NCL Star Jumper affected passengers

[NLH Arizona]

I’ve never been to Venice but I’m wondering if there was an option to rent your own scooters like I have seen at US ports? And if so, do you pick up the scooter at check in or are they on the ship? Your experience and knowledge might help someone else with your level of handicap so just asking if you know of that option there. Pain greatly influences our perceptions. I have chronic thigh pain but luckily do not need a cane. Walking does not make it worse or better for me but I do know at times it is distracting to the point of coloring my whole outlook. While I doubt you’ll get the satisfaction you are seeking writing a letter detailing ways in which the process could be made better might help future guests.

The do have scooter rental in Venice. Here are just two of the companies: https://www.accessiblevenice.com/hire-and-rental-mobility-solutions-on-cruises-from-venice-port/

 

https://www.mobilityequipmenthiredirect.com/mobility-equipment-hire/c2425-mobility-scooter-hire-in-italy-venice-port/

[shannon_m]

The do have scooter rental in Venice. Here are just two of the companies: https://www.accessiblevenice.com/hire-and-rental-mobility-solutions-on-cruises-from-venice-port/

 

https://www.mobilityequipmenthiredirect.com/mobility-equipment-hire/c2425-mobility-scooter-hire-in-italy-venice-port/

 

Thanks for that. I never saw any there. Maybe because its a third party company and not the port of venice itself. It might be something you need to specifically book?

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for that. I never saw any there. Maybe because its a third party company and not the port of venice itself. It might be something you need to specifically book?

Yes, just like most ports, you have to pre-book them for your cruise and they will have them at the port for you.

[shannon_m]

Yes, just like most ports, you have to pre-book them for your cruise and they will have them at the port for you.

 

Cool. I've only ever booked assistance and wheelchairs, never a scooter. Didn't realise there were companies that did that.

[zqvol]

Thanks. I am just so disappointed by the way it was all handled. We were missed treated At The Port before we even left, they refused to give us a wheelchair when we requested one 3 times, we asked for a wheelchair but we made to stand in a mobility assistance area for more than 3 hours. Consequently both my mother and myself suffered immense pain and were very uncomfortable and were provided with no assistance whatsoever. This was before we even boarded the ship when things seem to go from bad to worse.

 

This has nothing to do with NCL. Until you are on the ship the port itself is the agency providing the service.

[zqvol]

The first issue was that we had a drinks package bonus when we booked. We confirmed eligibility with NCL prior to departure over the phone and When we checked in at the terminal, it was confirmed that it was on our account, however once on board the ship, we were told that we were ineligible due to the way our travel agent booked it. If we were ineligible the why had 2 different staff confirm we had it. We also had an issue with a birthday package my mum purchased. It was delivered 3 days early and the cake was left on the bed in our cabin after 9pm also 3 days early instead of at the restaurant as requested. There were some other things as well, but these were the main issues. It's just a shame because the cabin staff and restaurant staff are wonderful, but at least half of the people we spoke to at guest services were incompetent, unapologetic and we'll, just miserable.

 

Your cabin staff clearly was not wonderful. They are given the list of amenities that you purchase and it is up to them to deliver them when they want. There is no way to insure that a cake or particular package will be delivered at a certain time or on a certain day.. In fact, normally they are all delivered on embarkation day.

[terry&mike]

I've set up several scooter rentals on cruises for passengers, so wanted to clarify the information here. In most embarkation ports throughout the world there are companies that will rent scooters out for passenger use during a cruise. The scooter is rented through one of these companies, and the fee is paid. The cruise line requires that the scooter be able to fit in the passenger's room, not in the hallway, when the passenger is in the cabin. The passenger must submit a document to the cruise line in advance of the sailing letting them know they will be renting a scooter for the trip, the dimensions, company rented from, etc. The scooter company delivers the scooter to the dock, and collects it at the dock at disembarkation. This service is for closed loop cruises (start and end in same port).

