Breakaway to Western Caribbean 9/1 in Haven

[esprsso]

2 minutes ago, oncruisecontrol said:

I am saying that NCL should have canceled the 7-day Sept 1st sailing as soon as the Coast Guard made the noon announcement yesterday about closing the port the evening of Aug 31st.  At that time NCL could have announced a shortened sailing that would begin on Wednesday and affirm that anyone not able/willing to take a revised cruise would get a full refund.  But NCL waited until the 11th hour to make that announcement even though they must have known many hours earlier of the coast guard intention to close the port Saturday night. This is what I take issue with.  

 

NCL didn't wait until the 11th hour (as bad as that would have been).  They actually posted on the website at 4pm yesterday, saying that the 9/1 sailing would actually depart early. Guests were told to be at Port of Miami no later than 11am today. My frustration is: if NCL knew about the noon ET port condition change to Yankee, why in the world did they update the website telling guests to go to the port early?  What exactly transpired in that four hour gap?

 

[oncruisecontrol]

2 minutes ago, esprsso said:

 

NCL didn't wait until the 11th hour (as bad as that would have been).  They actually posted on the website at 4pm yesterday, saying that the 9/1 sailing would actually depart early. Guests were told to be at Port of Miami no later than 11am today. My frustration is: if NCL knew about the noon ET port condition change to Yankee, why in the world did they update the website telling guests to go to the port early?  What exactly transpired in that four hour gap?

 

I read the 4pm notice about getting to the port no later than 11am----it was after I read that notice that I packed my suitcase.  So my frustration is the same as yours:  NCL knew about the noon decision to close the port but advised us at 4pm that the cruise was a "Go" and then hours later at, what I am calling, "the 11th hour",  finally stated that the 7-day cruise was cancelled and that a 4-day cruise beginning Wednesday was being substituted.  This final announcement was made way too late in my opinion.

[esprsso]

Agreed. You and I are in the same boat, so to speak.

 

 

[hypercafe]

If NCL could of had the September 1 trip go according to plan they would of saved lots money. They rolled the dice and lost, now they pay the price. It's all about the money, not customer service.

 

[blarko]

4 minutes ago, oncruisecontrol said:

I read the 4pm notice about getting to the port no later than 11am----it was after I read that notice that I packed my suitcase.  So my frustration is the same as yours:  NCL knew about the noon decision to close the port but advised us at 4pm that the cruise was a "Go" and then hours later at, what I am calling, "the 11th hour",  finally stated that the 7-day cruise was cancelled and that a 4-day cruise beginning Wednesday was being substituted.  This final announcement was made way too late in my opinion.

 

Especially for those who were flying in.  Many, not all, but many people arrive a day or two prior to the day of their cruise.  Since airlines were allowing flight changes without additional fees, flights could’ve been changed to arrive for the rescheduled itinerary, rather than to arrive in Miami and find out at that time the cruise was changed, had proper notice been given by the cruise line.

[DaCruiseBug]

29 minutes ago, esprsso said:

 

NCL didn't wait until the 11th hour (as bad as that would have been).  They actually posted on the website at 4pm yesterday, saying that the 9/1 sailing would actually depart early. Guests were told to be at Port of Miami no later than 11am today. My frustration is: if NCL knew about the noon ET port condition change to Yankee, why in the world did they update the website telling guests to go to the port early?  What exactly transpired in that four hour gap?

 

 

Correct. It's not about the weather...it's about the actions NCL took (or didn't take).

 

The Coast Guard issued a statement at noon yesterday saying the ports would close 12 hours prior to the forecast arrival of Tropical Storm winds. At that time, the National Weather Service was forecasting Tropical Storm winds to arrive by 2pm today. Meaning that the port would CLOSE at 2am this morning. Yet, 4 hours after this notice...NCL told everyone to head to the port at 9am this morning. THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!!!!

