NCL Spirit Running Out of Diet Coke… Revolt Imminent

[brngckn]

We’ve had some weather issues with our Auckland to Sydney itinerary which led to missed provisioning. The ship is running out of Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Sprite Zero and may not get more until Sydney in 3 days time. 😮

 

The ship also seems to be out of mushrooms, bananas, yogurt and endive. 😕

 

Thankfully have not run out of Veuve Clicot yet.

 

Our calls to Tauranga and Milford Sound were canceled. I know they can’t fix the weather but there are things that could be done to appease disappointment. Sadly, I think the bottom line prevents them from doing anything. A couple of the live music acts are truly awful.
 

We trip the into Sapphire status with this trip and for the first time ever will not be purchasing a Cruise Next. 

 

 

[AliciaandMark]

We sailed on the Spirit in December and LOVED the Upgrade band. In fact we have rebooked on her in April just to see them again. Agree that the others were less than average. 

[Sailing12Away]

We were booked on a NZ cruise a few years back, and then Covid happened. Have been considering trying to do it again, but leaning more towards flying there and getting a car to do it on our own. But we would be missing the scenic sail around the sound. Hearing that your cruise completely missed over that part would be a big bummer. 

 

Has the crew hinted that this was unusual, or expected for this time of year? We're still trying to plan out a do-it-ourselves trip for around this time of year 2024, so wondering if pushing it to March would be better.

[davencl]

When Spirit departed on Jan. 27th Auckland had a record rainfall of 10 inches in 24 hours. (past record was 6.5 inches) The Spirit was lucky to get out of "Dodge" so to speak.  We departed the ship that day and had planned to stay for a couple of more days.  Which we did but our flight 2 days after ship was canceled and we stayed 2 more days.  I feel sorry for those trying to fly out on day of disembarkation after 1PM as the international terminal flooded with knee deep water,  all flights canceled for a day and a half.  Hard to assign any blame to NCL in this case.   The weather was truely historic.

[MoCruiseFan]

10 hours ago, brngckn said:

We’ve had some weather issues with our Auckland to Sydney itinerary which led to missed provisioning. The ship is running out of Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Sprite Zero and may not get more until Sydney in 3 days time. 😮

 

The ship also seems to be out of mushrooms, bananas, yogurt and endive. 😕

 

Thankfully have not run out of Veuve Clicot yet.

 

Our calls to Tauranga and Milford Sound were canceled. I know they can’t fix the weather but there are things that could be done to appease disappointment. Sadly, I think the bottom line prevents them from doing anything. A couple of the live music acts are truly awful.
 

We trip the into Sapphire status with this trip and for the first time ever will not be purchasing a Cruise Next. 

 

 

OMG however will you even survive the rest of your cruise!  So glad you took valuable vacation time to post this critical information for us all to know!!!  🙂 🙂 🙂

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by MoCruiseFan

[zzdoug]

So was there a mutiny?

[MoCruiseFan]

39 minutes ago, zzdoug said:

So was there a mutiny?

 I was wondering the same thing.  A "revolt" over diet coke, how silly.

[The Traveling Man]

10 hours ago, brngckn said:

Our calls to Tauranga and Milford Sound were canceled. I know they can’t fix the weather but there are things that could be done to appease disappointment.

Sorry to hear that.  Those are two highlights of any trip "down under."  Our first cruise from Australia to Singapore was in 2017 on the Star.  Because of propulsion problems we missed almost every port scheduled for the first leg of the cruise.  They finally got us going again for the second half of the journey, but by then NCL had given up all hope of the Star being fixed and gave us back all of our money for that leg of the trip.  So essentially they paid us to stay on board.  We used the savings to go back the following year on the Jewel and take in the ports we had missed, including Tauranga and Milford Sound.  Hope things work out for you.

[brngckn]

5 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

We were booked on a NZ cruise a few years back, and then Covid happened. Have been considering trying to do it again, but leaning more towards flying there and getting a car to do it on our own. But we would be missing the scenic sail around the sound. Hearing that your cruise completely missed over that part would be a big bummer. 

 

Has the crew hinted that this was unusual, or expected for this time of year? We're still trying to plan out a do-it-ourselves trip for around this time of year 2024, so wondering if pushing it to March would be better.

The weather has been extremely unexpected and unusual. 

[brngckn]

The title of this post was meant to provide amusement, people. 
 

The provisioning problems are real on many NCL ships.

