NCL Dawn limping from port to port

[bigtree01]

I am currently onboard the Norwegian Dawn and writing to alert other future passengers of the problems we have encountered.

 

We sailed with two engines out.

 

They had one blow a piston months ago, and another failed during routine maintenance two days before this sailing.

 

They have announced that they have a crew aboard from the engine manufacturer working around the clock to fix the problem with the second engine failure, but to date they have had no success.

 

We had our first port canceled which they announced after sailing on the first day. To compensate we were given a $100.00 on board credit per stateroom.

 

We were informed by the Captian last night as dinner (by announcement) that they have not fixed the engine and as such we have to have our last two ports of call changed to St. Marteen and St. Thomas. To compensate we were given and additional $100 on board credit per stateroom and 10 percent off a future cruised if booked within 1 year.

 

We are being told by the onboard customer service reps that we will have to complain in writing to the corporate office if we are not happy with the current compensation of our ruined vacations.

 

2 of 5 ports is a 60 percent failure rate.

 

I sincerely hope anyone sailing with Norwegian on the Dawn on any upcoming cruise fairs better then we have.

 

Sincerely,

 

John Culbertson

on board the Dawn.

[PeleNipsy]

Thanks for posting an update on what is going on! I'm leaving on the Dawn on 2/25/11 and was very curious about why the sudden changes.

[McCurler]

Thank you for posting this. My PCC is going to get an earful. I am on the 2/25 sailing as well.

[PeleNipsy]

Thank you for posting this. My PCC is going to get an earful. I am on the 2/25 sailing as well.

 

Let me know how that goes. Grr!!

[savvymcb]

Thank you for the update. We're sailing 2/25, well hopefully we're sailing then. We've been getting bits of info about the Dawn, so called our NCL PCC. He became very rude and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Dawn and it was a weather problem. When we called back and told him we were hearing many reports of engine problems, he said "what do you want me to tell you? The Dawn isn't even being talked about. Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

 

NCL, just tell us the truth so we can plan for it. And don't try to use rudeness to cover lies. And if you don't know the answer, say that.

[caribsun]

If the sun is shining and I have $200 credit, life is good. Would it make you feel better if they canceled the cruise and gave your money back.:)

[halos]

I'm so sad for all of you, truly. I just got off the Dawn and had my best cruise ever. I'm sorry that she is 'limping' and causing you to miss ports.

 

I hope a resolution can be made for upcoming cruises.

[dznymom]

Thank you for the update. We're sailing 2/25, well hopefully we're sailing then. We've been getting bits of info about the Dawn, so called our NCL PCC. He became very rude and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Dawn and it was a weather problem. When we called back and told him we were hearing many reports of engine problems, he said "what do you want me to tell you? The Dawn isn't even being talked about. Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

 

NCL, just tell us the truth so we can plan for it. And don't try to use rudeness to cover lies. And if you don't know the answer, say that.

 

Sounds like you need a new PCC. I am sure he doesn't have any information, but there is no excuse for rudeness.

[sdmike]

Thank you for posting this. My PCC is going to get an earful. I am on the 2/25 sailing as well.

 

Why take this out on your PCC?

[dznymom]

Thank you for posting this. My PCC is going to get an earful. I am on the 2/25 sailing as well.

 

 

Why would you give your PCC an earful? It is doubtful that a PCC has any information at this point. In all honesty, if they are trying to fix the problem on the go, it is unlikely that any decisions have been made about the next sailings. I imagine there are meetings going on with contingency plans being made.

[sdmike]

Thank you for the update. We're sailing 2/25, well hopefully we're sailing then. We've been getting bits of info about the Dawn, so called our NCL PCC. He became very rude and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Dawn and it was a weather problem. When we called back and told him we were hearing many reports of engine problems, he said "what do you want me to tell you? The Dawn isn't even being talked about. Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

 

NCL, just tell us the truth so we can plan for it. And don't try to use rudeness to cover lies. And if you don't know the answer, say that.

 

I'd send a letter to the corporate office if a PCC was rude to me. I'd also get a new PCC. Keep in mind that they might be less informed than we are and are not necessarily "lying" to you. They only know what they know. However, rudeness is unacceptable if what you're saying is true.

[McCurler]

If the sun is shining and I have $200 credit, life is good. Would it make you feel better if they canceled the cruise and gave your money back.:)

 

I don't have a lot of desire to be on a limping ship that is stopping at random places I may or may not want to see. I can go to the USVI a lot cheaper on my own. The cruise I originally booked wasn't even supposed to stop there!

[McCurler]

Why would you give your PCC an earful? It is doubtful that a PCC has any information at this point. In all honesty, if they are trying to fix the problem on the go, it is unlikely that any decisions have been made about the next sailings. I imagine there are meetings going on with contingency plans being made.

 

At the same time, NCL knows there is a pretty major problem with the ship and doesn't notify customers. The PCC is the contact point between NCL and the customer. Someone's got some splainin' to do. I'm not going to be rude, just make my position clear.

[newmexicoNita]

Like everyone I hope these problams are soon solved, but I don't think this is really new: isn't this the 3rd post on the Dawn and the engine problems. There is only one other option, that is to cancel the cruises altogether until the problem is solved. I don't know how most of you feel, but I would rather be on the ship and get to 3 of the 5 ports than be told, the cruise I had been planning on for weeks or months was cancelled. Hopefully at least one engine will be fixed in the next few days.

