Getaway 4/27/19 Transatlantic Shortened by Two Days

[kitkat343]

"Do you know how much money NCL will refund? If 25% of the fare is much less than what you will have to spend for hotels and food for two days your cruise must have been rather cheap."

 

I don't know about the original poster with a 3 year old this was written in response to, but I have traveled on four cruises with young children.  And that means I spend a ton of time researching itineraries and trips that will work for my family.  That means we need to be able to:  take a direct flight the day before the cruise,  take a direct flight out the day of the cruise and have access to a nursery or daycare for all of my children.  I spend a lot of time researching cruises to meet these specific requirements and have eliminated a ton of potential cruises due to these issues.  I completely understand that there could be weather, violence or something else that interferes with my trip, and I purchase cancel for any reason insurance, and research babysitter services in our vacation destinations as a backup to try to mitigate an emergency.   I chose to visit St. Petersburg in 2014 when the political situation was extremely volatile, and if that stop had been canceled it would have been entirely my fault for booking that cruise, and I would have accepted that.  But this situation would really upset me because it takes a lot of work to create a family vacation that is manageable with small children for some families, and NCL just not giving appropriate information and ruining family's vacations is totally unacceptable.  

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by kitkat343

[mugtech]

11 hours ago, lanceholt said:

Sounds like it will be a great cruise now!  Hope all the anger can just evaporate...and you all still will get your refunds etc, wow!

So the people who were scrambling to get everything in Belgium and France changed should now be happy that they got those two ports back again?  Do you not understand how stupid and unorganized this makes NCL appear?  The latest change is just one more reason I am never sailing with them again.  All my good feelings about NCL have evaporated.

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

"Do you know how much money NCL will refund? If 25% of the fare is much less than what you will have to spend for hotels and food for two days your cruise must have been rather cheap."

 

I don't know about the original poster with a 3 year old this was written in response to, but I have traveled on four cruises with young children.  And that means I spend a ton of time researching itineraries and trips that will work for my family.  That means we need to be able to:  take a direct flight the day before the cruise,  take a direct flight out the day of the cruise and have access to a nursery or daycare for all of my children.  I spend a lot of time researching cruises to meet these specific requirements and have eliminated a ton of potential cruises due to these issues.  I completely understand that there could be weather, violence or something else that interferes with my trip, and I purchase cancel for any reason insurance, and research babysitter services in our vacation destinations as a backup to try to mitigate an emergency.   I chose to visit St. Petersburg in 2014 when the political situation was extremely volatile, and if that stop had been canceled it would have been entirely my fault for booking that cruise, and I would have accepted that.  But this situation would really upset me because it takes a lot of work to create a family vacation that is manageable with small children for some families, and NCL just not giving appropriate information and ruining family's vacations is totally unacceptable.  

 

 

I have NOT made a comment about researching or if what NCL offer is fair or anything like that.

 

I only made a comment about the economical situation, nothing else.

 

I absolutely understand how many feel about this situation but I haven't made any comments about that.

 

(Earlier I also said that some people might like the new itinerary and should book that but personally I should not be happy if I didn't got what I booked.)

[woopuppy]

On 4/19/2019 at 6:20 PM, shof515 said:

this is why having travel insurance is important. they can make you whole a lot better then norwegian

Don't count on travel insurance to help much.  We were on a Carnival cruise in December 2018 where a guy jumped overboard and we were 30 minutes from docking.  We missed our flight and had to stay an extra day in Miami since that is the next flight we could get.  Total out of pocket for 24 hours totaled $1800.  Carnival did nothing to help offset the inconvenience it cause 3000+ passenger and our travel insurance paid $150 pp for trip delay.  Carnival stated it wasn't their fault and weren't responsible and our travel insurance stated if it wasn't weather related they were not responsible.  It is not just NCL but happens on all cruise lines.  Good luck and I hope the OP has some success with their travel insurance.

