Dorian spoiled it, NCL cruise

[hasubna]

We were scheduled to take the Sept 1 cruise from Miami on the NCL Breakaway. We flew down on Delta two days earlier than the sail date to avoid any possible delays due to Hurricane Dorian. We were poised to take the shuttle to the dock when we accidentally stumbled on a notice on NCL that the cruise had been postponed. We were faced with canceling for a full refund by 9m Sunday night Sept 1 or wait for a rescheduled date. Since we had over $700 invested in the fight, hotels, food and parking, we opted to take the cruise on a later date that week even though it would be only a 4 day cruise. We were given the date of Sept. 4 if the Coast Guard approved. We were told that the pier had been closed at the end of the day Aug. 31. Apparently, the incoming passengers on the previous cruise were not allowed to disembark in Miami. I felt sadness for them too. We called our hotel and reserved the room we were in for another three nights. This makes 5 nights expense in a hotel that was not cheap. The weather was on and off with mostly good skies and a few periods of rain. Most of the time, the winds were not threatening. We also learned that Ft. Lauderdale Port Everglades had not closed even though Dorian was forecast to be closer to them than Miami. We made the best of a bad situation and then made plans to go to the port on Sept. 4. Again, late in the game, we heard from NCL that the cruise was canceled. That was about 7am on Sept. 4 although posting was the evening of Sept. 3. We had to discover the news ourselves by being proactive although we did get a robo call later that day, Sept 4. We were offered a refund for the cruise. A previous offer on Sept 1 for 20% off a future cruise was not given even though we could have save $700 by cancelling on Sept 1. We decided to wait it out and then it was cancelled on Sept 4. We think we got taken advantage of when NCL revoked the 20% future offer. The people taking it on Sept 1 got a full refund and 20% but we spent lots of money and did not get the same. NCL needs to review this for fairness. We heard from other cruise line customers that they were getting a 50% discount on a future cruise. NCL has always been difficult to deal with when we have a problem like the time we took our grandchildren on a cruise and they took down the slide to the pool and began welding while we were laying in the sun over several days. They roped off part of the pool saying they removed the slide to prevent drunk passengers on the next cruise from using it. They also closed the kiddie pool forcing everyone to be in the area near the welding. My little grandkids were really disappointed.  I think they should give a choice of packages in addition to a 50% discount on the next cruise. A free drink package would be nice along with upgrades. I know the weather was not their fault but the communication was terrible and it still is. We are platinum plus guests.

[stormynow]

I would be very upset, sorry this happened to you.

[graphicguy]

OP...can't comment on the grandchildrens' slides/play area.  Most cruise ships on most lines are constantly in a state of updates, though.  

 

I was on the same cruise as you.  I had the same issues, too.  I did get a complete refund on the cruise, which you should have received by now, but none of the cancellation fees for flights/hotel/incidentals were part of that refund.  For that, you need to file a claim here...

 

www.ncl.com/case-submission

 

I did so, with all of my receipts and an explanation of the events that led up to incurring those expenses.  Have not heard back, and don't even know if I will ever hear back regarding the claim.  There has been no other communication from NCL since they issued the cruise refund, other than to send an email stating they've received my claim.

 

Good luck.  Usually, if you don't hear anything immediately about some sort of considerations, you probably won't.  Just my opinion, though.

Edited September 11, 2019 by graphicguy

[Peachypooh]

I feel for you. I have been in similar situations (not a cruise but air travel) and once had to make a

split second decision as to whether to rebook myself due to a snowstorm or wait for the airline

robocall. It cost me over $2,000 to rebook, airfare, extra hotel stay, extra days on the car rental.

The airline assured me that the airline portion would be covered which was around $1600 of that.

They ended up giving us aprox. $250. It took a long time for us to get over this.

In your case you might still be able to recoup.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Peachypooh

[smplybcause]

If you had travel insurance, or a credit card that had it as a benefit you might be able to recoup some of your costs. It sounds like you started your trip before NCL made a call to delay the Sept 1 drip so it should be covered under delay/interruption coverage. 

[MotownVoice]

When I hold the two images side by side of a family on a luxury cruise losing money, and those poor people lumbering on and off that half destroyed tug boat to be shuttled to the main land with nothing but the clothes on their backs and horror in their heads because they have nothing left to go home to ... it makes me a little queasy to be empathetic.

I think the phrase, "Dorian spoiled my cruise" is what did it for me.

