Passengers on Norwegian Spirit is mad about itinerary changes

[NLH Arizona]

47 minutes ago, Wehwalt said:

I think people are looking for free stuff now, not discounted next time. 

Best for NCL to offer discount off future cruise.  If passenger chooses to use it, they should be happy and if not, NCL will be happy.

[Wehwalt]

4 hours ago, NLH Arizona said:

Best for NCL to offer discount off future cruise.  If passenger chooses to use it, they should be happy and if not, NCL will be happy.

I agree with you. There is also the question of moral hazard by encouraging people to misbehave in the hope of getting a refund.

[CHOPPERTESTER]

17 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

Have you sailed on a cruise where ports have been missed due to weather? obviously not. The fact thtt NCL is offering any discount on future cruises is more than some lines do or would do. All NCL owes the passengers is the port charges and cancelled tour money back. This has nothing to do with how much what costs or why. 

Of course I have been on cruises that missed ports due to the cruise line trying to avoid weather. More than six or seven. I've cruised a little bit. In every case we have received some form of credit other than returned port charges whether it be OBC or a future cruise credit. I'm on a five day Princess cruise in two days that is essentially free due to credits from a botched transatlantic cruise last year. I just got off a Hawaii cruise on Carnival that I applied credits from a Carnival Horizon cruise that missed ports due to having to turn back to the US coast for a medical emergency. Again Carnival didn't have to offer anything other than port charges but they did. I have had weather and other issue credits from Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America so, many, main stream cruise lines do provide credits. Funny my only NCL cruise was on the same Norwegian Spirit as the OP but from Boston to Bermuda that went off without a hitch.

 

You're missing my point in that the Iceland cruise has a price premium that NCL decided to only return a portion of and keep the rest. Sort of like advertising Cuba cruises that come at a premium cost over other 7 day Caribbean cruises and then only going to Freeport & Nassau. True the cruise contract does not require them to provide a credit of any amount for ports missed for weather but if you keep doing business that way and not provide some return reflective of the premium paid for the itinerary of the cruise then you will lose customers. Sorry if your experience on missed ports was different.

[NitaBcruising]

5 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Thanks for that.  Bergen, Aselund, Flam and Geiranger would have been a lovely 7 day fjord cruise, but you didn't sign up for that, so it is understandable that this was quite disappointing over two weeks, with the omission of the other countries and the uncomfortable sailing conditions.  

Still not NCL's fault. And as adults, we have to learn to live with disappointments. It it no reason for a riot, which people obviously did. Horrible behavior! Act like an adult and suffer the disappointment with dignity! 

[NitaBcruising]

20 minutes ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

 

 

You're missing my point in that the Iceland cruise has a price premium that NCL decided to only return a portion of and keep the rest. Sort of like advertising Cuba cruises that come at a premium cost over other 7 day Caribbean cruises and then only going to Freeport & Nassau. True the cruise contract does not require them to provide a credit of any amount for ports missed for weather but if you keep doing business that way and not provide some return reflective of the premium paid for the itinerary of the cruise then you will lose customers. Sorry if your experience on missed ports was different.

They advertised the Iceland cruise with the prospect of going there. It is NOT their fault they didn't.  One of the chances we take when cruising. 

My TA cruise last fall was a complete change. The one I booked went to ports in Europe I hadn't been. Instead, due to inclement weather, we only went to the Canary Islands. They are nice, and the weather was great. However, I have been to the islands a few times. We also got nothing, no future credit, nothing! This was on RCI.  Did anyone on our ship riot? NO!!!!!! I didn't even hear anyone grumble. Were some of us disappointed? Yes. Did we act like adults? Absolutely! Life is full of disappointments. Will I get to those ports that we missed? Maybe, maybe not. Will it impact me in my life? No, other than the disappointment that I handled in an adult manner. 

Anyway, we have become a ME society. Sad.

[Wehwalt]

I would say that I've been on ships that missed ports from Key West to the Caroline Islands (not on the same cruise lol), and only when it is due to a fault in the ship (engine trouble for example) has the cruise line offered anything, and then some amount of OBC. I would find it very surprising to receive substantially more than that, and I suppose the relevant cruise critic board would just light up with discussion of it.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Wehwalt

[Yorkvillain]

I bet most were more upset that they couldn’t eat for 90 minutes then they were about missing all those ports. 

