Norwegian abandoned us

[delvecchio2001]

We are excellent customer of Norwegian cruising with them once or twice per year, we were Platinum (or maybe Diamond) members. We decided to take our first trip to Europe booking a cruise that left Rome and cruised Greece and back to ports in Italy. It was our dream trip with our daughter and mother. First time we booked directly through NCL. They booked flights and cruise. Flight was a connecting flight that took off the night before the cruise but was still cutting it close. We advised the NCL rep that we didn’t like the connecting flight and that it didn’t give time if something was going to happen, like a flight delay. He assured us that it was the job of NCL to get us to the ship and if we did miss the ship in Rome they would get us to the first port being Santorini. Of course, Air Portugal was a few minutes late leaving Newark, NJ and upon landing at Lisbon (Portugal), we were held in the tarmac for over 30 mins. Connecting flight was missed at no fault of ours. NCL did nothing to help! Forced us to fly into Rome after spending 15 hours in Lisbon airport. Guaranteed to get us to ship, which never happened, they left us on our own, we were threatened by TAP that they would cancel our flights home. NCL corporate also did nothing to help, in fact, they told us we can’t get the ship in Santorini and would have to go to the second port of Athens. We were willing to do that, but they left it to us to try and find flights there, which we couldn’t. They then call us and say they switched ports and Athens was now the last port in Greece. They told us we were stuck in Italy and to just “enjoy it”, we had no where to go, the airline lost my wife’s luggage, we were lost. It took us days to figure things out jumping from hotel to hotel, trying to make the best of it. We couldn’t get flights home and the only thing NCL said was to put it through the travel insurance, which is another joke! Aon Infinity has been now handling this for 9 months, they sent us $507 for each person for a “trip delay”, this was not a trip delay, so that fight with the insurance company continues. We tried to work with NCL after the fact because we did love cruising with them, especially out of NYC, they will not lift a finger, not even to reimburse our travel Next money or the tips that we were charged, nothing! We are so disappointed in the way NCL has treated us. Unfortunately our next step now may be taking legal recourse against NCL, Air Portugal and AON Infinity. If you cruise NCL I hope you don’t experience any issues because they will not lift a finger to help you and read the fine print with travel insurance, for us, that was a waste of money thus far. I’m hoping that AON comes to the right determination and that NCL will make this right. 
 

[luv2kroooz]

So sorry to read about your situation. Over and again, we read stories like this. And, over and again, we read about how NCL misrepresents things to customers and then couldn't care less. It is a lesson learned, albeit a tough one. If we choose to sail with NCL, we get very good travel insurance knowing that NCL has earned a reputation of having the worst customer service in the industry. It doesn't help that they are in severe debt with cash flow issues. I hope you can get some resolution from your insurance claim. 

[raitch]

This sounds absolutely terrible.  I hope you’re able to get somewhere with NCL and the travel insurance company.

[Joken35]

We refuse to use the NCL air program.We had an issue before  Covid with their air fare program. we corrected it but it was a hassle.we now always book our own 

[mjkacmom]

From what I’ve read about people’s experiences with NCL air, those who are getting discounted flights are left to their own devices if the flights get delayed or canceled. I think the only way I’d book this way is with a 2 day deviation. You should definitely be getting port fees, taxes, gratuities, and any prepaid services refunded, like anyone who doesn’t lard the ship.

[Cruise5life]

With the hundreds of posts on these boards about NCL air travel.  I would never use them.   And surprised people still try to use them. 
and it’s post like these that only confirms it.    

Edited March 6, 2023 by Cruise5life

[hallux]

1 hour ago, delvecchio2001 said:

Flight was a connecting flight that took off the night before the cruise but was still cutting it close.

Sorry, if you're flying that distance it's not enough to leave home the night before, you should be arriving in the port city at least the day before in order to ensure you can make it.  NCL sold you what you asked for, and the BOGO deal DOES allow for deviations (your flight was not a deviation, those are to ARRIVE the day before) of up to two days but you need to ask for it.  A knowledgable TA helping you book the cruise would have advised you of this.

