Norwegian: Gives Military Discount and Cancels! (Reveiw of Horrible Customer Service)

[maywell]

There is no reason to have to recheck a reservation once it is confirmed.

 

The lady and her family were treated poorly at the terminal. Some say its not NCL fault because they are shoreside contractors. Maybe, just maybe NCL should wake up and have someone from their company there, don't you think? Not having anyone to contact is terrible.

 

All I am hearing are excuses for the company, and others trying to shift blame to the family for whatever reason.

 

Point is, the game has changed. You have a voice, use it. Post your story everywhere, tweet it repeatedly, file online complaint forms, tell everyone who will listen. Create your own web page. Make it a project. Don't just sit there and take it. Maybe, just maybe you will stop the same thin from happening to someone as yourselves.

 

 

There is plenty of good reasons to recheck a reservation such as if you have a guarantee assigned room, finding out what the room number is so your luggage at port can be sent to your correct room or; making sure your name is spelled correctly on your EDocs since the US federal government is going by manifest that cruise line has to give them. If your name, passport numbers or anything else are incorrect, the feds are not letting you on the ship despite the cruise line best efforts.

 

I not making excuses for the NCL, they could had handle that situation alot better by responding faster over in Miami. But there's something off in the OP story regarding not printing or filling out the Edocs before heading out - how crummy is the internet service at the US military base in Japan or South Korean that it couldn't be done at the library there, at the husband's office or having a fellow soldier do it for you, etc? Go ahead and tweet or facebook that, but that's questions people are going to ask eventually because it involves the US military which leads to how mess up is the technology over there - can afford state of the art ballistic missiles that hit a pin from 100 miles away but can't afford basic cable internet for their soldiers at the base?

Edited March 3, 2015 by maywell

[jackson bernard]

Sure, just like there is no reason to recheck your flight status before leaving for the airport. No reason to look out for cross-traffic when your light is green. No reason to double-check what the pharmacist gave you before swallowing the pills.

 

You don't have to do any of these things. You have fulfilled your minimal obligations, so it should be up the the rest of the universe to ensure that everything goes smoothly for you. Don't lift another finger to look out for yourself; you'll need to save all your energy to pour into your noisy social media project after things go wrong and it's too late to do anything about it.

The OP said herself that they were sitting in the airport using free wifi for 3 hours.

 

It's a given that flight status changes, that's different than checking over and over to make sure you still have a confirmed seat.

 

At what point do you stop checking and rely on the competence of the cruise line that your confirmed reservation is still valid? A week before? A day before? An hour before?

 

They apparently left the family sitting in the terminal all day with no one to help or give information. There was nobody to help these poor folks, but I'm sure there were plenty of people there to take the other peoples money.

 

It must have been horrible sitting there with restless kids all day. I can only imagine what went on as the ship sailed away without them.

 

These people need to be compensated. Unfortunately unless they turn it into into a big deal on social media, I don't think that's going to happen.

[KeithJenner]

They apparently left the family sitting in the terminal all day

 

These people need to be compensated.

 

This is, I believe the point that was being made earlier. You acknowledge that the information provided is not confirmed, or backed up by evidence (hence the use of the word apparently), but the solution that you have provided is a definite.

 

Edit: For the record, I'm not questioning what the OP says, just pointing out this inconsistency.

Edited March 3, 2015 by KeithJenner

[HokiePoq]

Not once have I even thought of rechecking a confirmed and paid for reservation. At what point do you stop checking? A week before? A few days before? The day of the cruise?

 

To expect a family to run aroun Hawaii looking for wifi just to check on an already confirmed reservation is absurd.

 

You don't print cruise documents and luggage tags within 30 days of your confirmed and paid cruise? I guess I am paranoid but I take copies of everything....and DH has to have his own copies in case I lose mine and vice versa. This includes all paid for shore excursions and anything else paid for. Our reservation for our just completed cruise on another line kept disappearing from their website. Every time I'd call TA until it stopped saying "pending" and disappearing. This is something we all are responsible for. I realize OPs situation was different from that.

OP, I am very sorry this happened to you. Thank you and your family for your service. I hope in the end you received some compensation and a refund. I'm thinking you had military flights for your trip? Our retired career military neighbor gets those standby flights and stays on the bases in Hawaii for a month or so every winter. I hope your trip can be rescheduled (and that you didn't lose money on civilian airfare) and that you were able to have some family time in Hawaii and can return for a cruise as well.