 

On a trip that I can only afford once, not seeing the New Zealand coastline beauty has been a real disappointment. That and spending days pitching and rolling at sea 🤢 have made this trip my least favorite.

[mjkacmom]

I haven’t seen endive in years anywhere!

[julig22]

Sounds like someone needs to borrow a tender (aka lifeboat) and make a Costco run.  I know there's Costco in Sydney but maybe there's one closer😆

[kochleffel]

4 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

OMG however will you even survive the rest of your cruise!  So glad you took valuable vacation time to post this critical information for us all to know!!!  🙂 🙂 🙂

 

I would be especially worried about the endive. Will Norway recall its ambassador to Belgium?

[kochleffel]

3 hours ago, brngckn said:

The title of this post was meant to provide amusement, people. 
 

The provisioning problems are real on many NCL ships.

 

On a trip that I can only afford once, not seeing the New Zealand coastline beauty has been a real disappointment. That and spending days pitching and rolling at sea 🤢 have made this trip my least favorite.

Missing ports, especially those you especially wanted to visit, is a bigger deal. I’m currently on the Getaway, completely missing Bermuda, but Bermuda is much closer.

[RD64]

1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

Missing ports, especially those you especially wanted to visit, is a bigger deal. I’m currently on the Getaway, completely missing Bermuda, but Bermuda is much closer.

Given that you chose to cruise to Bermuda in the middle of winter, surely you booked this cruise with the expectation that a cancellation was possible. If you especially wanted to visit Bermuda, then a summer cruise would have given you better odds of getting there - and for a longer port stay.

Edited February 5, 2023 by RD64

[ysolde]

6 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 I was wondering the same thing.  A "revolt" over diet coke, how silly.

My husband and I don't drink alcohol.  I like a wide variety of high-end teas, but those are simply not available on NCL.  We purchase the soda package on NCL cruises.  Our soda of choice is Diet Coke, but Diet Pepsi will do in a pinch.  On our last NCL cruise, we had purchased the boxed water for the cabin, so that we could each take our medication in the morning and in the evening (we are middle-aged, and such is life).  We also purchased the soda package, so that we could have diet cola with our meals and throughout the day.  It was a 16-day Mediterranean/TA cruise in November.  Not heavily subscribed.  Much to our shock, they ran out of Diet Pepsi about four days before we reached land.  Never mind that we had paid for it, and that it's pretty much the only thing we drink (pardon us if alcohol is not our thing).  From what I read on the boards, the for running out of Diet Pepsi on that cruise was the changeover to Diet Coke and other Coke products.

 

Why are they stocking low on Diet Coke now?  And when I pay for it, assuming it will be available throughout my cruise, why am I being pooh-poohed and told I should not care when it is not available?

[davencl]

3 hours ago, ysolde said:

My husband and I don't drink alcohol.  I like a wide variety of high-end teas, but those are simply not available on NCL.  We purchase the soda package on NCL cruises.  Our soda of choice is Diet Coke, but Diet Pepsi will do in a pinch.  On our last NCL cruise, we had purchased the boxed water for the cabin, so that we could each take our medication in the morning and in the evening (we are middle-aged, and such is life).  We also purchased the soda package, so that we could have diet cola with our meals and throughout the day.  It was a 16-day Mediterranean/TA cruise in November.  Not heavily subscribed.  Much to our shock, they ran out of Diet Pepsi about four days before we reached land.  Never mind that we had paid for it, and that it's pretty much the only thing we drink (pardon us if alcohol is not our thing).  From what I read on the boards, the for running out of Diet Pepsi on that cruise was the changeover to Diet Coke and other Coke products.

 

Why are they stocking low on Diet Coke now?  And when I pay for it, assuming it will be available throughout my cruise, why am I being pooh-poohed and told I should not care when it is not available?

Why was the stocking low?  Simply the ship could not be fully stocked, the port basically shut down due to the weather.  This was a historic weather event.   4 people lost their lives and the main road into and out of Auckland was shut down for nearly a day.  International airport shutdown. Terminal had knee deep water.

[ysolde]

10 minutes ago, davencl said:

Why was the stocking low?  Simply the ship could not be fully stocked, the port basically shut down due to the weather.  This was a historic weather event.   4 people lost their lives and the main road into and out of Auckland was shut down for nearly a day.  International airport shutdown. Terminal had knee deep water.

Well that is just awful.  I am sorry people died.  I had no idea.  

