NCL CRUISE ITINERARY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE - HELP!

[GA Dave]

23 hours ago, OneNewTexan said:

We are very disappointed to lose a port visit and also see St. Maarten swapped out for Tortola.  We specifically selected this cruise because we wanted to spend the day in the French side of St. Martin and also to visit all three of the ABC islands which we have never been to before.  Why would NCL make this change so close to the departure date which for us in January 2020?  We have already booked non-refundable airline tickets so we are stuck with this cruise, like it or not.  Looks to me like NCL is dramatically moving away from port visits to St. Maarten.  Does this have anything to do with port fees or port congestion at St. Maarten?

Port congestion.  Check out the port schedule for January 2020.  With that many ships, that tiny island will be packed!

St Maarten Jan 2020 Port Schedule

[Snappykins]

Glad you got stumped on the title so bad that you couldn’t read the post. 😆

5 hours ago, lanceholt said:

Looking at the title of the thread....what does the OP want HELP!! with?

 

 

[OceanBlueWaters]

FDR makes how much a year?  Roughly 22M?  Correct me if I'm wrong...

 

With that said, it took MANY days before the website accurately reflected itinerary change.  It was selling a product it KNEW was false.  Deceptive.  That is was bugs me.  JMO.

 

[dacsmom]

The Getaways Itinerary has changed a lot more than the one listed. Any cruise line has the right to change the itinerary, that is the chance you take. Between medical emergencies and advanced changes I rarely go on the itinerary I originally booked. If it is that important to visit a particular island it is probably best to book a resort there and not count on a ship stopping there.

[ukbecky]

I have never understood NCL's reluctance/refusal to give reasons.  

 

It's usually: Here's your new vacation! Enjoy! Why? Just because!

 

 

Imagine ordering steak and being served a hotdog. Would that be okay? What if it's in the fine print on the menu? 

 

Substituting any port they want, for any reason (or no reason), is their right.

Just don't ever believe that all cruise lines are like this. They're not.

[smplybcause]

What does knowing the reason do though? If it's before final payment will you not cancel if it's a "legit" reason, but otherwise cancel because it's not the ports you want? No matter the reason, the very likely outcome is it doesn't change anything.

I'm admittedly someone who cruises to cruise, while the ports are a factor they are not the reason I chose to go on a cruise. Keep in mind, I still choose the ports I want to go to, but I never say I want to see X (assuming X isn't a cruise ship) so let's cruise there. I decide a cruise is my vacation and pick the itinerary I want.

And before it's said, I've had an eastern cruise turn western after a hurricane even though other lines had started up their eastern cruises by then. And I'm on one of the changed Epic cruises.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Snappykins]

The reasoning allows for us to judge whether it was profit motivated or out of their control.  To be more blunt,  it’s an expectation of any customer service driven industry to provide rationale around significant changes on expectations.  If the itinerary wasn’t an important factor in pricing, value and choice then why don’t they just advertise the following.

 

7 Day cruise from San Juan.  Ports to be determined!  

 

Then set all the prices the same and no one can complain about changes.  

 

The fact remains that they know there is value associated with the ship, itinerary and ports.  Pricing is set accordingly.  Unfortunately, we are finding out that cruise lines cover their rears with legalize and small black typed ink.  Your love for the ship over the ports doesn’t dismiss the fact you can pay for x, get z, and apparently they can continue to market x while knowing z exists.  

 

This is probably too complicated for some of the general public to understand.  Just like the casual comments about getting your deposit back.  Not everyone is in a position to shift their plans, so you just deal and respond to Vivian with glee.