! What if this drags on for 3 months....Do you still think you'll get your refund?   

Good to know. This is how it should be. NCL apparently is more worried about stockholders than customers. Lets see how it works out for them!! 

I would advise anyone from booking on Norwegian anytime soon, that's for certain!!

30 minutes ago, GameHog said:

Just to answer the insurance question.  I just booked a new cruise since my June Alaska cruise was canceled, the insurance was returned as a credit on the new cruise that was fully paid off.

 

On what cruise line, may I ask? 

On NCL, the FCC they offered did NOT include the insurance I had bought...And they keep sending me the FCC even though I already told them I wanted a refund. MY TA says they are doing this to everyone.

if they weren't so sleazy I'd take the FCC, but they are that sleazy, and i refuse to do business with anyone like that!!  A shame, as I did enjoy cruising and recently retired....sigh!! 

And just to clarify, I purchased the insurance directly through NCL, along with adding the spa package, even though I purchased the cruise itself through a travel agent, who I will say has been very responsive during this mess. Thank you Daniel!!

Also, the full policy is not available to read at the time the plan is purchased, so if there is verbiage saying no refunds, how would anyone know?

I work in the real estate industry. It is commonly required  for people to purchase a homeowners insurance  policy prior to closing, to go in effect the day of the closing. If a closing never happens, the policy is refunded in full, promptly. I have seen it happen on several occasions for various reasons.

I mean seriously, they want to use my money for free for 7 months, and then charge me an additional $70 for the privilege. It'll be the last penny they ever see from me, and we were planning a 20 person family cruise. Hell nooooo!!!! 

33 minutes ago, coevan said:

your trip is insured, your insurance premium is not

1st, you sound like a TA.

Funny, when I asked my TA about this BEFORE the pandemic, his reply was "of course you'll get a FULL refund on everything....They can't keep money for something you didn't get".

Just another lie...

55 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

Insurance it not something you return if you don't use it.

Does your house or car insurance return your premium at the end of the year, claim or no claim ?

 

Thats different.

If I purchased auto insurance ahead of time, say a week prior to buying a car, and then the sale was cancelled for any reason, I would get a full refund. Why, because the insurance never went into effect.

Same thing with homeowners...or ANY other type of insurance

My cruise insurance never went into effect either, so why do they get to keep it. Again, THEY cancelled, not me.

Talk about adding insult to injury!!!

Well, I'm glad it's not only NCL that is  screwing everyone!! 

They cancelled, not me.  I had to wait 10 days to even be able to ask for a refund, and by that time I already had the refund from the travel agency for their portion (their commission) of about $60.

After waiting the 10 days and requesting a refund, then NCL says 90 MORE days. They have already had my money for 4+ months at that point!!

Then they send me a FCC in a much lower a,mount than what I actually paid.

They say are NOT refunding ANY travel insurance they issued. Why? 

There is no reason for refunds to take 90 days. What other merchant could do this on something THEY cancelled? 

If any other business did this, it would be a CRIME.

I personally am boycotting the cruise industry completely until they start acting like responsible businesses. There are plenty of other vacation/travel  options out there! 

This would have been my 2nd cruise...Went last year on the NCL Escape and was hooked, but after this experience, IF I ever do cruise again, it won't be with NCL. 

And I can't help but HOPE all this comes out to the public, because how many more people are putting deposits down right now that have no idea what crooks NCL are! 

And this pandemic may go on for a considerable amount of time...If so, we may never see refunds!!

15 minutes ago, mnsweeps said:

Today marks 5 weeks of cancellation of my cruise (self) ..No refund in sight though the promise at that time was 7 to 14 days. I have my tempy credits from credit card company.

Well that shows you what kind of a company NCL is.....And it has already been shown / proven many times, NCL are bold faced liars!!

I tried to file a dispute with my credit card, but they won't allow it since it has been over 60 days. Can't even file a BBB complaint against them, as they are not a US based company....which is how they get away with all their "games", from paying employees peanuts, to ripping their customers off on a regular basis ( and getting away with it)!!

My NCL cruise to the Bahamas March 22-29 from NYC was cancelled by them on March 13, 2020. I was told I couldn't even apply for a refund until March 23. The link they sent me originally did not work, so I had to call on the 24th and they send a new link if you want a refund...They said it would be 90 days from the date I applied.

So they have already had my money for 4 months and they will have it for another 90, interest free... Multiply this by the thousands and thousands of customers waiting on refunds, and that a huge amount of interest we are losing...and what about the poor souls that paid by credit card and are making monthly payments...I'm sure there are many in that boat.

NCL has lost me as a customer, and I'm certain many others...I'm also certain they don't give a sh##

20 hours ago, MoniMommy said:

Yes, that's what I see too. The guarantee balcony with perks is 599 per person with the 3rd person free for a total of 1198. We paid 1248 for 3 for a sail away balcony without perks. Our gratuities will be less because we will be charged (I hope) gratuity for 1 drink package and 1 soda package as I am the only person in the room over 21. The gratuities for the dining package would remain the same.  I don't drink alcohol, but I would enjoy having some mocktails. I  would also enjoy going to the specialty restaurants. If we stop at great stirrup cay we would use the $50 credit on Snorkel equipment. I don't plan on getting off at the other ports. I would also use the Internet package. In fact, I would upgrade to the unlimited package. 

I forgot you only have 1 adult in your group, so yes, that explains the lower gratuities.

In my case it works out to about $375 per person extra for all the freebies....and it's probably worth it I guess....the dining is like a $100 upgrade, I'd probably drink perhaps 2 drinks a day, so there's a few hundred more, the internet would be nice to be able to check home, etc.

Hopefully it works out for you, and they may offer the free third person again.  I need to get busy and book too...I just realized the trip is less than 60 days away now!! 

The other kind of crazy expense is paying $40 a day for parking next to the ship in NYC! I wish they would offer a credit for that! I have seen small credits in the past.