Compensation for Star late arrival to Copenhagen

[s01836162]

Hello. Does anyone that was on the recent NCL Star sailing that arrived late into Copenhagen have any info on attempts to get additional compensation for missed flights and other unexpected expenses (beyond the $300 per passenger they offered via letter to our staterooms)? We'll be contacting NCL about this soon and would appreciate any info to help with negotiations. The mismanagement of the situation was extreme and over $3000 in unexpected expenses (as well as 2 extra missed days of work) is difficult to swallow.

 

If there's a thread about this already, a link would be appreciated.

 

Once we've gone through discussions with NCL, I'll try to remember to post the results back to this thread.

 

And, yes, we did learn our lesson regarding travel insurance. However, that still wouldn't mitigate the mismanagement, stress, and missed work days.

[OceanDreaming2]

Your situation is similar to what we experienced on the Pride of America which was delayed one day post-drydock. It took over 3 months to get our refund resolved while others are still waiting.

 

Here's the link to the Open Letter to Norwegian Cruise Line, which outlines the situation. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2376113

 

Did you file a claim electronically via their website?

[FranknBeans]

That's why u should buy travel insurance.

Edited July 13, 2016 by FranknBeans

[punkincc]

Sounds like your claims will be much more complicated than what we experienced related to the POA delay in departure. As straightforward as ours were, basically hotel bills for one night, they can't even get checks to us 4 months later. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to rate their customer response and competency as a 1. Expect an hour and a half wait before they'll even pick up the phone. And then expect every excuse, "we have no record of your claim you'll have to resubmit", "we are short staffed", "we only process these once a week". If they will even admit any responsibility for your expenses at all. I dont know the back story on the reason for your ship's late arrival. If due to weather or mechanical, they may feel like they have given you all that is due.

 

If you have any trip insurance, I'd just submit it now and save yourself months of wrangling.

[dexddd]

If you've had mis-management up to now, just wait.

 

We were on the same sailing as previous posters and it is now 15 weeks we've been waiting for a check for $300 and change from NCL.

[beerman2]

OP just curious as to why you were late arriving?

[Loonbeam]

Bear in mind, mismanagement or not, unless there's a larger issue not aware of, the cruise line is not obligated to offer you anything besides whatever offered on board (sounds like $300 per passenger). As you noted, anything else is expected to be covered by Travel Insurance.

 

In the case of the POA above, there was a compensation plan issued in writing on board and they are having issues with that, so unless compensation was offered above and beyond (and not just verbally) I (while I would submit a claim in the hopes of some goodwill payment) would not expect much if at all.

[blackwing]

I'm wondering the same thing... NCL appears to be offering $300 per passenger. Sounds like OP is trying to get the cost of everything (hotel, flight, compensation for lost time at work, etc) reimbursed? It'd be nice if that happened, but I would be very surprised.

 

This is one of the very reasons why people buy travel insurance. OP says they learned a lesson so apparently didn't buy it. But is now trying to get NCL to act as the travel insurance and reimburse for all of the added expenses.

[sjbdtz]

Hello. Does anyone that was on the recent NCL Star sailing that arrived late into Copenhagen have any info on attempts to get additional compensation for missed flights and other unexpected expenses (beyond the $300 per passenger they offered via letter to our staterooms)? We'll be contacting NCL about this soon and would appreciate any info to help with negotiations. The mismanagement of the situation was extreme and over $3000 in unexpected expenses (as well as 2 extra missed days of work) is difficult to swallow.

 

If there's a thread about this already, a link would be appreciated.

 

Once we've gone through discussions with NCL, I'll try to remember to post the results back to this thread.

 

And, yes, we did learn our lesson regarding travel insurance. However, that still wouldn't mitigate the mismanagement, stress, and missed work days.

 

 

Sorry to say, but the "lesson you learned regarding travel insurance" is that without it, you are out $2,700. With it, you would have been covered.

 

Because the SOLE purpose of travel insurance IS to mitigate against the delay & attendant costs thereafter.

 

You chose to self-insure, on a trip where you would have been better off insuring 3rd party. Put another way: you gambled & lost.

 

 

I buy travel insurance on every trip, even though I have global medical from work which also covers vacations....because I choose not to self-insure.

 

Over the years I've paid over $5,000 in premiums. And I've never had to make a claim. So I also gambled and lost....but I saved myself a lot of risk.