 

This is the timeline of events. This is why everyone should be IRATE at NCL and not try to defend them. RCL and Carnival both got the memo and got it right...yet NCL thought that for some reason they were special. Now you have thousands of people that flew down to Miami yesterday afternoon that could have just sat at home on their couch instead of wasting a ton of time and money flying to Miami for absolutely no reason.

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, volk904 said:

On the other head had they pulled it off RCCL, Carnival and MSC would have been trashed for pushing back to soon. Really no win for the cruise lines.

 

So much this!   I wish they all would have followed the lead of the airlines and allowed the 100% FCC cancellation when everything was up in the air so folks could have made the decision without feeling like they would lose out.  

[DaCruiseBug]

New update just came out - this sailing is now officially CANCELLED.

 

Hurricane Dorian Update, 9/1 8:30 PM EST:

As we continue to monitor Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, we are in constant communication with the United States Coast Guard to ensure we are taking all necessary precautions to maintain a safe and secure sailing for all guests and crew on board. While it is our every intention to maintain the original itinerary as much as possible, the security of everyone on board always takes precedence. Due to the storm, the following itineraries for Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Sun have been modified.

Norwegian Breakaway – August 25, 2019 Sailing: Due to Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, the United States Coast Guard made the final decision yesterday afternoon to close Port Miami as of 10 p.m. August 31, 2019. As such, Norwegian Breakaway’s scheduled return on September 1 was cancelled. We have been in close communication with government and local port authorities as to the earliest Norwegian Breakaway would be able return to Miami, Florida. Due to the uncertainty of when the port will reopen, the cruise will conclude in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 3.

We will be communicating with all guests on board and assisting with necessary travel arrangements to ensure a safe and timely return home.

Norwegian Breakaway – September 1, 2019 Sailing: Due to Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, the United States Coast Guard made the final decision yesterday afternoon to close Port Miami as of 10 p.m. August 31, 2019. We have been in close communication with government and local port authorities as to the earliest Norwegian Breakaway would be able return to Miami, Florida. Due to the uncertainty of when the port will reopen, the cruise has been cancelled. All guests will receive a full refund.

Norwegian Sun - August 29, 2019 Sailing: Norwegian Sun departed from Port Canaveral, Florida on Thursday, August 29, 2019 as scheduled. Her calls to Nassau, Great Stirrup Cay and Freeport, Bahamas have been cancelled. She spent a day at sea on Friday, August 30, overnighted in Cozumel, Mexico on August 31 and is scheduled to depart on September 1 at 6 p.m.

Due to Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, the United States Coast Guard are taking all necessary precautions to prepare for the storm. Yesterday, they made the final decision to close Port Canaveral as of August 31, 2019. As such, Norwegian Sun’s scheduled return on September 2 has been cancelled. We have been in close communication with government and local port authorities as to the earliest Norwegian Sun would be able return to Port Canaveral, Florida. Due to the uncertainty of when the port will reopen, the cruise will conclude in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 3.

We will be communicating with all guests on board and assisting with necessary travel arrangements to ensure a safe and timely return home.

Norwegian Sun – September 2, 2019 Sailing: Due to Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, the United States Coast Guard are taking all necessary precautions to prepare for the storm. Yesterday, they made the final decision to close Port Canaveral as of August 31, 2019. We have been in close communication with government and local port authorities as to the earliest Norwegian Sun would be able return to Port Canaveral, Florida. Due to the uncertainty of when the port will reopen, the cruise has been cancelled. All guests will receive a full refund.

Guests who booked shore excursions for any of the original ports of call through our shore excursion team, will receive a refund credited to their onboard account.

We are closely monitoring the storm and will communicate any additional itinerary modifications as needed.

[AshleyDillo]

WOW.  Wonder if this is going to start a chain reaction from the competitors.

[alreadypacked]

 

Very sorry for the current Breakaway guests, who probably have their heads spinning by now, and now will be disembarking their cruise in New Orleans (we think, as of now)...

 

I'm glad everyone on my 9/1 sailing will be getting a refund now that the cruise is canceled altogether (so they say...as of now).

