curiouser123

Has anyone done this? Trying to beat the $158/person cruise ship price (party of 5). We have an overnight, so we wouldn't have to worry about getting back to the ship on time if we do it the first day. Open to other suggestions for beaches, too.

Thanks again. I looked at the schedules and the menus. Can't wait to sail!

Thanks so much! I had no idea I could do that. (There wasn't even a Celebrity app last time we cruised with them that I know of.)

Can anyone point me to recent Constellation sea day activity planner photos? We'll be on in a few weeks, and I'm curious if it's similar to what we experienced when we last cruised with them pre-pandemic.  Thanks!

I'm trying to book the Emerald Princess with connecting cabins because we have 5 people in our party. I booked the cabin for 3 people, but then I can't book the cabin next door, it shows it's unavailable. If I put 3 people in the room next door it's available. I just called Princess and the person I spoke with did not know why I couldn't book the room and saw that it was available. I think it's because there's a 3 person minimum in that cabin. Is there any way around this, or does anyone know if any of the cabins that connect will accommodate only 2 people? There is wide availability on the cruise at this point.

We have been on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and are considering Celestyal because it fits our dates and itinerary wishes. How do activities and food compare? I'd love to find sample menus or sample activity plans. Thanks for any information.

I'm most certainly not perfect. I was looking for clarification as at first I didn't understand what happened. This was a pretty strongly worded title so I think it's fair that there were some questions asked

Not accusing you. :)

I understand implicitly the way it works now. I don't need anyone else to explain to me how it works now or tell me how stupid I was. Believe me I can beat myself up quite well on my own.

I just thought maybe I could help someone else. I believed the NCL rep, and I should not have. It didn't occur to me that she was giving wrong information. What I should have done is tell her not to cancel my reservation, pay in full, then work it out with the insurance company.

I only wish they had cancelled my reservation and refunded the deposit. I did know that they take the deposit if you don't make the final payment, I just messed up on when the final payment date was. You never just get your money back if you miss the deadline which is why I would never have intentionally missed it.

For anyone who is not perfect and may ever make a mistake in a booking: the lesson is 1) Read the T&C, 2) Don't trust the NCL rep, 3) make sure you pay in full before canceling so that you can get all your money back if you have elected "cancel for any reason insurance."

For those of you who are perfect and never make mistakes, you can now go pat yourselves on the back that you aren't as dumb as that person on cruise critic who listened to the NCL rep and did what the NCL rep told her to. Give yourselves an extra pat if you piled on with several of your friends to criticize her and self-righteously tell her what she already knew.

I'm still confused about the month long gap. When he called to cancel at 101 days he was still a month after final payment (which wasn't paid). If he chose not to make final payment at 120 days why wait until 101 days to cancel. I could understand if if was the next day, but a month later?

The whole time I was under the impression that the cancellation period was 90 days out. I never got a notification that payment was past due. When I called to cancel was when I found that the cancellation period was 120 days. I was pretty shocked to find out that I had missed the cancellation window.

Reading the OP, they tried following up through various channels and were finally told no. These things often take lots of time.

Thanks for defending me. I suspected I was going to get beaten up for telling what happened (thus the "no flaming" request) but I truly would like for others to know that just because an employee tells you something, it doesn't mean that's the way it is. It has indeed taken almost 10 months to get through all this and the family crisis that precipitated the cancellation in the first place. I'd just like for this not to happen to someone else.

As we know, those change all of the time.

 

Everyone should now be in the habit of printing the T&Cs the day you book the cruise. Since NCL changed from 90 to 120 days, who knows what the T&Cs actually said.

 

OP, you should check your date of booking and use the waybackmachine at archive.org/web to look at what the deal was that day.

That is a very cool tool. I'm trying to figure it out right now. Thanks.

I trying to understand. You booked direct, no travel agent or NCL PCC? Both the old and new terms and conditions state and did state after 120 days but before 90 days you forfeit either your deposit or 25% of the fare, whichever is higher. You are now at 101 days for the January date you listed for the cruise. I'm guessing you know you did not pay for travel insurance? Without insurance from anyone why would you think you were insured. It's kind of like your car or house, if you didn't pay your insurance policy, how would you think you would be able to collect? I'm guessing you thought you had cancel for any reason insurance?

I'm sorry this didn't work out for you, kind of a reminder to all of us to read our paperwork, particularly if you are doing your own bookings.

This was for a cruise in April 2015, the cancellation was done in January 2015, I chose "cancel for any reason" insurance through Norwegian when I booked on their website.

Are we talking about the OP booked with an NCL PCC or did they book with a third party agent? Way it sounds they booked with a third party agent. Need this clarified from the OP who booked the cruise with them. If it's a third party agent then its the responsibility of the agent booking giving the wrong information.

Booked on Norwegian's website.

Because the OP purchased travel insurance through NCL and because of this if they had made final payment and then cancelled even a week before the cruise they would be covered 100%.

 

OP was not just trying to cancel late and get their refund back, they had insurance that would cover this.

 

The error made was due to the NCL rep telling them to cancel and get their money back, rep should have said pay the balance and then file. NCL's insurance payments are made with final payment, so technically the insurance though booked, wasn't paid for.

Thanks for understanding and explaining.

The agent assured the OP that the NCL provided trip insurance would reimburse her for the deposit she would lose for cancelling inside the 120 day window.

