NCL telephone response time

[skoeper]

Have others noticed the looooooong wait time when calling NCL?    I called them twice and both times, I waited over an hour before someone actually picked up to talk to me.  My TA called twice, the first time was 2 hour wait and then it was a 2.5 hour wait.   ON HOLD!    I'm not very impressed with NCL's customer service.   This is a new cruiseline to almost all of our group and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be the last time we sail on NCL.

 

Are we the only ones experiencing this?   Is it a fluke?

[Son of a son of a ...]

The complaints of NCL’s land-based customer service are many.  It stinks.  Onboard, the customer service is pretty good.

[Outerdog]

Yours is a fairly standard refrain, unfortunately.

 

I haven't had any issues over several years, but I can only remember having called them maybe twice. Once was a cancel, the other was a re-fare.

 

[FitchburgWIFamily]

I always have to wait, but never that long.  I just looked through my call logs and I see a 14 minute call (which was part hold music, part help..calling to rebook (rerate) on this past Monday at 10:30am) a 25 minute call (again, part hold, part help, calling to cancel one room, and switch passengers on another) on a Saturday the 13th at 10:30 in the morning, an 18 minute call just before that (which was all wait until my phone died [argh!!!!]).

 

I think I have grown to expect a maybe 10 to 15 minute wait as pretty routine.  Which isn't great...but it is better than an hour for sure.  It must either be the options you are choosing ( I did not book through a TA so chose different IVR options than those who did book through a TA) or the time of day you are calling.

 

 

[rocky1]

NCL customer "service" has really gotten ridiculously bad lately. On hold for 50+ minutes yesterday afternoon before they dropped my call (evidently it was quitting time - 5:00 - and they all just went home). On hold for another 50+min this morning and finally talked to a very nice human who said he couldn't help me - I had to call my TA. Then my TA dealt with ridiculous statements contrary to what is posted on the NCL website for several more hours. Bottom line: my simple request to make the allowed changes to my NCL air reservations is still not resolved, and won't be until tomorrow...........at least.

[dbrown84]

I dread calling NCL.  Seems like 30 minutes is the absolute minimum hold time, with over an hour more likely.  I think it's why we're seeing more questions here on CC that could (and probably should) be answered by NCL customer service.  I just missed out on getting the dining package at the old prices after the person who booked my cruise gave me wrong info during my booking.  She told me I couldn't buy a dining plan until 120 days out.  When I found out this wasn't true, I tried calling three times but hung up after being on hold for 30-45 minutes.  If I had known there was a price increase right around the corner I would have waited it out

[LakeLureGuy]

3 hours ago, skoeper said:

Have others noticed the looooooong wait time when calling NCL?    I called them twice and both times, I waited over an hour before someone actually picked up to talk to me.  My TA called twice, the first time was 2 hour wait and then it was a 2.5 hour wait.   ON HOLD!    I'm not very impressed with NCL's customer service.   This is a new cruiseline to almost all of our group and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be the last time we sail on NCL.

 

Are we the only ones experiencing this?   Is it a fluke?

This from our TA who is experiencing much the same.  She said she has had correspondence from an NCL executive with apologies for these long delays.  Among the glitches were the shortened Getaway, Encore, and then all Cuba sailings cancelled.  They had to pull employees from many departments, plus they have hired over 200 new agents that are being trained as we speak.  They asked for agents & their clients to be patient as all of these issues are taking most of their time to rearrange.  Not excusing, just sayin' what my TA told me. 

[Zippeedee]

43 minutes ago, LakeLureGuy said:

This from our TA who is experiencing much the same.  She said she has had correspondence from an NCL executive with apologies for these long delays.  Among the glitches were the shortened Getaway, Encore, and then all Cuba sailings cancelled.  They had to pull employees from many departments, plus they have hired over 200 new agents that are being trained as we speak.  They asked for agents & their clients to be patient as all of these issues are taking most of their time to rearrange.  Not excusing, just sayin' what my TA told me. 

Funny, they told everyone on the Getaway fiasco that there is one person processing all of the refunds. Many are still waiting for checks, but it is the same name on every email. I have had good luck calling recently though. Maybe 15-20 minute waits. I just put the phone on speaker and work while I wait.

[dwiller]

I called today after 9pm and I had to wait on hold for around 20 minutes.  I will say though that the person who helped me was lovely and double-checked everything (I was upgrading my cabin).  The phone call probably lasted about 20 minutes.  So I was happy at least in my case that I got a great employee, but was worried not knowing how long I would be on hold, as I was at work.  I wish they had one of those things that at least gave a time approximation.

