NCL Star and Harvest Caye

[cellalot]

We are frequent travelers on Carnival and Princess who decided to give NCL another try because of a new stop in Belize, Harvest Caye. Today I went online to book my restaurants and realized that we are now stopping in Belize City as opposed to Harvest Caye. We booked this trip with NCL because of a unique destination and now we are back to the same destinations we would have gotten with our preferred cruise line where we are platinum and almost diamond. When I called we were offered nothing in compensation. Since they made this change after the cancellation period, we are stuck. The customer service in this case is abysmal. Is this typical of what to expect from NCL? If so, I will short their stock and buy more of Carnival!

[Demonyte]

Unfortunately according to the guest ticket contracts on all major cruise lines you are never guaranteed any specific ports and hence are not entitled to any compensation for itinerary changes.

 

This applies to Carnival and Princess too.

[cellalot]

The problem is with the others, we have missed ports because of weather. In this case, we asked specifically and were told it would be done. It is not a natural disaster but a logistics problem and therefore not excusable. Contractually they may be covered but as far as a customer service perspective, they have failed.

[seaskydoll]

We are frequent travelers on Carnival and Princess who decided to give NCL another try because of a new stop in Belize, Harvest Caye. Today I went online to book my restaurants and realized that we are now stopping in Belize City as opposed to Harvest Caye. We booked this trip with NCL because of a unique destination and now we are back to the same destinations we would have gotten with our preferred cruise line where we are platinum and almost diamond. When I called we were offered nothing in compensation. Since they made this change after the cancellation period, we are stuck. The customer service in this case is abysmal. Is this typical of what to expect from NCL? If so, I will short their stock and buy more of Carnival!

 

We are frequent NCL cruisers but, also booked this in hopes of going to HC. I'm sure customer service is being bombarded with nasty phone calls since this is not the first delay for it. While it is not an excuse for poor service I would guess they are having to say the same things repeatedly. We have always had good service for general issues. While we are disappointed too, we always have such great staff and service on the ships we will make the best of the usual ports. We actually decided to try the spa passes and stay on board in Belize instead.

[Lialovestotravel]

If you purchased travel insurance, you might check your policy..the one I bought does provide a $750 reimbursement for port changes. I haven't tried to claim it yet, but it might be worth looking at whether yours covers that. I was looking forward to that stop too.

[gl1200a]

We are frequent NCL cruisers but, also booked this in hopes of going to HC. I'm sure customer service is being bombarded with nasty phone calls since this is not the first delay for it. While it is not an excuse for poor service I would guess they are having to say the same things repeatedly. We have always had good service for general issues. While we are disappointed too, we always have such great staff and service on the ships we will make the best of the usual ports. We actually decided to try the spa passes and stay on board in Belize instead.

 

Bombarded with calls?

With the exception of people that frequent cruise forums, a very small percentage.

 

Or people that check their booking online frequently, a even smaller percentage.

 

Majority of the passengers are not even aware of it!

My cruise is in 32 days, I have yet to be notified.

[gl1200a]

The bombardment can commence.

Just received my notification of itinerary change

[kitten3008]

We sail in 24 days and still haven't received an email or anything of the sort, lol, despite our itinerary changing online. If it weren't for CC we would have noticed last minute. We definitely booked specifically for Harvest Caye so it's disappointing, but hey - it's a vacation and I know we'll still have a great time.

[keiffer_81]

We will be sailing as well at the same time, 23 days from today. I also am still waiting to receive an e-mail of the changes. I only noticed the change when I logged into my NCL account. I just spoke with NCL and all they could say was that "I understand your frustration". I've been to the port in Belize City and I would just as well stay on the boat. Very disappointing that the trip will not be visiting Harvest Cay as this was to be a beach day for us. The excursions all seem to be pretty pricey at the port in Belize as well. This stop is one of the reasons that we booked this cruise as it would be a different port of call. Still going to have fun and we won't let this ruin anything, but for a fist timer with NCL their customer service will direct me to book my next one with the other cruise lines that I've sailed with before.

[Oldgoat61]

NCL had very little control over what has happened. There are a few factors that come into play. The first is environmental lawsuits, which I am sure are pushed in part by (second) Belize City not wanting to lose business to Harvest Cay. The only source I can give you was from another thread that was on here several weeks ago. Hope this helps.