[2spring]

10 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Thanks for that.  Bergen, Aselund, Flam and Geiranger would have been a lovely 7 day fjord cruise, but you didn't sign up for that, so it is understandable that this was quite disappointing over two weeks, with the omission of the other countries and the uncomfortable sailing conditions.  

Bergen, Flam AND Geiranger WERE on our original itinerary!  They were beautiful!  Alesund & Hellesylt Norway were added when it was determined we couldn’t go to Iceland because of sea conditions.  These two ports were also spectacular!  I feel that all the changes for safety were warranted and I enjoyed my cruise, changes or not.  

[Redtravel]

If the destination is the most important part of the trip, fly in and stay there. When you take a cruise, the cruise is the main destination. The ports are secondary. I can understand the disappointment in missing ports. It has happened to me many times.  Storms happen.  There are also things that will force a change in an itinerary. Sometimes a port is replaced with a safer port.  The cruise lines do not want to change the itinerary.  They try their best to safely sail on all cruises.  Being offered any compensation is a nice goodwill gesture. Say thank you and move on.  You wouldn’t want to sail into a storm.  Most cruises that change course do not offer any compensation. Next time you book a cruise, try to avoid hurricane season. 

[salty dingo]

10 hours ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

You're missing my point in that the Iceland cruise has a price premium that NCL decided to only return a portion of and keep the rest. Sort of like advertising Cuba cruises that come at a premium cost over other 7 day Caribbean cruises and then only going to Freeport & Nassau.

Some people, like myself, would not pay a premium just for the ports, like Iceland or Cuba. Many travelers would, and the cruise line knows the demand will be high so they raise the prices accordingly.

 

So they are getting 25% off of an overpriced cruise and therefore more money off than it would be for 25% off a typical cruise, so you do have some extra compensation for the more expensive itinerary.

 

So, even though some folks will pay extra for a special itinerary, they are putting that money at a risk that is well-disclosed. Something to think about when booking the next cruise.

[April42749]

I know I came late to "this party" but I just saw a video of a rather large guy yelling at an employee "why you picking on me".  If I were the employed I would have called security and sent him off to the brig.

[2spring]

I was on this cruise but wasn’t part of the rebellion.    I recognize the passenger in the video you are talking about from seeing him around the ship.  I believe the person he was yelling at was the Captain who was trying to speak to the crowd, evidently getting shouted down.  

[NitaBcruising]

1 hour ago, 2spring said:

I was on this cruise but wasn’t part of the rebellion.    I recognize the passenger in the video you are talking about from seeing him around the ship.  I believe the person he was yelling at was the Captain who was trying to speak to the crowd, evidently getting shouted down.  

That is sad. Thank you for posting what you saw and what it was like. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed some of the ports and cruise. And thank you for your level-headed demeanor. So good to know there were sensible people on that cruise! 

[erdoran]

I think this thread should be retitled “NCL passengers behaving badly”

[hilcadon]

I was on a recent 14 day transatlantic on the Pearl in April  of this year and have decided that I am personally done with Norwegian. The cruise suffered from Noro-virus which of course was no fault of the Norwegian cruise line BUT their customer service was the worst  I have ever seen. I had been on one prior transatlantic/Mediterranean in 2001 on the  Norwegian Dream and was just as unhappy with their customer service and had convinced myself that I would NEVER sail on them again. After writing  a letter we were given a discount to cruise them again and decided to sail from NY to Bermuda and were not impressed. We then cruised on several different cruise lines and had avoided Norwegian completely. My daughter and her husband surprised us with a NY to Bermuda cruise as a Christmas present on the Breakaway a few years ago and we had a great time. That  is the only reason we decided to give them another chance. I agree with Norwegian and what they decided with the decisions on this cruise and find the behavior of the passengers to be UNACCEPTABLE. Any passengers that act this way should never be allowed to board again. The IDIOT on that video needs to be shown that behavior that he showed is NEVER acceptable. Those of us that truly  know how to SPEAK intelligently should never have to feel unsafe with that MOB mentality. Though I do not intend on sailing on their ships again, I feel their decisions were correct. 

[lanceholt]

13 hours ago, April42749 said:

I know I came late to "this party" but I just saw a video of a rather large guy yelling at an employee "why you picking on me".  If I were the employed I would have called security and sent him off to the brig.

