Just Got a NEW Letter from NCL regarding upcoming Cruise

[susanf31]

Sailing on Escape 1/15.  We just got a new letter from NCL regarding our upcoming cruise.

 

It's basically a very lengthy letter saying - we are SO happy you are cruising with us even though we can't guarantee anything will be open or that we will actually stop in any ports.  

 

 

NCL.pdf

[TAMUPhD]

Received same for 1/16 Encore sailing

[Travelicious]

I also received it for cruise next week.  I took it as just a forewarning that there are things out of the company's control.  Of course, anyone who is paying attention already knows that, but I suppose there are many who do not pay attention.  Perhaps the letter is meant to tamp down the outrage when a show or port is cancelled.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Travelicious

[Karaboudjan]

12 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

I also received it for cruise next week.  I took it as just a forewarning that there are things out of the company's control.  Of course, anyone who is paying attention already knows that, but I suppose there are many who do not pay attention.  Perhaps the letter is meant to tamper down the outrage when a show or port is cancelled.

 

Some pay attention but apparently expect NCL to know a week or more in advance exactly how many crew members on what ship and from what roles will be in isolation on the day of a particular stop or show.  🙄

[aubreyc1988]

it's a "cover their *sses email, haha! But still, it is a nice move, especially as most people are not on CC and could genuinely be unaware of things. 

[aubreyc1988]

2 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

Some pay attention but apparently expect NCL to know a week or more in advance exactly how many crew members on what ship and from what roles will be in isolation on the day of a particular stop or show.  🙄

 

Hmmm, I was thinking about this today...I have a refundable rate hotel booked for 1/21 (I am sailing 1/22) but I want to cancel this refundable rate hotel for a MUCH cheaper non-refundable rate hotel, but I am trying to figure out when I'll most likely know if my sailing will be happening or not...if it's a week in advance, that is good news for me...I was thinking maybe 96 hrs before my sail date for best odds. 

[TNcruising02]

23 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

Sailing on Escape 1/15.  We just got a new letter from NCL regarding our upcoming cruise.

 

It's basically a very lengthy letter saying - we are SO happy you are cruising with us even though we can't guarantee anything will be open or that we will actually stop in any ports.  

 

 

NCL.pdf 57.77 kB · 21 downloads

At this point, my husband and I are all in on our 1/15 Escape cruise.  We just had our Haven bid accepted, so we will have a good time regardless of any changes.

[karmamule]

36 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

At this point, my husband and I are all in on our 1/15 Escape cruise.  We just had our Haven bid accepted, so we will have a good time regardless of any changes.

 

This was our biggest motivator in keeping our current cruise on MSC Seashore: we were able to book a normally unavailable room (Royal Suite, only 2 on the ship) for a rate much less than normal for our 1/22 sailing. We thought about rescheduling but when we saw it would cost us $3000 more to get the same room for the same type of sailing we said "let's take the risk".

 

Plus, having the chance to experience cruises at much lower capacity % is a very rare treat. I wouldn't always want it to be like that, but, it's a good change of pace from the normal hustle and bustle of a cruise. (We had a very low capacity cruise on RCL Allure last October and had a great time.) It'll be interesting to see what things are back to by the time our NCL Joy cruise comes around in May.

[Quincella]

1 hour ago, susanf31 said:

Sailing on Escape 1/15.  We just got a new letter from NCL regarding our upcoming cruise.

 

It's basically a very lengthy letter saying - we are SO happy you are cruising with us even though we can't guarantee anything will be open or that we will actually stop in any ports.  

 

 

NCL.pdf 57.77 kB · 50 downloads

I interpreted the letter the exact same way!  It's fair, though.  I prefer this to nothing at all. 

[Quincella]

43 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

At this point, my husband and I are all in on our 1/15 Escape cruise.  We just had our Haven bid accepted, so we will have a good time regardless of any changes.

I'm sailing 1/16 on the Encore and I cannot stop checking to see if any of my upgrade bids have been accepted.   All of my bids are fair or poor, so I definitely do not have high hopes, but I still just want to know, one way or the other.   Congrats to you!

[TNcruising02]

Just now, Quincella said:

I'm sailing 1/16 on the Encore and I cannot stop checking to see if any of my upgrade bids have been accepted.   All of my bids are fair or poor, so I definitely do not have high hopes, but I still just want to know, one way or the other.   Congrats to you!

Thanks!  My bid was slightly above minimum, so the odds are better than ever right now.  Good luck!

