NCL CRUISE ITINERARY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE - HELP!

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

I'm on the Feb 6 Epic cruise where we lost St Kitts, St Maarten & Curacao & had a sea day, Antigua & Tortola added. I'm so glad we didn't lose Bonaire as that's the one island I haven't been to & really want to see.

I've booked air & hotel & somehow got charged for the 1st night so am committed.

 

I wonder why all the changes. Same thing happened on my Nov. Bliss PC cruise.😢

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

 

[newmexicoNita]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:28 PM, bearette said:

San Juan is still recovering from the Hurricane, but as I understand the tourist zones, that bring the money, are up and running. You have to go farther out for beaches,but there is the rain forest, fort to tour, as well as the Bacardi Factory. I don't think that is a change to get upset over. San Juan is a great port, too.

we sailed out of San Juan a few months ago: yes, nice port and the tourist areas are in good condition plus there are a lot of interesting excursions. I can't count how many times we have stopped in S.J. never been disappointed. 

[Sailing12Away]

You think that's bad.... our 11 day sailing on Jan 5th is losing 3 ports and only getting replaced with one - Tortola. We lost Bonaire, St. Maartin, and St. Thomas in exchange for 2 extra "relaxing sea days" and Tortola.

 

As someone else mentioned already, we intentionally booked this sailing for the port heavy itinerary and low number of sea days. I hate sea days. Was curious to see if sailings on other dates were changed as well, and it seems almost random as to which ports were changed - unless some people didn't read their emails correctly.

 

Literally just got home from the POA an hour ago, so waiting for customer service to open up and give them a call regarding our options. We booked this trip in May 2018 - so we got a great deal with tons of perks. If I have to rebook now for a different sailing to keep the ports I want, it will probably not be worth it.

 

Plus we were planning on grabbing more cruise next certificates in January as we are now out of them. If I had to completely change my trip and rebook a new cruise, it would have been better to do it while I was literally just onboard and entitled to those perks when you book while on a current cruise. Not a happy camper right now...

[Oakman58]

20 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

You think that's bad.... our 11 day sailing on Jan 5th is losing 3 ports and only getting replaced with one - Tortola. We lost Bonaire, St. Maartin, and St. Thomas in exchange for 2 extra "relaxing sea days" and Tortola.

 

As someone else mentioned already, we intentionally booked this sailing for the port heavy itinerary and low number of sea days. I hate sea days. Was curious to see if sailings on other dates were changed as well, and it seems almost random as to which ports were changed - unless some people didn't read their emails correctly.

 

Literally just got home from the POA an hour ago, so waiting for customer service to open up and give them a call regarding our options. We booked this trip in May 2018 - so we got a great deal with tons of perks. If I have to rebook now for a different sailing to keep the ports I want, it will probably not be worth it.

 

Plus we were planning on grabbing more cruise next certificates in January as we are now out of them. If I had to completely change my trip and rebook a new cruise, it would have been better to do it while I was literally just onboard and entitled to those perks when you book while on a current cruise. Not a happy camper right now...

 

Wow, you are going to have a lot of sea days on that 11 day cruise.

[sverigecruiser]

33 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

I hate sea days. 

 

I understand that some people hate sea days and that they then book port intense cruises.

 

It's not very rare that port days are changed to sea days for various reason so that is a risk with booking cruises. You can always get more sea days than you want.

[ollienbertsmum]

On 8/3/2019 at 1:11 PM, sverigecruiser said:

The OP may be disappointed but it's a minor change of the itinerary.

 

I should like to get a second seaday.

To me losing a port counts as ‘major’ - I do not enjoy sea days.  I can read a book or watch a film sitting on my balcony, but for me a sea day is time that has to pass before I get to where we are going.  

[brookie848]

 

We're on the same cruise as the OP. I wouldn't have minded losing Bonaire...if we had kept the original port times in Curauco.

 

I know cruise lines can do this and we've had similar things happen to us in the past, including a complete re-do of our ports after the hurricanes, but this change has really disappointed me. Half the ports are pretty much worthless at this point. Plus, you add the fact that we don't want to do anything major on the last day, and that makes things even more unpleasant (but that's on us).

 

I'll probably look around at other options, but this is likely our last cruise for a while, so we'll probably just go and enjoy even though it's not what we were hoping it would be.

[All-ready2cruise]

I wonder if the cruise I've booked on the Dawn will have an itinerary change too then.  To me, the itinerary looks amazing, 10-day, out of Tampa (love Tampa) end of March 2020.

I'll wait n see.  

 Norwegian Dawn

CRUISE PORTS EMBARK Tampa (Florida); George Town (Grand Cayman); Oranjestad (Aruba); Kralendijk (Bonaire); Castries (St. Lucia);Royal Naval Dockyard (Bermuda); DISEMBARK New York (New York)

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, ollienbertsmum said:

To me losing a port counts as ‘major’ - I do not enjoy sea days.  I can read a book or watch a film sitting on my balcony, but for me a sea day is time that has to pass before I get to where we are going.  

 

One port cancelled or changed is very common and because of that I think that it's a minor change.

