NCL guest relations- what is your experience?

[gardencat]

I'm going to admit upfront that I recently had a bad experience with NCL guest relations and so I am probably not totally unbiased in this area but, in order to get a better perspective on this subject, I would like to find out other peoples' experiences.

Have you a situation to relate where NCL guest relations went out of their way to help solve a problem or correct a mistake? Or an experience where you felt they fell short in customer service?

I would appreciate if you would share either type of experience and the time frame when it happened (ie. was it last week or three years ago)

Thanks in advance for any inout.

[gardencat]

Sorry that should be 'input'. How do you edit something after you have posted?

[98Charlie]

Gardencat

In answer to your second question: You have about 30 minutes after posting to make corrections by clicking on the eraser icon in the bottom right corner of your post.

 

Question number one: We were on the Wind in February this yea. We decided to book our next cruise on the Sea for May. We weren't sure about the air since we normally book our own and save about half. The P&C Consultant (Tatayana) advised us that Even though we were past the no penalty stage for the cruise we could dump the air portion as late as 30 days prior to the cruise date. The day of our return I checked prices, a much lower air fare and attempted to drop the NCL air. No dice says customer service.

 

We had transferred the reservation to our TA, (online agent that we had used before) she went to bat and got it taken care of. All's well that ends well.

 

The bottom line: 2 points

 

1) Always get everything in writing.

 

AND

 

2) Always get everything in writing.

[Jeconk]

Ok, straight and to the point:

 

1.) Two years ago my father called NCL customer service to see about making a change in our air tickets. (I won't go into that story) The first day, he explained his story and the person put him on hold. 30 minutes later, he hung up after no one returned. The next day he called back and the person said that nothing could be done. He asked to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold again. This time he decided to wait them out. Put the holding call on speaker phone to listen for someone to return and sat and watched TV. Finally, 90 minutes later, someone returned by saying: "hello" He got back on the phone and said he was holding for a supervisor. "he is all out to lunch he was told." "I'll hold until one is available" he said. "Sorry" came the reply, "we need the open line." and was hung up on. He called back the next day at 2:00 p.m.....guess what, the supervisor was out to lunch again! (NCL must lose a lot of time to lunch breaks). Finally after 6 days of calling, he was connected to a rude supervisor who told him: "we can't afford to help you and please stop calling, you are tieing up our representives time."

 

2.) We are using a TA this time and she too has been VERY FRUSTRATED with NCL and has told us, "trying to talk to someone who knows something over there is almost impossible." Luckily for us, she is persistant and has been able to cut through most of their B.S. and take care of us.

 

I will say however that, as echoed by many on this board, in spite of their inept and uncaring customer service department in Miami, NCL's ships and crews are fantastic. They need to get the people running the ship side of the business over into the customer service department!

[gardencat]

Thanks 98Charlie and Jeconk for your posts.

 

I'm still hoping to hear from someone with positive experiences (and maybe hints on how to elicit more positive solutions from NCL)

[jingle5616]

Gardencat, I haven't had a horror story like yours, but I have cruise 2X on NCL and won't go back because of the bad customer service we have experienced at the Main office. Too bad, because the on ship experience was fine in most respects.

But for us, that isn't enough and we are going to spend with Companies that have been good to us. I don't want to pull my hair out before, during or after a cruise! (For the same reason I'll never use Travelocity again either!)

I sometimes wonder how healthy NCL and their parent company are. The mark of good C/S is how a company handles the situation when things go wrong..... sadley, NCL has failed in my opnion with even the smallest problems.

 

Jingle

[Host CMLA]

One of my positive experiences with NCL guest relations was when I was flying to Barcelona to take the Dream transatlantic from Barcelona to San Juan. On the first leg of my trip from Denver to Washington Dulles, the plane lost inside electrical power and we had to emergency land in Chicago. I was the only person on that leg of the trip going to Barcelona for the cruise. While the airlines were trying to get me to Barcelona, I called NCL to see what could be done. I had my airfare through them. First phone call I spoke to someone within 3 to 5 minutes. Explained the situation and was told they'd see what they could do and call me back on my cell. About 20 minutes later, I got a call from NCL. They had rebooked me on an Iberia Airlines flight going to Madrid with a connection to Barcelona. I don't know if NCL did this or not but I was bumped to business class for the Chicago to Madrid flight. I got to Madrid, made my connection and the NCL rep was waiting for me when I landed in Barcelona. I was the only person on any of those flights going on the Dream. In my opinion, NCL took care of me quickly and went out of their way to get me to the ship.