 

 

Best to chalk it up as a lesson learned, and move on.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

[Minerva]

There's some information in the last page of the roll call for your cruise

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2159846&page=12

[Budget Queen]

Hello. Does anyone that was on the recent NCL Star sailing that arrived late into Copenhagen have any info on attempts to get additional compensation for missed flights and other unexpected expenses (beyond the $300 per passenger they offered via letter to our staterooms)? We'll be contacting NCL about this soon and would appreciate any info to help with negotiations. The mismanagement of the situation was extreme and over $3000 in unexpected expenses (as well as 2 extra missed days of work) is difficult to swallow.

 

If there's a thread about this already, a link would be appreciated.

 

Once we've gone through discussions with NCL, I'll try to remember to post the results back to this thread.

 

And, yes, we did learn our lesson regarding travel insurance. However, that still wouldn't mitigate the mismanagement, stress, and missed work days.

 

 

 

How late was the ship, (couldn't have been more than a day???). What in the world cost $3000?

 

I agree, travel insurance is the solution in the case. The cruise line isn't going to pay you for you missing work.

[KeithJenner]

The ship was late by quite a few hours (I can't remember exactly), but it was mentioned in the original thread about it. I'm doing this cruise in a few weeks and at the time I said to my wife that in the same situation we would miss our 4.30pm flight, so it was a significant delay.

 

It was late enough that a lot of people would have missed their flights.

 

I imagine that this could have cost a fair amount if people needed to stay a night in hotels (which are expensive in Copenhagen) plus having to rebook flights.

[BirdTravels]

Unlike the open letter rant, our experience is that NCL guest services is very reasonable reimbursing substantiated costs, even if they exceed what is being offered. Whether you like it or not, you are a claim in a queue of thousands of claims across multiple ships. Each claim needs to be individually reviewed and approved.

 

Our experience is that it will take several/many months. Our experience is that those who interact with NCL with professional courtesy will be reimbursed for all costs. And that those who rude and unprofessional will get the minimum reimbursement.

[2specialkidsforme]

OP - you might also check into benefits from the credit card you used to pay for your trip. Some do carry travel benefits. Just a thought....Hope you can get resolution quickly.

[Demonyte]

There's some information in the last page of the roll call for your cruise

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2159846&page=12

 

 

The situation has been terrible for sure, but it amazes me that none of the three people in that roll call complaining about the extra expenses mentions insurance at all but think that NCL should pay for everything. Some people... O_o

[sverigecruiser]

How late was the ship, (couldn't have been more than a day???). What in the world cost $3000?

 

I agree, travel insurance is the solution in the case. The cruise line isn't going to pay you for you missing work.

 

I don't know where the OP lives but $3000 for oneway airlinetickets, probably bought the same day as the flight, is NOT much!

 

I guess they must live somewhere in Europe if $3000 is enough.

 

Should travel insurance really pay for missed days at work?

[4774Papa]

We always plan a pre and post cruise visit of at least one day unless we have a late flight with several hours prior to our flight.

[s01836162]

 

Did you file a claim electronically via their website?

 

Not yet. That will be the first step.

[s01836162]

OP just curious as to why you were late arriving?

 

Ship had to have engine repairs on Stockholm. Since sailing out of Stockholm is tricky due to the islands, Sweden wouldn't let us sail out until daybreak the next morning. At around 25 MPH, we arrived in Copenhagen about 9 1/2 hours late (they said it would be 8 hours late, almost missed the rebooked flight due to wind slowing us down, which would have been horrid).

[s01836162]

Bear in mind, mismanagement or not, unless there's a larger issue not aware of, the cruise line is not obligated to offer you anything besides whatever offered on board (sounds like $300 per passenger). As you noted, anything else is expected to be covered by Travel Insurance.

 

In the case of the POA above, there was a compensation plan issued in writing on board and they are having issues with that, so unless compensation was offered above and beyond (and not just verbally) I (while I would submit a claim in the hopes of some goodwill payment) would not expect much if at all.

 

I understand their terms protect them. However, they weren't obligated to offer the $300 per person and they did. There is reason to believe negotiations will bear some fruit, which is why I created this thread (to see how that's going for other people from this cruise).

[s01836162]

How late was the ship, (couldn't have been more than a day???). What in the world cost $3000?

 

I agree, travel insurance is the solution in the case. The cruise line isn't going to pay you for you missing work.

 

A flight home cost $3000. Keep in mind this is Europe to the US. We had a choice of arriving 4 days late for $2000 or 1 day late for $3000. Those were the ONLY options available.