 

I have seen much bigger changes than that.

 

If someone really doesn't like sea days it's a risk to book a cruise. For me three sea days on a weeklong cruise or six days on a 11 night cruise is perfect.

[Snappykins]

58 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

One port cancelled or changed is very common and because of that I think that it's a minor change.

 

I have seen much bigger changes than that.

 

If someone really doesn't like sea days it's a risk to book a cruise. For me three sea days on a weeklong cruise or six days on a 11 night cruise is perfect.

 

Here's the deal.  You buy a cruise based upon the information you have in hand at the time of purchase.  I understand that things may change out of control of the cruise line.  For example:  A hurricane sweeps through an island and it's no longer a viable option.  The problem here is that there's no context around the changes AND they MARKET/sell these cruises based upon the itinerary.   In addition, THEY were still marketing this cruise as that when I checked after the email being sent out.   To me, this is a bait and switch tactic unless they provide context and reasoning.   Let me be clear on reasoning that I think is fair to the consumer.

 

1.) Ports not being available because of a natural disaster.

2.) Things outside of the cruise liner's control while you are IN transit to the ports.

 

Either way - sending an email stating "you have a relaxing day at sea now, congrats!" without context is bull.

 

If this becomes a new norm pre-cruise, then we need to start looking at cruises as floating hotels regardless of destination and that's a problem for those who care about destination(most people!).  

 

 

 

 

[brookie848]

2 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

One port cancelled or changed is very common and because of that I think that it's a minor change.

 

I have seen much bigger changes than that.

 

If someone really doesn't like sea days it's a risk to book a cruise. For me three sea days on a weeklong cruise or six days on a 11 night cruise is perfect.

 

1 hour ago, Snappykins said:

 

Here's the deal.  You buy a cruise based upon the information you have in hand at the time of purchase.  I understand that things may change out of control of the cruise line.  For example:  A hurricane sweeps through an island and it's no longer a viable option.  The problem here is that there's no context around the changes AND they MARKET/sell these cruises based upon the itinerary.   In addition, THEY were still marketing this cruise as that when I checked after the email being sent out.   To me, this is a bait and switch tactic unless they provide context and reasoning.   Let me be clear on reasoning that I think is fair to the consumer.

 

1.) Ports not being available because of a natural disaster.

2.) Things outside of the cruise liner's control while you are IN transit to the ports.

 

Either way - sending an email stating "you have a relaxing day at sea now, congrats!" without context is bull.

 

If this becomes a new norm pre-cruise, then we need to start looking at cruises as floating hotels regardless of destination and that's a problem for those who care about destination(most people!).  

 

 

 

 

 

If they had just dropped Bonaire, I would have considered this a "minor" change. But they not only dropped Bonaire, they made Curacao pretty much worthless. The combination of the changes is not minor. Especially, as Snappykins mentions, there is no real "reason" for the changes.

 

I've been on multiple sailings with changes -- announced anywhere from months out to the day before we sailed -- and all of those changes had some logical reason behind them.

 

NCL would be better off giving us their reasons for changes like this. We may not like them, but maybe we wouldn't be so upset.

 

[Snappykins]

I called NCL and asked them if there was anymore information on this.  Unfortunately, even their customer service wasn’t given additional information to field a call like mine.  The lady I spoke with was very friendly and wished NCL would get ahead of these type of scenarios with them, so they could give rationale to customers. While on the phone, I also mentioned that the website still shows all ports of call.  Bad news for those buyers is it takes upwards of a week for the updates to go in.  You wouldn’t know about the change unless you called them or go through a travel agent.

 

I doubt anything will be fine to “fix” the way they communicate these changes since their number one priority is profit and the demand is still there.  Regardless, they are covered by the disclaimers attached to very service they offer.

 

 

[sverigecruiser]

3 hours ago, Snappykins said:

 

Here's the deal.  You buy a cruise based upon the information you have in hand at the time of purchase.  I understand that things may change out of control of the cruise line.  For example:  A hurricane sweeps through an island and it's no longer a viable option.  The problem here is that there's no context around the changes AND they MARKET/sell these cruises based upon the itinerary.   In addition, THEY were still marketing this cruise as that when I checked after the email being sent out.   To me, this is a bait and switch tactic unless they provide context and reasoning.   Let me be clear on reasoning that I think is fair to the consumer.

 

When I say "minor change" I only compare to much bigger changes I have seen. I don't say anything about the reasons for the changes.

[sverigecruiser]

4 hours ago, Snappykins said:

 

Either way - sending an email stating "you have a relaxing day at sea now, congrats!" without context is bull.

 

I agree with you about this, it's bull.

 

Some may not like the changes so no reason for "congrats".

[sverigecruiser]

4 hours ago, Snappykins said:

 

If this becomes a new norm pre-cruise, then we need to start looking at cruises as floating hotels regardless of destination and that's a problem for those who care about destination(most people!).  

 

 

I think this is the new norm. The bigger ships are the destination for many so the ports are less important. Many people here on CC don't care much about the destinations, especially not if they cruise on the biggest ships.