Unusual situation, I know.

Edited September 11, 2019 by MotownVoice

[PelicanBill]

Yes, there is a tragedy in the Bahamas, but we can also discuss how the cruise lines handled it.  And created unnecessary lost money and time for people when they could not make a decision soon enough, or stick to it, or offer sufficient remedy. 

 

Breakaway is certainly a worst case... for those taken to New Orleans and those who got canceled. It wasn't handled well and some have been given poor remedies.

[Peachypooh]

55 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

When I hold the two images side by side of a family on a luxury cruise losing money, and those poor people lumbering on and off that half destroyed tug boat to be shuttled to the main land with nothing but the clothes on their backs and horror in their heads because they have nothing left to go home to ... it makes me a little queasy to be empathetic.

I think the phrase, "Dorian spoiled my cruise" is what did it for me.

Unusual situation, I know.

You have a point up to a point. I recently got over a very scary painful  illness where I could have died.

Time and time again people said to me "at least you don't have cancer". There are all levels of suffering.

I feel for those affected and those who died. And yes the OP troubles seem to pale in comparison however

they did sustain a (potential) loss.

 

[mattc99]

Was also booked on this cruise for Sept. 1.  NCL communication was really disappointing there is no arguing that.  To my knowledge no one got future cruise discounts and that was only offered when they were trying to make plans to sail on the 4th on a shortened itinerary.  Then that was cancelled and the entire cruise was cancelled thus the full refund for everyone.

 

If I hadn't been following the hurricane thread and roll call on cruise critic I would have boarded our flight and been headed to Miami.  Thank god I wasn't relying on the actual cruise line for good information!! lol

 

There are numerous people that are out money on flights/hotels.  While I think NCL should compensate those people like GraphicGuy that submitted a claim with proof of loss I'm absolutely sure NCL is not going to be jumping up and down offering anything more than they have.  Maybe give them a call and explain your own circumstance.  The worst they can say is no.

 

We took the refund and just booked the same cruise in October.  The airlines were fantastic in allowing us to take full credit of the flights with no penalty and rebook in October.

 

[DaCruiseBug]

1 hour ago, MotownVoice said:

When I hold the two images side by side of a family on a luxury cruise losing money, and those poor people lumbering on and off that half destroyed tug boat to be shuttled to the main land with nothing but the clothes on their backs and horror in their heads because they have nothing left to go home to ... it makes me a little queasy to be empathetic.

I think the phrase, "Dorian spoiled my cruise" is what did it for me.

Unusual situation, I know.

 

Every day there's some type of tragedy somewhere in the world. You can't use that to say you have no empathy for someone who got the short end of the stick as well, even if on a completely different level.

 

Let's be honest here: NCL handled the Breakaway & Sun very poorly. They received the same information from the Coast Guard as all the other cruise lines did yet they chose to act in an irresponsible way that ended up costing customers hundreds of dollars. Both Carnival and Royal all just pushed back their sailing dates and didn't try to rush in and get everyone in on the morning when the port was supposed to be closed. That was piss poor planning motivated by profits.

 

NCL should do right by it's customers and not only offer a full refund, but also offer a discount on a future cruise booking equivalent to at least 25% of the what they paid for their current cruise plus cover at least some of their hotel/airfare costs due to their negligence and for trying to get everyone to rush to the port at 8am.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

There is a difference between what they should do and what they are supposed to do.  They cancelled and gave everyone a refund and that is probably the extent of what they have to do.  What they should do all depends on what they think they need to do to not lose business to competition.  Apparently, and I think I agree with them, they won't lose enough business to offer anything else.  It seems like with everything else, companies are focused on giving extras to new customers vs rewarding loyalty.  The big issue is communication.  It sounds like they may provide reimbursements if you jump through all the hoops, they just aren't advertising it. 

[Capitan Obvious]

15 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

Every day there's some type of tragedy somewhere in the world. You can't use that to say you have no empathy for someone who got the short end of the stick as well, even if on a completely different level.

 

Let's be honest here: NCL handled the Breakaway & Sun very poorly. They received the same information from the Coast Guard as all the other cruise lines did yet they chose to act in an irresponsible way that ended up costing customers hundreds of dollars. Both Carnival and Royal all just pushed back their sailing dates and didn't try to rush in and get everyone in on the morning when the port was supposed to be closed. That was piss poor planning motivated by profits.

