Passengers on Norwegian Spirit is mad about itinerary changes

[seamwoman]

Wanted to read passengers comments on this cruise.  Last year on Princess from Quebec to FLL we missed several ports.  People were angry on one in Canada when they learned another ship tendered their passengers in. Long story short, they all were not able to return to their ship, overnighted at the port and were transported to the next port by bus.  We were glad we were stuck on the ship!  

[Woodinville]

58 minutes ago, salty dingo said:

That's not a realistic option. When taking a cruise, passengers basically give away any legal rights to sue as they could normally do on land. The maritime law is different and the ship's flag (Bahamas, I think) dictates which courts handle the dispute.

 

So lots of luck with the "legal action"!

Agreed ... 

[GA Dave]

1 hour ago, salty dingo said:

That's not a realistic option. When taking a cruise, passengers basically give away any legal rights to sue as they could normally do on land. The maritime law is different and the ship's flag (Bahamas, I think) dictates which courts handle the dispute.

 

So lots of luck with the "legal action"!

That is today's answer to everything when something does not go exactly as you want.  SUE!!!!!!!!

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

Remarks about read the contract and you give up your legal rights might not be entirely true. 

I believe this was a a European Cruise for which European passenger may have Package Tour protection. The operator must deliver substantially the advertised holiday. They cannot use the outside our control excuse. They cannot rely on restrictive terms in the contract. Basically provide what people paid for or compensate the appropriately and proportionately. 
 

For example from the Association on British Travel Agents.

 

’Legal protection means your travel company is responsible for making sure that you get the holiday you paid for.’

All this is subject to interpretation and I am know legal expert. It may be for the courts to rule particularly as the weather was a factor. 

 

These regulations can about because holiday companies were sending passengers to hotels that were not built or were ridiculously different to the brochure descriptions. The industry has itself to blame for these regulations. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

[graphicguy]

I can’t think of any legal action that could be taken given the cruise line (NCL) was acting to keep everyone safe by not trying to dock in poor weather.

 

I think it would probably be a waste of peoples’ time and a lawyer’s time to pursue this.  That’s going to be a very hard row to hoe!

[KAYKAY121]

I find it highly unlikely that the cruise line can be held responsible for missed ports due to weather. The Port Authority also makes decisions as to whether you can dock or not. I understand the disappointment of the passengers but the reality is, you are at the mercy of the captain, the port authorities and God while at sea. We cruised on a ship with a bad  propeller blade and the entire ship shook while we were at sea. ALL NIGHT, every night. The lobby was full of passengers trying to get some sleep due to the noise and the unusual movement. Of course, we didn't get anything but future sailing credits and onboard credits for future sailings. This was controllable by the cruise line. NOBODY acted ugly to any employee on board and there was no riot. THANK GOODNESS, I wouldn't have known what to do if that happened.

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by KAYKAY121

[WorldTravellerz]

On 10/9/2019 at 8:35 PM, pamrose228 said:

I was on the Pearl TA this year. Plenty of issues with crew. But made the most out of it. 
 

Bought a cruise next 2x certificate and booked the Escape for a TA this April. Already we go notice Barcelona port was changed to Terragona. Hope that’s all the switches. I wonder if 8 ports in 9 days is too much?

 

The Star TA changed Barcelona to Tarragona this year.  I researched the Port of Tarragona and thought we’d be fine.  It turned out there were no services at all.  Be aware there are 2 different Train stations there.    https://www.porttarragona.cat/en/ Almost no Taxi’s available.  People were lined up waiting for a very long time.  We chose to walk out of the Port.  We were told we could not do so.  There was no Port Shuttle available even though the Port of Tarragona website said there was one so be aware if you have a plane to catch.  The ship did offer airport transfers, probably be wise to take one.

Edited October 11, 2019 by WorldTravellerz

[pc_load_letter]

5 hours ago, Shawnino said:

Bottom of the Barrel decision from a Bottom of the Barrel line.

Don't go away mad....just go away

[CHOPPERTESTER]

Bad situation all around.

 

NCL has to return port charges for ports not visited and for ship excursions not provided. Not out of the goodness of the heart but required by the cruise contract.

 

Missing ports, diverted ports/timings for weather is just bad luck and NCL is, of course, allowed to do so in the cruise contract.

 

Issue is the cruise included visits to Iceland which was cancelled all together. Those types of itineraries (Iceland, Greenland etc) typically come at a premium of 30 to 50% more than equivalent length Baltic or Med cruises. Doesn’t cost NCL more to run a 14-day cruise to Iceland than Sardinia but they do charge a premium due to the itinerary. Supply and demand allows them to.

 

Nice of them to only offer 25% future cruise credit and keep the additional 5 to 25% premium the cruisers paid.

[Barb Nahoumi]

22 hours ago, dexddd said:

Well, the "story" has made the splash page on msn.com with the Washington Post story.  Interestingly enough, one of the complainers is named "McNutt".

