Unsigned customer service form letter

[unionhall]

I send an Email to find out why we weren’t notified of the delay and to find out which department should have notified us. This is what I got back. We were a group of 5 and not one of us got any notification. During the cruise we talked to people who got multiple robo calls and texts from NCL and people like us who found out when they arrived at the pier. The most common denominator for not getting notified seemed to be if you were local and arriving at the pier by your own vehicle. We have future cruises booked and I wanted to make sure that I will get notified of a change. So I didn’t receive an answer to my question and I realize by an unsigned form letter that they consider the matter closed. This is not good guest relations services.
Thank you for contacting us regarding your September 8, 2019 voyage aboard Norwegian Escape.

We are sorry to learn of the inconvenience you encountered at the beginning of your voyage, due to the delayed embarkation. The ship was late arriving into New York, as a result of adverse weather conditions from Hurricane Dorian. To ensure everyone’s comfort, our first communication of this delay was sent to our guests via voice reach on September 6, 2019. There were several other communications sent thereafter.

Please know that we make every effort to adhere to the published schedule; however, there are instances that necessitate a change. 

We appreciate this opportunity to respond to your concerns and hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you aboard again soon.



Sincerely,

 

NCL US Guest Relations

[david_sobe]

I am not sure what they could do.  Its a very generic response for a reason.  There could be logical explanations but it would involve blame or other negative connotations to others which NCL will not do.  It seems people who book directly with the cruise line are always notified of changes faster than those who book with a TA or other means.  Did the TA give NCL your proper email or contact information?  Its also possible there was a glitch in the system that affected you and a few others.  The cruise line can only notify people if they have the proper contact number or email which explains why so many other passengers received word of the late arrival.  If I had booked with a TA, I would point my frustration with them.  When the Breakaway cruise was cancelled in Miami last month, NCL and many TA's were very good at notifying their customers of the cancelled cruise.  But it was the weekend and many TA offices did not work or have emergency numbers and their customers were not notified in a timely manner.

The answer to your question is who booked your cruise and what if any contact information was given to NCL.  Some people give a throw down email addresses or numbers to not be bothered by future spam.  So I believe if you backtrack to the booking, it may help you answer your question.  There is a reason why your contact information did not work and its not clear it has anything to do with NCL.  However, NCL will never say that to get into a blame game with agents or others.  Can you imagine the number of reasons you were not notified.  A typo by someone, someone else's contact info given, wrong info given to the cruise line, an error by your phone carrier, a server crash with your email address.  There are just too many reasons and it may not have anything to do with NCL.  Clearly the system worked because you mentioned so many at the port received texts or emails about the delay.  So its clear NCL did their job. Why you fell through the cracks cannot be pinned 100% on NCL.

Edited October 11, 2019 by david_sobe

[Homosassa]

Did anyone in your party give an email address or cellphone number during your online check in that NCL could use for notifications?

 

 

[dexddd]

We had a delayed trip by one day.  We were already at airport and despite our profile having email address, mobile phone we didn't get notified except for a call on home phone we found out when we got home.  However, we get daily marketing emails so different databases.

 

We found out from here on CC.  I even called TA who was never notifiex.

 

So I don't think local is a factor.  It is just hit or miss from other stories on delays or changes.

[Gershep]

I was on this cruise and consider myself local and I started getting robo calls on Thursday, September 5th. So who ever wrote that letter didn't even know when calls were going out. I posted it on cc and on our roll call on September 5th.

[BirdTravels]

18 hours ago, unionhall said:

I send an Email to find out why we weren’t notified of the delay and to find out which department should have notified us. This is what I got back. We were a group of 5 and not one of us got any notification. During the cruise we talked to people who got multiple robo calls and texts from NCL and people like us who found out when they arrived at the pier. The most common denominator for not getting notified seemed to be if you were local and arriving at the pier by your own vehicle. We have future cruises booked and I wanted to make sure that I will get notified of a change. So I didn’t receive an answer to my question and I realize by an unsigned form letter that they consider the matter closed. This is not good guest relations services.

NCL is very good about notifying of changes. They use text messages, robo calls, and emails. We were on a cruise affected by Dorian and got all three. With limited exceptions, the cruise line does not know who are "local" and who are not, so that conclusion is not logical. Unclear what was different in your profile that precluded you from receiving notifications. Do you "opt out" of notifications from NCL? Did you have a valid email and phone number in your booking? Do you block calls or filter emails (is that notification still sitting in your spam folder)? Does your phone carrier block robo calls on your behalf? Or does your email provider block spam at the perimeter?

 

 

So, what would you like from guest services? No one is going to try and launch robo calls or emails to you to try and troubleshoot your problem.  

Edited October 11, 2019 by BirdTravels

[unionhall]

I am platinum on NCL and having been cruising with them for over 30 years with the same home phone number. I booked directly with NCL. They have no problem reaching out to me everyday by email.What I wanted from customer service is to know what department was responsible for notifying me of the delay. As so many have said it was hit or miss with the notification and I want to know why and how to make sure I will be notified the next time. When you do the on line check in you are asked if you are flying to the port and the cruise line does have your address. I did not opt out or block NCL and we all had cell phone numbers listed when we did the check in. I have a March cruise booked out of NYC and the weather could be good or snowing. I never want to get to the port before the ship does again, especially if it’s a planned delay. If customer service told me which department is responsible and gave me a contact email or phone number I could make sure that department has all the correct information for all 5 of us. I was a loyal NCL cruiser until a Hawaii cruise went bad when NCL pulled Pride of Hawaii out of that market and left us scrambling to get a booking on Pride of America. The wasted hours on hold with NCL  and terrible customer service took a long time to get over and we switched to other cruise lines.  We came back in 2015 because of traveling with friends and family who book NCL. Since then we have sailed The Breakaway  three times. Twice out of NYC and  then we did The Baltic cruise from Copenhagen. In July we did the Greek Isles on The Pearl.  In addition to the March cruise we are booked on The Star in July to do Norway, British Isles, Iceland (the ports that  The Spirit had problems with this week hopefully it’s better weather in the summer.) I feel that when I sent my email to customer service I  should have been given a response to what was in my email and not a letter that was being sent out to people complaining about the delay.

[rhblake]

Unionhall, Since you were a larger group did you book directly or use a travel agent. I use a travel agent and all announcements from the cruise line come through my travel agent not directly to me.

[dexddd]

See:

 

 

[waterjock]

I was on  the Escape cruise that was waiting for the ship to return back to NYC. I always booked directly  with NCL and they have my email plus home phone. I was never was notified of any change by NCL i found out about it on cruise critic. When I arrived at the dock at 4PM as stated on the cruise critic information I found thousands of people in two terminals some waiting since 10AM I was given #45 I waited then at 530PM then they called #1 to go to the next terminal to get their key cards. As bad as it sounds I think NCL did the best they could in a very bad situation.