Am I being unreasonable?

[foreverinmyheart]

Let me preface this by saying with all the devastation in the Bahamas - this is really not a big deal at all - I just wanted to get some opinions. 

 

My family of 4 sailed on the July 14-21 sailing of the Escape.   Overall, the cruise was fantastic.  Great food, loved the ship, my kids loved the sports complex and Bermuda was as Gorgeous as ever.  This was my 12th cruise but my first ever on Norwegian.  On our second day in Bermuda we decided to take the complimentary ferry over to St. George. No problems on the ferry ride over and we enjoyed our day at Clearwater Beach.  The ferry ride back, however, was a different story.  My husband stayed downstairs in the air conditioning.  Myself and my two sons ( ages 13 and 9) stayed upstairs in the fresh air.  As we were pulling away from the dock,  apparently we forgot a crew member (people were yelling from the dock) so they went back and picked him up (no big deal).  About 10 minutes later, as we were sailing through a narrow channel, the crew on board started yelling and running through the boat franticially. This all happened so fast but within a few seconds of the yelling, the ferry slammed into a bunch of large rocks on the side of the channel.  It was a very large jolt causing a few passengers to fall out of their seats on to the floor.  I heard later that a few needed medical treatment (but can't confirm that).  The next few minutes were total chaos - crew members running around, kids crying, passengers upset - there was no communication from the crew as to what happened.  After a few minutes the captain came over the speaker to announce that he had to turn the ferry around and head back to St George to access the damage.  By this time, my 9 year old was petrified.  We arrived in St George and they told us that it would take about 20-30 minutes to check the ferry for damage and if it was fit to sail, they would return to dockyard.  There was no way my son was getting back on the ferry, he was anxiety ridden.  So, we exited the ferry and found a local taxi to drive us (shout out to Janis, a special ed school teacher during the year that drives part time in the summer - she was incredible.  She charged us $60 to go from St George to Dockyard which I thought was very reasonable.)  When we got back to our ship, I immediately went to Guest Relations and let them know what happened.  They had no clue that this accident even  happened, which surprised me because it was a Norwegian owned ferry, I assumed they had called ahead and notified the ship).  I explained my situation and asked to be refunded the $60.00 that I paid for a taxi.  I was told they would contact me in my stateroom.  While I was there, a few other passengers from the ferry were also complaining.  I went on with the rest of my cruise and on the last day I received a letter in my stateroom saying I needed to contact their corporate guest relations office in Miami when I got off the cruise.  There was no phone number, just a website that asked me to submit a claim which I did on the day I got back from the ship (July 21).  I just now heard from them via email (over 6 weeks later) basically stating that they will not refund the $60.00.   Again, in the grand scheme of things, it did not ruin our cruise but did cause some anxiety, especially for my son.  It does, however leave a bad taste in my mouth towards Norwegian.  I feel like they could have done something, even a $25 OBC or a bottle of wine to the stateroom the day that it happened.  If you were me, would you call the corporate number and complain again or just drop it?  It annoys me enough to never sail Norwegian again just because of the lack of customer service.   Thanks for allowing me to rant. 

 

***edited to ad - Janis was kind enough to give us a hand written receipt so that there was some proof of payment, which we gave to the guest relations desk**

Edited September 4, 2019 by foreverinmyheart

[Two Wheels Only]

Yes.

[Son of a son of a ...]

If I go to an offsite meeting and lunch is served, but I choose to go to TGIF instead, my employer will not pay for my meal.

 

I think the critical piece of information missing is whether NCL provided transportation back to the ship from St. G.

 

PS - I am sorry you son was very anxious.  At that age, children often lack of the life experience to understand the probability of outcomes and fear the worse.  They look to adults as a gauge and when the adults are freaking then the children begin to freak out.  I hope he gets back on the horse again.

[hitch-04]

When you stepped off the ferry and took transportation into your own hands (and wallet) you assumed responsibility for getting back to the ship.
If you want to reach out to corporate, I'd suggest changing your approach. They aren't going to reimburse you the taxi ride. If you reach out to corporate, it should be explaining the lack of communication for their awareness but not asking for anything. Maybe they'll offer something for a future cruise, maybe not, but there is no entitlement to anything.   

[Lizabu]

It was 100% your choice to take a cab. I think you have to take responsibility for your own decision. The ferry was going to be free.

[April42749]

Yes, you are being unreasonable and as you said "this is no big deal".

You're actually lucky your son got back on "any boat" after the incident.  Imagine if he refused to get on the ship....now....that would have been a big deal.

[Outerdog]

Can't read.

 

Paragraphs next time, please.

 

[packer99]

Sounds like you decided right away to not get back on the Ferry. That's on you, not them.

[mjkacmom]

Unreasonable, accidents happen and it wasn’t NCL’s fault your ds wouldn’t get back on. I understand why you chose to take a cab, but, you chose to take a cab.

[Sweetnspicy]

I wouldn’t fight the decision. You chose to take the cab so it’s definitely an out of pocket expense. Sounds like the rest of the cruise was great! 

[foreverinmyheart]

Thanks for your input and perspective. 

[BrewPubby]

Yes. 

[PTC DAWG]

57 minutes ago, Son of a son of a ... said:

.