 

NCL should do right by it's customers and not only offer a full refund, but also offer a discount on a future cruise booking equivalent to at least 25% of the what they paid for their current cruise plus cover at least some of their hotel/airfare costs due to their negligence and for trying to get everyone to rush to the port at 8am.

 

Interesting that you think a company "should do right by it's customers" given the circumstances. Would you advocate in the same way considering that the Port of Miami is the business and NCL is their customer? What do you think the fair compensation should be in that case? Doesn't NCL have a right to complain that decisions on the port weren't quickly made and then stuck to?

 

 

[graphicguy]

11 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Interesting that you think a company "should do right by it's customers" given the circumstances. Would you advocate in the same way considering that the Port of Miami is the business and NCL is their customer? What do you think the fair compensation should be in that case? Doesn't NCL have a right to complain that decisions on the port weren't quickly made and then stuck to?

 

 

More like NCL IGNORED the port authority's warnings of the high probability of closure, and either didn’t inform us, or told us too late to recoup travel related charges.

[Capitan Obvious]

5 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

More like NCL IGNORED the port authority's warnings of the high probability of closure, and either didn’t inform us, or told us too late to recoup travel related charges.

 

Sounds like you were all in the same boat.

 

You complain that NCL couldn't give a quick and definitive answer, but then say they were only warned of a high probability of port closure (why couldn't they just decide on the port...open or closed). I don't see how NCL could inform you until NCL was given concrete information...and the time to weigh and consider their options before reaching their own concrete decision.

 

BTW...never too late to recoup travel related charges. This is what travel insurance is for. You'd have to be willing to assume a big financial risk to travel during hurricane season without travel insurance.

[DaCruiseBug]

18 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Sounds like you were all in the same boat.

 

You complain that NCL couldn't give a quick and definitive answer, but then say they were only warned of a high probability of port closure (why couldn't they just decide on the port...open or closed). I don't see how NCL could inform you until NCL was given concrete information...and the time to weigh and consider their options before reaching their own concrete decision.

 

BTW...never too late to recoup travel related charges. This is what travel insurance is for. You'd have to be willing to assume a big financial risk to travel during hurricane season without travel insurance.

 

NCL wasn't warned of a probability of port closure. The US Coast Guard issued a statement at noon that the ports would close 12 hours prior to the forecast arrival of tropical storm force winds. At that time they were supposed to arrive at 2pm the following day. Both Carnival and Royal said they were postponing their sailings until the 4th right after the Coast Guard issued that statement. NCL on the other hand told everyone to hurry up to the pier at 8am the following day...which is 6 hours prior to the forecast arrival of tropical storm force winds...6 hours after the Coast Guard would close the port. Eventually, the Coast Guard ended up closing the port that night...a few hours ahead of schedule.

 

So everyone, including graphic guy got on their flight that afternoon and flew down to Florida when they could have done the same exact thing as Carnival and RCL and postponed that sailing right away. Instead customers were misled by NCL due to their negligence and ended up costing people hundreds of dollars for flying to Florida for absolutely no reason.

 

This is the timeline of events. This is why NCL screwed up. This is why NCL should own up to their negligence and reimburse people that wasted hundreds of dollars.

[mugtech]

This is why cruising out of Miami on 9/1 is a roll of the dice.  Some got snake eyes.

[Capitan Obvious]

 

51 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

More like NCL IGNORED the port authority's warnings of the high probability of closure

 

17 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

NCL wasn't warned of a probability of port closure.

 

So either NCL ignored the port authority's warnings or NCL wasn't warned.

 

You can't both be right. Can we pick and stick with one set of facts?

 

I'm still wondering when someone will advocate for the port to issue compensation to NCL for not giving them prompt and unchanging information on which to base their decisions.

 

Too many people with their hand out...

[graphicguy]

37 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Sounds like you were all in the same boat.

 

You complain that NCL couldn't give a quick and definitive answer, but then say they were only warned of a high probability of port closure (why couldn't they just decide on the port...open or closed). I don't see how NCL could inform you until NCL was given concrete information...and the time to weigh and consider their options before reaching their own concrete decision.

 

BTW...never too late to recoup travel related charges. This is what travel insurance is for. You'd have to be willing to assume a big financial risk to travel during hurricane season without travel insurance.

Couple of issues with this....