[mugtech]

Just got an email from RCI about a change in itinerary for my upcoming cruise.  The cruise leaves Hong Kong for a 9 day cruise on 2/24/20.  The first stop was to be Okinawa, but due to construction now planned on the port at that time, the Okinawa stop was cancelled. Instead there will be two stops in Vietnam.  In addition, the Philippines government is concerned about envirnmental problems which shut down Boracay island for 6 months in 2018, so no big ships will be visiting.  RCI changed that stop to Subic Bay,  Philippines.  Since the cruise is 10 months away this should cause problems to no one, as the departure port and embarcation ports, Hong Kong and Singapore, are the same at the same original time.  RCI is allowing anyone who wants to cancel with a full refund, including nonrefundable deposits.  So we get one additional port at No extra charges.  This is how itineraries should be changed.  Also, the website already has the new itinerary posted.  RCI is not famous for online proficiency, but they are better than NCL.

Edited April 24, 2019 by mugtech
Additional

[PTC DAWG]

Saw this on another thread, I think it is savvy advice.

 

   1 hour ago,  Homosassa said: 

Here is advice for any cruiser to remember:

 

NEVER book  a cruise because one absolutely must be in a port on a certain day at a certain time or if one will suffer lifelong trauma due to a itinerary change. Ship happens and itineraries are changed for a variety of valid reasons.

 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, woopuppy said:

Don't count on travel insurance to help much.  We were on a Carnival cruise in December 2018 where a guy jumped overboard and we were 30 minutes from docking.  We missed our flight and had to stay an extra day in Miami since that is the next flight we could get.  Total out of pocket for 24 hours totaled $1800.  Carnival did nothing to help offset the inconvenience it cause 3000+ passenger and our travel insurance paid $150 pp for trip delay.  Carnival stated it wasn't their fault and weren't responsible and our travel insurance stated if it wasn't weather related they were not responsible.  It is not just NCL but happens on all cruise lines.  Good luck and I hope the OP has some success with their travel insurance.

 

This past summer, my wife and I took our first Holland America cruise, the 20-night Viking Passage from Copenhagen to NY by way of Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Canada.  A good number of ports, but we missed two in Iceland because of weather, and one in Canada because our ship was diverted to help search for a man who had gone overboard from another ship.  None of that was HAL's fault, of course, so it was quite a surprise to get letters in our cabins from HAL giving everyone not only some OBC for that cruise, but a future cruise credit of 15% of the fare we'd paid for that cruise as well.  Clearly, HAL, in that instance at least, understood the value of business goodwill in a way that NCL totally does not.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

Wow.

 

My sympathy to all involved, this is a giant cluster.

 

For any of you on the cruise, can you help me understand what NCL said and when?   The first few pages of this thread were filled with people saying NCL hadn't told them anything, they found out on Facebook or the roll call.

 

I see screen shots of the NCL posted itinerary, was there ever one posted that missed the France and Belgium stops?

 

Thank you in advance for your answers.

[Alaskawhovian]

We are happy to see the 2 ports back, but I think people are giving Norwegian way too much credit.

 

Norwegian still shortened the cruise by two days, and they still eliminated two of four ports. It was still a voluntary, intentional decision on the part of the cruise line to do this.   This was not the result of something that was not their fault or could not be helped.  

 

It it was also their choice to notify people one week ahead of time, as well as on a holiday weekend- leaving 5 business days for cruisers to scramble around and modify plans, often to the tune of significant money.  Remember, the refunds are not immediate, so one must come up with the cash/credit up front, which many may not have.  

 

There seems to to be plenty of proof that NCL has known about the early dry dock for quite a while, yet chose not to notify people until 7 days before.   Perhaps this whole song and dance we are getting now was just a calculated decision by the cruise line.  Also, it is nonsense to suggest that anyone buying a cruise before or after dry dock is responsible for this.  We did not get some kind of discount rate on this cruise because of that, nor would the average cruiser be aware of the dry dock and what it could potentially mean.    Norwegian has an obligation to advertise the cruise accurately and notify cruisers of changes.  

 

Yes, they can change ports.  Yes, they can modify the cruise itinerary.    In this case, however, Norwegian chose to deceive its guests, play bait and switch with ports, give last minute notice of very significant changes, and to offer compensation that still does not cover expenses for many.  Don’t forget, people are also missing out on two days of meals and entertainment as well as flight changes and possible lodging.  As far as the current cruise credit, after refund of the cost of two days, there is only a small percentage that could be considered compensation.   The 25 percent on the next cruise is minor, given that many have stated that they are not cruising with Norwegian again.

