Rude CruiseNext employees

[rnr4thatsme]

Has anyone experienced this?  Just off the Breakaway, and while every other staff member was pleasant, what’s wrong with the CruiseNext staff?  Outside of the manager, who was excellent when we chatted with her about the onboard booking promo, we dealt with two male sales agents who seemed to resent doing their jobs!  As I was planning (but did not but after this experience) on booking onboard, I  first approached an agent and asked him if he could tell me if any 5 day cruises left Orlando in January 2024, and instead of offering to check just handed me a pamphlet and said I could check in there. Thought it was odd as it usually takes a few minutes to check the website (and the wifi was slow that day - another story, but I digress).  I selected later in the day 2 cruises I would like and returned at 8:30, thinking it wouldn’t take too long to price out 2 cruises.  There was a lady already speaking to the rep, but I figured I would stick around (they closed at 9), as she seemed to be finishing up.  At 8:40, she was done and I approached the agent and asked if he could price out my 2 selected cruises, thinking he had 20 minutes left in his shift, it was plenty of time, and my wifi was slow.  He acted the entire time like I was putting him out, even after I explained I realized they closed soon and would return tomorrow to do the actual booking. I was shocked to be honest at the tone and nary a smile or any courtesy to be offered.  After such treatment, when I saw him working the next day, I decided to forego booking onboard and just purchased my CruiseNext which I will book with a big box who offers a gift card with purchase.

 

So if you are cruising and don’t want to be hounded by CruiseNext staff, sail the Breakaway.  They don’t want to serve you anyways - outside the lovely manager who unfortunately wasn’t always available to speak to.

 

And, yes, I will also notify NCL of my experience…

[ontheweb]

17 minutes ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Has anyone experienced this?  Just off the Breakaway, and while every other staff member was pleasant, what’s wrong with the CruiseNext staff?  Outside of the manager, who was excellent when we chatted with her about the onboard booking promo, we dealt with two male sales agents who seemed to resent doing their jobs!  As I was planning (but did not but after this experience) on booking onboard, I  first approached an agent and asked him if he could tell me if any 5 day cruises left Orlando in January 2024, and instead of offering to check just handed me a pamphlet and said I could check in there. Thought it was odd as it usually takes a few minutes to check the website (and the wifi was slow that day - another story, but I digress).  I selected later in the day 2 cruises I would like and returned at 8:30, thinking it wouldn’t take too long to price out 2 cruises.  There was a lady already speaking to the rep, but I figured I would stick around (they closed at 9), as she seemed to be finishing up.  At 8:40, she was done and I approached the agent and asked if he could price out my 2 selected cruises, thinking he had 20 minutes left in his shift, it was plenty of time, and my wifi was slow.  He acted the entire time like I was putting him out, even after I explained I realized they closed soon and would return tomorrow to do the actual booking. I was shocked to be honest at the tone and nary a smile or any courtesy to be offered.  After such treatment, when I saw him working the next day, I decided to forego booking onboard and just purchased my CruiseNext which I will book with a big box who offers a gift card with purchase.

 

So if you are cruising and don’t want to be hounded by CruiseNext staff, sail the Breakaway.  They don’t want to serve you anyways - outside the lovely manager who unfortunately wasn’t always available to speak to.

 

And, yes, I will also notify NCL of my experience…

What is the world coming to if sales reps do not want to make sales? I wonder if they work on commission.

[FlGoodShips]

44 minutes ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Has anyone experienced this?  Just off the Breakaway, and while every other staff member was pleasant, what’s wrong with the CruiseNext staff?  Outside of the manager, who was excellent when we chatted with her about the onboard booking promo, we dealt with two male sales agents who seemed to resent doing their jobs!  As I was planning (but did not but after this experience) on booking onboard, I  first approached an agent and asked him if he could tell me if any 5 day cruises left Orlando in January 2024, and instead of offering to check just handed me a pamphlet and said I could check in there. Thought it was odd as it usually takes a few minutes to check the website (and the wifi was slow that day - another story, but I digress).  I selected later in the day 2 cruises I would like and returned at 8:30, thinking it wouldn’t take too long to price out 2 cruises.  There was a lady already speaking to the rep, but I figured I would stick around (they closed at 9), as she seemed to be finishing up.  At 8:40, she was done and I approached the agent and asked if he could price out my 2 selected cruises, thinking he had 20 minutes left in his shift, it was plenty of time, and my wifi was slow.  He acted the entire time like I was putting him out, even after I explained I realized they closed soon and would return tomorrow to do the actual booking. I was shocked to be honest at the tone and nary a smile or any courtesy to be offered.  After such treatment, when I saw him working the next day, I decided to forego booking onboard and just purchased my CruiseNext which I will book with a big box who offers a gift card with purchase.