 

1). NCL didn't inform many of us the hazards of going to the port as the port may close.  Then, when they did communicate, it was too late to recoup hotel charges and flight fares/fees.  Then, they kept changing what they were doing.  First, the Breakaway was spending an extra day in Cozumel on the previous cruise itinerary, because of the probability of the Port of Miami being closed (we were never informed of this and I only found this out via CC).  Then, they were going to sail to Miami on schedule.  Then, they were going to sail to Miami, but we had to embark early, to leave early.  Then, they wanted us to stick around Miami because they weren't going to sail until 9/4 (original sail date was 9/1).  Then, they cancelled the cruise altogether. Again, most of this was not communicated to us, and the very few times they did communicate with us, it was either too late, or incorrect information about what was going on with the sailing.  From what I've read, cruises from the likes of Royal, MSC, etc, gave their changes, stuck to it, and communicated it in a timely fashion so people could make arrangements.

 

2). All of this resulted in me changing my flights 4 times.  Delta didn't charge me for the first one as it was weather related.  They did charge me for the subsequent changes.  I only had my hotel for one night.  They were booked the other nights.  IF I would have hung around for the 9/4 cruise (if it had actually sailed), I would have had to scramble, with the threat of a CAT 5 Hurricane, for a place to stay for 9/1, 9/2 and 9/3 (if anyone actually wants to stay in a place being threatened by a CAT 5 Hurricane.

 

If the cruise was delayed, yes, insurance would have kicked in.  Since it was cancelled, insurance points right back to the cruise company for charges.  

[graphicguy]

3 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

 

 

So either NCL ignored the port authority's warnings or NCL wasn't warned.

 

You can't both be right. Can we pick and stick with one set of facts?

 

I'm still wondering when someone will advocate for the port to issue compensation to NCL for not giving them prompt and unchanging information on which to base their decisions.

 

Too many people with their hand out...

NCL ignored the warnings.  Up until 24 hours (or maybe even less) before our sailing, they were going to sail the 9/1 cruise. 

 

The Port of Miami had been warning of potential CAT 2, 3, 4 (and eventually the CAT 5 that hit the Bahamas) since Aug 29.  Even the Gov of FL put ALL COUNTIES of FL on EMERGENCY ALERT on August 29.  NCL never said the cruise would even potentially be cancelled or even delayed until 8/31.  IIRC, the Captain of the Port of Miami called ZULU at 4:00 a.m. on 9/1, which meant NCL had NO CHOICE but to divert the previous cruise to NOLA and cancel our 9/1 cruise.

[Capitan Obvious]

4 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Couple of issues with this....

 

1). NCL didn't inform many of us the hazards of going to the port as the port may close.  Then, when they did communicate, it was too late to recoup hotel charges and flight fares/fees.  Then, they kept changing what they were doing.  First, the Breakaway was spending an extra day in Cozumel on the previous cruise itinerary, because of the probability of the Port of Miami being closed (we were never informed of this and I only found this out via CC).  Then, they were going to sail to Miami on schedule.  Then, they were going to sail to Miami, but we had to embark early, to leave early.  Then, they wanted us to stick around Miami because they weren't going to sail until 9/4 (original sail date was 9/1).  Then, they cancelled the cruise altogether. Again, most of this was not communicated to us, and the very few times they did communicate with us, it was either too late, or incorrect information about what was going on with the sailing.  From what I've read, cruises from the likes of Royal, MSC, etc, gave their changes, stuck to it, and communicated it in a timely fashion so people could make arrangements.

 

2). All of this resulted in me changing my flights 4 times.  Delta didn't charge me for the first one as it was weather related.  They did charge me for the subsequent changes.  I only had my hotel for one night.  They were booked the other nights.  IF I would have hung around for the 9/4 cruise (if it had actually sailed), I would have had to scramble, with the threat of a CAT 5 Hurricane, for a place to stay for 9/1, 9/2 and 9/3 (if anyone actually wants to stay in a place being threatened by a CAT 5 Hurricane.

 

If the cruise was delayed, yes, insurance would have kicked in.  Since it was cancelled, insurance points right back to the cruise company for charges.  

 

You make it sound as though NCL was given information that was subsequently changed causing them to have to change their previous decisions. Didn't the port make a decision early enough and stick to it so that everyone down the line could adjust?

 

And since the cruise was cancelled, the cruise line refunded all of the money you paid to them for the cruise, correct?

Does your contract with the cruise line contain a section where the cruise line accepts responsibility for your pre/post cruise spending?