 

Hopefully this refund is truly granted to all passengers--without them having to call NCL and wait on hold for 2 hours [like I did this morning] trying to secure a 100% refund before NCL's Sunday 09-01-2019, 9:00 pm deadline arrived.

 

If I (or anyone) hadn't gotten through before 9:00 pm, would we have just been SOL?

 

 

  

 

[Ryanv]

12 minutes ago, alreadypacked said:

 

 

Hopefully this refund is truly granted to all passengers--without them having to call NCL and wait on hold for 2 hours [like I did this morning] trying to secure a 100% refund before NCL's Sunday 09-01-2019, 9:00 pm deadline arrived.

 

If I (or anyone) hadn't gotten through before 9:00 pm, would we have just been SOL?

 

 

  

 

This line in their email  is exactly one of the prime examples of Norwegian dropping the ball entirely. Why put a (less than 24 hour) deadline on providing a full refund for ANYONE who didn’t want to do the shorter itinerary. Makes zero sense in terms of customer service by telling customers they have until 9pm on a holiday weekend Sunday to cancel, when they have minimal staff on the phones. I spent 2 hours of my day today trying to rebook. So so wrong. 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Ryanv

[pmt3]

19 minutes ago, Ryanv said:

This line in their email  is exactly one of the prime examples of Norwegian dropping the ball entirely. Why put a (less than 24 hour) deadline on providing a full refund for ANYONE who didn’t want to do the shorter itinerary. Makes zero sense in terms of customer service by telling customers they have until 9pm on a holiday weekend Sunday to cancel, when they have minimal staff on the phones. I spent 2 hours of my day today trying to rebook. So so wrong. 

Exactly... we weren't able to put any deadlines on them, for sure. Most travel agencies are closed until Tuesday. Why the additional angst for NCL cruisers? One thing they really could have done well was be somewhat accomodating and make this easy and they didn't even do that. They certainly aren't looking for or concerned about repeat customers. Hope everyone gets home safe and with minimal stress. You travelers all need a staycation after the hours spent traveling/figuring out the NCL "nocation"! Us Floridians are another story. Stay away Dorian!

[blarko]

Whoa....what about people who drove to the port. They have to disembark in New Orleans and then figure out how to get to their vehicles parked in Miami. This just keeps getting worse and worse.

[AshleyDillo]

15 minutes ago, blarko said:

Whoa....what about people who drove to the port. They have to disembark in New Orleans and then figure out how to get to their vehicles parked in Miami. This just keeps getting worse and worse.

I would assume NCL is going to arrange something.  They've got 2 ships worth of passengers to do this with.

[BirdTravels]

2 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I would assume NCL is going to arrange something.  They've got 2 ships worth of passengers to do this with.

Assuming both ships are full, 4500 passengers from the BA and 2000+ from the Sun, how many 175 seat 737s or 50 seat motor coaches do the need?

 

When the Jade broke down in San Juan late last year, it took days of charter flights to get passengers back to Miami. Now the will have 3x that many people in New Orleans. 

[hootie414]

I’m parked at Miami port and when I asked about this they replied book a flight and go back to Miami and then call customer relations to see if they will refund. They are very cold and no compassion at all. As for the ones of you that are saying that we’re cry babies. Shame on you. If you’re NOT out here in our shoes then keep your rude comments to yourselves. I watched 2 ships come through the exact area that we were supposed to this morning and they made it just fine. NCL screwed up on this from the beginning by announcing that we were staying overnight in Cozumel and then changing their minds. They told us to be back on board by 4am and then decided at noon when people left the ship at 9am that they were now going to leave at 6pm. Who does this? At this point we had to wait for all passengers to return to the ship which was at 11 pm and then only at that point we sailed full steam at midnight and we were only 89 nautical miles from Miami when they announced at 6:54pm that the port was closing at 10pm. Which I made add was announced to the public on land at NOON. You know that the captain had this information and didn’t tell us until 7 hours later. Talk about feeling like the ugly step child. Give us a break. If you were on here dealing with what we are you’d be upset and pissed as well. They aren’t communicating with us. I read updates on the website before they announce it to us. That’s effed up no matter how you look at it. Whew. I think I feel better now. Y’all have a safe night and don’t worry about us cry babies. 