 

But the fact is that those of us who don't drink alcohol get diminished constantly when we complain that our drinks of choice are increasingly unavailable on cruises.  Want a nice bottled still water?  Sorry, that is no longer served.  Interested in a decent tea?  NCL will provide the boiling water, but you had best bring your own stash.  Want an espresso or a cappuccino? Those things are not included in the non-alcoholic drinks package.  The ship ran out of sodas?  No biggie.  Who cares?  We are supposed to grin and bear it, because these are just frilly extras, not essential to the enjoyment of life. But heaven forbid they should run out of rum or vodka.  You would not hear the end of it.  After all, you paid big bucks for a drinks package, and you should be able to drink alcohol to your heart's content from the moment you board until the moment you leave the ship.

[jimsig]

Last April on The Pearl- Fri to Fri Boston to Bermuda- during school vacation week for most states in the Northeast they ran out of soft serve mix on Monday and it was never replaced in either Bermuda or Bar Harbor.  They knew they would have more kids then normal that week as one of their stated reasons for starting the cruising season in April is to take advantage of that school vacation week.  

[ysolde]

1 hour ago, jimsig said:

Last April on The Pearl- Fri to Fri Boston to Bermuda- during school vacation week for most states in the Northeast they ran out of soft serve mix on Monday and it was never replaced in either Bermuda or Bar Harbor.  They knew they would have more kids then normal that week as one of their stated reasons for starting the cruising season in April is to take advantage of that school vacation week.  

This kind of stuff.  Over and over again on NCL.  But, I know.  I know.  What's the complaint?  As long as there's alcohol and tap water on board, what's the problem?

[lfdemt]

16 hours ago, ysolde said:I being pooh-poohed and told I should not care when it is not available?

This is a very common theme with many people on these boards. You buy the soda package but aren’t able to drink the soda. You shouldn’t complain. You are on a cruise. Bah. 
 

You paid for something. You were told to expect something. You planned on that something. And then due to no choices of your own. You are got given what was expected, explicitly offered and paid for. You have every right to feel cheated out of that experience and your feelings are valid.   Why so many choose to be try to belittle you or tell you how you should feel about it is beyond my understanding. 
 

[jimsig]

6 hours ago, ysolde said:

This kind of stuff.  Over and over again on NCL.  But, I know.  I know.  What's the complaint?  As long as there's alcohol and tap water on board, what's the problem?

Didn't really bother me but one of my my 12yo daughters fav things on a cruise is that ice cream machine 😀 

[RD64]

There are other soft drinks - find something else to drink. Nowhere do they guarantee a specific BRAND of soda / pop / soft drink. 

[kitkat343]

Have you spoken to the front desk about the possibility of cancelling your drink package from whatever point they ran out of the diet pepsi?  

 

The website states you can have:

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

 

ITEM #: UBPTAS

Enjoy endless fountain soda throughout your cruise. Includes Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water, Fanta and Soda Water. Soda packages available for adults and children 3 years old and up.

A 20% gratuity and beverage service charge will be added at checkout. Not available for sailings of 2 days or less.

 

 

[ysolde]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

Have you spoken to the front desk about the possibility of cancelling your drink package from whatever point they ran out of the diet pepsi?  

 

The website states you can have:

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

 

ITEM #: UBPTAS

Enjoy endless fountain soda throughout your cruise. Includes Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water, Fanta and Soda Water. Soda packages available for adults and children 3 years old and up.

A 20% gratuity and beverage service charge will be added at checkout. Not available for sailings of 2 days or less.

 

 

We went to Guest Services and let them know that the Garden Cafe had run out of Diet Pepsi a couple of days before, Cagney's was unable to serve us Diet Pepsi the night before because, "Something was wrong with their Diet Pepsi dispenser," and that morning, they had told just at O'Sheehan's that the ship was out of Diet Pepsi.  The woman at Guest Services told us we were misinformed but the man standing behind us in line said, "No, it's true, and my wife is upset about it, too."  We wanted to find out if we could get a partial reimbursement on our soda package.  She told us to wait at the couches across from GS as she went to the bar nearby to confirm.  She came back about fifteen minutes later, asked us for our cabin number, and assured us that we would be served Diet Pepsi.  And she was right.  There must have been a bar with a semi-functioning Diet Pepsi dispenser somewhere, because we got watery Diet Pepsi when we went to the specialty restaurants after that.  Not in the Garden Cafe.  Not in O'Sheehan's.  It was something.  Sort of.  They were not going to give us that partial refund.  Not happening.