I agree....think of the passengers who were not a part of this scene and that man who obviously did not have control of himself....he should have been confined to his room with security or put off the ship, and should not be permitted to cruise NCL again.  He was worse than a toddler having a tantrum.  

 

[lanceholt]

On 10/12/2019 at 3:30 PM, Doris&Nereus said:

It looks like you had 8 beautiful ports in 2 weeks.  I would have loved to be on that trip. I know that everyone wants to see Iceland, but when I was there, it was very cold, and if there were a storm there, I think you couldn't see or do that much. But, I don't want to be around when there's a riot on a ship. That's crazy. Maybe they should limit the drink package until after 5. 

That day, the ship should have shut the bars for alcohol, just serve soft drinks....alcohol can provide an even more combustible situation with the possibility of someone getting hurt.

[CHOPPERTESTER]

13 hours ago, salty dingo said:

Some people, like myself, would not pay a premium just for the ports, like Iceland or Cuba. Many travelers would, and the cruise line knows the demand will be high so they raise the prices accordingly.

 

So they are getting 25% off of an overpriced cruise and therefore more money off than it would be for 25% off a typical cruise, so you do have some extra compensation for the more expensive itinerary.

 

So, even though some folks will pay extra for a special itinerary, they are putting that money at a risk that is well-disclosed. Something to think about when booking the next cruise.

 

You are right Salty Dingo. Glad to see you get it.

 

2 hours ago, hilcadon said:

I was on a recent 14 day transatlantic on the Pearl in April  of this year and have decided that I am personally done with Norwegian. The cruise suffered from Noro-virus which of course was no fault of the Norwegian cruise line BUT their customer service was the worst  I have ever seen. I had been on one prior transatlantic/Mediterranean in 2001 on the  Norwegian Dream and was just as unhappy with their customer service and had convinced myself that I would NEVER sail on them again. After writing  a letter we were given a discount to cruise them again and decided to sail from NY to Bermuda and were not impressed. We then cruised on several different cruise lines and had avoided Norwegian completely. My daughter and her husband surprised us with a NY to Bermuda cruise as a Christmas present on the Breakaway a few years ago and we had a great time. That  is the only reason we decided to give them another chance. I agree with Norwegian and what they decided with the decisions on this cruise and find the behavior of the passengers to be UNACCEPTABLE. Any passengers that act this way should never be allowed to board again. The IDIOT on that video needs to be shown that behavior that he showed is NEVER acceptable. Those of us that truly  know how to SPEAK intelligently should never have to feel unsafe with that MOB mentality. Though I do not intend on sailing on their ships again, I feel their decisions were correct. 

 

Hilcadon, totally agree the guy was an $%ss, unacceptable behaviour, and should be banned from NCL. We may sail again with NCL if the itinerary is right and their is value for money with all of the pros cons compared to other lines offering similar itineraries. I am a spreadsheet type of guy that uses multiple factors (membership benefits, laundry costs, wine allowance/corkage, time in port, ports visited, passenger to tonnage ratio, ship amenities, comedy clubs, B2B opportunities, entertainment, primary ship language, notional cruiser demographics, food/availability/flexibility, etc) to decide on which cruise/line to take. I have no loyalty to any one line.

[kenzie]

On 10/13/2019 at 5:54 AM, Wehwalt said:

I would say that I've been on ships that missed ports from Key West to the Caroline Islands (not on the same cruise lol), and only when it is due to a fault in the ship (engine trouble for example) has the cruise line offered anything, and then some amount of OBC. I would find it very surprising to receive substantially more than that, and I suppose the relevant cruise critic board would just light up with discussion of it.

I was in a Princess cruise which included Key West, ship tried to come into Port, Pilot was alongside and flags were up (we were on our sunbeds in Sanctuary under the flags), the wind was high, the ship announced due to high winds we could not dock, it was a big disappointment, I was very surprised and happy to find a letter in our cabin the next day advising that we had a $50 OBC each Plus 25% of the value of your cruise if 7 day in a cruise credit to be used within 12 months or 15% of your fare if you were booked for a 14 day (cruise was 7 day B2B), we were on the 14 day booking so had the 15% cruise credit.

