Why is NCL so difficult regarding moving a cruise because of Covid concerns?

[MacII]

I've got to say, I've been a loyal NCL cruiser but I'm very confused. I do not understand their policies and how it helps either their company or the customer. It seems like it actually does harm to both! I'm actually looking to understand the logic, this isn't just a post to complain...

 

My quick relevant backstory - in 2020 we had two cruises get cancelled by NCL. We kept the credits with some bonus and re-booked two cruises for 2022. The first is a European cruise for late May, the second is an Alaskan Cruise in August. Both are Haven.

 

We're almost at 120 days so it was time to decide on the European cruise and we feel that we want to punt it to 2023. Oddly we intend to keep the AK cruise but travel to Europe just seems a little more dicey right now. I called NCL and was told I could not do that. That I HAD to cruise sometime in 2022 or I'd potentially lose any and all bonus credits and possibly more.

 

So I was faced with three choices:

 

1.) Re-book a cruise in 2022 (can't do that)

2.) Get a refund, less any bonus and possibly less other moneys (FCCs or something)

3.) Email customer relations for an exception (which I did, but the auto-reply says it could take 30 days to get a response!)

 

It would seem to me that forcing customers to cash out is both bad for NCL and bad for the customer. Why won't they just let people move their cruises out a year? I honestly think they should give a 2-year leash given the current state of things. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Thank you,

[Kirk2121]

58 minutes ago, MacII said:

I've got to say, I've been a loyal NCL cruiser but I'm very confused. I do not understand their policies and how it helps either their company or the customer. It seems like it actually does harm to both! I'm actually looking to understand the logic, this isn't just a post to complain...

 

My quick relevant backstory - in 2020 we had two cruises get cancelled by NCL. We kept the credits with some bonus and re-booked two cruises for 2022. The first is a European cruise for late May, the second is an Alaskan Cruise in August. Both are Haven.

 

We're almost at 120 days so it was time to decide on the European cruise and we feel that we want to punt it to 2023. Oddly we intend to keep the AK cruise but travel to Europe just seems a little more dicey right now. I called NCL and was told I could not do that. That I HAD to cruise sometime in 2022 or I'd potentially lose any and all bonus credits and possibly more.

 

So I was faced with three choices:

 

1.) Re-book a cruise in 2022 (can't do that)

2.) Get a refund, less any bonus and possibly less other moneys (FCCs or something)

3.) Email customer relations for an exception (which I did, but the auto-reply says it could take 30 days to get a response!)

 

It would seem to me that forcing customers to cash out is both bad for NCL and bad for the customer. Why won't they just let people move their cruises out a year? I honestly think they should give a 2-year leash given the current state of things. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Thank you,

Right when Covid hit march 2020.  I had back to back out of Puerto Rico.  Future Cruise credit + a little. 

 

We had scheduled in two in Mediterranean.  We FOR SURE were gonna go so i paid $250 each for thermal spa. Ncl booked our flights.  Our flights were Chicago with an hour to find our flight to Rome in Heathrow Airport.  On way back Rome to Canada to Chicago. Way too many governments could ruin my cruise.  AND had to only take ship excursions to even get off the ship.  So CANCEL.  instead of putting $250 each back to my credit card.  More fcc. 

 

So gf n i just got back from back to back .  & i was getting in to use or lose my cruise next & fcc so I've got 4 more scheduled in 2022.  Gf only only had enough vacation for 4.  So I've got 2 solo. Not ideal. 

 

Ncl stock is at $23.  Right when covid hit it dipped to under $10.  I think they've become inflexible because at some point they cant afford to give passengers everything they want & support their crew members & covid cases.  They are running at 50% capacity.  Our cruise was awesome like 1 to 1 crew to pax.  But itinerary changes shows canceled ports canceled.  Flight delays.  Doing back to back we had to get off the ship which isn't way used to be.  & wearing glasses & my mask was a pita. 

 

& if they get too many complaints about how they handle refunds etc.  Guessing us government might give them some oversight which I'm sure they have no interest in any us government involvement. 

 

So ncl is kind of in rock & hard place imo. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Kirk2121

[zqvol]

What am I missing? They offered you a refund of what you had actually paid. Why should you get more that has to come out of their pocket? FCC is really not anything out of pocket to NCL.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, MacII said:

2.) Get a refund, less any bonus and possibly less other moneys (FCCs or something)

 

Get it while you can.