[smeyer418]

I have been coming back to this thread periodically. What we know so far is what the originally poster told us. is there more to the story? probably but if the original poster wants a direct response and not just sympathy I would suggest contacting AnneMarie Mathews

Vice President of Public Relations

publicrelations@ncl.com

(305)436-4799

[SeaShark]

It's a given that flight status changes, that's different than checking over and over to make sure you still have a confirmed seat.

 

At what point do you stop checking and rely on the competence of the cruise line that your confirmed reservation is still valid? A week before? A day before? An hour before?

 

They apparently left the family sitting in the terminal all day with no one to help or give information. There was nobody to help these poor folks, but I'm sure there were plenty of people there to take the other peoples money.

 

It must have been horrible sitting there with restless kids all day. I can only imagine what went on as the ship sailed away without them.

 

These people need to be compensated. Unfortunately unless they turn it into into a big deal on social media, I don't think that's going to happen.

 

 

In answer to your question, the point at which you stop checking is the point where you actually have a confirmed reservation.

 

As an aside...it is awfully presumptious to assume that spending the day with one's children must have been "horrible". Such drama over something so precious.

 

Lastly, you present an interesting point by stating that people who show up at the pier without a confirmed reservation "need to be compensated". Heck, I can't count the number of times a ship has left the pier when I didn't have a confirmed reservation! Where is MY compensation?? :rolleyes:

[hftmrock]

There is no reason to have to recheck a reservation once it is confirmed.

 

.

 

Ships do cancel trips. Ships get delayed , ships change itineraries . There are lots of reasons to recheck a confirmed reservation.

[jackson bernard]

In answer to your question, the point at which you stop checking is the point where you actually have a confirmed reservation.

 

As an aside...it is awfully presumptious to assume that spending the day with one's children must have been "horrible". Such drama over something so precious.

 

Lastly, you present an interesting point by stating that people who show up at the pier without a confirmed reservation "need to be compensated". Heck, I can't count the number of times a ship has left the pier when I didn't have a confirmed reservation! Where is MY compensation?? :rolleyes:

 

She said they had a confirmed reservation.

 

Since you apparently just show up at the pier without one, no compensation for you!

 

Lastly, sitting in a waiting area for god knows how long with restless kids in tow can't be fun...are we there yet are we there yet....bless their little hearts, but kids kan really try a parents patience....

[naturalbeauty2011]

This is so sad, its hard to find who's at fault here. NCL according to their information she wasn't on the list, so of course they can't let you on. " If the money isn't in my hands then no item will be giving". Could've been a glitch in the computer system, we all know technology isn't perfect. Now this women, She brought the cruise but didn't know it was cancelled, maybe there's some neglect on her part but who knoes the full story. I never book last minute but I do understand some families don't have the luxury to plan ahead of time. So I think the lesson here is triple check. Not just on your end but on cruises end as well. Hopefully you got all your money back and don't let it spoil any other cruise decisions.

[hawkeyetlse]

She said they had a confirmed reservation.

Again: "she said"… I would be interested in seeing this confirmation. What she reported above is that NCL sent her a reservation hold (i.e. not a reservation) and a confirmation of a credit card payment (which may or may not be confirmation of a validated booking paid in full, but in any case it is not a cruise ticket allowing one to board the ship on embarkation day).

[hpecorari]

Has the OP been back at all to report anything new? Did I miss that post?

 

Harriet

[NLH Arizona]

Has the OP been back at all to report anything new? Did I miss that post?

 

Harriet

She did come back and clarify a few things, but two things surprised me. She never said she called NCL; if it were me, I would be hotter than heck and would have called to find out what happened and she said: really am less concerned with the fact that we didn't get on the cruise, and more concerned with the fact that it was handled with such a "meh, what are ya gonna do?" attitude from the employees.

 

She was so upset that the cruise was cancelled in her first post, even equating the cancellation to it being because her husband was in the military having the cheapest rate and that they had to wait in the waiting room and that they were treated so poorly, but now she isn't really concerned that they did get on the cruise.

Edited March 3, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[maywell]

She said they had a confirmed reservation.

 

Since you apparently just show up at the pier without one, no compensation for you!

 

Lastly, sitting in a waiting area for god knows how long with restless kids in tow can't be fun...are we there yet are we there yet....bless their little hearts, but kids kan really try a parents patience....