[tomk3212]

@Zippeedee  I'm also still waiting for my hotel stay compensation from the Getaway TA fiasco!!!

 

Vivian Ewalt, their VP in charge of "so-called" customer service, sent an email/letter out to all the TAs a few weeks ago explaining their absolutely dismal customer service issues.  Do a search here on CC; someone scanned & posted it.  Bottom line; they're hiring up like crazy, according to her, to address these issues & please be patient.  Ditto issues with their new reservations system.

[zqvol]

I don't think I have every waited more than 5 minutes when I call NCL. Just lucky I guess.

[NW Pacific]

Just off the phone to NCL, wait time less than a minute! was surprised . Time in Miami would have been9:15p,  

[pe4all]

I have also noticed extended wait times "due to call volume" as the recording says.  What is interesting to me is that I sometimes use my landline to call, and then after a few minutes also call on my cell while waiting for my landline to be picked up, and my cell (2nd call) is picked up before while my first call is still waiting!  No rhyme or reason for that!

[newmexicoNita]

On 7/24/2019 at 5:33 PM, Son of a son of a ... said:

The complaints of NCL’s land-based customer service are many.  It stinks.  Onboard, the customer service is pretty good.

yep, according to our TA it is this way with most of the lines today but NCL is the worst. All I can say and I could be wrong is: good economy, low unemployment numbers means shortage of persona. It did not used to be this way at all.  Other than the long phone delay which is awful, I wouldn't say the land based customer service sucks. 

[ajomtl]

Called yesterday and was only on hold for 30 min. I just wish they changed the on hold music!

[texasgirl29]

We booked our first NCL cruise back in April. I had a question and called; the call was answered immediately by a PCC, Kerby. We've emailed back and forth a few times -- he's always emailed me back within an hour. I'm sorry to hear about the long wait times for phone calls. To me, emailing is always easier because I have a record of what was said, by whom, at what time. 

[RealSoxFan]

NCL post cruise customer service abysmal.  2+ months post cruise still waiting on erroneous charge which appeared on last night of cruise.  Reported onboard.  Was assured would be corrected.  Two open cases with NCL.  I don’t have two hours to wait on hold to resolve this.  Will think long and hard about another NCL cruise.  They are struggling post Apollo. 

[Diver2014]

I called NCL yesterday (Monday) and waited 10 minutes then hung up.  Called twice again, waited 15 minutes, hung up. Fourth time, call was answered in about 5 minutes.  Got great service from the rep.  I think they are backed up because of the Free at Sea promos and the Endless Summer sale.  But I didn't mind, getting all those promos and freebies plus a 20% Latitudes discount was worth having to call 4 times!

Edited August 6, 2019 by Diver2014

[LrgPizza]

Between my husband and I, we've called 6 times over the past few days. We've never waited even one minute. It goes through a recording about dialing extension if you know it, and then when that's done playing, it rings, and someone answers. This was our experience each time, regardless of day or time of day.

 

We are dialing (877) 416-9722, if that makes a difference to anyone.

Edited August 7, 2019 by LrgPizza

[trician24]

 

I called yesterday around noon ( EST ) and thought it was going to be a long wait.  I was shocked when it only took a few minutes before a rep answered.  I also called a few times about 3 weeks ago and the most I waited was 5 minutes.  I feel bad for those who wait forever since I have been so fortunate. 

[seemoreroyals]

We use NCL casinos at sea for our bookings.  They have notably long hold times to get through most of the time.  A couple of years ago I started contacting them upon their advice when they first started taking calls in the morning.  Since then I always get through immediately.  I just contacted them a few minutes ago regarding our December cruise and again was put right through.  They answer their phones 9am to 9pm EST.  Hope this helps those that book their cruises through NCL CAS.

[drcarp4]

I always call when they first open in the morning and usually get right through.

[Named-Tawny]

I just called about a half hour ago, and my total call time was under 7 minutes, including phone tree, hold time, and getting my cabin changed.

Might be a time-of-day thing?

[MasterCoach]

Used the we will call you back feature and have not heard anything for two days.  Decided to call directly and Waited 45 minutes on hold listening to headache creating ads and music.   In transferring me they dropped the call.   Frustrating way to do business.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

I never wait, I have used the same travel agent for almost 20 years and she earns her commission by doing the waiting. She always gets back to me within 24 hours and usually within the hour with answers to any questions I have.