 

Nita

[rjm11]

Like everyone I hope these problams are soon solved, but I don't think this is really new: isn't this the 3rd post on the Dawn and the engine problems. There is only one other option, that is to cancel the cruises altogether until the problem is solved. I don't know how most of you feel, but I would rather be on the ship and get to 3 of the 5 ports than be told, the cruise I had been planning on for weeks or months was cancelled. Hopefully at least one engine will be fixed in the next few days.

 

Nita

 

Except for the fact that if they cancelled, we'd get our money back. That's the issue for most... having an alternate cruise "swapped in" because the ship isn't working properly. It's one thing to encounter itinerary changes due to weather, or other forces of nature, but I'm starting to think they should just bring her in to fix her properly, and start refunding some $.

[cmdchiefthom]

I can't imagine the PCC's as being anything more than part of a phone bank setup. My PCC, whom I adore, is in Arizona, far from the decision makers in Miami. I would imagine she would be at about the lowest level in NCL's corporate structure, and probably about the last person to know anything about the engines on the Dawn.:rolleyes:

[newmexicoNita]

Except for the fact that if they cancelled, we'd get our money back. That's the issue for most... having an alternate cruise "swapped in" because the ship isn't working properly. It's one thing to encounter itinerary changes due to weather, or other forces of nature, but I'm starting to think they should just bring her in to fix her properly, and start refunding some $.

 

oh, I totally understand what you are saying, but which would be better, having 2000 people not being able to cruise or missing a few ports? I would bet anything, if you took a survery and a fair one, not just asking a handful of people you might run into what they think, they would say, take the cruise regardless, especially if they knew they would get a couple hundred $$S in OBC. I is a tough decision, no matter what NCL does they are going to make a hell of a lot of people unhappy. Stuff happens and there is no win, win on this one, not for anyone.

 

Nita

[darrengs]

Anyone that reads Cruise Critic should know by now that:

 

A: That cruise vacation you purchased only entitles you to passage for "X" number of days.

 

B: That if you have working plumbing, power, A/C, or make any port stops, then you should feel honored because the cruise lines owes you none of these things, they are just considered extras.

 

;^)

[newmexicoNita]

I can't imagine the PCC's as being anything more than part of a phone bank setup. My PCC, whom I adore, is in Arizona, far from the decision makers in Miami. I would imagine she would be at about the lowest level in NCL's corporate structure, and probably about the last person to know anything about the engines on the Dawn.:rolleyes:

 

You are exactly correct: PCC are about the same as any other reservation agent working in the travel industry. The accual PCC might be one step up from the basic agent. I remember as both an agent and a supervisor for a major hotel chain we did have specialty desks that had agents that were one level higher, but no, they didn't know too much either.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

I understand that a previous group of passegers on a NCL ship that missed ports due to mechanical failures resorted to creating a passenger driven meeting in the Theater. Might be an idea for all of you there.

 

yes, they did, they also created a website, but all this accomplished almost nothing or nothing except to give them a chance to vent. I guess that is one positive reason for doing this.

 

Will you be at our meet and greet on the Spirit this Sunday. I noticed you posted a few days ago you got a great deal on the cruise, but you are also booked on HAL. That seems a bit confusing??

[corinnv]

Thank you for the update. As you can see from my update, I will be on the Dawn this weekend. We only have a two port itinerary with two sea days. I wonder if/how my cruise will be effected. :(

[dznymom]

At the same time, NCL knows there is a pretty major problem with the ship and doesn't notify customers. The PCC is the contact point between NCL and the customer. Someone's got some splainin' to do. I'm not going to be rude, just make my position clear.

 

I guess my previous point was that if they are trying to fix the recently broken engine on the fly, what do you want them to do? Call all the passengers and tell them that the engine is being worked on? I just don't understand how you expect them to tell you what they are going to do when they probably don't know themselves.

 

I had a similar situation this last winter with a B2B on Carnival (anybody remember the Destiny limping around for months?) and about drove myself nuts right up until we sailed. We had itinerary changes but I had a very nice cruise in spite of missing the port I was most looking forward to.

 

I am on the Dawn in March, so I am watching this with interest.

[SeaShark]

At the same time, NCL knows there is a pretty major problem with the ship and doesn't notify customers. The PCC is the contact point between NCL and the customer. Someone's got some splainin' to do. I'm not going to be rude, just make my position clear.

 

Your statement has me a little confused. What do you mean by "doesn't notify customers"?

 

Let me explain why that confuses me:

 

Back in September of 2010, NCL was aware of the Dawn's engine problems. They also knew that the engine problems could not be properly addressed until drydock and that they would affect the scheduled itineraries (particularly the 9-day sailings).

 

At that time, NCL notified all of their guests about the Dawn's engine issues. An additional notification was also sent out to the travel agent community. There were threads here on Cruise Critic where this was discussed. Additionally, the information was posted to NCL's website.

 

It would seem to me that notifications have gone out...in many forms and for quite a bit of time. If a guest felt uneasy about the issue(s) or if they were looking forward to a particular port visit (as opposed to the cruise), perhaps they would be best served by switching to a different ship.

[runner15km]

I don't have a lot of desire to be on a limping ship that is stopping at random places I may or may not want to see. I can go to the USVI a lot cheaper on my own. The cruise I originally booked wasn't even supposed to stop there!

 

Lighten up Francis ! The last thing NCL wants is a ailing ship.

[runner15km]

I understand that a previous group of passegers on a NCL ship that missed ports due to mechanical failures resorted to creating a passenger driven meeting in the Theater. Might be an idea for all of you there.

They are not in Egypt. They received 200.00 credit what more do you expect.