 

We are happy to get the two ports swapped, but there are people who added stuff in the Azores and Portland that are now losing out.  They are simply switching ports, not giving anything back.

[HokiePoq]

Several years ago we had a Panama Canal cruise on the Star.   The ship was late leaving due to Noro and CDC inspection.   We all received a letter at check-in offering us a full refund if we wanted to cancel right there on the spot.   We didn't and had a great cruise but this memory makes me wonder if a management change at NCL has made customer satisfaction a much lower priority.

[Montanagirlalways]

12 minutes ago, Alaskawhovian said:

We are happy to see the 2 ports back, but I think people are giving Norwegian way too much credit.

 

Norwegian still shortened the cruise by two days, and they still eliminated two of four ports. It was still a voluntary, intentional decision on the part of the cruise line to do this.   This was not the result of something that was not their fault or could not be helped.  

 

It it was also their choice to notify people one week ahead of time, as well as on a holiday weekend- leaving 5 business days for cruisers to scramble around and modify plans, often to the tune of significant money.  Remember, the refunds are not immediate, so one must come up with the cash/credit up front, which many may not have.  

 

There seems to to be plenty of proof that NCL has known about the early dry dock for quite a while, yet chose not to notify people until 7 days before.   Perhaps this whole song and dance we are getting now was just a calculated decision by the cruise line.  Also, it is nonsense to suggest that anyone buying a cruise before or after dry dock is responsible for this.  We did not get some kind of discount rate on this cruise because of that, nor would the average cruiser be aware of the dry dock and what it could potentially mean.    Norwegian has an obligation to advertise the cruise accurately and notify cruisers of changes.  

 

Yes, they can change ports.  Yes, they can modify the cruise itinerary.    In this case, however, Norwegian chose to deceive its guests, play bait and switch with ports, give last minute notice of very significant changes, and to offer compensation that still does not cover expenses for many.  Don’t forget, people are also missing out on two days of meals and entertainment as well as flight changes and possible lodging.  As far as the current cruise credit, after refund of the cost of two days, there is only a small percentage that could be considered compensation.   The 25 percent on the next cruise is minor, given that many have stated that they are not cruising with Norwegian again.

 

We are happy to get the two ports swapped, but there are people who added stuff in the Azores and Portland that are now losing out.  They are simply switching ports, not giving anything back.

Very well written and I support what you say 100%. I will participate in researching a class action lawsuit or whatever else can be done to make this debacle by NCL somewhat better

[km202]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

Saw this on another thread, I think it is savvy advice.

 

   1 hour ago,  Homosassa said: 

Here is advice for any cruiser to remember:

 

NEVER book  a cruise because one absolutely must be in a port on a certain day at a certain time or if one will suffer lifelong trauma due to a itinerary change. Ship happens and itineraries are changed for a variety of valid reasons.

 

In this particular case, the itinerary change was not valid. It was not mechanical related, illness related, weather related, labor related, accident related or anything beyond NCL's control. They made the decision to employ a bait and switch to advertise their cruise as a 12 day (and were still selling it as such) when they knew they were only really offering a 10 day to send the ship to dry dock early. This, by the way, doesn't change the fact that they may still do construction work on our sailing even after putting us through all of this. When it's an issue that they have absolute control over, then customers here and in other forums have every right to be mad and to show indignation that NCL deserves to face. NCL even deserves a class action lawsuit for pulling this stunt, even if they somehow try to make it right. As iron tight as their terms and conditions may appear, nothing in the contract says that they have the right to sell you something they have no intention of delivering (keyword: intention). That's where you are wrong about this. 

[Turtles06]

34 minutes ago, Alaskawhovian said:

We are happy to see the 2 ports back, but I think people are giving Norwegian way too much credit.

 

Norwegian still shortened the cruise by two days, and they still eliminated two of four ports. It was still a voluntary, intentional decision on the part of the cruise line to do this.   This was not the result of something that was not their fault or could not be helped.  