[phoenix1181]

I've set up several scooter rentals on cruises for passengers, so wanted to clarify the information here. In most embarkation ports throughout the world there are companies that will rent scooters out for passenger use during a cruise. The scooter is rented through one of these companies, and the fee is paid. The cruise line requires that the scooter be able to fit in the passenger's room, not in the hallway, when the passenger is in the cabin. The passenger must submit a document to the cruise line in advance of the sailing letting them know they will be renting a scooter for the trip, the dimensions, company rented from, etc. The scooter company delivers the scooter to the dock, and collects it at the dock at disembarkation. This service is for closed loop cruises (start and end in same port).

 

This information is incomplete.

 

At the port in Boston, they are not picked up at the dock. They are placed in your cabin & are picked up from your cabin at the end of the cruise. It's important to check since Boston may not be the only port that handles it this way.

[shannon_m]

And so the saga continues. Im exhausted and cant be bothered with replying to people who obviously forgot to read what the original topic of this thread was. This thread was opened not so people could provide opinions on their various cruise experience or comment on my disatistfaction. It was opened.so that I could hear from those who were on the same cruise I was and to find out what their post cruise experience has been. So I kindly ask that if this doesn't apply to you, to please refrain from comment as it is not really helpful or useful. Thanks to those of you who replied with genuinely helpful feedback of your experience with this particular cruise.

[mjkacmom]

And so the saga continues. Im exhausted and cant be bothered with replying to people who obviously forgot to read what the original topic of this thread was. This thread was opened not so people could provide opinions on their various cruise experience or comment on my disatistfaction. It was opened.so that I could hear from those who were on the same cruise I was and to find out what their post cruise experience has been. So I kindly ask that if this doesn't apply to you, to please refrain from comment as it is not really helpful or useful. Thanks to those of you who replied with genuinely helpful feedback of your experience with this particular cruise.

The poster above is dead on, if a ship gets in late, for any reason, embankment/disembarkment will be awful. Staff will be rushing to get passengers off of the ship, luggage off of the ship, the cruise terminal will be crowded and understaffed (getting passengers off being the priority since passengers need to get to their transportation home). We experienced a horrible disembarkment in NYC once due to a shortage of customs agents, we stood on deck in cold November temperatures for 2 hours with our 5 kids and the grandparents. After that experience, I’ve learned to pack my patience, because when delays happen, it goes downhill quickly.

[Starry Eyes]

And so the saga continues. Im exhausted and cant be bothered with replying to people who obviously forgot to read what the original topic of this thread was. This thread was opened not so people could provide opinions on their various cruise experience or comment on my disatistfaction. It was opened.so that I could hear from those who were on the same cruise I was and to find out what their post cruise experience has been. So I kindly ask that if this doesn't apply to you, to please refrain from comment as it is not really helpful or useful. Thanks to those of you who replied with genuinely helpful feedback of your experience with this particular cruise.

Welcome to the Internet! Remember these are public boards. There are ground rules, and moderators are available to remove inappropriate content. But I do not believe starting a thread gives you the right to control other poster’s perfectly civil comments.

 

Consider that reading other’s opinions and hearing other’s experiences is helpful to most people. It has been helpful to me time and again on these boards, often from threads I didn’t start. Often from threads I was not a contributor. Often from archived threads found with search function. Though you may never be willing to make use of the information freely offered to you here, some other reader may benefit. I hope so.

[SeaShark]

And so the saga continues. Im exhausted and cant be bothered with replying to people who obviously forgot to read what the original topic of this thread was. This thread was opened not so people could provide opinions on their various cruise experience or comment on my disatistfaction. It was opened.so that I could hear from those who were on the same cruise I was and to find out what their post cruise experience has been. So I kindly ask that if this doesn't apply to you, to please refrain from comment as it is not really helpful or useful. Thanks to those of you who replied with genuinely helpful feedback of your experience with this particular cruise.

 

Giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming that you only wanted to hear the opinions and experiences of the people who were on the cruise with you, then your comments and request for feedback should have been posted to the roll call thread for your cruise where it would be directed to the attention of those very people.