[KeithJenner]

5 minutes ago, zqvol said:

What am I missing? They offered you a refund of what you had actually paid. Why should you get more that has to come out of their pocket? FCC is really not anything out of pocket to NCL.

I think the point is that by having the 2022 deadline for using any credits they are pushing people like the OP towards taking a refund rather than booking for 2023, which would be the OPs preference.

 

I suppose that NCL are hoping that more people will try to squeeze something in during 2022 rather than ask for a refund. Many people can’t do that because their holiday time isn’t flexible but others probably will. It is difficult to tell whether NCLs policy will work to their benefit in the end.

Edited January 19, 2022 by KeithJenner

[msmayor]

5 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

I think the point is that by having the 2022 deadline for using any credits they are pushing people like the OP towards taking a refund rather than booking for 2023, which would be the OPs preference.

 

While I don't know all the nuances of accounting for these credits, I do know that with that much on the street the liability side of their balance sheet is daunting.  Companies just don't want to keep pushing that big liability out, they want to get it off the books.  The deadline is there, and while they have the ability to extend, they may just not want to in order to clear up liabilities.

 

 

[smplybcause]

41 minutes ago, msmayor said:

 

While I don't know all the nuances of accounting for these credits, I do know that with that much on the street the liability side of their balance sheet is daunting.  Companies just don't want to keep pushing that big liability out, they want to get it off the books.  The deadline is there, and while they have the ability to extend, they may just not want to in order to clear up liabilities.

 

 

 

They don't want that big of a liability - and all the extra FCC they gave out is messing up prices too. NCL tried to staunch the flow by stopping giving the extra FCC bonus about a year ago. 

 

Royal/Celebrity have basically the same deadline for their FCC and they continue to give the bonus FCC unless you pick refund. It's slightly different that it's you have to book by end of May and cruise before the end of 2022 - unless you just got your FCC and then you'd have until 1 year from when you got it to cruise but still have to book by May. 

 

My guess is the cruise lines aren't going to extend that unless they really have to. Hell NCL hasn't even extended their POM policy yet that is set to expire in 12 days and they're still canceling sailings. 

 

I have a Feb cruise on a ship that was put on hiatus. If it cancels I'm taking the refund. 

[Crazy planning mom]

We went to Alaska  last summer.  So, I certainly understand the comfort with traveling domestically versus international.   We loved Alaska.  There is so much to see.  Have you thought about switching your European sailing to another Alaskan sailing and doing a b2b?

[furgoon]

Agreed.  I have leftover CruiseNext certificates that will essentially be worthless at the end of this year.  I would happily place them on a cruise in 2023 but I will look elsewhere since they didn't work with me to extend or at least combine the two I had for a cruise in May.  Shame on them.

[Longstockingpippi1]

26 minutes ago, furgoon said:

Agreed.  I have leftover CruiseNext certificates that will essentially be worthless at the end of this year.  I would happily place them on a cruise in 2023 but I will look elsewhere since they didn't work with me to extend or at least combine the two I had for a cruise in May.  Shame on them.

Sell the cruise next on ebay, dont let them go to waste. 

[Kirk2121]

Side note.  & think about how much work some ncl employees are having to do with refunds/cancels/new itineraries.  Ok we're going to us virgin Islands.  Ok we're not.  Ok we're over nighting in Nassau instead.  Ok we'll refund your port fees & taxes since we didn't.  Ok choir of man has can't perform.  Ok comedians been on stage past 5 nights.  Many working really hard to address all the cancels/changes happening really quickly.   & sure many tipped employees are frustrated with 50% capacity. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Kirk2121

[julig22]

I just wish they would work on more of a case-by-case basis.  Not everyone is trying to scam the system, as in people booking cruises that they think will be cancelled just to get discounts/fcc.

 

If your cruise is cancelled, you get a 10% coupon for a future cruise if you don't have one already - not one for each cancelled cruise.  And that future cruise is likely to cost way more than an additional 10%.  Seems like they could at least give you a discount if you re-book the same cruise. A lift and drop would be even better.

My January 2021 cruise was cancelled, so I re-booked the same cruise for January 2022, using the 10% coupon.  Now that's been cancelled but I can't use the 10% for the same cruise in January 2023 because it expires.  My April 2022 cruise was also cancelled but I won't get anything for that because I already have a 10% discount in my account.