 

[originalglide]

I was on this cruise (my first cruise ever no less) and watched a majority of the protests from the balcony (while taking full advantage of our beverage package). It was disgraceful and annoying. At one point, someone said to claim we were being held hostage which prompted me to contact relatives in case that untrue piece got out.

 

I think the important part to remember is that the ports were missed due to weather which made it VERY uncomfortable on the ship. As someone mentioned before, the pool was drained and off limits most of the trip as well as the outside walkways being closed, so little to no fresh air. Bottles were falling off the shelves in the bars. People were falling all over. The ship is also very small (I was told the smallest in the fleet, no idea if that is correct) which means people ran out of things to do very quickly. In my opinion, the activities that were presented on the extra sea days were redundant and just wanted more of your $$. 

 

NCL probably could have prevented some of this anger by allowing for internet use for a bit for no cost (to cancel non NCL excursions for example) or gifting a free "specialty" dining or something. When we went out to sea and cruised in circles after Geiranger just to come back the next day 7 miles away in Hellesylt I was disappointed in their lack of back up ports since, as mentioned previously, the port was closed and there was not much to do. Their big thing was a ferry that took you to... Geiranger.

 

We did not experience any food issues. We did experience plumbing issues and some customer service issues. 

 

Overall the trip was not bad, it was very beautiful and we made the best of it. I didn't see anyone else mention it but we were refunded $60 per person for missed ports on top of the already mentioned 25% credit for future cruise.

[sailingskyward]

1 hour ago, originalglide said:

I was on this cruise (my first cruise ever no less) and watched a majority of the protests from the balcony (while taking full advantage of our beverage package). It was disgraceful and annoying. At one point, someone said to claim we were being held hostage which prompted me to contact relatives in case that untrue piece got out.

 

I think the important part to remember is that the ports were missed due to weather which made it VERY uncomfortable on the ship. As someone mentioned before, the pool was drained and off limits most of the trip as well as the outside walkways being closed, so little to no fresh air. Bottles were falling off the shelves in the bars. People were falling all over. The ship is also very small (I was told the smallest in the fleet, no idea if that is correct) which means people ran out of things to do very quickly. In my opinion, the activities that were presented on the extra sea days were redundant and just wanted more of your $$. 

 

NCL probably could have prevented some of this anger by allowing for internet use for a bit for no cost (to cancel non NCL excursions for example) or gifting a free "specialty" dining or something. When we went out to sea and cruised in circles after Geiranger just to come back the next day 7 miles away in Hellesylt I was disappointed in their lack of back up ports since, as mentioned previously, the port was closed and there was not much to do. Their big thing was a ferry that took you to... Geiranger.

 

We did not experience any food issues. We did experience plumbing issues and some customer service issues. 

 

Overall the trip was not bad, it was very beautiful and we made the best of it. I didn't see anyone else mention it but we were refunded $60 per person for missed ports on top of the already mentioned 25% credit for future cruise.

Thank you for your post. It is refreshing to hear from additional people who were onboard the ship. Yes, I think NCL did the right thing by cancelling those ports due to weather. However, it sounds like they really failed in having backup ports. Additionally, you aren't the first person to note that they felt NCL was just scheduling activities onboard to get more of passengers' dollars during the additional sea days. There are many ways to keep passengers happy, but from all accounts it sounds like NCL was primarily looking out for safety, followed by their own bottom line. Hopefully they learn from this situation, and recognize the need to put customer service 2nd in line after safety. Now they have unnecessarily damaged brand reputation. 

[salty dingo]

2 hours ago, originalglide said:

...the outside walkways being closed, so little to no fresh air.

When they close the open decks, do they also close everyone's balcony off?

 

Anyone know for sure?

[originalglide]

1 minute ago, salty dingo said:

When they close the open decks, do they also close everyone's balcony off?

 

Anyone know for sure?

 

Our room balcony was not closed off at any time.

[salty dingo]

6 minutes ago, originalglide said:

 

Our room balcony was not closed off at any time.

Good, at least there would be some fresh air there.

 

I can see how it may drive the folks in the inside cabins nuts to be confined to the inside for days!

[strawbs1]

I haven't read all nine pages on this but scanned and agree with those who say safety always comes first.  I've missed ports and sometimes it was a huge disappointment but that's cruising!   Of course, there'd be a whole lot more to complain about if the ports had not been cancelled and people were injured or killed while tendering or whatever.