 

The fact that it is published on the general NCL forum for EVERYONE to read and comment is really your own fault. You could have just as easily kept this entire topic on the thread dedicated to your sailing.

 

 

Just like in real estate...location, location, location.

[nealstuber]

This has nothing to do with NCL. Until you are on the ship the port itself is the agency providing the service.

 

 

 

Our limited experience with wheelchair assistance is that a crew member from the ship comes on shore to assist with the wheel chair.

 

It is possible that those same people had to be questioned and where therefore behind on their regular duties. Or they could have been part of the rescue effort and behind on their work (and rest) schedule.

 

The ship has finite resources which are optimized to provide value during normal operations. When something big goes wrong, there just aren’t enough people to do everything the way it’s normally done and it takes a while for the system to recover.

 

I understand that OP expects empathy and her point that we can’t understand her situation unless we’ve been through it. Conversely, I think OP could should be a more understanding too; unless she has been responsible for dealing with a passenger overboard and it’s aftermath, she can’t possibly understand the difficulties and challenges the crew faced prior and during her arrival.

 

I think people react badly when someone with special needs expects their needs to be met at all times when they show little sympathy for others dealing with special circumstances.

 

 

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[Seanote]

In bound ships have an “appointment” with the port. That is, an expected time of arrival. When a ship misses their arrival time, they essentially have to reschedule their arrival time. There are so many moving parts/people to coordinate the ships arrival:

Harbor pilots.

Longshoremen.

Stevedores.

Port agents.

Customer service staff.

Provisioning trucks.

Ground transportation, etc.

Many of these people had already completed their shifts or had moved on to other ships/berths.

Once the Star missed its calling time, all the shore-side providers needed to be rescheduled and the ship assigned a new arrival time. So if it seems they were further delays getting into port, this is the reason. Furthermore, disembarkation was probably a mess as the shoreside staff was most likely short staffed as the new arrival time was outside their normal staffing hours and the new crews had to be cobbled together.

 

These combination of events are what led to the disembarkation delays and service issues pax experienced upon return.

 

After 30-plus cruises, I have seen the embarkation/disembarkation chaos and resulting service interruptions several times due to a delayed ship. Unfortunately, it stinks for both the arriving and departing pax, but it is not out of the norm for these events.

 

IMO, the vitriol should be aimed at the jumper, the proximate cause of people’s misery, and not the cruise line. The cruise line was a victim too and probably suffered significant financial losses due to the event.

[Shoppie124]

In bound ships have an “appointment” with the port. That is, an expected time of arrival. When a ship misses their arrival time, they essentially have to reschedule their arrival time. There are so many moving parts/people to coordinate the ships arrival:

 

Harbor pilots.

 

Longshoremen.

 

Stevedores.

 

Port agents.

 

Customer service staff.

 

Provisioning trucks.

 

Ground transportation, etc.

 

Many of these people had already completed their shifts or had moved on to other ships/berths.

 

Once the Star missed its calling time, all the shore-side providers needed to be rescheduled and the ship assigned a new arrival time. So if it seems they were further delays getting into port, this is the reason. Furthermore, disembarkation was probably a mess as the shoreside staff was most likely short staffed as the new arrival time was outside their normal staffing hours and the new crews had to be cobbled together.

 

 

 

These combination of events are what led to the disembarkation delays and service issues pax experienced upon return.

 

 

 

After 30-plus cruises, I have seen the embarkation/disembarkation chaos and resulting service interruptions several times due to a delayed ship. Unfortunately, it stinks for both the arriving and departing pax, but it is not out of the norm for these events.

 

 

 

IMO, the vitriol should be aimed at the jumper, the proximate cause of people’s misery, and not the cruise line. The cruise line was a victim too and probably suffered significant financial losses due to the event.

 

 

 

Where is the like button when you need one?[emoji106]

 

 

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[ElaineKeagy]

In one of the announcements the captain virtually blamed the person who went overboard,

 

 

The woman jumping overboard WAS the reason for the delay.

