Jump to content

Jewel to Dry Dock - 11/28 sailing cxl'd!


mhnh1309

Recommended Posts

Got an e-mail notification that the 11/28th sailing of Jewel out of NYC is being cancelled due to the Azipod problem. They are offering other options to transfer the reservations.

 

At first I was trying to be understanding. Things happen - right? I am getting a ship board creidt and the same fare to the same ports. But you have to call a special department to transfer your reservation and that department is only open from 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday. Well, first the e-mail came over at 6:30pm so that is rude to start with. You cancel my cruise and you are making me wait overnight to reschedule it. But additionally I work 8am-5:30pm and don't have the availability to call then to change my reservation. Their advice: have a friend call for you tomorrow to get the information. Seriously???

 

After being transferred three times, investing an hour and a conversation with two supervisors it looks like they cannot help me. I have gone from reasonable to angry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder how many more sailings they are going to cancel. They have the 11/28 date still posted but once in the system it specifies they don't have a cabin for the number of people you have and to pick a different date. I do feel bad for everyone who was bookes, as it may be difficult to re-arrange plans. We were originally going to go that week and changed it to 11/7.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't it amazing? Currently the passengers are mad because their itineraries are being changed a bit, then there are those who want the ship fixed and to go into drydock ASAP, and when NCL makes arrangements for parts and drydock time, those passengers are mad their booked cruises are being cancelled...

 

There is NO WIN in the situation for NCL...

 

At this rate we might as well as scuttle every cruise ship...

 

Don't have the time... Another good reason to use a travel agent...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

mhnh I feel your pain, but you do still have some time. Do you realize the Gem has the same exact cruise leaving the day before (Sat. 11/27/10). AFs are showing for only $799 and AEs and ACs for $1,199. Weve sailed both and the differences between the ships is minimal. That being said I would definitely go out of my way to address this early tomorrow if you choose this cruise. I would think many other cruisers and TAs may be thinking the same way. If you can do Sat. to Sat. (which we prefer) instead of Sun. to Sun. this might be a painless, tho still stressfull fix. Good luck!

 

 

btw we agree with Don in that this is a no win situation for NCL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got an e-mail notification that the 11/28th sailing of Jewel out of NYC is being cancelled due to the Azipod problem. They are offering other options to transfer the reservations.

 

At first I was trying to be understanding. Things happen - right? I am getting a ship board creidt and the same fare to the same ports. But you have to call a special department to transfer your reservation and that department is only open from 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday. Well, first the e-mail came over at 6:30pm so that is rude to start with. You cancel my cruise and you are making me wait overnight to reschedule it. But additionally I work 8am-5:30pm and don't have the availability to call then to change my reservation. Their advice: have a friend call for you tomorrow to get the information. Seriously???

 

After being transferred three times, investing an hour and a conversation with two supervisors it looks like they cannot help me. I have gone from reasonable to angry.

 

I am not sure how understanding you are being period. This is a hard decision for any cruiseline. There is no good solution, but it has to be fixed. You are complaining because the dept in only open certain hours, but you are saying you only work certain hours. What would you expect them to do? As for emailing you after closing time, the emails are generated all at once. No one meant for you to take action that very minute.

 

I know things sometimes seem confusing and maybe unfair, but think about what the cruise line is going through? They are offering you a cruise, same port, same price, OBC and you feel like you have a reason to be angry? Sorry, no sympathy from me and I doubt from many people.

 

Nita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't it amazing? Currently the passengers are mad because their itineraries are being changed a bit, then there are those who want the ship fixed and to go into drydock ASAP, and when NCL makes arrangements for parts and drydock time, those passengers are mad their booked cruises are being cancelled...

 

There is NO WIN in the situation for NCL...

 

At this rate we might as well as scuttle every cruise ship...

 

Don't have the time... Another good reason to use a travel agent...

 

Don, can we say, some people have no tolerance for anything that might slightly inconvenience them, but they have no answers either. Don't you know, cruise ships should be able to predict these problems and fix them while still sailing at full speed and should never inconvenience anyone?

 

Nita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just went to 11/28/10 on NCL and it showed that they're not taking anymore booking for that date. I just needed to see for myself.

Sorry about the changes you all have to make. Like the othes OPs have said.... make the changes and enjoy your cruise..life is too short to be all stressed out because of change.

You never know what the reasons "truely" are for the changes (not pertaining to the all knowing NCL z problems). Maybe its for the good. That's how I look at things and I go with the flow. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This happen to me when I booked on the Pearl two years ago. I totally had to change everything and instead of a Seven day cruise we ended up on the Sky for a four day cruise which came out under $400.00 total for my DH and I. So I wasn't too upset after that. We made the best of it and enjoyed our time on the Sky. Good luck rebooking and hopefully you can get a really great deal out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, they could take calls after business hours. Seems to me NCL takes reservations after 5:30.