 

I never raised my voice, threatened to never sail NCL again, or berate the customer service person. I'm not sure if that helped me get such good service but it probably didn't hurt. I've never had a bad customer service experience. I have however had problems on the ship that were never resolved to my satisfaction. In those cases, I did what was best for me.

 

Example: On the Dream Baltic trip in August 2001. It was my birthday, first day of the cruise, I was in the casino and I won almost $700 playing craps. When I was leaving the table, I left a $30 tip for the dealers. One of the dealers looked at me and said, "That's it?" I was disgusted by that. It was the first day of the cruise, I was planning on playing every night and tip a little every day. Instead that dealer in essense called me cheap. I thought it was in poor taste and I let the casino manager know. He listened to me and then said he was sorry but some of the dealers have come from high stakes land casinos and they expect more. Well, that was the wrong answer as far as I was concerned. At that point I had a choice to make. I chose to take my winnings and not go back to the casino for the next 11 days of the cruise. That doesn't make up for the fact that both casino people acted incorrectly in my opinion, but I chose to speak with my $$ and write the incident on my comment card.

 

I don't think NCL is perfect. And after hosting this board for so long, I know that people have problems with guest relations. Then again, I had absolutely terrible experiences with RCCI so maybe I got lucky with NCL and drew the short straw with RCCI.

 

Cecilia

 

I can be contacted at *****@aol.com

 

My Wedding!

 

[carolmacey]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeconk:

NCL's ships and crews are fantastic. They need to get the people running the ship side of the business over into the customer service department!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

That could be catastrophic(sp) to the passengers. Maybe the crews could teach the land based folks a thing or two about service.

 

Norwegian Sky Back-to-back

[gdries]

Perhaps james Deering needs to take over land side Customer Service for a while. We have had good luck as well, but our TA worked fro NCL for many years, as well, we work with a single rep in Customer Service, and she has been awesome.

 

Aloha Hawaii from LA via San Francisco

 

[gardencat]

gdries,

do you mean you work with a single rep in customer service at NCL or at your travel agency?

[stevecruiser49]

In 1998 my family and another family cruised from Ny to bermuda on the Norwegian Crown. It was our 2nd cruise and the other family's first. Well first 6+ days were beautiful. Great cruise, weather, and Bermuda was wonderful. However everybody knew there were two hurricanes out in the Atlantic at that time and the Captain decided to leave Bermuda on time and cruise back to Ny. Well it was a terrible decision. We got caught up in 40 foot swells and spent more than 24 hours in

rockin and rollin/ dishes and glasses falling off dining room tables, shows shut down/ elevators turned off etc. We returned to Ny 9 hours late. Pursars desk told passengers to write a letter to NCL, and there was nothing that they could do.

 

Well I did that as soon as I got home. To their credit we did recieve a letter back from Guest Relations apologizing for the rough trip nd said that if we gave them another chance, on a future NCL cruise that they would do something for us. They also said something to the extent of the Captain always has the safety of the ship/crew and passengers as his top priority and would never make a wrong decision with safety issues. I was going to write them back and ask them was the Captain of the Dream thinking clearly when he crashed into another ship on the open seas (a very difficult thing to happen in this day and age)but decided to leave it until I decide to cruise with NCL again.

 

Well i just got off my 2nd NCL cruise today (4/4/04-4/11/04) Dawn and have some info for you.

When I first booked this cruise over a year ago I called Guest Relations and ask them what they were going to do for me now that I booked the Dawn? Guest relations asked me when my last cruise was and when i told them 8/98 they said they don't keep records that long ago. When I followed up and faxed them a copy of their letter to me from 1998-they responded that they would send me some canapes and champagn to my room at embarkation. When I responded that this seemed rather insignificant considering what we went through they responded that this was all they could do.