 

I wouldn't even fly across the US without arriving the day before the cruise.

 

6 minutes ago, Cruise5life said:

and it’s post like these that only confirms it.

The only issue here is as I commented above - NCL booked what the customer asked for, the agent did not offer a deviation to arrive a day or two before the cruise.  Booking with that buffer would have been the only solution, if the passenger had booked the same flights on their own they would have had the same result.

[jimsig]

@delvecchio2001 I highly recommend you check out elliott.org.  Chris Elliott is a consumer advocate.  He spells out way to properly advocate for yourself and in some cases he or his staff will even advocate on your behalf. If you do start by advocating by yourself make sure to read his advice as you don't want to do anything to sabotage your chances for a positive outcome.   

[julig22]

16 minutes ago, Cruise5life said:

With the hundreds of posts on these boards about NCL air travel.  I would never use them.   And surprised people still try to use them. 
and it’s post like these that only confirms it.    

True, hundreds of people who have had issues post their complaints.  Doesn't mean that there aren't thousands who are satisfied. And flight issues aren't limited to just those booked through NCL - but if you book the same flights yourself, you can't blame anything on NCL, so few posts from those who booked on their own.

However, I do wish they would err a little more on the side of caution when it comes to layovers - or give options if a later flight is available.

[complawyer]

it's probably of no help at this  point, but i've posted this many times before.  never, ever book air or hotel thru ncl. it's so much safer and oh so convenient to just book it yourself.

 

with sites like booking.com or hotels. com you can view a tremendous number of hotels. if there  is an airline you prefer , check out their web-site.

 

we have sailed with ncl many times in the past 11 years, to the carribbean, and many ports in europe, and have never had any problems doing my own booking.  last years we flew into london, spent a few days there and booked a shuttle bus to take us to southampton. we also booked 3 days in venice, hired a shuttle to take us to trieste, booked a hotel there and the next morning there was a bus to take us to the pier. all this is really easy peasy, just takes a little effort, but worth  the peace of mind.

[styles27]

2 hours ago, delvecchio2001 said:

We are excellent customer of Norwegian cruising with them once or twice per year, we were Platinum (or maybe Diamond) members. We decided to take our first trip to Europe booking a cruise that left Rome and cruised Greece and back to ports in Italy. It was our dream trip with our daughter and mother. First time we booked directly through NCL. They booked flights and cruise. Flight was a connecting flight that took off the night before the cruise but was still cutting it close. We advised the NCL rep that we didn’t like the connecting flight and that it didn’t give time if something was going to happen, like a flight delay. He assured us that it was the job of NCL to get us to the ship and if we did miss the ship in Rome they would get us to the first port being Santorini. Of course, Air Portugal was a few minutes late leaving Newark, NJ and upon landing at Lisbon (Portugal), we were held in the tarmac for over 30 mins. Connecting flight was missed at no fault of ours. NCL did nothing to help! Forced us to fly into Rome after spending 15 hours in Lisbon airport. Guaranteed to get us to ship, which never happened, they left us on our own, we were threatened by TAP that they would cancel our flights home. NCL corporate also did nothing to help, in fact, they told us we can’t get the ship in Santorini and would have to go to the second port of Athens. We were willing to do that, but they left it to us to try and find flights there, which we couldn’t. They then call us and say they switched ports and Athens was now the last port in Greece. They told us we were stuck in Italy and to just “enjoy it”, we had no where to go, the airline lost my wife’s luggage, we were lost. It took us days to figure things out jumping from hotel to hotel, trying to make the best of it. We couldn’t get flights home and the only thing NCL said was to put it through the travel insurance, which is another joke! Aon Infinity has been now handling this for 9 months, they sent us $507 for each person for a “trip delay”, this was not a trip delay, so that fight with the insurance company continues. We tried to work with NCL after the fact because we did love cruising with them, especially out of NYC, they will not lift a finger, not even to reimburse our travel Next money or the tips that we were charged, nothing! We are so disappointed in the way NCL has treated us. Unfortunately our next step now may be taking legal recourse against NCL, Air Portugal and AON Infinity. If you cruise NCL I hope you don’t experience any issues because they will not lift a finger to help you and read the fine print with travel insurance, for us, that was a waste of money thus far. I’m hoping that AON comes to the right determination and that NCL will make this right. 
 

