prima inaugural cancelled..bummer!

[rscales2]

I bought both the September 13 & 23 the first day also. I don’t think you have to worry about that date. There is no way I’m rescheduling on the Prima far to expensive. If they going to cancel do it fast. I don’t want them to cancel I never been on a brand new ship.

[Drews_Cruise]

4 hours ago, rscales2 said:

I bought both the September 13 & 23 the first day also. I don’t think you have to worry about that date. There is no way I’m rescheduling on the Prima far to expensive. If they going to cancel do it fast. I don’t want them to cancel I never been on a brand new ship.

Yes it doesnt seem fair when the fare was over $9 K each on day one for a Haven room to now be expected to rebook at $11-12K each for a non inaugural cruise.  Its just not happening and it says something about NCL and how they treat their customers.  But then again I was a first timer and perhaps they figured I have no loyalty yet anyway?  It seems like really poor customer service to me.  I completely understand the supply chain issues that led to this but not how NCL is dealing with it.  

[reeinaz]

7 minutes ago, Drews_Cruise said:

Yes it doesnt seem fair when the fare was over $9 K each on day one for a Haven room to now be expected to rebook at $11-12K each for a non inaugural cruise.  Its just not happening and it says something about NCL and how they treat their customers.  But then again I was a first timer and perhaps they figured I have no loyalty yet anyway?  It seems like really poor customer service to me.  I completely understand the supply chain issues that led to this but not how NCL is dealing with it.  

They are giving a 25% discount on the new cruise booked, not an additional 25% bonus FCC on what was paid for the cancelled cruise. So a $12000 cruise will bring it back down back to $9000 with the discount.

[Drews_Cruise]

6 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

They are giving a 25% discount on the new cruise booked, not an additional 25% bonus FCC on what was paid for the cancelled cruise. So a $12000 cruise will bring it back down back to $9000 with the discount.

Understood.  So we pay the same price for another cruise (non inaugural)and get nothing for our inconvenience  and time spent cancelling flights and hotels etc.  Good deal I say sarcastically. 😁

[rscales2]

I’m in a studio cabin. I paid about $2300 for the first cruise and $2400 for the Second cruise with gratuity included no drinks package. The price now is almost $6000 for both cruise. 25% don’t cover that. I still have faith. I’m curious about everyone opinion.

[rscales2]

After my cruise on the Epic I’m going to have a hard time to blame NCL for anything. 

[Soaperstar]

10 hours ago, rscales2 said:

I bought both the September 13 & 23 the first day also. I don’t think you have to worry about that date. There is no way I’m rescheduling on the Prima far to expensive. If they going to cancel do it fast. I don’t want them to cancel I never been on a brand new ship.

We are booked on the Oct. 17 NY to Galveston. Our original booking was for the Inaugural that just cancelled.  
Having BEEN on an Inaugural many years ago (Holland America Zuiderdam). I can tell you it is not all glitter and glitz. Entire sections of the waste system knocked/backed up is one example on that sailing.  
Best to wait a few months for them to work the bugs out.  

[rscales2]

The waste system is back up that not a supply chain issue. That problem will take months. Someone please tell me am I right or wrong.

[MaryZ]

2 hours ago, rscales2 said:

The waste system is back up that not a supply chain issue. That problem will take months. Someone please tell me am I right or wrong.

maybe.  Disney delayed for a few months for the wish due to construction delays.

We are sailing from NY to Galveston and then plan on our Halloween Vegas Vacation. 
Whatever it is, I hope they cancel before final payment. 
We are not as enamored with NCL as we used to be.   All of our cruises since the pandemic have been awesome, except for our Getaway cruise.  We just decided that Haven is not up to par right now and we will enjoy the other lines for a while.  
So, if they leave a us a 25% off coupon, it's always possible we'll use it.   If they bring a decent ship back to NY.  Not the Getaway. 

[WarfRatWA]

Unfortunate news for the those that booked the inaugral.  But some ususpecting folks will now get to be aboard for the inaugral cruise.

 

I live in Europe and I don't see supply chain issues in my daily life, but I realize provisioning a cruise ship is differnt than stocking store shelves.  It wouldn't surprise me if this delay was related to something else.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, WarfRatWA said:

Unfortunate news for the those that booked the inaugral.  But some ususpecting folks will now get to be aboard for the inaugral cruise.

 

I live in Europe and I don't see supply chain issues in my daily life, but I realize provisioning a cruise ship is differnt than stocking store shelves.  It wouldn't surprise me if this delay was related to something else.

So,,, if a company publicly traded on the US Stock Market makes a public announcement that they are delaying the maiden voyage of their flagship due to Supply Chain issues, why would we doubt that?

 

The challenge is not getting enough streusel for the first cruise. It's finishing the construction of the ship. 

 

The challenge is getting all of the internal fittings for the ship. 10's of thousands of meters of carpets, 10's of thousands of chairs, thousands of tables. If there were shortages earlier, thousands of matrices, room fittings. Perhaps major parts of the ship's navigation and control systems are back ordered. We just don't know. 

 

At the end of the day, the problem is with items that they could not provision and install in the next three months. Cancelling one cruise doesn't provide any time to resolve the problem. With three months, you could easily "make up the time", if they were only a few days off from their planned delivery date. I fear that we will see months of delays at this point. 

 

 

[rscales2]

I think you right. NCL should cancel early so People can reschedule.

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

So,,, if a company publicly traded on the US Stock Market makes a public announcement that they are delaying the maiden voyage of their flagship due to Supply Chain issues, why would we doubt that?

 

Is this a joke? Do you remember Enron? lol

 

Publicly traded companies twist the truth on a daily basis. Take a look at the CCL press release a few weeks ago bragging that they had the highest booking week ever March 28-April 1. What they left off was that a huge amount of FCC needed to be booked by March 30th. Customers were all strong armed into booking that week or lose money. While that wasn't lying, it was twisting the truth to serve the narrative. 

 

I suspect supply chain issues are part of the delay, but to suggest it's true just because NCL said so is grossly misleading. 

 

[rscales2]

Enron is a little harsh. It wouldn’t surprise me something else happened.

[reeinaz]

Isn't it not unexpected for inaugural sailings to be delayed? I might be remembering incorrectly but I thought the Encore's was delayed. That's one of the reasons I didn't book one the first Prima sailings. Why would this announcement be more suspect than ones in previous years?

[chengkp75]

15 hours ago, rscales2 said:

The waste system is back up that not a supply chain issue. That problem will take months. Someone please tell me am I right or wrong.

If it does, the entire engineering crew, and corporate technical should be fired.  I can't imagine a scenario where the vacuum system is blocked up for months, and I've taken the strangest things out of the sewage system.

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, WarfRatWA said:

I live in Europe and I don't see supply chain issues in my daily life, but I realize provisioning a cruise ship is differnt than stocking store shelves.

You, however, are not ordering steel wall panels, hundreds of lighting fixtures, or even engine parts that are required to sail.

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Perhaps major parts of the ship's navigation and control systems are back ordered. We just don't know. 

This is very true, and likely.  There are some large components of the engineering systems, or parts for the navigation system, that require spares of them to be onboard in order to sail.  Ship's spare parts have been backed up on delivery for two years now.  Many, many, come from China.

25 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I suspect supply chain issues are part of the delay,

I suspect it is all of the delay.

7 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

Isn't it not unexpected for inaugural sailings to be delayed?

Yes, they frequently are.  Some by delays in the shipyard (again, not getting parts on time), and some by failures during sea trials that require new parts, which are backed up in delivery.  Folks have no idea the disruption of the world's economy that is coming if we don't solve the container and container ship problems facing the world post pandemic.  80+% of the world's economy travels by sea.

[KeithJenner]

6 hours ago, WarfRatWA said:

Unfortunate news for the those that booked the inaugral.  But some ususpecting folks will now get to be aboard for the inaugral cruise.

 

I live in Europe and I don't see supply chain issues in my daily life, but I realize provisioning a cruise ship is differnt than stocking store shelves.  It wouldn't surprise me if this delay was related to something else.

This wasn't the inaugural. It was the sailing before the christening, and there would have been none of the fuss that people associate with an inaugural. The people who originally booked the inaugural sailings are still on them.

 

As for supply chain issues, I work in the steel industry, and supply issues are major at the moment. Many people don't know this. but a huge amount of steel used in Europe comes from Ukraine, as well as many other products. Supply is a huge issue at the moment in many industries.

Edited April 30, 2022 by KeithJenner

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

If it does, the entire engineering crew, and corporate technical should be fired.  I can't imagine a scenario where the vacuum system is blocked up for months, and I've taken the strangest things out of the sewage system.

We can only imagine what you have taken out of the sewage system; and let's keep it that way. 🤣

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We can only imagine what you have taken out of the sewage system; and let's keep it that way. 🤣

You probably can't imagine some of the things.  I couldn't.  😲

[littlelulu01]

I’m booked on the 13th and subsequent TA.  I’m looking at some alternative ideas now on how to salvage if one or both of those sailings are canceled. I purchased independent travel insurance which was almost 2k. I’d prefer to transfer this expensive policy to another equally $$$ vacation on the Viva or something next year but that wont work after final payment deadlines. I’m hopeful that if they are canceling any further sailings they are able to decide prior to final payments which are just around the corner. The airlines have thankfully been more flexible since COVID so not so concerned about losses on hotels or our independent airfare.  Mostly just the insurance policy and disappointment. These two cruises are really expensive! More expensive than anything I’ve ever spent on a Haven sailing by a long shot.  I’d prefer it if all is in order when we sail. 

[WarfRatWA]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

So,,, if a company publicly traded on the US Stock Market makes a public announcement that they are delaying the maiden voyage of their flagship due to Supply Chain issues, why would we doubt that?

 

The challenge is not getting enough streusel for the first cruise. It's finishing the construction of the ship. 

 

The challenge is getting all of the internal fittings for the ship. 10's of thousands of meters of carpets, 10's of thousands of chairs, thousands of tables. If there were shortages earlier, thousands of matrices, room fittings. Perhaps major parts of the ship's navigation and control systems are back ordered. We just don't know. 

 

At the end of the day, the problem is with items that they could not provision and install in the next three months. Cancelling one cruise doesn't provide any time to resolve the problem. With three months, you could easily "make up the time", if they were only a few days off from their planned delivery date. I fear that we will see months of delays at this point. 

 

 

"The challenge is not getting enough streusel for the first cruise"

 

Which restaurant serves streusel?

[FreestyleNovice]

On 4/30/2022 at 12:29 PM, WarfRatWA said:

I live in Europe and I don't see supply chain issues in my daily life, but I realize provisioning a cruise ship is differnt than stocking store shelves.  It wouldn't surprise me if this delay was related to something else.

 

We're neighbours and perhaps your daily life is different than mine or branch of work. But sunflower oil right now, toilet paper in the past are just two examples of supply chain issues. Also what @KeithJenner said about the pricing of steel, construction wood, etc. All related to supply chain issues. 

During Covid peak times shipping companies were leaving their empty containers in European ports, not wanting to bother with filling or even thinking of taking them back, minimizing turn around times and to keep up (and make a profit) with our demand for products from the Far East. Shipping prizes sky rocketed and not the mention the Suez canal blockade also causing major disruption in global logistics.

 

But be blessed if you haven't been impacted by this, by all means. 

[FreestyleNovice]

All of this is very unrelated to cruising though.

 

I found Prima, even at how minimal we got to see and follow, to be in a less far or good than thought state compared to previous builds at the German Meyer Werft. Nothing that can't be fixed by time or work but seeing roughed up decks, wearing paint.. it was just different than previously.

 

I remember being surprised that the yard did not show any activity on a Sunday when I drove by in 2021. Very Italian! 

 

As said above, it might be multiple problems in logistics but big enough for NCL to cancel ahead of time. Which is, how dissapointing it may be, the best that they can do.

[littlelulu01]

On 4/27/2022 at 5:47 PM, BirdTravels said:

The Bird has booked inaugural cruises and got cancelled multiple times because the cruise line wanted to do more media cruises. (The Bird had two cruises in 2019 cancelled due to additional publicity cruises - Inaugural Encore and first voyage of the new Joy - for both cancellations, we got nothing other than a refund)

Just keeping it honest- the encore sailing you reference was scheduled for November 17, 2019. Ncl canceled it in January 23, 2019, 10 months prior to sailing. They offered passengers 15% off another sailing, full refund and offer to cover airfare loss up to $300 pp. 

 

The Prima cancellation is past final payment.  Granted your cancellation was pre COVID so a different world.  Just trying to keep the facts straight.  Passengers were not offered “nothing” and it was not a last minute cancellation. 
 

25% is a nice gesture. Except a potential replacement sailing on The Epic, for September that I priced out last week jumped in price about 40% since last week. The 25% gesture won’t make up for price hikes like that.