Edited September 2, 2019 by hootie414

[DaCruiseBug]

5 minutes ago, hootie414 said:

I’m parked at Miami port and when I asked about this they replied book a flight and go back to Miami and then call customer relations to see if they will refund. They are very cold and no compassion at all. As for the ones of you that are saying that we’re cry babies. Shame on you. If you’re NOT out here in our shoes then keep your rude comments to yourselves. I watched 2 ships come through the exact area that we were supposed to this morning and they made it just fine. NCL screwed up on this from the beginning by announcing that we were staying overnight in Cozumel and then changing their minds. They told us to be back on board by 4am and then decided at noon when people left the ship at 9am that they were now going to leave at 6pm. Who does this? At this point we had to wait for all passengers to return to the ship which was at 11 pm and then only at that point we sailed full steam at midnight and we were only 89 nautical miles from Miami when they announced at 6:54pm that the port was closing at 10pm. Talk about feeling like the ugly step child. Give us a break. If you were on here dealing with what we are you’d be upset and pissed as well. They aren’t communicating with us. I read updates on the website before they announce it to us. That’s effed up no matter how you look at it. Whew. I think I feel better now. Y’all have a safe night and don’t worry about us cry babies. 

 

I totally understand where you're coming from. Having said that, it sounds like NCL won't have anything for you when you arrive in New Orleans. Book yourself a flight or a car (12 hour drive to Miami) and take care of yourself and your family. That's my advice to you.

[pmt3]

9 minutes ago, hootie414 said:

I’m parked at Miami port and when I asked about this they replied book a flight and go back to Miami and then call customer relations to see if they will refund. They are very cold and no compassion at all. As for the ones of you that are saying that we’re cry babies. Shame on you. If you’re NOT out here in our shoes then keep your rude comments to yourselves. I watched 2 ships come through the exact area that we were supposed to this morning and they made it just fine. NCL screwed up on this from the beginning by announcing that we were staying overnight in Cozumel and then changing their minds. They told us to be back on board by 4am and then decided at noon when people left the ship at 9am that they were now going to leave at 6pm. Who does this? At this point we had to wait for all passengers to return to the ship which was at 11 pm and then only at that point we sailed full steam at midnight and we were only 89 nautical miles from Miami when they announced at 6:54pm that the port was closing at 10pm. Which I made add was announced to the public on land at NOON. You know that the captain had this information and didn’t tell us until 7 hours later. Talk about feeling like the ugly step child. Give us a break. If you were on here dealing with what we are you’d be upset and pissed as well. They aren’t communicating with us. I read updates on the website before they announce it to us. That’s effed up no matter how you look at it. Whew. I think I feel better now. Y’all have a safe night and don’t worry about us cry babies. 

Geeze, we would have been in your shoes if we left a week earlier, parked at Port as well. I agree, shame on the few that are calling u all crybabies and think they are above all of this. If they don't have a question or can't contribute something positive, stay off the boards. NCL told us yesterday afternoon that you guys would be departing and we (9/1 boarders) would be boarding at 8 this morning. Like you said, it was announced at noon yesterday that port of Miami would be closing, so something doesn't add up. So sorry they put you in this position. Has anything even been explained? Like why they didn't dock in Key West or Tampa! New Orleans is a long way, hope they get you all back quickly and safely. Prayers for all.

[emdia43]

6 minutes ago, pmt3 said:

Geeze, we would have been in your shoes if we left a week earlier, parked at Port as well. I agree, shame on the few that are calling u all crybabies and think they are above all of this. If they don't have a question or can't contribute something positive, stay off the boards. NCL told us yesterday afternoon that you guys would be departing and we (9/1 boarders) would be boarding at 8 this morning. Like you said, it was announced at noon yesterday that port of Miami would be closing, so something doesn't add up. So sorry they put you in this position. Has anything even been explained? Like why they didn't dock in Key West or Tampa! New Orleans is a long way, hope they get you all back quickly and safely. Prayers for all.