 

FYI, I do know how it feels.....we go on a cruise in Mar., and Harvest Caye was supposed to be a port of call.

[kitten3008]

Eh.. my frustration with NCL at this point is about many things. While I understand that Harvest Caye not opening is out of their control, I sail in three weeks - if they need another ten months, I am fairly sure they knew quite some time ago that there was no way they were opening in February. Had they changed it before final payment, I may have had the option to choose another cruise without losing what I've paid on this one.

 

I'm still going to go, I'll still have a great time, but between this and the huge mess they made when they suddenly cancelled all those cruises, which did affect me, and several other headaches... it's their customer service that I'm calling into question, and they do have control over that. I like what NCL offers as a product, I just can't always get behind the way they provide it. I never even considered another line for this cruise, and in the future, I'm much more likely to shop around.

[Laszlo]

It is not a natural disaster but a logistics problem and therefore not excusable..

 

LOL

Sounds like you have never been involved in having anything built LOL

 

Construction delays happen all the time everywhere. Smart money would have been not booking the cruise until its actually open.....

[chas]

Ad me to the list of disappointed passengers who just got notice regarding our March 6th sailing on the Star. I too called NCL and was told "sorry" we are not offering any compensation as a result of this.

 

It's hard for me to believe that NCL did not know this sooner (like before my final payment was due). If they are now saying November for H.C. they didn't just figure it out.

 

Having enjoyed Coco Cay & Labadee on RCCL, we booked this cruise looking forward to a new private beach to chill out and have drinks brought to you. We have been to Belize before and chose a cruise that did not include it for a reason.

 

Spare me the garbage about what cruise lines have in their fine print about what they can do. Read all those mind-numbing pages and you're likely to realize, that to cover themselves from legal action, they can do most anything they want. My gripe is not about what they say that they can do (or won't do in this case), but rather what they should do to make people feel good about this situation.

Edited January 22, 2016 by chas

[collie1228]

Received email this morning from NCL:

 

Dear Valued Guests & Travel Partners,

Norwegian Cruise Line has important information for you regarding Norwegian Star's 7-Day Western Caribbean sailing from Tampa, Florida from February 21, 2016 through April 10, 2016. All guests booked on this sailing need to be aware of this change and travel professionals are asked to forward this information to their clients.

Norwegian Cruise Line is developing the Caribbean's premier destination experience at Harvest Caye, Belize. This spectacular resort-style port of call will feature an expansive pool, exclusive beach, shallow lagoon for watersports, private luxury cabanas and many more exciting features. We are dedicated to delivering the highest quality amenities and services to our guests in one of the richest ecosystems in the region with a diversity of flora and fauna that is core to the Harvest Caye experience. As a result, the grand opening of Harvest Caye will take place in November 2016. Guests sailing on Western Caribbean cruises now through mid-November will enjoy the beauty, adventure and rich history of this country with a call in Belize City.

Please review the revised itinerary information below.

 

If you pre-booked shore excursions through Norwegian Cruise Line for Harvest Caye, your pre-booked shore excursion reservations will be automatically cancelled. For a list of shore excursions in Belize City, please visit our website at www.ncl.com/excursions or contact our shore excursion desk at 1-866-625-1167.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, please contact us at 800-327-7030 (Monday through Friday from 8am to midnight ET and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 9pm ET). We look forward to welcoming you aboard Norwegian Star.

Sincerely,

Vivian Ewart

Vice President, Passenger Services

[chas]

I thought that they were very classy in telling you how great Harvest Caye is going to be, and by the way you're not going there!

[macandlucy]

I thought that they were very classy in telling you how great Harvest Caye is going to be, and by the way you're not going there!

 

:D

 

From a PR viewpoint, the official cancellation notice is probably not the best place to hype the awesomeness of this port stop.

 

We were also cancelled for this (on our Jade cruise) and booked it in part because of Harvest Caye. Reading how great it's going to be rankles a little more.

[xriva]

I thought that they were very classy in telling you how great Harvest Caye is going to be, and by the way you're not going there!

 

 

I thought the same thing. Shouldn't they say, "We're sorry. It's a shambles at the moment, but we hope it will be nice in about a year. More in that later, if we don't miss that deadline."

[medicalma'am]

I can highly recommend the Shark Ray Alley excursion with NCL in Belize City!