 

It it was also their choice to notify people one week ahead of time, as well as on a holiday weekend- leaving 5 business days for cruisers to scramble around and modify plans, often to the tune of significant money.   <snip>

 

I'm not on this cruise, but I agree with you.  NCL has totally mishandled this. 

 

Even assuming they actually had to shorten the cruise (and there's *no* evidence they did), the initial elimination of the two most desirable ports on your cruise was stupid beyond belief.  Does no one have any common sense at NCL?   Imagine sitting around a conference room table and trying to decide whether to eliminate Ponta Delgada and Portland or Le Havre and Zeebrugge.  It's just not rocket science.  Yes, it's great they restored those two ports after the backlash, but for them not to have expected that backlash is mind-boggling.

 

And the initial decision to restrict the $300 pp to use only for air travel changes, when it was totally foreseeable that some folks were going to need two days of hotels and food, was also totally stupid.  (And even now, it can't be used for food, nor is it a sufficient amount, I suspect for those two days' of out-of-pockets for many folks.)

 

Just poor decision-making by NCL all around.

 

I do hope you all on the Getaway are able to enjoy your cruise.  

 

 

[JSSIII1970]

2 hours ago, Alaskawhovian said:

We are happy to see the 2 ports back, but I think people are giving Norwegian way too much credit.

 

Norwegian still shortened the cruise by two days, and they still eliminated two of four ports. It was still a voluntary, intentional decision on the part of the cruise line to do this.   This was not the result of something that was not their fault or could not be helped.  

 

It it was also their choice to notify people one week ahead of time, as well as on a holiday weekend- leaving 5 business days for cruisers to scramble around and modify plans, often to the tune of significant money.  Remember, the refunds are not immediate, so one must come up with the cash/credit up front, which many may not have.  

 

There seems to to be plenty of proof that NCL has known about the early dry dock for quite a while, yet chose not to notify people until 7 days before.   Perhaps this whole song and dance we are getting now was just a calculated decision by the cruise line.  Also, it is nonsense to suggest that anyone buying a cruise before or after dry dock is responsible for this.  We did not get some kind of discount rate on this cruise because of that, nor would the average cruiser be aware of the dry dock and what it could potentially mean.    Norwegian has an obligation to advertise the cruise accurately and notify cruisers of changes.  

 

Yes, they can change ports.  Yes, they can modify the cruise itinerary.    In this case, however, Norwegian chose to deceive its guests, play bait and switch with ports, give last minute notice of very significant changes, and to offer compensation that still does not cover expenses for many.  Don’t forget, people are also missing out on two days of meals and entertainment as well as flight changes and possible lodging.  As far as the current cruise credit, after refund of the cost of two days, there is only a small percentage that could be considered compensation.   The 25 percent on the next cruise is minor, given that many have stated that they are not cruising with Norwegian again.

 

We are happy to get the two ports swapped, but there are people who added stuff in the Azores and Portland that are now losing out.  They are simply switching ports, not giving anything back.

Another likely issue not mentioned: the path of the ship, now not going to Azores, will likely track much farther north - much colder, and given all the sea days, will impact use of the pool and running.

This purposeful deception goes beyond the pale and generates significant costs that don't appear to be covered. The 25% hardly covers the value of the time, but doesn't address flights, hotels, meals, etc., etc.  As a minimum, I would like to know the truth from a senior officer of the company, when NCL had a reasonable understanding when this change was known.  I would not have taken this cruise if I had known.  There are plenty of cruise lines out there that chose not to make such biased misrepresentations for personal gain 

[rocklinmom]

I have been following this debacle with great interest.  I am speechless about the newest change, four days out!  So they made the first itinerary change a week out, and now a few days out they make a second itinerary change?!  I can't imagine how stressful this is for the passengers.  I would be freaked out trying to change everything, then finding out about another last minute change and having to deal with it all over again.  I have sailed many times with NCL, twice in Europe, and have never seen anything like this from them.  

[fstuff1]

they added back france and belgium???

what ports did they remove?

 

and holy giant cluster F.. to all those that canceled excursions. 

then again, it's 3rd party excursions and ncl doesnt care about those, apparently.