 

So if you are cruising and don’t want to be hounded by CruiseNext staff, sail the Breakaway.  They don’t want to serve you anyways - outside the lovely manager who unfortunately wasn’t always available to speak to.

 

And, yes, I will also notify NCL of my experience…

While on board, you should have spoken to the General Manager.

Talking to NCL now...will not accomplish anything.

Whenever you have issues, address them while onboard.

[PATRLR]

28 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

What is the world coming to if sales reps do not want to make sales? I wonder if they work on commission.

I suspect they are commissioned off CruiseNext sales.  Possibly they are not commissioned off selling actual cruises?  They don't push bookings like they push CNs, so, I suspect they aren't commissioned on bookings.

[rnr4thatsme]

4 minutes ago, FlGoodShips said:

While on board, you should have spoken to the General Manager.

Talking to NCL now...will not accomplish anything.

Whenever you have issues, address them while onboard.

Yes, I notified their supervisor when I saw her later, and she was very apologetic.  I didn’t expect more than that - that was suffice for me.

[DCGuy64]

I am sorry that happened to the OP. I had an excellent experience with the CruiseNext representative last year on the Gem. She was very helpful and, dare I say it, very attractive, so I chatted with her for as long as possible. 😉

[Sand and Seas]

I had a very unpleasant conversation with the CN lady on our Prima Oct 31st cruise.  

 

She had acknowledge my Diamond status and clearly knew I wasn't a rookie NCL cruiser, yet when I said I wanted to buy only two certificates she got very insistent about me buying eight  (You have probably heard the sales pitch.)    I again said, "I understand the value and I always use CN to book but  I just need to buy two on this cruise".  She was very snarky with me and continued to push.  I finally said I have to meet my husband and will come back later.  

 

Why couldn't she just sell me two?  After all of the covid cancellations I'm sure many of us have had a supply of CN certs to re-use.  I already had three other cruises booked and just wanted two more CNs for a future cruise.  I should have taken note of her name.  I think she was a senior CN agent but not sure if she was the manager.

[vacation44]

3 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Has anyone experienced this?  Just off the Breakaway, and while every other staff member was pleasant, what’s wrong with the CruiseNext staff?  Outside of the manager, who was excellent when we chatted with her about the onboard booking promo, we dealt with two male sales agents who seemed to resent doing their jobs!  As I was planning (but did not but after this experience) on booking onboard, I  first approached an agent and asked him if he could tell me if any 5 day cruises left Orlando in January 2024, and instead of offering to check just handed me a pamphlet and said I could check in there. Thought it was odd as it usually takes a few minutes to check the website (and the wifi was slow that day - another story, but I digress).  I selected later in the day 2 cruises I would like and returned at 8:30, thinking it wouldn’t take too long to price out 2 cruises.  There was a lady already speaking to the rep, but I figured I would stick around (they closed at 9), as she seemed to be finishing up.  At 8:40, she was done and I approached the agent and asked if he could price out my 2 selected cruises, thinking he had 20 minutes left in his shift, it was plenty of time, and my wifi was slow.  He acted the entire time like I was putting him out, even after I explained I realized they closed soon and would return tomorrow to do the actual booking. I was shocked to be honest at the tone and nary a smile or any courtesy to be offered.  After such treatment, when I saw him working the next day, I decided to forego booking onboard and just purchased my CruiseNext which I will book with a big box who offers a gift card with purchase.