Sorry this happened to you. I’ve never booked air through any cruise line so I’m curious. 
Do you have it in writing that they will guarantee to get you to the ship if you miss a connection? 

[hallux]

6 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Sorry this happened to you. I’ve never booked air through any cruise line so I’m curious. 
Do you have it in writing that they will guarantee to get you to the ship if you miss a connection? 

The phone or chat rep can say one thing, the true policy is in the fine print of the promotion.  See this thread..

 

[styles27]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

The phone or chat rep can say one thing, the true policy is in the fine print of the promotion.  See this thread..

 

Exactly why I asked if they had it in writing…meaning in the cruise contract.

I don’t trust anything a phone rep tells me. 

If it’s not in writing the OP is out of luck sadly. 

[GeezerCouple]

Not a chance in the world we'd do anything other than arrange our OWN air and any hotels, etc.

AND arrive at LEAST one day early.

If winter weather might be a problem anywhere along the way, we'll arrive at *least* 2 days early.

 

As for insurance, was AON insurance through NCL?  If so, that's another huge mistake.  A *good* third-party travel insurance policy is likely to be better.  (We've had quite a few claims paid by Travel Insured, including some biggies.  We get those policies through www.TripInsuranceStore.com (no extra cost to traveler).  We learned about them here on CC about 10 years ago and that turned out to be really critical a few times.  TIS will also help with claims if necessary or even "what to do" when stranded overseas (once, due to hospitalization).

 

But the bottom line is NO cruise line can guarantee to wait for you.  Full stop.  They may try, as a courtesy, and perhaps try harder if a larger group is involved.

However, if the tides require a ship sail at a certain time, they're going to said if it is at all possible.  If another ship is arriving, scheduled to dock at the same place... guess what...

Or if a group is truly stranded somewhere due to flooding (has happened!)...?  What if they are delayed for several days (has happened!).

 

And read the FULL terms and conditions of the NCL contract.  It's very clear and it doesn't matter what someone told you.

 

However, as far as "all the warnings and complaints here on CC", an incredibly small percentage of cruisers are CC participants.  A few more may read without registering.  That leaves a *huge* number of passengers who have no idea what is being discussed here.

 

I don't even remember how we discovered CC, but thank goodness we did! 🙂 

 

GC

[SeaShark]

3 hours ago, delvecchio2001 said:

We are excellent customer of Norwegian cruising with them once or twice per year, we were Platinum (or maybe Diamond) members. We decided to take our first trip to Europe booking a cruise that left Rome and cruised Greece and back to ports in Italy. It was our dream trip with our daughter and mother. First time we booked directly through NCL. They booked flights and cruise.

 

I'm always fascinated with how easily people will take things at face value without the slightest bit of questioning of anything odd... 

 

This post reads like it is from a newbie...not a "excellent customer of Norwegian cruising with them once or twice per year". Experience should be a great teacher.

The says that they "were Platinum (or maybe Diamond) members". Awesome, but "were"? Did they take your status away or "are" you Platinum (or maybe Diamond) members? What happened to Sapphire? Was it just skipped over?

First time to book directly through NCL. Odd. An excellent customer who cruises so often that they are Platinum (or maybe Diamond) and for some unknow reason you just abandon the booking method that has been working so well all of this time? Why?

