Are NCL selling cruises to ports they have no intention of going to.

[Cruise Guy50]

On 3/26/2024 at 2:08 PM, complawyer said:

i am no pollyanna, and one of mankind's eternal skeptics. Having sailed on over 25 cruises with ncl over the past 13 years, while disappointed at times, i dont believe ncl intentionally lists ports of call that they have no intention of visiting.

 

Please see earlier posts about NCL changing itineraries the very first day a refund is not allowed. 

[Cruise Guy50]

5 hours ago, milamber said:

So in 35 cruises prior to December 2022, we barely had a problem. In 4 out of 5 cruises since then, across 4 different cruise lines, we've only had one sail as sold. Friends are all having the same experience. We were looking to book with NCL again, but reading reports its clearly happening there as well. There's a clear pattern of bait and switch since resuming after Covid.

There is very suspicious timing with NCL changing itineraries the first day a full deposit is forfeited. Didn't know that issue was becoming widespread on other cruise lines also. We took several cruises in the past without issue except for weather related tending concerns (understandable). There are plenty of other travel options if this is how cruise companies decide to operate.

[Memoculus]

This happened to us on the Norwegian Dawn at the end of 2022. They knew we would not be able to visit Key West then canceled the port just after final payment was made. It was my first cruise and I thought it was a fluke- but apparently not.

[latebuyer]

Just a note someone said all cruise lines are doing this. I visit the princess and royal caribbean forums and i haven’t seen a long thread like this there so i wonder about that.

[roddy good boy]

We sailed on the Bliss in 2019 on a supposed Mexican Rivera cruise. A tropical storm was headed to the area, so we continually contacted NCL leading up to the cruise asking about cancellation options. We were assured that the cruise could proceed and told that we were in the penalty phase without options. Shortly after the ship left the port, the Captain got on the horn and announced that due to weather we would be going to San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada! Folks were furious, as many on board were from San Diego and San Francisco! We’re from the Midwest and had paid a significant price for a haven aft suite, to just spend the week sailing up and down the coast of California. I would have preferred to just stay and vacation in LA. No compensation was given or offered. NCL had made those arrangements well before boarding! 

[IAcruising]

9 minutes ago, roddy good boy said:

We sailed on the Bliss in 2019

 

I sailed on the Sun in 2015. Should we swap stories?

 

Mine is simple, shiat happened.

 

[roddy good boy]

1 minute ago, IAcruising said:

 

I sailed on the Sun in 2015. Should we swap stories?

 

Mine is simple, shiat happened.

 

It does. Just adding to the thread…

 

We’ve been doing land vaca’s since Covid, but just booked a 9 day Med cruise. They still haven’t added any excursions for one of the ports, so I suspect they’re considering eliminating it. The port is one of the reasons we selected the cruise. We’ll go forward with the trip regardless, but it’s elimination may affect our future travel plans. Blessed to have options! 

[kitkat343]

10 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Just a note someone said all cruise lines are doing this. I visit the princess and royal caribbean forums and i haven’t seen a long thread like this there so i wonder about that.

I've not seen anything like this on those forums or Cunard's.  There are specific issues that sometimes affect their cruises - RC right now is diverting ships out of Haiti, everyone is avoiding the Middle East, and the two Carnival and RC ships that were home-ported in Baltimore are heading to Norfolk, but all of those changes are caused by legitimate, significant issues affecting the ports and are completely understandable.  

Edited March 30 by kitkat343

[organist65]

I am currently sailing NCL Dawn in Africa. We were sold on this cruise because of all the countries in West Africa we were set to visit. They first cancelled Cape Verde for "environmental" reasons, something about fuel. I can't honestly remember if it was after final payment, but I had my plane tickets already. Now they have canceled The Gambia due to tidal conditions. This port they shouldn't put on the schedule in the first place as upon reading about it, the channel to get there is shallow and dangerous. They must be aware of these things beforehand. I ❤️ NCL, but after reading these stories, I can't believe it's all just coincidence. 