You know you can downland the image / pdf of NCL confirmations to a cell phone while still getting the free Wi-Fi, right? You know how I know that because personal email accounts like Yahoo are blocked by my workplace's firewall on the company's computers, so the only other way to see my yahoo email right this second without a internet cafe, is on my cell phone. That's why I'm doubtful regarding parts of the story because the OP didn't say that portion in their 1st or follow up emails - all they had to do was show the download documents on the cell phone, even if wasn't set up for international use.

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

[thistimeplease]

In answer to your question, the point at which you stop checking is the point where you actually have a confirmed reservation.

 

As an aside...it is awfully presumptious to assume that spending the day with one's children must have been "horrible". Such drama over something so precious.

 

Lastly, you present an interesting point by stating that people who show up at the pier without a confirmed reservation "need to be compensated". Heck, I can't count the number of times a ship has left the pier when I didn't have a confirmed reservation! Where is MY compensation?? :rolleyes:

 

Spending so much time in a airport terminal or trying to straighten something out in a port are not my idea of family bonding time. I would imagine it was horrible because trying to amuse the kids as well as straighten out this situation would be enough to cause me to have a major melt down. I don't think this is "drama" and I do think NCL really messed up.

[hpecorari]

I feel for the OP, however, I'm not really sure HOW NCL messed up.

 

NCL's records show:

 

1. Reservation was made

2. Reservation was cancelled

 

Now, maybe NCL needs to be more stricter on how they treat a cancellation in regards to verifying it with the person who made the reservation.

 

And, I believe the OP has the right to know who cancelled that reservation as NCL must have some record of that.

 

I believe the fault falls 1st on WHO cancelled that reservation and why?

And...2nd on OP not double checking the reservation prior to getting on that plane.

 

But I would want to know.....I would demand.....to know....who cancelled that reservation. Was it the TA and if so, who gave the authority to cancel and why was it cancelled. Was it someone else? Who was that someone else and why?

 

Truth be told, there has been many times I've called to double check on my reservation or ask a question about it. I simply give them my name and they either ask me who else is on that reservation or confirm that they have the reservation in front of them and ask me if so and so is also on that reservation. Anyone.....could have actually cancelled that reservation.

 

Harriet

[garnet115]

 

I believe the fault falls 1st on WHO cancelled that reservation and why?

 

***

 

But I would want to know.....I would demand.....to know....who cancelled that reservation. Was it the TA and if so, who gave the authority to cancel and why was it cancelled. Was it someone else? Who was that someone else and why?

 

 

OP stated that she booked directly with NCL, not a TA, so the reservation was always in NCL's control. She made the reservation with NCL - who told her it was booked - received confirmation of the booking, and a confirmation of her payment. I understand that in an ideal world, one doubles and triple checks everything - I certainly do! - but it sounds like time made that difficult in OP's case. I agree that we are missing a very important piece of the story: how the reservation got cancelled. But, if it wasn't OP who cancelled it (and she says that it wasn't!), I'm not sure how this is her fault.

 

I've been lurking and following this thread. I can only imagine the stress of showing up at the pier, family in tow, only to be denied boarding. I am glad that the OP was able to make lemons out of lemonade and enjoy her vacation with her family. I also hope that she will let us all know what she learns and how it is ulitmately resolved.

[garnet115]

 

I received two important emails from Norwegian. The first being a reservation hold, the second sent immediately afterward was a confirmation. The confirmation email had an attachment which says: PAID by (insert credit card used) # **** on (insert date paid). We were well, well under our credit limit. So no issues there.

 

 

You can use "horrible" and "major melt down" in the same sentence, yet you don't recognize the drama?

 

The entire issue could have easily been avoided before they even stepped foot on the plane. There is no good scenerio where you leave home without a valid confirmed reservation.

 

OP says she had a confirmation email (the second email) from NCL which also indicated that it was paid. How was this leaving home without a valid confirmed reservation?

[kgymn]

You know you can downland the image / pdf of NCL confirmations to a cell phone while still getting the free Wi-Fi, right? You know how I know that because personal email accounts like Yahoo are blocked by my workplace's firewall on the company's computers, so the only other way to see my yahoo email right this second without a internet cafe, is on my cell phone. That's why I'm doubtful regarding parts of the story because the OP didn't say that portion in their 1st or follow up emails - all they had to do was show the download documents on the cell phone, even if wasn't set up for international use.

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

It's been well established now that they did NOT turn their cell phones on in order to avoid any chance of international roaming charges. They stated they in fact removed the sim cards, at the suggestion of their carrier, so that there was no chance to get roaming fees.

 

I find it interesting how many strong opinions there are in this thread from people who clearly haven't read all of what the OP said.