 

I wasn't suggesting they pay me for missing work, but you better believe that will be part of the very real sob story when negotiating.

[s01836162]

I don't know where the OP lives but $3000 for oneway airlinetickets, probably bought the same day as the flight, is NOT much!

 

I guess they must live somewhere in Europe if $3000 is enough.

 

Should travel insurance really pay for missed days at work?

 

$3000 covered Europe to US through Istanbul.

[s01836162]

A flight home cost $3000. Keep in mind this is Europe to the US. We had a choice of arriving 4 days late for $2000 or 1 day late for $3000. Those were the ONLY options available.

 

I wasn't suggesting they pay me for missing work, but you better believe that will be part of the very real sob story when negotiating.

 

Just to share some of the horrible mismanagement:

 

1) When first announced, they had at least one person (who I found out was high up in the food services department) telling people waiting in line at guest services to go upstairs where they had about 6 computers set up and rebook travel. He said NCL would cover the added travel expense. This was completely wrong. NCL was making no such promise at that time. If I had rebooked travel without learning this person was wrong, I would be irate about them lying to me, especially if I had been stupid enough to book an ultra expensive flight (and those were out there). By the time I had rebooked travel, I was aware this person was wrong, but how many people managed to rebook without knowing this?

 

2) They set up about 6 computers and had 2 phones in a conference room to rebook travel/deal with issues. They _closed_ these around 1:00 AM until 9:00 AM. When you have only had about 30-50 people get to use these facilities when there are hundreds more people that need to use them, you _do not close them_. Get someone from the entertainment staff to dial out the phone lines for people and put a sign up saying that person cannot answer any questions. Also, there is _no reason_ to stop access to the 6 computers. The next day, they handed out numbers and, last I checked, they were on number 32 when people were wandering around with number 160. I guarantee with how slow the process goes they never got past number 80.

 

3) They should have come up with some sort of plan for free wireless internet (would alleviate a lot of #2 above). I understand they probably can't just open it up completely because that would probably break it. But they did nothing. They probably should have handed out free 60 minute packages. While it wouldn't be binding, they should have asked everyone on the ship to only use internet to deal with travel issues. I know that the internet was working well enough that it could have withstood some additional strain from allowing limited free access.

 

4) They said the ship was going to arrive in Copenhagen at 3:00 PM. They were wrong. It arrived around 4:30-4:45. I wonder how many people missed their rebooked travel because of this. I did not, but I did have to run through the airport and it was VERY close. If strong winds can cause you to be over 1 1/2 hours late (over the already 8 hour late arrival time), you screwed up with your arrival time announcement. They should have said that we would arrive back in Copenhagen sometime between 3:00 and 8:00 PM. Give a range that you know you won't miss. While one could argue I should have figured I needed more then 3 hours leeway to make my flight, help me out and make it obvious that we might not make the revised time back. We are talking about rebooked flights that cost thousands of dollars.

 

5) They didn't allow people off in Stockholm. Also, the suite concierge thought they were going to allow people off in Stockholm and she wasn't told otherwise until it had been knowledge elsewhere for quite awhile. If this was Sweden's decision, nothing NCL can do. They never said this, though, which leads me to believe this was NCL's decision. If it was, it was an _idiotic_ decision. We would have gotten off and had 2 days to make a 6 hour drive to Copenhagen. We can figure out how to make that happen. When you are talking mutli-thousand dollar flights to get home vs. figuring out how to make a 6 hour land trek and a night or two of hotel, the decision is obvious (at least for me). Many people booked ferries and other types of travel with the incorrect impression they would be allowed off the boat. I imagine most of that was refundable, but maybe not.

 

5b) If NCL could have allowed us off, even better would be to book some buses from Stockholm to Copenhagen for us. I have to imagine that would have worked out better for them than what they are going to go through now.

 

6) Disembarkation was a complete disaster. No flow of information, basically people who decided to mob the exit got their way. I'm a bit surprised there aren't posts on here about people getting injured by other people walking over them in their haste to make it to the airport (remember, we were 1 1/2+ hours late into Copenhagen).

 

That's off the top of my head.

Edited July 14, 2016 by s01836162

[4774Papa]

Just to share some of the horrible mismanagement:

 

1) When first announced, they had at least one person (who I found out was high up in the food services department) telling people waiting in line at guest services to go upstairs where they had about 6 computers set up and rebook travel. He said NCL would cover the added travel expense. This was completely wrong. NCL was making no such promise at that time. If I had rebooked travel without learning this person was wrong, I would be irate about them lying to me, especially if I had been stupid enough to book an ultra expensive flight (and those were out there). By the time I had rebooked travel, I was aware this person was wrong, but how many people managed to rebook without knowing this?