 

So if you are cruising and don’t want to be hounded by CruiseNext staff, sail the Breakaway.  They don’t want to serve you anyways - outside the lovely manager who unfortunately wasn’t always available to speak to.

 

And, yes, I will also notify NCL of my experience…

We have always found the CN staff to be unfriendly and unhelpful and sometimes even giving us incorrect information.   We have to purchase some more certificates for a 2024 extended family cruise and I dread going to their desk.  

[ggTexasGal]

As an alternative to visiting the cruise next desk:

Use the form that is attached to your cruise E-docs! (has been page 5 or 6 for us.)

Or, complete the form that is inserted in the Freestyle dailies (or left at/in the room).

*** CN has a drop box for completed forms! ***

[julig22]

7 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I suspect they are commissioned off CruiseNext sales.  Possibly they are not commissioned off selling actual cruises?  They don't push bookings like they push CNs, so, I suspect they aren't commissioned on bookings.

I've been told that they do not get any commission on bookings and that any available commissions/credits go to the PCC who booked the cruise you are on at the time.  

[rjm11]

we too have had very unpleasant cruise next staff on both the Dawn and Star- especially when asking about booking cruises. They do seem to only want to sell CruiseNext certificates, but if you ask about actually booking something I too got handed a pamphlet and told to call when I got home. It wasn't helpful at all, and they weren't friendly in the least. This was after the big presentation in the atrium about upcoming cruises, and in the presentation they told us to go there- but they clearly didn't want to deal with it.

[BirdTravels]

I really wish they stop booking cruises onboard. People try to used the Cruise Next staff as travel agents, and they are not. 

[julig22]

4 hours ago, vacation44 said:

We have always found the CN staff to be unfriendly and unhelpful and sometimes even giving us incorrect information.   We have to purchase some more certificates for a 2024 extended family cruise and I dread going to their desk.  

Totally depends on the staff - I had one manager who spent a considerable amount of time going over all of my upcoming cruises (about 5 at the time).  Went through each one, looking up price changes, room upgrades, promos, discounts. He seemed to enjoy saving people money outside of the CN sales pitch.

Next cruise, the staff was awful (manager was leaving at the end, might have had something to do with it).  When I wanted to reprice, they asked me if I was sure - well duh, lower price, same or better perks??? Then they totally messed up the onboard upgrade and I had to deal with that stateside. The excuse given was absolutely pathetic!

 

[Sydneyberlin]

We had similar experiences on Celebrity once but our last NCL experience was good.
 

We weren’t ready yet to book an actual cruise and I get the feeling that this is exactly how it’s supposed to work. The staff is there to push purchase of the the cruisenext vouchers, not to actually help you book the upcoming cruise.

[shof515]

i too had a somewhat  not some happy interaction with the cruise next staff. they are always shocked in how i only want 1 cruise next and they always give me a big sales talk to get me to buy me. i know what i want and i just want that one thing, i dont needed anything more

 

next time i am just going to drop the completed the form in the box instead of handing to the reps

Edited January 23, 2023 by shof515

[IrieBajan54]

5 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

I had a very unpleasant conversation with the CN lady on our Prima Oct 31st cruise.  

 

She had acknowledge my Diamond status and clearly knew I wasn't a rookie NCL cruiser, yet when I said I wanted to buy only two certificates she got very insistent about me buying eight  (You have probably heard the sales pitch.)    I again said, "I understand the value and I always use CN to book but  I just need to buy two on this cruise".  She was very snarky with me and continued to push.  I finally said I have to meet my husband and will come back later.  

 

Why couldn't she just sell me two?  After all of the covid cancellations I'm sure many of us have had a supply of CN certs to re-use.  I already had three other cruises booked and just wanted two more CNs for a future cruise.  I should have taken note of her name.  I think she was a senior CN agent but not sure if she was the manager.

I never buy more than two and the same thing happened to me. I can understand if they were dealing with Bronze members but why do they think upper level members would be easy prey for the buy eight gimmick? The comeback by some to just fill out the form and drop it off should not excuse their snarky attitude. Plus the couple of times it happened, I was actually at the desk for other information and figured why not go ahead and buy the CN the same time.