[Memoculus]

34 minutes ago, organist65 said:

I am currently sailing NCL Dawn in Africa. We were sold on this cruise because of all the countries in West Africa we were set to visit. They first cancelled Cape Verde for "environmental" reasons, something about fuel. I can't honestly remember if it was after final payment, but I had my plane tickets already. Now they have canceled The Gambia due to tidal conditions. This port they shouldn't put on the schedule in the first place as upon reading about it, the channel to get there is shallow and dangerous. They must be aware of these things beforehand. I ❤️ NCL, but after reading these stories, I can't believe it's all just coincidence. 

At the time of our sailing on the Dawn, Key West had already voted to disallow cruise ships from docking. It has since been modified, but from my research at that time, it was clear that NCL already knew in advance we would not be permitted to dock there. That port was a big reson why we chose that cruise. I tried on the phone to have NCL explain it to me but all they said was it was for "environmental" reasons. I told them that it was clear that they knew in advance that the dock would be closed to us. They did not admit to this and also said there would be no compensation. There is probably a disclaimer for this type of thing in long contract we are required to sign. I like NCL too, but there are too many instances of this to ignore. Feels like a "bait and switch" situation.

[complawyer]

hey, memo.. y'all didnt miss much not stopping in  key west. the good citizens totally dislike cruises passengers . why do you think they originally banned cruise ships

 

we were there about 10  years ago, and while my wife and her sister went into starbucks, i waited outside and this guy selling those cheap a** thatched hats wanted to fight me for being on his "territory" . he really believed he owned that portion of sidewalk!

unless things have changed,  they insist that the cruise ship leave around 3-4 P.M. 

they want cruises gone so as to not interfere with views of the sunset. im 76 years old, and if i never get the chance to see key west again, that's perfectly fine with me, even if the opportunity was free

[Memoculus]

Hey Comp!

Here is a link to a recent NY Times article all about it. I hope it opens for you.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/25/us/key-west-cruise-ships-desantis.html#:~:text=Since the early days of,pandemic to argue for continuing

 

I have another chance to visit Key West on a cruise this June and since we never have, I hope we do. Thanks for your input though.  The article will make sense to you.

 

 

Edited March 31 by Memoculus

[complawyer]

memo, i would have liked to have read this article, but it wont let me open it unless i purchase a subscription  to the times. can you encapsulate for me

[Memoculus]

Oh crap- now I can't re-open it without a fee! lol. So here is some of what I encapsulated-during the pandemic, many citizens in Key West moved to " try to limit the size and number of vacation vessels on the tiny island. This was initally successful and limited the ships from docking but also created momentum for further arguments.  Some of the further arguments that I could see were environmental concerns such as for prep./protection for the sea bed (important!), potential evidence that the tourism industry to the area was not hurt over time by the ban but rather that the hotels etc. could now compensate by charging land tourists more, plus some political funding things for some politicians. It is easy to google. No further opinion from me except that NCL should have been as transparent as they could. 

[BrianLo]

On 3/26/2024 at 1:05 PM, NCL ruined vacation said:

@complawyerThen they did the same thing to the cruise that followed our cruise. The did same to a cruise around south africa. This is NCL’s current operating model.

 

Just a correction, they emailed us on February 28th for the South Africa Cruise itinerary changes. The Cruise left March 8th.

[7Contraveler]

2 hours ago, BrianLo said:

 

Just a correction, they emailed us on February 28th for the South Africa Cruise itinerary changes. The Cruise left March 8th.

How is the trip? Is it worth it? Contemplating doing the same one way next year. 

[BrianLo]

4 hours ago, 7Contraveler said:

How is the trip? Is it worth it? Contemplating doing the same one way next year. 

I had a good time! The itinerary changes were mildly disappointing, but I just had an exceedingly early ship tour (4:45 departure for a game drive) to compensate one day and I think the other  I replaced with a non ship tour as they cancelled mine from under me and didn’t offer an option. Richards Bay had bad weather (not their fault-but also lost out on a tour there) and Luderitz was cancelled outright. I was also in South Africa for a week before and I’d highly recommend something similar if you are traveling far. The entire starter week was great!

 

Overall though I saw the big game and each of the drives I did all had their respective highlights that all seemed complimentary. If the itinerary was a little less altered, which it should be in theory, I’d highly recommend.

 

I’m going to do Doha to Mauritius leg next year. Hopefully that’s less dramatic as well! 😂

Edited April 1 by BrianLo