 

PS - I am sorry you son was very anxious.  At that age, children often lack of the life experience to understand the probability of outcomes and fear the worse.  They look to adults as a gauge and when the adults are freaking then the children begin to freak out.  I hope he gets back on the horse again.

This, so much this.

[Tapi]

Hello foreverinmyheart:

 

Had I encountered the same situation, and made the same decision that you made, it would’ve never crossed my mind to seek reimbursement. You did the right thing by looking for alternate means of transportation based on your family’s state of mind and needs at the time, but it cost you extra, and in my humble opinion, that’s on you. I’m assuming that the complimentary ferry still departed later, so the cruise line did their part by providing transportation. Your refusal to take it was your decision. 

 

Last year, we were on a Mediterranean cruise which stopped in Marseille, France. We chose to take the complimentary bus service into town. Long story short, the service was horrendous. Hordes of passengers that overwhelmed the system. We stood in the cold rain for 40 minutes waiting in line. Once onboard, it was chaotic. People standing shoulder to shoulder, pushing and screaming as we worked our way to the old town. One of my kids was slammed against the well when a large man tripped and fell on him. After that, and also knowing that there were ongoing protests in France that could slow us further, we decided to suck it up and pay for a cab to return to the ship. It was the best money I spent on that vacation.

 

I made a choice to bypass the subpar complimentary transportation for the well being of my family, and it cost me extra. But it was my decision. Even though the conditions were different than yours, I think that the same principle applies. 

 

I’m glad to hear though that besides this incident, you had what sounds like a fantastic cruise. Your situation wouldn’t stop me from selecting NCL again. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Tapi

[biker@sea]

You should get back all that you paid for a free ride.

NOTHING!

[MotownVoice]

I'm not surprised to hear "a few other passengers were complaining."

I wouldn't have been surprised to hear that the entire passenger list from the ferry was complaining.

It's what we Americans do.  We expect things, and then we complain.

It's the one thing we get right.

[gmbhardy]

Yes. Your son’s peace of mind was worth the $60 bucks.

[Homosassa]

Your choice to take a taxi and not the free ferry. No reason for NCL to reimburse you. 

 

And as far as optional transportation, is there some reason that the public bus system was not considered?

 

The bus  (and ferry from Hamilton if the bus wasn't taken from Hamilton to the Naval Dockyard) would have taken several hours, but it would have been inexpensive and you would have been able to see more of Bermuda.

[smplybcause]

It sounds like you left before hearing what the decision was. ie if the ferry was checked out and then still transported everyone back to the ship then I don't think there's an argument. If it didn't and everyone was waiting for a bus to transport them, maybe if there was some specific reason you couldn't wait for the bus. 

 

I might still write a few more emails about it, just to see what happens as writing an email doesn't take much time, but I wouldn't expect to actually get anything. And I'm not so sure another cruise line would have either - you didn't wait to see what the cruise line was going to do.

[JamieLogical]

I do think you handled the immediate situation with your son in the way that you felt was warranted. There are definitely cheaper transportation options on Bermuda than a $60 cab ride, but it sounds like you wanted that peace of mind for your son and no one can fault you for that. 

 

However, I also think it's unreasonable for you to have requested/expected reimbursement from NCL. As others have said, if the free ferry did still run that day, then you were not deprived of free transportation back to the ship, you simply chose to take a non-free (and very expensive) option. That was your choice, not NCLs. I think that if there is anything you *might* be critical of NCL for here it's the slow communication.

Edited September 4, 2019 by JamieLogical

[ColeThornton]

Personally, I would just drop it.  To ME at least, sixty bucks is not worth the time, effort or angst. 

 

Glad you had a good cruise otherwise.

 

You've also learned if you start a thread with the subject line:  "Am I being unreasonable", the folks here will definitely give you an honest answer.   lol

[FreestyleNovice]

NCL ferry? Do you mean tender life boat (one from the ship)?

 

Because if that crashed onto a few rocks and was damaged without ever noticing the ship that would be more serious than a $60 cab ride. 

[foreverinmyheart]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Personally, I would just drop it.  To ME at least, sixty bucks is not worth the time, effort or angst. 

 

Glad you had a good cruise otherwise.

 

You've also learned if you start a thread with the subject line:  "Am I being unreasonable", the folks here will definitely give you an honest answer.   lol

Exactly!  I seriously wanted honest opinions which I got and most of them were helpful and appreciated - the few snarky comments made  me realize why I seldom post here.  But I appreciate your reply.  Thank you!

[mkerewski]

4 minutes ago, FreestyleNovice said:

NCL ferry? Do you mean tender life boat (one from the ship)?

 

Because if that crashed onto a few rocks and was damaged without ever noticing the ship that would be more serious than a $60 cab ride. 

NCL contracts a free ferry for passengers from the dockyard to St. George

[roger001]

The bus is a good and cheap ride back.  I even stop off along the way at Swizzle Inn and then back on.  Course, wouldn't want to make that stop with kids I guess.  Bermuda taxis are pretty pricey.  You made a reasonable choice based on your circumstances.  But your choice.  Can't see anyone owing you a refund as long as the ferry did eventually get all the other guests back.