 

The OP did state that she needed to call a certain department that is only open until 5:30.

 

"But you have to call a special department to transfer your reservation and that department is only open from 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, I don't understand your comments. The passengers doing the complaining aren't the same people. Are you suggesting they blame each other for mechanical problems that are ultimately NCL's responsibility?

 

While the azipods may be NCL's responsibility, I would think it would be safe to say every ship built with azipods have had the same problems, or will... You are living in an alternative reallity if you think all mechanical problems are the fault of the owner of the machinery...

 

The point I was making is that NCL can't win.... Frankly, none of the cruise lines which have ships with azipods can't win... The whining passengers are only interested into their own little selfish lives...

 

And as far as office business hours, not many corporate offices are fully staffed 24 hours around the clock. I can't think of one.... not one.... Just maybe the selfish passengers have a tiny bit of a too high expectation.... Even if you win a state lottery one has to wait for the state lottery office to open...

 

I am sure the OP will be able to settle matters within a very short period of time tomorrow when the OP finally gets through to the proper office...

 

And I repeat, if you don't have the time to call, you should have hired and used a travel agent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There certainly are no winners here! Know this, NCL only cancels cruises as a last resort. They certainly don't want to loose money, create chaos and upset passengers while the ship undergoes necessary repairs. Everything happens for a purpose. For some unknown reason, this is probably for the best. The Gem is a beautiful ship leaving New York the day before you were to leave. Try to jump on that bandwagon and move on with it. But you need to move quickly because you are not the only passenger this has been inconvenienced. Best of Luck! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this has blown up in a new direction.

 

A. No I do not have lunch breaks. I am required to meet with clients during lunch. I very often work afterhours and weekends, including this Saturday when I will be working from 7am-4pm. So yes, I expect people who work in the travel industry like I do to have availability.

 

B. There is no other item in my life that is only available M-F day time hours. The banks are open 7 days a week, the post office 6 days, doctors office 7 days. Seriously - EVERYTHING is available during extended hours.

 

C. If I am paying almost $10,000 for a cruise, 4 cabins, 11 people and they have reservationists available to book new reservations than they should be able to transfer an existing reservations.

 

D. The only adult travelling with me is my husband and he is a stay at home Dad for our 7 children, including a five month old. On top of that he homeschools them. I am sure he would love to tell the kids to wait an hour so he can change a reservation. And yes, that is how long it takes because of the complicated cabin arrangements we have.

 

E. I have no objection to the cancellation. I just objected to the restricted hours to change the reservation. If the staff is there and has access to change the reservation, their refusal to provide customer service was my issue. The ship is broken - FIX it! I get that.

 

F. I usually travel Royal. Perhaps I have am used to a higher standard of service.

 

And finally - NCL agrees with me. After apologizing, they moved my reservation this evening to Gem. That's all I asked for. Based on some of these post you would think that I had asked for someone's blood. Geez!!!!!! Since when is expecting customer service a crime?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't it amazing? Currently the passengers are mad because their itineraries are being changed a bit, then there are those who want the ship fixed and to go into drydock ASAP, and when NCL makes arrangements for parts and drydock time, those passengers are mad their booked cruises are being cancelled...

 

There is NO WIN in the situation for NCL...

 

At this rate we might as well as scuttle every cruise ship...

 

Don't have the time... Another good reason to use a travel agent...

 

That's not a bad idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am very glad everything worked out for you! You will love the Gem. By the way, I always found you get better customer service on the ship then you do prior to sailing via telephone. On NCL's defense, they are going crazy right now with the changes in itineraries due to the recent storms and now with ship repairs, it gets crazy for the customer service reps. However, you are right that perhaps they should extend their customer service hours during such chaotic times to accommodate their passengers (which I think was the point you were trying to make). :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am booked on this cruise as well... and I don't think there is anything wrong with being annoyed by this cancellation. Of course the ships will have unexpected troubles and of course they have to fix them... but it is still an inconvenience for the booked passengers.

 

My group has to now request different days off from work (a big process for some)... change pet sitting arrangements, etc. We were meeting up with someone in one of the ports and now she, too, has to change her travel plans as we will arrive on a different date. Even though the Gem is available with just one day difference, it can be a headache for some.