 

How much did the cruise line get from the port of Miami because they closed the port on them at the last minute? Quite unfair to just close the port when the arrival/departure of the ship was contracted for and thousands of arriving/departing passengers were counting on the port keeping their part of the agreement.

[Capitan Obvious]

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

NCL ignored the warnings.  Up until 24 hours (or maybe even less) before our sailing, they were going to sail the 9/1 cruise. 

 

The Port of Miami had been warning of potential CAT 2, 3, 4 (and eventually the CAT 5 that hit the Bahamas) since Aug 29.  Even the Gov of FL put ALL COUNTIES of FL on EMERGENCY ALERT on August 29.  NCL never said the cruise would even potentially be cancelled or even delayed until 8/31.  IIRC, the Captain of the Port of Miami called ZULU at 4:00 a.m. on 9/1, which meant NCL had NO CHOICE but to divert the previous cruise to NOLA and cancel our 9/1 cruise.

 

So what you are saying is that the claims made in post #15 are "fake news".

[graphicguy]

2 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

So what you are saying is that the claims made in post #15 are "fake news".

Fake News?  What?  Dorian happened.  The chronology of events are outlined in the above posts.  I was there for the entire thing. There's nothing fake about it.  

[david_sobe]

I have a cruise coming up that I have been paying on for over a year.  If it got cancelled, I would be so upset and disappointed because of the sacrifices I have been making.  So I am 100% sympathetic to those who had their cruise cancelled or altered.  I lived in the cone of uncertainty for almost a week.  I was impacted too with a mad rush of gasoline, food, and supplies.  I personally disagreed with closing the port of Miami.  In reality the cruise that went to New Orleans could have ported in Miami with no problems.  The cruise that got cancelled could have sailed out of Miami with no problems.  We barely had wind and rain in Miami.   However, the closing of the port had nothing to do with NCL.  Also, its important to remember that cruise lines take no chances anymore and this is not just with storms.  I was reading a review where a woman had a heart palpitation and the ship's doctor ordered her off the ship immediately.  When she got to the local hospital in port, the doctor did tests and asked why she was there.  She had to go through a process to get back on the ship and was very upset and frustrated with NCL.  But lets review. NCL and other cruise lines have been recently sued for wrongful death with passengers dying because they alleged the ship's doctor did not take their condition seriously.  This is the same situation with hurricanes and storms.  During the last 5 years there have been incidents where captains took small chances that backfired and people were terrified and felt they were going to die.  All of these incidents went viral on social media.  Of course cruise lines are gun shy and wont take any chances when it comes to hurricanes and especially Dorian which violated very norm when it came to storm tracking.  To this day, there is still a political debate going on where Dorian was supposed to go.  That is how insane this storm has become.  I was reading all the negative reviews of the Breakaway and the constant second guessing of NCL.  You cant have it both ways. You cant complain that your cruise is cancelled or rerouted because of hurricane Dorian and then complain if the cruise ran into Dorian's path and you were in fear of your life.  Its very easy to arm chair quarterback and second guess storm tracking.  I even believe the closing of Port Miami was an over reaction but they chose the side of caution.  As many complaining about their cruise's impact from Dorian, there would be 50 times as many complaining and blaming NCL for their poor decisions to take a chance and sail around Dorian.  Sorry, you cant have it both ways.  Over 2500 people are missing in the Bahamas and lives destroyed.  Perspective please.  Everyone on the Breakaway arrived safe in New Orleans and arrived home to home still standing. 

Edited September 11, 2019 by david_sobe

[smplybcause]

50 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 

If the cruise was delayed, yes, insurance would have kicked in.  Since it was cancelled, insurance points right back to the cruise company for charges.  

 

That's not entirely true. If you happened to have already left on the trip then travel insurance would have kicked in - as delay/interruption coverage doesn't kick in until your trip does. But if you fail to start your trip it doesn't cover it unless you failed to leave for a covered reason. A bit of a sticky wicket with the hurricane, but actually leaving on the trip is the only way travel insurance covers the delays/interruptions from it (at least that I know of).

[RedwingHockeyFan]

Sounds like NCL was reactive while the other lines were proactive.  All of them will have lost money when everything is calculated but NCL seems to have alienated it's customers.  I'd think that this would be a learning experience for them but they may have already learned a lesson as they do not have future cruises to the Caribbean scheduled in September starting in 2020.