I then asked to speak to a supervisor and she listened to my story and said she would have to research my cruise and that it may take a week. I told her she can certainly check out that 1998 cruise and I told her I was not looking for anything expensive or over the top. But since it will be our 20th anniversary-that maybe the least expensive ($79 retail) anniversary package would be a nice reasonable gesture. She said she would get back to me. Weeks went by, Months went by, nobody got back to me. I called the supervisors number and left voice mail- no responce. Finally a few months before my cruise I give up and wrote a reasonable but critical letter to the President of NCL about my situation. I soon recieved a phone call from NCL headquarters telling me that they ordered the anniversary package. I asked them to confirm with an e-mail in case there was a misunderstanding o board-they did!

 

Well-A bottle of Champagn and chocolate strawberries were in our cabin as we boarded, followed by Canapes and Champagn on a different day. We also Had a romantic dinner for 2 at Le Bostro with a bottle of Merlot. We were also invited to an anniversary/honeymoon champagn and cake party on a 4th day and were given a complimentary 5X7 photo taken at the affair. It made the cruise special.

So although I wish they would have said yes to my modest request immediately, After some phone calls and a letter they did come through.

I honestly felt when they understood that i wasn't lookingfor money or an expensive item they would be doing cartwheels and eagerly agreeing to my request.

I must say- That although NCL Guest Relations were a bit unhelpful-the staff onboard couldn't be nicer.

[Fighterone]

[Then again, I had absolutely terrible experiences with RCCI so maybe I got lucky with NCL and drew the short straw with RCCI.

]

 

Cecilia, have you posted somewhere else what the terrible experiences were with RCCI? If not, we'd lile to know what they were, if so, please point us in the right direction. Thanks

 

 

 

Norwegian Sea May, 2004

Celebration January, 2004 Yankee Clipper Windjammer 1978

Proud charter member of the PPS-Passport Pusher Society

 

[bratsuzy]

I feel like this, NCL Does NOT LIKE DEALING WITH PEOPLE THEY ONLY WANT TA!

 

I DOnt Know Why But If they think your a TA your Treated NICER!

 

I have not had to much trouble with NCL.

I did have a bit of trouble getting my two hundred Bucks last year. ( GOT BUMP off the cruise I was taking.but needed differs AIr Fare they Promise to Pay for it, Mind you they did paid for it, Plus gave me new cruise for free)

It was like pulling teeth. But never was I treated POORLY ever! Johnny Customer service was a sweetheart

If you ever want a UPGRADE Him or Sandra are sweethearts

 

Suzanne & Tyler

[pattict1]

Our May 2nd Star cruise was recently cancelled and I called NCL twice and talked to Tori and a gal named Val both very helpful. However, I still had to go through my TA to get everything fixed. In fact, it still isn't fixed. We rebooked another cruise leaving May 15th but still don't know exactly how much our credit will be. The TA said one thing and NCL said another. I guess we should know something this week.

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fighterone:

Cecilia, have you posted somewhere else what the terrible experiences were with RCCI? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I did post the information to a thread on this board back in January when someone was asking for comparisons to RCCI. I can't find it now.

 