 

~Katy

[hpecorari]

OP stated that she booked directly with NCL, But, if it wasn't OP who cancelled it (and she says that it wasn't!), I'm not sure how this is her fault. .

 

At that point I'd demand to know WHY NCL cancelled the reservation. Was it a computer glitch? Did someone call in and cancel it? Was there a CC problem? Was it......this....or was it that?

 

They have to have records as to who cancelled it (NCL or someone else) and if someone else, who that person was.....and if it was NCL, then why?

 

Harriet

[realtreebar]

sorry this happened to you!

[RNRcruisers]

YThere is no good scenerio where you leave home without a valid confirmed reservation.

 

They did have a confirmed reservation.

 

I think we are missing the point here - regardless of who is at fault, NCL did not provide good customer service. It is appalling that a customer sat in port for several hours trying to figure out if they would be allowed to board, with very little to no help from any NCL employee.

 

I will use this incident as a reminder for myself that I shouldn't assume things will always go as planned and to do everything I can ahead of time to prevent things like this. I tend to think positive and assume it will all work out so this is a good reminder to me. As the OP said herself, sometimes things happen.

[hawkeyetlse]

I understand that in an ideal world, one doubles and triple checks everything - I certainly do! - but it sounds like time made that difficult in OP's case.

On the contrary, in an ideal world, there is absolutely no need to double or triple-check anything. There are no mistakes or glitches, and everything always turns out according to plan. It sounds like the OP momentarily forgot — as many of us do! — that we don't live in that world…

I find it interesting how many strong opinions there are in this thread from people who clearly haven't read all of what the OP said.

It has also been well established that (1) they were aware of the on-line check-in procedure and that this would be a good thing to do, even if not required by NCL ("I knew when we booked that we probably wouldn't be able to log in online to check in due to our lack of Internet access"), and (2) it turns out that they then spent 3 hours in an airport with Internet access ("We were at the airport for about 3 hours using their wifi"). Why didn't they log on to MyNCL and try to check in then?

Edited March 3, 2015 by hawkeyetlse

[maywell]

It's been well established now that they did NOT turn their cell phones on in order to avoid any chance of international roaming charges. They stated they in fact removed the sim cards, at the suggestion of their carrier, so that there was no chance to get roaming fees.

 

I find it interesting how many strong opinions there are in this thread from people who clearly haven't read all of what the OP said.

 

~Katy

She had time at the airport that was not Hawaii, the actual country where the military base is located , to check and download the reservations before shutting off the phone. Also, unless the cell phone doesn't have that option; you can put it on airplane mode, which allows no Wi-Fi, regular internet nor regular calls to come through. While in airplane mode, she could had shown to port officials there, the download reservations and/or payment confirmation. I had to use airplane mode for my own cell phone (my cellphone company told I have option to do that, or completely shut it off / take the battery out) since NCL ships and Bahamas are like $17 per minute if I use the wifi or make a call, and still able to play games that didn't need internet connection along with taking pictures on it.

 

Not saying it all her fault; but where or when there's a will, there's definitely a way. Either that, or I deal with way too many of my co-workers' crazy travel situations from hell...

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

Edited March 3, 2015 by maywell

[SeaShark]

OP says she had a confirmation email (the second email) from NCL which also indicated that it was paid. How was this leaving home without a valid confirmed reservation?

 

Easy...a valid, confirmed reservation gets you on the ship. Not having one leaves you on the pier. The only thing that was confirmed here was that the reservation request was terminated 16 minutes after it was made.

 

 

 

 

 

They did have a confirmed reservation.

 

I think we are missing the point here - regardless of who is at fault, NCL did not provide good customer service. It is appalling that a customer sat in port for several hours trying to figure out if they would be allowed to board, with very little to no help from any NCL employee.

 

I will use this incident as a reminder for myself that I shouldn't assume things will always go as planned and to do everything I can ahead of time to prevent things like this. I tend to think positive and assume it will all work out so this is a good reminder to me. As the OP said herself, sometimes things happen.

 

They did? Then enlighten us...why didn't they sail with their valid confirmed reservation?

[hawkeyetlse]

While in airplane mode, she could had shown to port officials there, the download reservations and/or payment confirmation.

She was able to show her documents to the port people:

I did have payment confirmation and a confirmation email. All of which I showed to the employees that were working with us at the terminal.

Being able to produce the documents was not the problem. The problem was that — unbeknownst to the OP — those documents did not accurately reflect the current situation as far as NCL was concerned.