[julig22]

3 minutes ago, Kirk2121 said:

sure many tipped employees are frustrated with 50% capacity. 

I did tip my room steward more than usual, although I'm not sure whether or not the stewards actually have fewer cabins to maintain.

Everyone is hurting.  I took the NCL transfers on my last cruise - 3 people on the way in, 2 on the way out.  Not much to be made in tips for the drivers.

[happytotravel]

29 minutes ago, Kirk2121 said:

Side note.  & think about how much work some ncl employees are having to do with refunds/cancels/new itineraries.  Ok we're going to us virgin Islands.  Ok we're not.  Ok we're over nighting in Nassau instead.  Ok we'll refund your port fees & taxes since we didn't.  Ok choir of man has can't perform.  Ok comedians been on stage past 5 nights.  Many working really hard to address all the cancels/changes happening really quickly.   & sure many tipped employees are frustrated with 50% capacity. 

You're absolutely right.  It must be a nightmare for NCL employees.  They didn't create Covid.  They are just all trying to work around it.

Take care,   happytotravel

[Lou33]

4 hours ago, MacII said:

3.) Email customer relations for an exception (which I did, but the auto-reply says it could take 30 days to get a response!)

Has anybody been successful in getting an exception?

 

We've had several cruises cancelled and we would have welcomed the opportunity to "lift and shift" them to the following year.  Or even have the opportunity to apply our 35% FCC to a February 2023 cruise, even though the price is higher than our cancelled cruise.  

 

At this point, since our FCC expires in one week, and the prices for 2022 cruises are inflated so that our 35% FCC is basically worthless.  We will probably just lose our FCC, and NCL may lose a customer for life.

[Kirk2121]

47 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I just wish they would work on more of a case-by-case basis.  Not everyone is trying to scam the system, as in people booking cruises that they think will be cancelled just to get discounts/fcc.

 

If your cruise is cancelled, you get a 10% coupon for a future cruise if you don't have one already - not one for each cancelled cruise.  And that future cruise is likely to cost way more than an additional 10%.  Seems like they could at least give you a discount if you re-book the same cruise. A lift and drop would be even better.

My January 2021 cruise was cancelled, so I re-booked the same cruise for January 2022, using the 10% coupon.  Now that's been cancelled but I can't use the 10% for the same cruise in January 2023 because it expires.  My April 2022 cruise was also cancelled but I won't get anything for that because I already have a 10% discount in my account.

We're bidding on haven owners suite.  Told gf hoped we got 4 days of our cruise & then canceled with 100% refund & 50% fcc. 

 

We're Probably more likely to end up with a flight that doesn't get us there on time.  Or a positive covid test for one of us.  & lose our money we bid & money for the cruise.

 

 

[Snowrose]

10 minutes ago, Lou33 said:

Has anybody been successful in getting an exception?

 

We've had several cruises cancelled and we would have welcomed the opportunity to "lift and shift" them to the following year.  Or even have the opportunity to apply our 35% FCC to a February 2023 cruise, even though the price is higher than our cancelled cruise.  

 

At this point, since our FCC expires in one week, and the prices for 2022 cruises are inflated so that our 35% FCC is basically worthless.  We will probably just lose our FCC, and NCL may lose a customer for life.

 

You might want to check on that expiry date. Information I saw posted here on CC said that those credits had been extended to 2023, though the listing on My NCL wouldn't be changing.

[LGW59]

5 hours ago, MacII said:

I've got to say, I've been a loyal NCL cruiser but I'm very confused. I do not understand their policies and how it helps either their company or the customer. It seems like it actually does harm to both! I'm actually looking to understand the logic, this isn't just a post to complain...

 

My quick relevant backstory - in 2020 we had two cruises get cancelled by NCL. We kept the credits with some bonus and re-booked two cruises for 2022. The first is a European cruise for late May, the second is an Alaskan Cruise in August. Both are Haven.

 

We're almost at 120 days so it was time to decide on the European cruise and we feel that we want to punt it to 2023. Oddly we intend to keep the AK cruise but travel to Europe just seems a little more dicey right now. I called NCL and was told I could not do that. That I HAD to cruise sometime in 2022 or I'd potentially lose any and all bonus credits and possibly more.

 

So I was faced with three choices:

 

1.) Re-book a cruise in 2022 (can't do that)

2.) Get a refund, less any bonus and possibly less other moneys (FCCs or something)

3.) Email customer relations for an exception (which I did, but the auto-reply says it could take 30 days to get a response!)