 

What a mob scene.  At least the Spirit has a beautiful atrium.  If bad weather, I think the Spirit would be pretty good for having room inside to do things compared to being on the BA or GA and having to be inside.  The Spirit has the beautiful front lounge, a nice sized buffet area, the multi-floor atrium, beautiful MDRs, and a large casino.  Blue Lagoon is tiny though.

 

Despite being the oldest in the fleet, we really like it.

I was on the Spirit many years ago, when she did the Boston to Bermuda cruise.  She was a lovely little ship with an Asian decor back then.  My Ocean View cabin was weensie, but cozy.  I must say that I did enjoy my cruise, and found the food and entertainment to be good.

 

Having an itinerary change would not bother me too much, or just having a sea day,  as long as any money I paid for NCL ship trips were reimbursed.  One of my excursions was cancelled by NCL, and the money was refunded as OBC.

 

I want the Captain of any ship to make decisions with safety of the passengers, crew, and vessel in mind.  Anyone who stages a riot because of these decisions ------------shame on them.

[pamrose228]

31 minutes ago, WorldTravellerz said:

 

The Star TA changed Barcelona to Tarragona this year.  I researched the Port of Tarragona and thought we’d be fine.  It turned out there were no services at all.  Be aware there are 2 different Train stations there.    https://www.porttarragona.cat/en/ Almost no Taxi’s available.  People were lined up waiting for a very long time.  We chose to walk out of the Port.  We were told we could not do so.  There was no Port Shuttle available even though the Port of Tarragona website said there was one so be aware if you have a plane to catch.  The ship did offer airport transfers, probably be wise to take one.

Got a notice from NCL port was changed back to Barcelona..

[lanceholt]

We were on  the Spirit Sept 1 cruise and fyi about the interenet as well as tv reception....once we got in the North Atlantic internet service was spotty as was tv.  There were times when no internet was available for at least a few yours.  No it was not a NCL conspiracy plot, and yes we had two nights on the ship where we couldn't get much sleep due to the waves and rocking of the ship.  We were lucky not to miss any ports but last year on a NCL British Isles cruise, we missed Edinburgh due to high wind.  I feel sorry for the crew and the officers aboard this ship who were dealing with a lot and also had to put up with some shockingly bad behavior from the passengers.  

[mark290]

4 hours ago, GA Dave said:

That is today's answer to everything when something does not go exactly as you want.  SUE!!!!!!!!

Exactly as it should be in a civilized society with a legal system in place.

 

Would you prefer we go back to the wild west and people meet up at high noon in the street ?

[SakeDad]

On 10/9/2019 at 11:55 PM, 2spring said:

I AM on this cruise and the information we received verbally and written was quite clear.  Not sure where you are coming from, but definitely not the case for a rebellion of any sort.  I am disappointed we didn’t make all the stops in our itinerary, but the explanations and updates from the Captain and crew about weather conditions and safety of the passengers & ship were acceptable to me.  I don’t ever want to be put in a dangerous situation on a cruise just to make a port.  We were refunded port charges, all excursion costs for ports we didn’t stop in, plus 25% of the base rate of this cruise to use for a future cruise.  I find that very generous!  I did not find any stale food never missed a meal and never had any sewer issues in my cabin, nor did anyone else I talked to.  We DID get a letter mid cruise about not throwing anything into the toilets other than toilet paper.  Perhaps there was a problem then?  I, for one, am very happy with my cruise.

Thank you for sharing!!!! 

[SakeDad]

4 hours ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:

Remarks about read the contract and you give up your legal rights might not be entirely true. 

I believe this was a a European Cruise for which European passenger may have Package Tour protection. The operator must deliver substantially the advertised holiday. They cannot use the outside our control excuse. They cannot rely on restrictive terms in the contract. Basically provide what people paid for or compensate the appropriately and proportionately. 
 

For example from the Association on British Travel Agents.

 

’Legal protection means your travel company is responsible for making sure that you get the holiday you paid for.’

All this is subject to interpretation and I am know legal expert. It may be for the courts to rule particularly as the weather was a factor. 

 

These regulations can about because holiday companies were sending passengers to hotels that were not built or were ridiculously different to the brochure descriptions. The industry has itself to blame for these regulations. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Considering the cruiseline is flagged in the Bahamas that is the laws they would adhere to. And if someone has outside travel insurance it would be the insurance company that would give compensation, if deserved, not the cruise line. The cruise lines are not the same as land based UK holiday tour companies, and when a passenger signs their contract they acknowledge the cruise line has the right to change ports, itineraries, etc due to weather, safety and more.

[SakeDad]

On 10/10/2019 at 8:21 AM, ukbecky said:

 

There are many huge shipping ports in the Med, and other parts of Europe, that could have been possible substitutions. Most times we have come into port and shared dock space with freighters, ferries and even military ships all over the world. Devoted cruise terminals are rare.

 

NCL has proven time and again that it knows how to substitute ports. Not sure why they flail about, when weather is involved.