 

The PCC was incorrect about that. Absolutely NOT the customer's fault.

 

Because both the cruise and the insurance is sold by NCL they should take responsibility for the communication by their agent. The OP should not even have to fight for it, it should be done upon request.

 

I would recommend conducting a "campaign". The campaign steps are:

 

1. Call the PCC and ask them to get you a refund based on the assurance that the product they sold you would cover you.

2. If the PCC says that can't be done, ask to speak to a supervisor.

3. If the supervisor says it can't be done ask to speak to someone higher than them, or if there's not someone higher, then ask how you can appeal it.

 

The first three steps may have already been done. If not, they can be done calmly, with respect for the workers and your blood pressure.

 

If you are far past that point, I would email NCL and point them to this thread on Cruise Critic. Then, open a twitter account if you don't have one, and tweet this thread URL to NCL President Andy Stuart at @nclandy

 

This really isn't even questionable; they gave you an assurance when you asked, verified it in writing (email), and should honor it. I suspect when you get to the level above the strict rules interpretation level, you will have satisfaction. NCL does care about their business, and wants you to return.

 

As far as the effort goes, consider your hourly wage at work, and how long it would take to earn $1,000 net. That always helps me when dealing with these issues ... a few phone calls, a few emails, etc. are certainly worth $1,000.

This is solid advice, thanks. I have completed steps 1, 2, & 3, and I will try the rest.

Yes there was a change in policy in Jan but it is not clear if the earlier contracts are still in place or not.

 

Also with NCL your insurance payment is made with the final payment so until that time you have no insurance - or any real need for it.

 

I am sorry that you are out 1000.00, that is a tough lesson to learn - and even worse when you had someone at NCL advising you :mad:

 

Since you have the e-mail from the agent, I would attempt to get NCL to cut loose of the full deposit since you were acting on one of their agent's advice. I think I would start with one of their customer relations people who run their Facebook page :)

 

Again this is a hard lesson to learn and I hope you saved others from making the same mistake.

Oh, I understand well about how the insurance works now, and I can assure you I won't make that kind of mistake again. I feel so stupid for believing the agent. It just never occurred to me that she would be wrong. I have contacted NCL and they sent me a form letter that did not address the agent's phone and email advice. I even filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and NCL just forwarded them the form letter that they had originally sent me without any further response.

Sadly I probably wouldn't take a cruise with NCL now given my experience with their customer service.

This policy changed in jan of this year. I believe before then the haven cat was 90 days for no penalty.

 

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I cancelled January 19 so maybe that helps explain things. Thanks.

Don't make the mistake I made. I cancelled a Haven reservation 90 days out, which I know now has to be cancelled 120 days out. I had assumed it had the same policy as the other rooms. When I called to cancel the reservation agent assured me I would get all my deposit money back once I filed with the Norwegian sold travel insurance (I had signed up for the deluxe plan). She even provided me with the phone number to call the Norwegian travel insurance, and sent me on my merry way. I have an email from her following up and telling me that I should file the insurance claim to get my deposit back.

Travel-savvy people will know the rest of the story. The Norwegian travel insurance agency said that since final payment had not been made, I would get no money back. I lost about $1000 on the deposit. I should not have relied on the word of the Norwegian reservations agent. I would have been better off charging the rest of the cruise on my credit card THEN filing the claim with the Norwegian travel insurance agency.

I wouldn't want anyone else to have to go through this, so I'm sharing what happened in case it can help someone else. Try not to flame me too much!

Good luck. I just wanted to add that there are lots of choices in the organic fruit pouch market these days. Costco carries a bunch, and they are shelf stable, as does Target. I'd bring several cases on board if it were me.

We want to take a 7 day cruise that includes Athens next April. Problem is that none of the lines we "know" have cruises until May. Costa & MSC are the only lines that have cruises available. I know next to nothing about either line beyond Costa Concordia stories. The reviews are so awful that I almost don't even want to look.

Our priorities would be: safety, cleanliness, and allergy awareness (1 kid has peanut allergy). I don't need luxury, just a place to sleep while we get from place to place. We actually considered the ferry but a cruise ship seems like less hassle.

Thoughts? Our only experience cruising is with Royal Caribbean. We found it acceptable and convenient but not fabulous.

So that's why the May 24 transatlantic crossing I've been eyeing disappeared. That's what I came here to figure out. Thanks.

Sounds like they have improved their gluten free selections. My family of 5 is gluten free (Celiac) but the kids especially will be easy to please if there are lots of carb-heavy gluten free junk foods.

I will be gf on Serenade late August. I will try to remember to report back. I will try the pizza if available and the fries. :D

Thanks!

We cruised on Rhapsody in 2011, but I'm just wondering what's new and what might be different on Serenade. I'm reading that gluten free pizza is now available on some ships. Anyone know if that's true on Serenade? This would definitely make my kids happy. They'd also be ecstatic if there is a dedicated fryer so they can have french fries.

The peanut/tree nut allergy is somewhat new so we weren't thinking about nuts when on Rhapsody so hints on that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

There is no possible way that the cabins for a summer 2015 trip are limited in availability. As has been said Cunard release a few and hold back a few, it's a regular thing and is done to panic people into buying. Call Cunard and discuss your needs with them. Two oceanview cabins would be good and they are much larger than "normal" cabins because of their shapes.

It's definitely an effective strategy because I was panicking! Thanks!