We were on the Mariner of the Seas in January and there wasn't one big thing that turned us off RCCI. It was the culmination of many things. Our room steward was not very good. On three occasions we had to call housekeeping for soap because he'd take the partially used soap and not replace it. We left two towels on the floor of the bathroom (that's where they say to leave them if you want new) and when we came back from dinner those old wet towels had been picked up off the floor and hung over the rack. I know they were the same towels because I had gotten mascara on one of them by accident and the mark was right there. On two separate occasions I was told no to a request in the dining room. Now being told no isn't wrong. It's not feasible that everyone get everything they want all the time. But on the first sea day at lunch I asked for a plain salad; lettuce and tomato. The waiter said no right there. He didn't check if I could get a plain salad. He pointed his pen to the menu and said "those are your salad choices." We went back and forth one more time with me asking if he was sure, he said, "you can only have the salad on the menu." We all know that's not true. I spoke to our asst. maitre'd and he said plain salads are always available and he didn't know why the waiter didn't even attempt to try and fulfill my request. He just said no and that was it. Two evenings in the dining room we had to track someone down for water after our glasses sat empty. We ordered wine on several nights and most nights there was some error. Wine would come at the end of the entree, wine that should have been chilled came warm, we were at a table for 8 and we all ordered different wines but the waiter would start to pour our wine into our table mates glasses even though they had ordered their own wine. Another thing was the photography staff. Two members of the photo staff, one the manager, lied to our faces about their photo services. We wanted to get 2 5 x 7 pictures made from our 8 x 10 formal night picture. Girl behind the counter said, we don't make 5 x 7 photos. Clearly that's wrong because there were hundreds of 5 x 7 embarkation photos on the wall. But she insisted that they produce no 5 x 7 pictures and they couldn't help us. Then when we got the photo manager and explained to him the problem, he said, "of course we make 5 x 7." Then he said the cost of the 5 x 7 will be the same as the cost for an 8 x 10 because in essense it's still one sheet of photo paper so they have to print two 5 x 7 of the same picture on on sheet and for one picture we have to pay $19.95. But if we're paying for the whole sheet, and two pictures come on that sheet...why don't I get both pictures? The photo manager looked me in the eye and said "5 x 7 photos cost $19.95 no matter what size." And of course we knew that wasn't true becuase we'd spent only $9.95 for our embarkation photo. I could go on because there were many more small glitches.

 

None of these things ruined our cruise. We had a good time. We were traveling with about 15 of the Cruise Critic hosts and upper management people. But the culmination of all of the little things gave us a bad impression of RCCI and it might affect if we ever sail them again. Instead of leaving the ship with a heavy heart because we have to go, we were happy to end that cruise.

[gardencat]

Pattict1

Did you book your air through NCL?

[zimmerjulie]

I have written letters to NCL regarding minor "administrative" issues associated with our last 2 cruises...some compliments and some suggestions for improvement in a couple of areas. These letters received satisfactory responses and, in one case, a small complimentary gift on our next cruise. I did learn that it takes about 2 months to receive replies to my letters.

 

In another case, a letter that I wrote regarding a minor injury of one of my group members was addressed with a less satisfactory response. I felt like their gesture was the starting offer in a negotiation, but I wasn't really interested in a negotiation.

 

I have been dealing with the group department for the last couple of years and have been happy with the service I have received on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. Of late, with the change of computer system and various setbacks, I have felt like the staff is taxed beyond their ability to address my reservation issues in a timely manner. Part of this is due to the backlog of problems piled up in the IT department for resolution (computer glitches). This has been frustrating. Thankfully, my calls are still met with a friendly voice and a desire to help, which makes things a lot better. I believe this is true to a greater extent with the group department, though. I called Shore Excursions last week and got a REAL stinker. (I should have known when she did not state her name at the beginning of the call, like everyone else does!). On the other hand, I called right back and spoke to one of the most pleasant customer service reps I have ever encountered. Her cheeriness and competence made my day!

 

So, I guess my summation is that, overall, I am happy with the general customer service that I have personally received. However, I am not pleased by what gardencat is experiencing, or with the cancelled bus-service issues. Blech.

[mnstar]

My first cruise will be on The Star this Sunday. I am trying to keep an open mind, but I have already had several bad experiences with ncl's customer service.

 

I have been totally polite and respectful. In fact, I am a consultant who trains in corporations like ncl, all over the US, on communication skills, including customer service. (maybe we should co-op? ha!)

 

My experiences to date have been disappointing, including the 1 1/2 hours I spent on hold today, only to be told they couldn't (wouldn't) help me with a communication issue, they admitted was caused by them.

 

I am determined to have a great first cruise, but I have to say, that customer service has alot to do with overall satisifaction and subsequent repeat business. It is my experience that it is easier and less expensive to keep current customers happy, than it is to go out and find new customers. No matter that most cc reviews are about the negative, it is still the experience of those who write them.

 

I WILL be objective and optimistic, and I will let you know what happens to us next week...