[Parteeinga]

We are on the Norwegian Dawn right now. We are at the tail end of our 11 day cruise. We were scheduled to stop in 6 ports. Four of those ports were changed. We were not allowed to go to St. Thomas, San Juan, Antigua, nor St. Lucia. We ended up going to St. Marteen, Barbados, Tortola and an extra sea day. Barbados, St. Kitts and Tortola would only let you off the ship if you were on an NCL excursion. This will be an 11 day cruise with only 2 stops that we had freedom to actually go ashore.

 

we are scheduled to stay on the ship for the next 5 day cruise. Hoping that we will be able to actually go to Key West and the private island and get off the ship. If not, I would rather them just cancel the cruise and refund our money.

[aubreyc1988]

I'm on the 1/22 sailing of the Joy and just got the email.

[GoldenGirl327]

1 hour ago, aubreyc1988 said:

it's a "cover their *sses email, haha! But still, it is a nice move, especially as most people are not on CC and could genuinely be unaware of things. 

That's what I thought. NCL can post it 100 times on their website but many people probably don't check the website as often as they check their email. Sending out the letter basically says "we sent out a notice, it's not our fault you didn't read it". 

[SplashOfWater]

We received the same email for our Jan 30th Encore cruise. No worries here. The ports are not as important to us as just being on the ship.

[MichiganBound]

2 hours ago, Travelicious said:

I also received it for cruise next week.  I took it as just a forewarning that there are things out of the company's control.  Of course, anyone who is paying attention already knows that, but I suppose there are many who do not pay attention.  Perhaps the letter is meant to tamp down the outrage when a show or port is cancelled.

Kudos to NCL for being upfront and honest about the uncertainty surrounding the current cruise experience.  We are two years into this whole pandemic and some folks still get outraged when there are unexpected changes to cruise itineraries and other things.   This is NCL's way of confirming in advance that anything related to the cruise is subject to change.

[Travelicious]

Of course, I gasp every time I get an email from NCL because I am afraid it will say my cruise on the 16th will be canceled.  

[snooper1225]

4 hours ago, susanf31 said:

Sailing on Escape 1/15.  We just got a new letter from NCL regarding our upcoming cruise.

 

It's basically a very lengthy letter saying - we are SO happy you are cruising with us even though we can't guarantee anything will be open or that we will actually stop in any ports.  

 

 

NCL.pdf 57.77 kB · 135 downloads

I'm on this cruise as well!  One thing that's confusing me now is the letter states you need a passport.  Ours are both expired but my travel agent said at booking a birth certificate would be sufficient, does anyone know for sure?

 

thank you,

[halos]

4 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

 

Hmmm, I was thinking about this today...I have a refundable rate hotel booked for 1/21 (I am sailing 1/22) but I want to cancel this refundable rate hotel for a MUCH cheaper non-refundable rate hotel, but I am trying to figure out when I'll most likely know if my sailing will be happening or not...if it's a week in advance, that is good news for me...I was thinking maybe 96 hrs before my sail date for best odds. 

I was scheduled on the 1/5 Getaway. Our cruise was cancelled/we were notified on 1/4 at around 4 pm.

Giving yourself 96 hours *could be* too generous.

[vswan]

The one thing that bothered me about the letter was the section where they referred to shortening the cruise and giving money back for days missed. I would rather just have more sea days than have them return to port if nothing is open. On the other hand, if the ship has many covid patients who are all quarantined, getting them off the ship is probably preferred.

[Cruise Gopher]

This letter was sent to all guests sailing on/before January 31st. 
 

It absolutely is a “cover their @$$” type of blanket email. 

[Zoe506]

I’m on the escape. We were informed a bit ago that we can’t dock in San Juan or st Thomas :-(

[TNcruising02]

11 minutes ago, Zoe506 said:

I’m on the escape. We were informed a bit ago that we can’t dock in San Juan or st Thomas 😞

Thanks for the update.  I am sorry to hear that.  If you have time and can post any other updates it would be appreciated.

[kdmbluerzr]

We are on the Feb 4 Bliss sailing, guess we'll see if this gets extended beyond Jan 31. 

[itsnotjustme]

It's weird the Epic can sail out of San Juan when others cannot make a port call there.  Regarding end of cruise testing, they require none if you will leave PR that day..... yet as a port of call, all passengers also leave that day, but require advanced testing.

 

I have no beef with local governments having requirements, but I note the inconsistency.  Of course San Juan has a much greater financial interest in being a departure port than a port of call.  Airport, taxis/uber, hotels, local restaurants, port workers, etc. 

 

I received the letter too and hoped it would be a cancel notice.