Many European ports require visas for foreign travelers (passengers and crew alike) so just changing to another country is not as realistic as you think. Even if they got to some of these ports you may not be allowed off without the proper documents.

[Boatdrill]

On 10/8/2019 at 4:15 AM, Peachypooh said:

I don't know about anyone else but it would freak me out to no end to know there is a mob like

this in the atrium acting this way. THAT would spoil my cruise not the Captain acting in a responsible

manner to avoid problems by adjusting the itinerary.

Stay off Carnival ! They riot at the drop of of hat. 

Examples:

1. when the ship has to miss a scheduled port because of a medical evacuation into the closest port.  

2. When embarkation is delayed

3. When a notice of itinerary change due to hurricane are given at check in.

 

 

 

 

[SeaHunt]

Reminds me of the Sapphire Princess fiasco way back in 2007 when they missed 4 ports - guess some things never change 

 

 

[NSWP]

18 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

Reminds me of the Sapphire Princess fiasco way back in 2007 when they missed 4 ports - guess some things never change .

 

But did they 'Escape Completely' and 'Come Back New?'🤣 

 

(Princess cruisers can decipher that one !!)

Edited October 12, 2019 by NSWP

[mugtech]

4 hours ago, mark290 said:

Exactly as it should be in a civilized society with a legal system in place.

 

Would you prefer we go back to the wild west and people meet up at high noon in the street ?

Sue or fight are not the only options available.

[erdoran]

8 hours ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:

Remarks about read the contract and you give up your legal rights might not be entirely true. 

I believe this was a a European Cruise for which European passenger may have Package Tour protection. The operator must deliver substantially the advertised holiday. They cannot use the outside our control excuse. They cannot rely on restrictive terms in the contract. Basically provide what people paid for or compensate the appropriately and proportionately. 
 

For example from the Association on British Travel Agents.

 

’Legal protection means your travel company is responsible for making sure that you get the holiday you paid for.’

All this is subject to interpretation and I am know legal expert. It may be for the courts to rule particularly as the weather was a factor. 

 

These regulations can about because holiday companies were sending passengers to hotels that were not built or were ridiculously different to the brochure descriptions. The industry has itself to blame for these regulations. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Stephen,

So if sea and wind conditions make it unsafe, in the captain’s best judgment, for a ship to take the originally-contracted itinerary, that is a violation?  is the intent of that law that a ship should sail into a hurricane, dock at a port that is closed or even evacuated (even if permitted by the harbor master and even if possible at all) in order to obey the letter of the law?  And if the ship is damaged or wrecked, or pax injured because of huge waves, who is liable then?  There are some you tube videos of ships sailing in terrible conditions (think Breakaway, bomb cyclone) with water pouring in all over the place, furniture flying, glass breaking - is that a preferable option to an itinerary change or more sea days and fewer ports?

[rsato]

On 10/10/2019 at 9:37 AM, NoWhiners said:

 

Honestly, I get that NCL had to deal with weather and unhappy pax but I don't understand why they couldn't have put out some sandwiches, cheese, fruit, other small snacks for people that first day. Depending on when you are able to board, you may not have eaten since breakfast or maybe an early lunch, so I have sympathy for people not able to get any free food before 6 pm. It isn't that they can't go for 90 minutes, it's that they may not have eaten for awhile. My blood sugar drops if I don't eat something every 6 hours or so and my hands start to shake, so I feel for people caught in this trap.

 

I wasn't there, but I would be willing to guess the people that were unhappy about having no food from 3:30-5:00 actually had a hearty lunch before the muster drill...

[kitkat343]

Could someone who sailed on this cruise please help me out, as I was really confused by a NY Post article (note:  the NY Post is really a terrible newspaper so they might have just completely screwed up in their article)

 

Their article on this cruise included the following statement:

 

"Some of the 2,000 passengers said the ship eventually stopped in the remote Norwegian villages of Flåm and Geiranger — far from the promised “mystical fjords.”"  This quote is really confusing to me since I was under the impression that Flam and Geiranger are two of the most beautiful heritage fjords, and they were the highlight of my Norway cruise.  Was the tourist infrastructure closed in those ports since the cruise visited in October?    Could someone please list where the original cruise was supposed to visit and what stops were used to replace them (I do understand NCL had the right to substitute ports, but I'm wondering how much worse the substitute ports were, as I really loved my visits to both Geiranger and Flam.   

Edited October 12, 2019 by kitkat343

[david_sobe]

This story really has legs.  Every day there are more and more front page articles and videos about it.  Sadly this is going to encourage more protests aboard cruise ships.  You wonder how these people would handle a real crisis.  Just another casualty of the wonders of social media. 😖

[newmexicoNita]

22 hours ago, iheartbda said:

I am confused. You say I don’t have a legit point yet you seem to agree with what I posted. What part is not legit?

Sorry, after I posted I re-read your post and it dawned on me, I may have misunderstood what you were saying. Yes, we do agree.