 

mnstar ~ first cruise on The Star on 4/18/04, first trip to Hawaii, 25th Anniversary on 4/21

[gardencat]

As just about everyone on these boards must know by now, I am extremely unhappy and dissatisfied with NCL's guest relations department however, my experience with their ship was wonderful and many people on this board seem to agree with that sentiment.

At this point I sure wouldn't book another cruise with NCL but if I were booked on a cruise next week (as you are) I would go and expect to have a pretty good time.( Once you get on board and hopefully away from GUEST RELATIONS )

[sassycassie]

We will be on the cruise Sunday with mnstar. Our experience with the NCL customer service operation has been very nearly exactly the same as mnstar.

 

As with others, I spent a rather long time on hold waiting to speak to a supervisor--none was forthcoming. Fortunately, our TA has patience--she stayed on hold for almost 30 minutes--and persistance, so our "administrative" problems have been solved as well. We are going into this cruise with a very positive attitude, and we fully intend to enjoy every minute of it.

 

Mnstar rightly points out it is far easier to keep established customers than find new ones. NCL must either improve its customer service operation or suffer the consequences ultimately.

 

We'll be with mnstar to let you know how it goes!! As my lovely 3w said tonight--WE WILL ENJOY THIS CRUISE.

 

Aloha for now.

[kadao]

I have talked with an NCL rep named Beth several times and she has been incredibly helpful. When I leave a voice mail message, she calls me back quickly and she has answered a lot of questions for me without making me feel like the pest that I am. She is the only one I have ever dealt with at NCL so far, so I've only had good experiences. Hopefully they will stay that way!

 

6/19 NCL SEA

 

[Tomct]

My experience has been positive, but with a twist. I posed a question about where and when to hold a CC Meeting for our upcoming cruise, and the message go bounced around for awhile, until it landed in the lap of Yonaiky, in the Passenger Courtesy Dept. It seems like everyone was going overboard trying to help me, but may not have taken the time to read my message in detail. It's the same proble I have when I have posed questions to my Internet Service Providers like AOL, Compuserve, and Cox, where they get so many requests, they "rush to judgement".

 

I know their heart was in the right place, and I finally got what I was looking for, and hope I didn't get anyone annoyed along the way.

 

Tom/Connecticut

 

 

[gardencat]

Yes poor service does seem to be becoming more wide spread and that is one of the reasons I feel I must make a fuss about the way NCL has handled my situation.

Contrary to what many may think ,I don't actually enjoy spending hours on the phone arguing with NCL reps or just waiting on hold to talk to someone and feeling my blood pressure rising

Apart from wanting my air miles back, however I also want to make the point that this is not an acceptable way to treat customers. If those of us who receive bad service do not do this, we are contributing to the problem by letting NCL (and in the long run all cruise lines)think that this is acceptable behaviour (or at least behaviour that they can get away with.)

I want my airmile points back!! If I can't get this I at least want to make this enough of a hassle for NCL that they will think twice about doing this to someone again - A big job for one single customer I know but, if more of us would stand up when treated poorly, prehaps they will eventually get the message.

[ninafromct]

Gardencat,

 

Keep up the good fight. Maybe if more people were unwilling to accept shoddy service NCL would think twice about dishing it out so often. If enough people start standing up for their rights as consumers, NCL will eventually get the message that they actually have to earn our business.

 

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[pam512]

I found out a long time ago that if you have a request or problem prior to your cruise, handle it through your travel agent. That is their job. If you have a problem while on your cruise, you just have to be lucky enough to talk to the right person. On my last cruise with NCL (Sky in 2002), there were hundreds of spring breakers on board. I complained a few times about various things (mostly minor), and I was given a $100 onboard credit immediately. Was I just lucky? Probably. But when I was on the Voyager of the Seas (RCCL) last year, I couldn't get anyone to fix my showerhead (it shot the water into the bathroom). I called repeatedly, but it was the third day into the cruise before they fixed it. Luckily I had family members with a working showerhead!

 

Bottom line - let your travel agent handle things. I know that you can book directly through the cruiseline, but I will not do that. Let someone else fight your battles.