 

ncl onboard excursions (and profit) are ready to go.

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by fstuff1

[Markanddonna]

I have to say that I'm not surprised by NCL's treatment of its passengers. They obviously feel they are vindicated from giving the two last ports back, but all of that change and stress has to be so upsetting!  I agree that they will likely benefit from the excursions but in the long run, hopefully, folks will remember and learn from this. NCL is one above Carnival in my eyes.

[peacefulOR]

 

Meditation Workshop Update: This is the NCL response re setting up a place for the workshop. I'll contact them once aboard and should have answers at the meet & greet. Thank you for your patience.

Rainey

 

 

 

 

Ewart, Vivian

11:57 AM (1 hour ago)

Thank you for your generous offer.  We would allow you to offer this to the Cruise Critic group and have notified the ship.  Please coordinate with them once onboard.

 Best, Vivian

Vivian Ewart, Senior Vice President Passenger Services
P: +1 305.436.4011 / F: 305.436.4036 

vewart@ncl.com l www.ncl.com

Norwegian Cruise Line

7665 Corporate Center Drive | Miami FL 33126

[kitkat343]

"

I have NOT made a comment about researching or if what NCL offer is fair or anything like that.

 

I only made a comment about the economical situation, nothing else.

 

I absolutely understand how many feel about this situation but I haven't made any comments about that.

 

(Earlier I also said that some people might like the new itinerary and should book that but personally I should not be happy if I didn't got what I booked.)" 

 

Oh sorry - you're right - you weren't criticizing the family.  The point I was trying to make (and didn't write clearly) is that financial compensation can help people without kids, but would not necessarily be of much help to families due to the loss of daycare. 

 

For people not traveling with children, an adequate response could have been made by NCL - they could have told the passengers to let them choose if they want their flights rebooked earlier or would prefer for NCL to arrange hotels in London, Southampton or Paris or given them the option to cancel. 

 

My frustration with NCL is that for our family, we would be in a lot of trouble if 2 days were lopped off of a cruise even with adequate compensation because of the loss of the daycare.  Since this situation wasn't caused by a political emergency, weather or mechanical difficulties (which is the chance we take when traveling)  but was instead a willful decision to mislead passengers at the time of booking it would be really hard for us to deal with.  I guess the only thing that could have helped families is the option to cancel, but that would have been pretty awful given how hard it can be to find a cruise that works for children.

Edited April 24, 2019 by kitkat343

[milolii]

I continue to feel for you guys.   I hope you have a good time.  Will anyone be posting live for the ship? 

[smplybcause]

There were parents on here talking about how awful it would be to go two days without daycare for their children now that they won't be on the ship?? Feel sorry for those kids. 

[lanceholt]

8 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Saw this on another thread, I think it is savvy advice.

 

   1 hour ago,  Homosassa said: 

Here is advice for any cruiser to remember:

 

NEVER book  a cruise because one absolutely must be in a port on a certain day at a certain time or if one will suffer lifelong trauma due to a itinerary change. Ship happens and itineraries are changed for a variety of valid reasons.

 

PERFECT.....things happen and a good part of having a happy life is rolling with whatever punches come along and not seeing conspiracies in every event.  

 

[KeithJenner]

7 hours ago, HokiePoq said:

but this memory makes me wonder if a management change at NCL has made customer satisfaction a much lower priority.

I think that is fairly well undisputed.

Edited April 24, 2019 by KeithJenner

[Montanagirlalways]

51 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

I think that is fairly well undisputed.

Seems clear to me also

[myjillian]

23 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Saw this on another thread, I think it is savvy advice.

 

   1 hour ago,  Homosassa said: 

Here is advice for any cruiser to remember:

 

NEVER book  a cruise because one absolutely must be in a port on a certain day at a certain time or if one will suffer lifelong trauma due to a itinerary change. Ship happens and itineraries are changed for a variety of valid reasons.

 

So true...I remember years ago on a 2 week Holland Circle the Caribbean one of our engines broke down.  San JUan was our first port and we didn't arrive until almost midnight.  On board were  about 20  family members of a wedding.....they missed the wedding.