Just Got a NEW Letter from NCL regarding upcoming Cruise

[kayjay76]

7 hours ago, Travelicious said:

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.  

i literally said this to my family today right after i got the email lollll. We are hopefully sailing the 19th on the getaway 🤞

[Viajera7]

8 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

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.

The Puerto Rican government added new requirements the last week of December. People going to P.R. need to test within  48 hours before arrival. If your cruise departs from San Juan, you can do it from your state but if you are already in a ship to make a day stop, I guess it would be too much for the cruise line to test thousands of people in the ship. That’s why we were tested in the Sheraton’s Convention Center the first time. I had a btb cruise on The Epic in December and the btb passengers were tested in the ship but we were only fifty something.

[Viajera7]

8 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

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.

The Puerto Rican government added new requirements the last week of December. People going to P.R. need to test within  48 hours before arrival. If your cruise departs from San Juan, you can do it from your state but if you are already in a ship to make a day stop, I guess it would be too much for the cruise line to test thousands of people in the ship. That’s why we were tested in the Sheraton’s Convention Center the first time. I had a btb cruise on The Epic in December and the btb passengers were tested in the ship but we were only fifty something.

[itsnotjustme]

2 hours ago, Viajera7 said:

The Puerto Rican government added new requirements the last week of December. People going to P.R. need to test within  48 hours before arrival. If your cruise departs from San Juan, you can do it from your state but if you are already in a ship to make a day stop, I guess it would be too much for the cruise line to test thousands of people in the ship. That’s why we were tested in the Sheraton’s Convention Center the first time. I had a btb cruise on The Epic in December and the btb passengers were tested in the ship but we were only fifty something.

I understand the new requirements.  My point is the inconsistency.

 

Both people stopping for a part of call and people disembarking a cruise and flying out the same day will leave PR the same day they arrive.  These are equivalent (or it could be argued those going to the airport may create more risk....).

 

But people stopping for a port of call require the 48 hours advance testing, people flying out the same day do not.  So even though the time in PR is equivalent, the treatment is different.

 

My main point is the different treatment is likely based on economics, not public health.  Keeping cruises based out of PR creates more economic activity than cruises stopping in PR.

[SplashOfWater]

16 hours ago, vswan said:

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.

I just read the letter again and saw that too. NCL is setting expectations for refunds if your cruise is terminated early. Don't expect a 100% refund like we recently saw with the shortened Pearl cruise.

 

"In situations where a required itinerary change shortens the length of your cruise, we will provide you a prorated refund to the original form of payment."

 

[raschueller]

21 hours 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.  🙄

Before we go too far in that direction there is this. Many of us were trapped into an FCC for what is now almost years. We were given a choice. Book by January 15th or lose your money. It is our money. Money they held on to for more than 2 years. And having been given a choice would not have booked during a pandemic. We were not given that choice. So before you start with what we expected NCL to know... lets start with the situation they put us in. 

 

I am happy that we are finally getting value out of OUR money. But the end result for those of us who were new to cruising and have been treated as we have been deserve better. NCL will do what NCL will do. But I am not going to blame anyone or be haughty about what NCL should be expected to do in advance.

 

 

[farjar]

On 1/10/2022 at 12:02 PM, SplashOfWater said:

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.

In Oct. 2005 we did a Texaribbean cruise on the NCL Dream out of Galveston.  It was suppose to include stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Cancun.  A few weeks before sailing Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf and all ports were cancelled due to the damage.  NCL hastily put together a stop at Veracruz where school children came down to the pier and sang to us while venders set up make shift tents to sell their wares.  An excursion to some local ruins was also organized.  We were very moved by the warm, friendly reception we received from the people on such short notice.  The rest of the cruise was spent slowly sailing the gulf in a large circle back to Galveston.  Was it ideal? No. Was it the vacation we had planned? No. Was it better than staying at home? Yes. Considering the millions of lives that had been adversely affected by Katrina we felt fortunate to do be able to do what we did. As long as our cruise isn't cancelled or we test positive we are going with or without any scheduled stops.