 

 

 

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[Rob5russell]

Who do you think is to blame and why? Was it the person who jumped, SOLAS who requires that they search for the person or NCL?

I was also on the cruise. I felt the Captain did a great job of keeping us notified of everything that was going on, that was until we docked. But, I am sure he was dealing with the Italian Police at that time. I ask what could they have done differently? They did have phones for passengers to use to rebook flights. Unfortunately, they didn’t have 100s of phones. They did offer 15 additional minutes of Internet. I couldn’t find that though on my phone. I honestly think there were 3 things they could have done. Instead of notifying us at 6am, they could have done it earlier so passengers could have rebooked flights. Or they could have given us unlimited WiFi so passengers could rebook. Or they could have done the unthinkable and watched the video and saw that she jumped and wanted to go overboard and just left her there. We all know they weren’t going to leave her there. Is it NCL fault 500 plus missed their flights? No, but the process could have been handled better. I don’t feel anyone should be reimbursed for their cruise or flights from NCL. But, if we can all jump on a class action against the jumper I am in.

[shannon_m]

I was also on the cruise. I felt the Captain did a great job of keeping us notified of everything that was going on, that was until we docked. But, I am sure he was dealing with the Italian Police at that time. I ask what could they have done differently? They did have phones for passengers to use to rebook flights. Unfortunately, they didn’t have 100s of phones. They did offer 15 additional minutes of Internet. I couldn’t find that though on my phone. I honestly think there were 3 things they could have done. Instead of notifying us at 6am, they could have done it earlier so passengers could have rebooked flights. Or they could have given us unlimited WiFi so passengers could rebook. Or they could have done the unthinkable and watched the video and saw that she jumped and wanted to go overboard and just left her there. We all know they weren’t going to leave her there. Is it NCL fault 500 plus missed their flights? No, but the process could have been handled better. I don’t feel anyone should be reimbursed for their cruise or flights from NCL. But, if we can all jump on a class action against the jumper I am in.

 

Than you for this very valuable information. It's very helpful to know this. I was personally.on the cruise directly after yours and so my perspective on the port side of things would be a little different. Still, I really thank you for your valuable contribution to this thread. I feel sorry for you guys, as I am sure you too had several issues and a sincerely feel for you. It sounds like they could have done a bit more for you guys too that would have helped the situation, and like you said, o e of those things would have been to give you more internet time to reboot your flights. 15 minutes for that amount of people to reschedule would have been almost useless as the server would no doubt have struggled to deal with the demand. Thanks again for your input.

[beerman2]

Than you for this very valuable information. It's very helpful to know this. I was personally.on the cruise directly after yours and so my perspective on the port side of things would be a little different. Still, I really thank you for your valuable contribution to this thread. I feel sorry for you guys, as I am sure you too had several issues and a sincerely feel for you. It sounds like they could have done a bit more for you guys too that would have helped the situation, and like you said, o e of those things would have been to give you more internet time to reboot your flights. 15 minutes for that amount of people to reschedule would have been almost useless as the server would no doubt have struggled to deal with the demand. Thanks again for your input.

 

It's always a pain in the A--' when the ship is delayed. We were 1 1/2 days getting back due to hurricane. The logistics of hundreds of people rebooking flights is unreal. Unlimited internet minutes might not have even helped.

 

Cruiselines have a code they go by plus I'm guessing a Manuel/guidelines to follow in a variety of situation.

 

Sure it is upsetting, but certainly not that bad. We are the ones that need to adapt to the cruise line policies, the port policies as difficult as that is sometimes.

[mef_57]

<<We are the ones that need to adapt to the cruise line policies, the port policies as difficult as that is sometimes.>> Yep. Just like having to adapt to post 9/11 at the airport and building in more time for 'everything' around flights.