 

2) They set up about 6 computers and had 2 phones in a conference room to rebook travel/deal with issues. They _closed_ these around 1:00 AM until 9:00 AM. When you have only had about 30-50 people get to use these facilities when there are hundreds more people that need to use them, you _do not close them_. Get someone from the entertainment staff to dial out the phone lines for people and put a sign up saying that person cannot answer any questions. Also, there is _no reason_ to stop access to the 6 computers. The next day, they handed out numbers and, last I checked, they were on number 32 when people were wandering around with number 160. I guarantee with how slow the process goes they never got past number 80.

 

3) They should have come up with some sort of plan for free wireless internet (would alleviate a lot of #2 above). I understand they probably can't just open it up completely because that would probably break it. But they did nothing. They probably should have handed out free 60 minute packages. While it wouldn't be binding, they should have asked everyone on the ship to only use internet to deal with travel issues. I know that the internet was working well enough that it could have withstood some additional strain from allowing limited free access.

 

4) They said the ship was going to arrive in Copenhagen at 3:00 PM. They were wrong. It arrived around 4:30-4:45. I wonder how many people missed their rebooked travel because of this. I did not, but I did have to run through the airport and it was VERY close. If strong winds can cause you to be over 1 1/2 hours late (over the already 8 hour late arrival time), you screwed up with your arrival time announcement. They should have said that we would arrive back in Copenhagen sometime between 3:00 and 8:00 PM. Give a range that you know you won't miss. While one could argue I should have figured I needed more then 3 hours leeway to make my flight, help me out and make it obvious that we might not make the revised time back. We are talking about rebooked flights that cost thousands of dollars.

 

5) They didn't allow people off in Stockholm. Also, the suite concierge thought they were going to allow people off in Stockholm and she wasn't told otherwise until it had been knowledge elsewhere for quite awhile. If this was Sweden's decision, nothing NCL can do. They never said this, though, which leads me to believe this was NCL's decision. If it was, it was an _idiotic_ decision. We would have gotten off and had 2 days to make a 6 hour drive to Copenhagen. We can figure out how to make that happen. When you are talking mutli-thousand dollar flights to get home vs. figuring out how to make a 6 hour land trek and a night or two of hotel, the decision is obvious (at least for me). Many people booked ferries and other types of travel with the incorrect impression they would be allowed off the boat. I imagine most of that was refundable, but maybe not.

 

5b) If NCL could have allowed us off, even better would be to book some buses from Stockholm to Copenhagen for us. I have to imagine that would have worked out better for them than what they are going to go through now.

 

6) Disembarkation was a complete disaster. No flow of information, basically people who decided to mob the exit got their way. I'm a bit surprised there aren't posts on here about people getting injured by other people walking over them in their haste to make it to the airport (remember, we were 1 1/2+ hours late into Copenhagen).

 

That's off the top of my head.

 

NCL made some very poor decisions.

 

1) Why not keep the extra computer room open or set up wireless internet for passengers?

2) Sweden would not let people off?!? That just doesn't make sense. Perhaps that might make sense for some people from countries that would need a visa for Sweden, but mostly British, Canadian and Americans, it makes no sense.

3) NCL could have chartered busses for passengers that needed to get to Copenhagen by leaving the ship.

 

This is a black mark on NCL.

[blackwing]

I can understand the frustration over some of the choices NCL made regarding the computers... but the bottom line is that things happen. It's in the Passenger Ticket Contract that they can modify the itinerary for whatever reason.

 

Airlines are similar. When your flight gets cancelled or you miss a connecting flight because of delays, they will rebook you on the next one. They might even give you some amount towards hotel if it's not the same day. But they don't cover every single expense you might have.

 

My feeling is that Sweden didn't want all the passengers disembarking. Probably has something to do with regulations and how many ships can embark and disembark at that port. They let cruise ships dock and let passengers tour around the city with the expectation that all of those passengers will be leaving that same day.

 

I think it's nice of NCL to give some money in compensation. I understand that it doesn't cover all of it, but to expect or hope for them to cover all of it is not reasonable. People buy travel insurance so they can have all of their travel-related mishap expenses covered.

 

Sorry this happened to you, to have an engine break and alter your plans must have been very stressful.