 

It would seem to me that forcing customers to cash out is both bad for NCL and bad for the customer. Why won't they just let people move their cruises out a year? I honestly think they should give a 2-year leash given the current state of things. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Thank you,

it's a gamble either way, just roll the dice and deal with it.

[MoCruiseFan]

There is no such thing as 'moving' a cruise.  what you want to do is cancel your existing cruise and book a new one.  Any restriction on the use of FCC still apply.  You changing your mind does not impact that.

[julie3fan]

6 hours ago, julig22 said:

I did tip my room steward more than usual, although I'm not sure whether or not the stewards actually have fewer cabins to maintain.

 

Currently on the Bliss...the GM said crew is basically at 100%, and guest capacity is about 20-25%, so the room stewards *must* have fewer cabins to maintain.  

[jlseymour3]

6 hours ago, julig22 said:

I did tip my room steward more than usual, although I'm not sure whether or not the stewards actually have fewer cabins to maintain.

Everyone is hurting.  I took the NCL transfers on my last cruise - 3 people on the way in, 2 on the way out.  Not much to be made in tips for the drivers.

And it goes all the way around.  My wife doesn't like to buy stuff in port areas unless it's something we need.  But the port areas on our August cruise were so empty she wanted to buy something in nearly every shop we went into - its a way to help out the local economy in a small way.

[Broadwaybb]

I’m frustrated too. I got a letter in December saying that my cruise credits were extended until January 31, 2022. I was happy to hear this because I too am nervous to book with so many changes and cancellations (we are also trying to take a European cruise that has been canceled about 5 times and counting - our first cancellation was pre-Covid in 2019 for a mechanical problem). Now I went to rebook, and my largest credits have disappeared. No one can say why. My PCC told me to file a case, which I have. I’m sure I won’t hear back until after the January 31st deadline. I’ll give them a chance to respond and make it right, but it just seems like they are making things confusing and difficult at this point. I know things must be tough on their end. They have lost so much money. But I agree that a little customer service would go a long way in gaining back consumer confidence. There are loyal cruisers who are ready to go back and will stick with the cruise line no matter what. I have never actually sailed with them, in spite of trying for almost 3 years. I just wish they would make things straightforward and give those who have kept FCCs this long a little more time to book and sail. 

[Lou33]

23 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

There is no such thing as 'moving' a cruise.

Yes there is.  Royal Caribbean has/had a "lift and shift" program, where if you cancel or RCI cancels, they gave you the opportunity to move the cruise to one year later at the same price.  It only applied if you do the same itinerary, same category,  same month.  But they did allow some minor variations.   

 

Our Asia cruise for next month was cancelled by NCL.  We would have loved to "lift and shift" it to February 2023, but that cruise is priced $2,000 more and we would lose our FCC.  

[bigrednole]

FCCs are like gift cards. There will be a certain percentage that expire and it is calculated that way. Some odd 25-40% of gift cards are not used for various reasons. They hope the same with FCCs. It then becomes free money. I always say Cash is King. There are no expiration dates with it for the most part.

[14Canadian]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:32 AM, MacII said:

I've got to say, I've been a loyal NCL cruiser but I'm very confused. I do not understand their policies and how it helps either their company or the customer. It seems like it actually does harm to both! I'm actually looking to understand the logic, this isn't just a post to complain...

 

My quick relevant backstory - in 2020 we had two cruises get cancelled by NCL. We kept the credits with some bonus and re-booked two cruises for 2022. The first is a European cruise for late May, the second is an Alaskan Cruise in August. Both are Haven.

 

We're almost at 120 days so it was time to decide on the European cruise and we feel that we want to punt it to 2023. Oddly we intend to keep the AK cruise but travel to Europe just seems a little more dicey right now. I called NCL and was told I could not do that. That I HAD to cruise sometime in 2022 or I'd potentially lose any and all bonus credits and possibly more.

 

So I was faced with three choices:

 

1.) Re-book a cruise in 2022 (can't do that)

2.) Get a refund, less any bonus and possibly less other moneys (FCCs or something)

3.) Email customer relations for an exception (which I did, but the auto-reply says it could take 30 days to get a response!)

 

It would seem to me that forcing customers to cash out is both bad for NCL and bad for the customer. Why won't they just let people move their cruises out a year? I honestly think they should give a 2-year leash given the current state of things. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Thank you,