 

Personally, I'm dreading making the calls to my group letting them know we are starting from scratch again. I wish that NCL had one or two ships available to "fill in" when one of their ships was down. That way, they could offer guests the same date as an option!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jewel has four 10 day New York/Caribbean cruises scheduled in January and early February. There is no way Jewel could have made those distant itineraries with reduced speed. They also had to contend with the heavily booked holiday cruises. I assume they tried to inconvenience as few people as possible under the dictates of the required repairs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yikes! Can't believe they had to cancel the sailing. Hubby and I are booked the week following this one, and now I have my fingers crossed that they'll be able to complete everything in that one week...here's hoping they don't start work and find out it's going to take longer than expected.

I know what a headache it can be to reschdule things, even for just the two of us, my husband's work is extremely busy about vacation time - it took us about 3 months to finalize the dates for our cruise, and if any issue did arise, a Saturday - Saturday cruise isn't even an option for us due to his work resctrictions. Fingers crossed! And hopefully everyone affected by this will find suitable arrangements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does this mean that the drydock currently scheduled for the first 2 weeks of May 2011 does not have to happen now?

Maybe yes, maybe no...the regularly scheduled drydock is for routine preventative maintenance and perhaps refurbishment and upgrades.

The special drydock is for an unscheduled emergency repair.

They may not even happen at the same drydock.

It may be possible to do some of the planned work during the emergency drydocking, and perhaps even to shorten the scheduled drydocking as a result. If that happens, they might be able to squeeze in an extra short cruise in-between the end of the scheduled drydocking and the next scheduled cruise. Sort of like when a new ship is completed early, they throw in an extra "pre-inaugural" cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are living in an alternative reallity if you think all mechanical problems are the fault of the owner of the machinery...

 

The point I was making is that NCL can't win.... Frankly, none of the cruise lines which have ships with azipods can't win... The whining passengers are only interested into their own little selfish lives...

It's not a question of fault. It's a question of ownership of the problem. NCL owns the problem. Why are you insisting the passenger share responsibility for NCL's problem? I think you're the one living an alternate NCL-centered reality.

 

And as far as office business hours, not many corporate offices are fully staffed 24 hours around the clock. I can't think of one.... not one....

I can think of one that's open extended hours. NCL reservations. If they can take reservations after hours they should be able to resolve this issue after hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this has blown up in a new direction.

 

A. No I do not have lunch breaks. I am required to meet with clients during lunch. I very often work afterhours and weekends, including this Saturday when I will be working from 7am-4pm. So yes, I expect people who work in the travel industry like I do to have availability.

 

B. There is no other item in my life that is only available M-F day time hours. The banks are open 7 days a week, the post office 6 days, doctors office 7 days. Seriously - EVERYTHING is available during extended hours.

 

C. If I am paying almost $10,000 for a cruise, 4 cabins, 11 people and they have reservationists available to book new reservations than they should be able to transfer an existing reservations.

 

D. The only adult travelling with me is my husband and he is a stay at home Dad for our 7 children, including a five month old. On top of that he homeschools them. I am sure he would love to tell the kids to wait an hour so he can change a reservation. And yes, that is how long it takes because of the complicated cabin arrangements we have.

 

E. I have no objection to the cancellation. I just objected to the restricted hours to change the reservation. If the staff is there and has access to change the reservation, their refusal to provide customer service was my issue. The ship is broken - FIX it! I get that.

 

F. I usually travel Royal. Perhaps I have am used to a higher standard of service.

 

And finally - NCL agrees with me. After apologizing, they moved my reservation this evening to Gem. That's all I asked for. Based on some of these post you would think that I had asked for someone's blood. Geez!!!!!! Since when is expecting customer service a crime?

You did nothing wrong, and thanks for sharing your experience here. First hand accounts of how cruise lines handle problems are welcome.

 

This board is dominated by some very experienced NCL cruisers. From their perspective, cruising on NCL is a given. They've seen many problems and many complaints. They've seen some really serious problems, so posts about minor problems come across as whining. But don't mind them. Just speak your piece - your contribution is appreciated. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How did we get here?? The OP has an issue with NCL's problem, yet somehow, the conversation centers around why she can't call during business hours. Who are you to judge her for that?

 

I find the lack of human compassion startling.

 

dwjoe, you're quite correct. Everyone is unique in their own special way. It's indeed sad when self-centeredness gets in the way. Some folks enjoy just being on a ship whereas others like cruising to visit and experience different ports and cultures. It's like some folks just like going to Vegas just for the shows; but how dare them not to go just for the gambling (or vice versa). Everyone is different with their own uniqueness. It doesn't make anyone bad. It's what makes the world go around! Sadly, some can't differentiate the difference!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.