[Sailing12Away]

The poor communication (which I'm seeing is a chronic problem for NCL) is the biggest issue. As others have pointed out, changes happen due to things beyond the control of the cruise ship company and they have to keep the safety of their passengers as the #1 priority. But to make these changes to multiple ports, more than 4 months in advance.... it just sounds fishy.

 

Natural disaster coming through and destroying an island - no one will question that. Political unrest in a country making it unsafe - no one will question that. A bigger ship promising more visitors to an island getting priority at the dock and our smaller ship getting bumped - it sucks, but if that was the truth we would get over it and move on with our lives (provided there was a refund of port fees, which I still have not seen any mention of).

 

Biggest issue is that their website this morning was still showing all those itineraries as they originally were. Making it impossible for me to switch to a different cruise if I wanted, until they get their sh@t together.

[Isabella Benjamin]

I wonder how much  NCL saves in port fees for every day they switch to just a sea day?

[Newleno]

On 8/3/2019 at 7:11 AM, sverigecruiser said:

The OP may be disappointed but it's a minor change of the itinerary.

 

I should like to get a second seaday.

guess we all have different opinions, losing a stop and making another stop virtually useless on a short 7 day cruise would not be minor for me, especially from a cruise starting in puerto rico (incredibly high hotel rates for crummy areas)

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, Newleno said:

guess we all have different opinions, losing a stop and making another stop virtually useless on a short 7 day cruise would not be minor for me, especially from a cruise starting in puerto rico (incredibly high hotel rates for crummy areas)

 

We just have to disagree about this.

 

I have already explained that the reason why I think that it's a minor change is that I have seen much bigger changes.

[Montanagirlalways]

Very sorry as I know how it feels to be excited and looking forward to your ports. NCL really slapped us with a major change last spring going from NY to Southampton. They had an “unexpected “ change to go into dry dock early. So they cut 2 ports and dumped us 2 days early. They informed us if this change 1 week prior to cruise and on Friday eve of Easter holiday. Talk about a mess. People scrambled to change excursions. Then a few days prior to sailing they decided they would change to the ports they said we would miss and cancel the other ports. Again a scramble to change. It was a total debacle. Many people found it hard to believe these were unexpected changes for going into dry dock

good luck to all of u. 

[Snappykins]

Wow, that sounds awful.  Did they compensate you for "dumping you 2 days early?".  I'm assuming this would equal a significant cost in airline changes or last minute hotels.  

 

Brings to mind another question.  How does trip insurance work for this type of change?  Does it actually cover it?

 

I'm not saying our situation is the worst out there.  Any change like this is a value proposition change and many folks plan for these type of vacations way in advance, prior to the ultimate deposit.  That typically means a real investment.  One could reasonably argue that someone was willing to pay X for the X that was advertised.  The fact that X turns to Y is going to mean some loss in overall value.

 

Looks like I should be happy that this is the first time we've encountered this since there seem to be quite a few stories out there with worse or other issues.  

 

 

.  

[Montanagirlalways]

1 hour ago, Snappykins said:

Wow, that sounds awful.  Did they compensate you for "dumping you 2 days early?".  I'm assuming this would equal a significant cost in airline changes or last minute hotels.  

 

Brings to mind another question.  How does trip insurance work for this type of change?  Does it actually cover it?

 

I'm not saying our situation is the worst out there.  Any change like this is a value proposition change and many folks plan for these type of vacations way in advance, prior to the ultimate deposit.  That typically means a real investment.  One could reasonably argue that someone was willing to pay X for the X that was advertised.  The fact that X turns to Y is going to mean some loss in overall value.

 

Looks like I should be happy that this is the first time we've encountered this since there seem to be quite a few stories out there with worse or other issues.  

 

 

.  

Snappy kind-we got 25% off that cruise and 25% off of what we paid for that cruise toward a future cruise. Nowhere near a compensation for all that 1 week before the cruise but I am not sure anything would as many people book based on itinerary and ship. NCL continued to advertise the 4 ports to be visited even after they notified us we would only have 2 ports and be dumped early. Oh and they gave 300.00 per person to a total of $600 to go toward air and hotel changes. This was 1 week before arrival in Europe.  Our ship arrived 5/3 In Southampton i believe and some are still waiting to get that money back b

[Montanagirlalways]

Snappykins. Our trip insurinsurance didn’t cover anything. We had plans in Europe and the $600 covered our extra expenses but I am sure others had higher expenses and maybe trip insurance May have helped those extra costs. 

[zqvol]

On 8/2/2019 at 11:10 PM, PoofCat99 said:

We are on the Epic the week before & just got notice that Phillipsburg St. Maarten is canceled in favor of Tortola. It's far enough out we are considering a different cruise. 

 

Tortola is a much better stop that Phillipsburg, at least IMO. Two great options there: The Baths and Jost van Dyke.

[PoofCat99]

2 hours ago, zqvol said:

 

Tortola is a much better stop that Phillipsburg, at least IMO. Two great options there: The Baths and Jost van Dyke.

Thanks. We were in Tortola last year. Unfortunately, 1 of us has mobility issues so the Baths are probably out.