DCGuy64

There are plenty of things I can gripe about that I would argue *are* the responsibility of the cruise line, like unsanitary kitchen conditions, slippery decks, poor staffing, long wait times in the restaurants, etc. Not saying these things are easily solved, but at least they're things the line has some control over. But to give a frequent example: it's not the airline's fault if my my Uber driver shows up late, or there's lots of traffic, or there's bad weather, or I don't like the food I order at an airport restaurant. Yet people will fault the cruise line for weather, strikes, CBP officials, and the like. That's totally inappropriate.

Common sense isn't common, and reality shows aren't real, LOL.

I always enjoy reading your posts and it's a joy to see what you write. However, this time I can't agree with you. As far as I'm concerned, cruise lines are only in charge of what is actually theirs, meaning their staff, and that's it. Dock workers, pier workers, tugboat operators, customs and border enforcement, and municipal workers do not work for the cruise line, so any delays or bad customer service are NOT the fault of the cruise line, period.

I didn't say anyone HAD. That's why I used the conditional "would be" in my post. 😉 Several posters HAVE suggested that the passengers' advanced age may have been a factor. And maybe it was.

Exactly right. We all know those who are saying "oh, they're in their 80's, they didn't know any better" would be screaming age discrimination in case the cruise line took their advanced years into consideration. Classic case of trying to have it both ways...

Thanks, yes I read those earlier posts, as well. It wasn't until the last one I saw yesterday that we had actual confirmation that that's what happened.

Exactly

There's an old saying "correlation is not causation." If it starts raining every time I wash my car, it doesn't follow that the car washing causes the rain. If people complain on FB or CC and then a cruise line changes something, it doesn't follow that the social media posts were the cause of the change. They might be, but aren't necessarily. It could be hearing from shareholders, it could be as a result of things that were passed along to management in person on a cruise, or a follow-up survey, or something guests mentioned at Guest Services. Unless I have actual evidence of a representative from NCL saying "we changed this because of feedback on Cruise Critic," I'm not convinced.

Well, that's a very important detail that, as far as I can tell, wasn't known from the outset. When people (who I am sure are trying to be helpful) say that the TA just didn't want to deal with declining the FAS or that they were "sure" it could be dropped, it was (I'm guessing) under the assumption that this was a regular booking. Thank you for providing the additional detail. In the future, if I see a similar question from a different poster, I may ask if there's a deal going like this that prevents the FAS from being removed. Good to know!

Yep, which just proves something I've believed for a long time: people will complain no matter what. They'll complain if they have to wait too long (because 90% of the passengers show up at the same time), and they'll complain if the cruise line actually does something about it. Hence why I am very skeptical and frankly dismissive of people who only use CC as their personal whine chamber, even more so if they just joined yesterday and are only here to say "Line X is terrible and I'll NEVER sail with them again!" (Often ALL IN CAPS) 🤣 🤣🤣

I personally doubt whether that happens, but that's just my opinion. But let's say you're right and NCL onboard staff ARE reading CC. Are you aware of any changes that NCL made company-wide that can be traced back to a post on Cruise Critic? I'd be rather surprised to hear of that happening. Not saying it hasn't, just that I'd be surprised if it did.

I'd love to see NCL actually enforce the boarding times people are given, since so many people have complained about the long lines. NCL could say something like "we listened to you, our guests. In order to ensure an orderly boarding process and minimize waiting in lines, guests who show up in advance of their printed boarding times will be asked to wait in a separate area of the terminal until their assigned time has arrived." And I 100% guarantee people will find a reason to complain about that, too! 🤣

As long as we all agree that complaining on Cruise Critic is not what people like me would describe as "holding them accountable." If I have a poor experience at a hotel or a restaurant, and all I do is have a gripefest with my friends, things are unlikely to change. If, OTOH, I contact the businesses (by phone, email, in writing) and share my poor experiences with management, who can actually do something about it, that seems to be more likely to meet with success.

We had a great experience and are doing it again. Yes, they'll remove the transfer fees, not only if you do the deviation (maximum 2 days, BTW), but even if you don't. Since they won't allow you to do more than 2 days, I'd look at the cost savings and decide whether it's worth it to you versus flying in 3 days early. That is something only you can decide.

You said you only booked 2 weeks ago, but you also say you called the representative about booking excursions and he never got back to you? How much time had you given him to reply? I am also sorry to hear you were given bad information, but I have to say that $500 FCC is pretty darned generous. I'd take that in a heartbeat! Enjoy your cruise, BTW. When do you sail? Is it soon?

So basically what I'm hearing is this: people who choose to tip bartenders on NCL in addition to the gratuities they paid for the all-inclusive beverage package are to blame when people like me (who DON'T carry around a stack of bills for extra tips) end up having to wait around longer for their drinks. Thanks a lot. In the future, I will be reporting this to management, and on the last night, if serving times haven't improved, I'll be removing the DSC and I'll tell management so in my follow-up survey. It's ridiculous to create a two-tiered system where only the people who bribe bartenders get served. EDIT: this might be an idle threat, or it might not be. But I'm not saying whether or not I will ever do this.

As someone who doesn't, I'm not. Actually, I *do* pay gratuities, I've paid them as part of FAS. I resent being compelled to tip a 2nd time in order to actually get what I've already paid for. Imagine being asked to tip your waiter before you sit down, but to actually get him to bring your food, you have to tip AGAIN. Nope.

I wonder how many people actually ever make good on that. Even on this site, I have seen people say such things, only to announce, with great fanfare a few weeks later, "I'm booked on 3 more cruises with them!" I tend to take such comments very much with a grain of salt.

Good question. I'd ask Steve, the guy from that insurance store. I need to speak with him, anyway.

OMG I didn't say "all," either. 😉 I said "every." 🤣

Not true of our last cruise. OK, so it was MSC in the Yacht Club, but still: it isn't true that every cruise line has problems with serving drinks in a timely manner. 😉 I *do* think they could beef up the staff to speed up the wait times, though. More of the "I'm on vacation, I don't want to think" mentality. 🤣

Thanks for weighing in! To me, $1,000 isn't "a little more" as one poster implied. $1,000 is a LOT more!

The two areas where I can sympathize with @MajSteve are these: 1. Bartender issues 2. Embarkation It's well known to anyone who uses Cruise Critic that NCL doesn't monitor check-in times. In fact, nearly every time someone asks about 'what time should I show up,' most people on here will say 'whenever you feel like it.' Well guess what? That means EVERYBODY SHOWS UP AT THE SAME TIME. IMHO, NCL should start strictly enforcing the check-in times to stop these bottlenecks. The bartender issue is a legitimate gripe, and I really think it comes down to poor staffing. It took a VERY long time to get drinks on our last cruise. The Shakers Martini bar had 2 bartenders for about 50-60 guests, maybe even more than that. They just couldn't keep up.

Great! It's nice you took the time to acknowledge that NCL wasn't at fault.

Exactly. Although, one could argue that if the insurance company can always find a reason to deny, why purchase insurance in the first place?