Would the port of Tampa be able to handle a ship of that size?

[hootie414]

Thank you. No, all the captain said was that we’re going to New Orleans. They can’t even give us a port time. So, no one can even make flight arrangements until they do that. We were so close to key west and Sky was leaving the dock and we just kept on going. Tampa out of the pic as they don’t have a deep port there for this ship. The captain made the announcement and then left his crew to be bashed by all the guests. I was 2 feet from the desk when they were making the announcement so I was the first in line to ask questions. They couldn’t give any answers. They said that they don’t know any details only that we’re going to New Orleans and we have to get off the ship. I have video where passengers were chanting “don't get off the ship” over and over. It was kinda scary. 

Edited September 2, 2019 by hootie414

[AshleyDillo]

3 minutes ago, hootie414 said:

Thank you. No, all the captain said was that we’re going to New Orleans. They can’t even give us a port time. So, no one can even make flight arrangements until they do that. We were so close to key west and Sky was leaving the dock and we just kept on going. Tampa out of the pic as they don’t have a deep port there for this ship. The captain made the announcement and then left his crew to be bashed by all the guests. I was 2 feet from the desk when they were making the announcement so I was the first in line to ask questions. They couldn’t give any answers. They said that they don’t know any details only that we’re going to New Orleans and we have to get off the ship. I have video where passengers were chanting “don't get off the ship” over and over. It was kinda scary. 

 They can't sail the ship from NOLA to Miami with passengers without visiting a distant port.  Guess they didn't think they had enough provisions to hang out at sea until the port opened and all of the western caribbean ports were full?  Who knows!  This is an insane situation that you have to deal with and that's a lot of people dealing with a stressful situation in an small space.

[Shoppie124]

10 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

 They can't sail the ship from NOLA to Miami with passengers without visiting a distant port.  Guess they didn't think they had enough provisions to hang out at sea until the port opened and all of the western caribbean ports were full?  Who knows!  This is an insane situation that you have to deal with and that's a lot of people dealing with a stressful situation in an small space.

Well we are out of rye bread, berries and limes 😂😂😂

[emdia43]

35 minutes ago, hootie414 said:

Thank you. No, all the captain said was that we’re going to New Orleans. They can’t even give us a port time. So, no one can even make flight arrangements until they do that. We were so close to key west and Sky was leaving the dock and we just kept on going. Tampa out of the pic as they don’t have a deep port there for this ship. The captain made the announcement and then left his crew to be bashed by all the guests. I was 2 feet from the desk when they were making the announcement so I was the first in line to ask questions. They couldn’t give any answers. They said that they don’t know any details only that we’re going to New Orleans and we have to get off the ship. I have video where passengers were chanting “don't get off the ship” over and over. It was kinda scary. 

Can you post the video?  

[david_sobe]

The Ft Lauderdale airport is closing today at noon.  Even if the ship could dock somewhere in south Florida, it would be impossible to get out since airports are closing, flights cancelled etc.  Many drive to the FTL airport for their Miami cruise..

You can blame NCL but I had to laugh at some of the reasons for doing so.  "Watching ships come and go doing just fine" has NOTHING to do with the cruise lines.   Ports are closing so the only option is cancelling cruises and rerouting them.  Also predicting a hurricane is like predicting the winning lottery numbers.  Over a week ago, people were yelling at NCL for not giving them information.  Information cant be given because no one knew where this thing was going. If they cancelled your cruise and the storm went away, everyone would be screaming.  If the cruise was not cancelled and the ship was hit by the storm, people would be screaming.  Its very easy to Monday morning quarterback.  That does NOT mean people are not compassionate for those that missed their cruise.

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190901/hurricane-dorian-pbia-fort-lauderdale-airport-to-cease-operations-monday

[put me on a ship]

6 hours ago, emdia43 said:

Would the port of Tampa be able to handle a ship of that size?

No. It wouldn't fit under the bridge.