[gabeandbelle]

I didn’t hear about the women jumping, I learned a lesson the hard way if you know someone has had to much to drink DO NOT TELL THE SECURITY YOU WANT YOUR BALCONY DOOR SECURED, the next thing you know they are accusing the person of saying they are going to jump, them they grab a 108# women by the arm bruising her and to make matters worse they put the person on a do not cruise list, I was concerned my daughter had to much to drink and asked security to lock my balcony what a mistake that was.

 

 

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[mjkacmom]

For goodness sake, it’s not a Venice issue, it’s not a NCL issue, it’s a woman jumped off of the ship which delayed the ship getting to Venice for many hours issue!

[csopi]

Ok, so the jumper was the cause.

Does that remove all responsibility from the cruise line to do their best and try to accommodate people, especially with mobility issues.

 

Do the cruise lines not practice for emergency issues ( why the muster drills).

This is not the first time there were delays or last and it was not the first jumper or the last.

NCL was not the cause, but they are supposed to be the solution, or is every emergency supposed to play out as it will.

 

Personally I have never had a bad cruise with NCL, a few unfriendly staff and somehow always at customer service and not during a complaint as I have never complained about anything, but just some routine questions, another drink and I move on, not worth upsetting yourself over minor things.

 

This situation however was not minor and obviously NCL did not handle it well, and I don’t get some people on this forum how they will repeatedly nitpick the OP to find some fault and prove that NCL was faultless in everything even though they were not there and did not experience a thing.

 

I am not that naive to think that any cruise line is completely faultless all the time, and don’t have such loyalty to any.

 

Sorry that the OP had such a bad experience, only she knows how she feels and why she feels she wasn’t treated well, and has every right to choose not to travel with them again.

 

I have yet to have a bad enough experience with any cruise line to stop me from booking a vacation, but I can’t say the same with airlines and there are several that I will never fly with again.

[shannon_m]

Ok, so the jumper was the cause.

Does that remove all responsibility from the cruise line to do their best and try to accommodate people, especially with mobility issues.

 

Do the cruise lines not practice for emergency issues ( why the muster drills).

This is not the first time there were delays or last and it was not the first jumper or the last.

NCL was not the cause, but they are supposed to be the solution, or is every emergency supposed to play out as it will.

 

Personally I have never had a bad cruise with NCL, a few unfriendly staff and somehow always at customer service and not during a complaint as I have never complained about anything, but just some routine questions, another drink and I move on, not worth upsetting yourself over minor things.

 

This situation however was not minor and obviously NCL did not handle it well, and I don’t get some people on this forum how they will repeatedly nitpick the OP to find some fault and prove that NCL was faultless in everything even though they were not there and did not experience a thing.

 

I am not that naive to think that any cruise line is completely faultless all the time, and don’t have such loyalty to any.

 

Sorry that the OP had such a bad experience, only she knows how she feels and why she feels she wasn’t treated well, and has every right to choose not to travel with them again.

 

I have yet to have a bad enough experience with any cruise line to stop me from booking a vacation, but I can’t say the same with airlines and there are several that I will never fly with again.

Thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated.

[L1211]

Our limited experience with wheelchair assistance is that a crew member from the ship comes on shore to assist with the wheel chair.

 

It is possible that those same people had to be questioned and where therefore behind on their regular duties. Or they could have been part of the rescue effort and behind on their work (and rest) schedule.

 

The ship has finite resources which are optimized to provide value during normal operations. When something big goes wrong, there just aren’t enough people to do everything the way it’s normally done and it takes a while for the system to recover.

 

I understand that OP expects empathy and her point that we can’t understand her situation unless we’ve been through it. Conversely, I think OP could should be a more understanding too; unless she has been responsible for dealing with a passenger overboard and it’s aftermath, she can’t possibly understand the difficulties and challenges the crew faced prior and during her arrival.

 

I think people react badly when someone with special needs expects their needs to be met at all times when they show little sympathy for others dealing with special circumstances.

 

 

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The OP doesn’t run a business where she promises services to those in need in exchange for fare! Why should she be the understanding party??! She paid the cruise line, thus her expectations... seems pretty simple to me.

 

 

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