[rnr4thatsme]

47 minutes ago, Sydneyberlin said:

We had similar experiences on Celebrity once but our last NCL experience was good.
 

We weren’t ready yet to book an actual cruise and I get the feeling that this is exactly how it’s supposed to work. The staff is there to push purchase of the the cruisenext vouchers, not to actually help you book the upcoming cruise.

The thing is if you had booked onboard, you would receive an in class upgrade - obstructed balcony to BA, worth about $100.  They should stop offering these specials if they don’t want you to book onboard then.  I’ll take my chances on getting a gift card from my big box store rather than try to deal with those people next time!

[phillygwm]

I wouldn't go so far as to say rude, but when I was on the Sky last year, I wanted to buy a couple CN certs.  The guy was hard selling me into buying 4.  I almost walked away.

[PATRLR]

The frustrating thing is the hard sell shouldn't be necessary.  We're already customers, we've already bought the product once and it really is a good deal.  They should sell themselves.

 

[Sand and Seas]

10 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

The frustrating thing is the hard sell shouldn't be necessary.  We're already customers, we've already bought the product once and it really is a good deal.  They should sell themselves.

 

Very well said!   

Most CN employees I have talked to seem to recognize that.   The one I talked to on the Prima somehow thought she could 'fast-talk' me into a special one time only deal.  

[Pens fan]

The hard sell to buy more than 2 CN cert's is annoying and is has happened every time we've purchased them.  Last Oct on the Joy was the worst I'd ever experienced though.  We had the form in hand, all filled out, and the guy just wouldn't let it go.  He kept going on and on, no matter how many times we said no.  Finally we just gave him the form, said we only want two and walked away.

[JIMESOPUS]

@rnr4thatsmeON the BA right now and they haven't changed, seems they want to give you a ship pin and nothing else.

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I really wish they stop booking cruises onboard. People try to used the Cruise Next staff as travel agents, and they are not. 

The CN folks are an arm of NCL and should happily assist any passenger seeking to book a future cruise. Though not travel agents per say, they are presumably knowledgeable about cruises and should be equipped to handle even the most benign of inquiries made by future cruisers. If not, then they are mere mouth breathers taking up space and serve no purpose. 

[SeaShark]

50 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

The CN folks are an arm of NCL and should happily assist any passenger seeking to book a future cruise. Though not travel agents per say, they are presumably knowledgeable about cruises and should be equipped to handle even the most benign of inquiries made by future cruisers. If not, then they are mere mouth breathers taking up space and serve no purpose. 

 

The whole fault with that is that ALL employees are "an arm of NCL". Based on your argument, the bartender should happily assist any passenger seeking to book a future cruise. As should the kid's club staff, or my room steward.

 

"Travel agents per se" sheesh...they aren't travel agents at all. They are there to sell CN certificates, to act as your onboard Latitudes rep, and to pass out any brochures or other information that they might have (in case you aren't getting enough of them in the mail). But they are not booking agents.

 

And given that we should all me smart enough to have a knowledgeable PCC or TA that we trust, why would we not be using them instead of the CN sales clerk for our bookings? It isn't like you will have a means to follow up with the CN staff with future questions or any other needs for your reservation.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, SeaShark said:

 

The whole fault with that is that ALL employees are "an arm of NCL". Based on your argument, the bartender should happily assist any passenger seeking to book a future cruise. As should the kid's club staff, or my room steward.

 

"Travel agents per se" sheesh...they aren't travel agents at all. They are there to sell CN certificates, to act as your onboard Latitudes rep, and to pass out any brochures or other information that they might have (in case you aren't getting enough of them in the mail). But they are not booking agents.

 

And given that we should all me smart enough to have a knowledgeable PCC or TA that we trust, why would we not be using them instead of the CN sales clerk for our bookings? It isn't like you will have a means to follow up with the CN staff with future questions or any other needs for your reservation.

No, that’s just silly. Bartenders by nature of the job description are supposed to tend bar. I don’t expect a bar tender to advise me on my next cruise.  Housekeeping is supposed to keep house.  Cruise next personnel should be willing and able to advise me on my next cruise. That’s their job. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches