NCL - Now you see it, now you don't!

[A-Cruiser]

My wife and I are an active couple in our mid-70’s that have had the good fortune of being able to travel quite extensively.  That said, we are relatively new to cruising and have chosen Norwegian Cruise Lines as our primary large ship vendor.  One trip that we have always wanted to go on was to visit the inner passage of Alaska.  We booked on the Norwegian Spirit for an 11-day cruise embarking from Seattle September 21 and returning on October 2, 2022.  To our surprise the ship was half full carrying only ~1,000 passenger’s verses 2,000+ that it can hold.  We’re not certain whether people were still wary of COVID or there wasn’t sufficient crew to support a higher number of passengers. We book stateroom 10562, midships with a balcony on the port side of the ship.  I must say that this stateroom was very comfortable, relatively spacious and had a much better bathroom then we previously had on the Epic.  We can’t say enough positives about the service, personnel, entertainment and specialty dinning.  The meals and service at Cagney’s and Le Bistro were exceptional, however the quality and variety of food available at the Garden Café was at best marginal and certainly did not compare to previous travel on other NCL trips.  Weather prevented us from sailing to see the Hubbard Glacier and also docking in Skagway.  Weather is not be controlled by NCL but these weather-related changes caused cancelation of the White Pass Summit Train & City Tour (Skagway) and the Craft Brewery & Distillery Tasting Tour (Victoria, BC).  All and all we truly enjoyed our cruise, BUT here comes our major problem!

 

Hundreds of dollars of our money were lost by NCL - a case of now you see it and now you don't.  On October 2, at the end of our Alaska cruise on the Spirit I had a credit of hundreds of dollars due to cancelled excursions. I was told that these monies would go back on the credit card on file within 30 days of debarkation. I am now approaching 90 days after taking all of the steps I was directed to by NCL including filing a claim and being assigned a case number. The automatic email I received was that it might take up to 30 days to get a response, that was 45 days ago. Guest Relations informed me that my monies were returned to the World Points Rewards a Bank of America program. I have no Bank of America credit card and therefore do not participate in this program. I have requested that they (NCL) provide with me with the last 4 digits of the credit card they posted the monies to and the date that the monies were credited and have received no response from them. NCL Guest Relations and their Resolution Department have become a black hole.  I doubt whether my wife and I will ever travel with NCL again!  Any suggestions as to what next steps I can take would be greatly appreciated?????? 

 

[Lakesregion]

31 minutes ago, A-Cruiser said:

 

My wife and I are an active couple in our mid-70’s that have had the good fortune of being able to travel quite extensively.  That said, we are relatively new to cruising and have chosen Norwegian Cruise Lines as our primary large ship vendor.  One trip that we have always wanted to go on was to visit the inner passage of Alaska.  We booked on the Norwegian Spirit for an 11-day cruise embarking from Seattle September 21 and returning on October 2, 2022.  To our surprise the ship was half full carrying only ~1,000 passenger’s verses 2,000+ that it can hold.  We’re not certain whether people were still wary of COVID or there wasn’t sufficient crew to support a higher number of passengers. We book stateroom 10562, midships with a balcony on the port side of the ship.  I must say that this stateroom was very comfortable, relatively spacious and had a much better bathroom then we previously had on the Epic.  We can’t say enough positives about the service, personnel, entertainment and specialty dinning.  The meals and service at Cagney’s and Le Bistro were exceptional, however the quality and variety of food available at the Garden Café was at best marginal and certainly did not compare to previous travel on other NCL trips.  Weather prevented us from sailing to see the Hubbard Glacier and also docking in Skagway.  Weather is not be controlled by NCL but these weather-related changes caused cancelation of the White Pass Summit Train & City Tour (Skagway) and the Craft Brewery & Distillery Tasting Tour (Victoria, BC).  All and all we truly enjoyed our cruise, BUT here comes our major problem!

 

Hundreds of dollars of our money were lost by NCL - a case of now you see it and now you don't.  On October 2, at the end of our Alaska cruise on the Spirit I had a credit of hundreds of dollars due to cancelled excursions. I was told that these monies would go back on the credit card on file within 30 days of debarkation. I am now approaching 90 days after taking all of the steps I was directed to by NCL including filing a claim and being assigned a case number. The automatic email I received was that it might take up to 30 days to get a response, that was 45 days ago. Guest Relations informed me that my monies were returned to the World Points Rewards a Bank of America program. I have no Bank of America credit card and therefore do not participate in this program. I have requested that they (NCL) provide with me with the last 4 digits of the credit card they posted the monies to and the date that the monies were credited and have received no response from them. NCL Guest Relations and their Resolution Department have become a black hole.  I doubt whether my wife and I will ever travel with NCL again!  Any suggestions as to what next steps I can take would be greatly appreciated?????? 

 

A self filed small claims suit in your local court usually resolves these matters with large corporations as it is cheaper to pay you then to send an attorney to heavens knows where in the country to contest the claim.

[resetjet]

Normally when an excursion that was booked on board is cancelled,  they just take the excursion off.  The only credit is for any port taxes.  When did you book?

[GeezerCouple]

You have something in writing from NCL, correct?

Why not file a chargeback to the charge card you DID use to pay the NCL fare?

That is where any credit should be posted.

 

GC

[julig22]

Not sure who gave you the information that your refund would go to your onboard CC because that just isn't the way they have dealt with credit balances in my experience.  They give you a cash refund before you disembark - on a previous cruise I asked them to credit my account and they refused, insisted I go to guest services and get my cash. I've seen other posts where people have not been allowed to disembark until their account was at zero, so I don't know what may have happened in your case.

At this point, you might make a claim against the CC you used onboard, if there were any charges made there. Otherwise, a claim against the card you used to book the excursions - for services not provided, which helps override any time limitations.

[ggTexasGal]

9 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Normally when an excursion that was booked on board is cancelled,  they just take the excursion off.  The only credit is for any port taxes.  When did you book?

NCL has NOT been refunding Port Taxes for missed ports this year (at least, not since April)! 

They have been refunding "REFUNDABLE" onboard credits (such as cancelled Shore Excursions) with CASH on the final Sea Day.

[resetjet]

They did 

1 minute ago, ggTexasGal said:

NCL has NOT been refunding Port Taxes for missed ports this year (at least, not since April)! 

They have been refunding "REFUNDABLE" onboard credits (such as cancelled Shore Excursions) with CASH on the final Sea Day.

They did this week.  GSC was cancelled and it showed a $41 pp ref credit on our account right away and the excursions disappeared.  So therefore there was no “refund”. For the excursions as they were simply taken off the bill like at a restaurant.

[Cruise5life]

I wouldn’t even mess with NCl anymore.  Call your credit card co and do a charge back on those charges.     Simple.     

[ggTexasGal]

5 minutes ago, resetjet said:

They did 

They did this week.  GSC was cancelled and it showed a $41 pp ref credit on our account right away and the excursions disappeared.  So therefore there was no “refund”. For the excursions as they were simply taken off the bill like at a restaurant.

I'm certain that you misunderstood what I posted.

IF at the end of the cruise, there remains unspent onboard credit (variable amounts, per excursion, for cruisers) NCL refunds the unspent, REFUNDABLE, amounts in cash, prior to disembarkation.

This can only be completed by physically going to the Guest Services desk (within 24 hours) prior to disembarkation.  This has been NCL's practice for each of three cruises we have completed in 2022. Also, we have been delayed while in line to disembark because people didn't realize that cash refunds would NOT be made to their credit card... they HAD TO return to Guest Services to settle their accounts.

NCL has not been refunding PORT TAXES (there are multiple posts with this information)!

[SplashOfWater]

We cancelled an excursion while onboard the Dawn recently. The credit went to our onboard account. We spent part of it down, but not all of it. A couple of days before debarkation we received a letter in our stateroom advising us that we had a credit on our account and that we had to go to the Onboard Credit Desk to receive the refund in cash. 

[dexddd]

Good luck to OP.  We, along with a few others, waited 16 months for monies owed on a POA sailing.

[ChiefMateJRK]

21 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Good luck to OP.  We, along with a few others, waited 16 months for monies owed on a POA sailing.

Why didn't you just contest it with your credit card company?  You only have a certain window of time that you can do that.

[A-Cruiser]

I would like to thank you all for your suggestions and would like to add some additional information.  First, I did contact my credit card company and ask that they query the charge.  Since part of the credit for the canceled excursions were used to offset our charges they could not suspend just the remaining credit.  At the time we met with Guest Services onboard to settle our balance I do not believe I was offered the option of receiving a cash refund.  I have attached a copy of my final folio statement as well as the response I received to the case I filed with NCL.  As I said in my initial post, I do not have a charge account with Bank of America and therefore could not possibly gotten these monies put into a World Points Reward program.  The phone number referenced in the response sent to me is not World Points Rewards but NCL.  I did contact Bank of America and they confirmed that there was no credit card in me or my wife's name and I did not participate in their rewards program.  Since I am a resident of the state of Florida I did file a complaint with the State Attorney General under the Seniors vs. Crime program citing the CEO of NCL as the target on my complaint.  I will wait to see what the outcome is of taking this action and if necessary will take NCL to small claims court.  It is unfortunate that so much time and effort has to be put into getting back what is rightfully yours.  The revenues lost by NCL for these delays and customer dissatisfaction should have made their decision easier.

Final Folio 10-2-2022.pdf NCL Response 12-16-2022.pdf

[ChiefMateJRK]

39 minutes ago, A-Cruiser said:

I have attached a copy of my final folio statement as well as the response I received to the case I filed with NCL.

I'm just seeing blank white pages.  Is anybody else able to read these?

[JesseB]

35 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I'm just seeing blank white pages.  Is anybody else able to read these?

Blank here too

[MoCruiseFan]

To the OP, send email to socialmedia ncl.com and give them the facts of the situation such as when you sail, the amount in question, and briefly which NCL contacts you have dealt with so far.  Include any case numbers, etc that you have. Ask them to please look into the situation and proved you with an update.  Don't make 'demands', 'threats', or 'I'll never sail with NCL again' comments.  The socialmedia team is a great and can often get things resolved.  Good luck!

 

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I'm just seeing blank white pages.  Is anybody else able to read these?

 

That's all we see.

 

But hey, that's okay.  We'll just print them out, and then have some extra blank paper to use!

🤣

 

GC

[Zippeedee]

This sounds like something Elliott Advocacy could help with. Elliott.org

[Notts1964]

The same thing happened to me in 2021. Our shore excursion was cancelled on our cruise on 8 September 2021. The refund was shown on our onboard account, and we were told it would be refunded to our credit card (used to book the excursion) within 10 working days. After getting nothing for 30 days we did everything requested by NCL - filed a claim, got a claim number etc.

After several emails (to the named “Guest Experience Co-ordination”) we eventually got our money refunded in March 2022 - so 6 months! 

Luckily they owed us $173, rather than hundreds of dollars, but still very annoying and time consuming to keep following up.

So I’m afraid I don’t have any advice really, but I just wanted to reassure you that we did eventually get our money back via our registered credit card.