 

Some might question the rather late joining of Cruise Critic, but I can understand that. Even Platinum (or maybe Diamond) members who are excellent customers might have never heard of Cruise Critic...although a lot of people do seem to be able to find it once they have a complaint to air. What I find odd is why an "excellent customer of Norwegian" would initially post this item on the Oceana Board. Gotta figure the first place you'd come is the NCL board and that same "Questions for FDR thread" is available here...not sure why an excellent customer of Norwegian would go there instead of here.

 

 

We always only get one side of the story here which is why I approach everything with some degree of skepticism. What is not said is often more enlightening than what is said.

[marktwothousand]

Is this for real?! I thought the whole point of NCL AIR was that they take all the risk in either a) getting you to the cruise on time or at the next port, b) you’d get your money back. Is this not correct? If not, why not?

[julig22]

4 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Is this for real?! I thought the whole point of NCL AIR was that they take all the risk in either a) getting you to the cruise on time or at the next port, b) you’d get your money back. Is this not correct? If not, why not?

IMHO, the whole point of NCL air is that it can be cheaper.

Why would any business, other than an insurance entity, take on risk for something over which they have absolutely no control?  

[Cruise5life]

3 hours ago, hallux said:

Sorry, if you're flying that distance it's not enough to leave home the night before, you should be arriving in the port city at least the day before in order to ensure you can make it.  NCL sold you what you asked for, and the BOGO deal DOES allow for deviations (your flight was not a deviation, those are to ARRIVE the day before) of up to two days but you need to ask for it.  A knowledgable TA helping you book the cruise would have advised you of this.

 

I wouldn't even fly across the US without arriving the day before the cruise.

 

The only issue here is as I commented above - NCL booked what the customer asked for, the agent did not offer a deviation to arrive a day or two before the cruise.  Booking with that buffer would have been the only solution, if the passenger had booked the same flights on their own they would have had the same result.

The passenger asked for a better flight but the salesman said there wouldn’t be an issue.    So this is on NCl.    
me I would have flown in 2 days prior.  If not more knowing that anything could happen.  
It’s just too much of a gamble on strip that far away. 

[Cruise5life]

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

True, hundreds of people who have had issues post their complaints.  Doesn't mean that there aren't thousands who are satisfied. And flight issues aren't limited to just those booked through NCL - but if you book the same flights yourself, you can't blame anything on NCL, so few posts from those who booked on their own.

However, I do wish they would err a little more on the side of caution when it comes to layovers - or give options if a later flight is available.

I’m sure there are happy stories.    But like you said you don’t see those.  
we see these stories.    Sure you save a few bucks.   But is it worth the aggravation.   Hell no.     

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Is this for real?! I thought the whole point of NCL AIR was that they take all the risk in either a) getting you to the cruise on time or at the next port, b) you’d get your money back. Is this not correct? If not, why not?

 

Sure, but there is a difference between purchasing your airfare through NCL (technically called "premium air" or NCL Air) and getting airfare through the Free at Sea promotion. Different programs with different terms.

 

Best to try to NOT confuse the two.

[marktwothousand]

Ohhh… so the one with free at sea isn’t get you to the ship if you’re late? Or is it the other way around? (Preem air)

 

ELI5 pls. 

[SeaShark]

Correct. The air with the Free at Sea promotion obligates them to purchase your ticket(s) at their discounted rate. Once the tickets are purchased, you have full responsibility for your travel.

[Sydneyberlin]

I always wondered why anyone would purchase their air tickets through a cruise line and assumed a.) price and b.) Domestic US only.

 

This (and quite a few other similar stories) confirm to me that this is a no go. Especially from anywhere further afield like here in Australia. Nevertheless, I see cruise lines advertising their flight offers here as well.

[luv2kroooz]

Princess and Royal policy. NCL buys the ticket then you are on your own. Industry stated standard appears to assist valued guests.

 

Guests who book air travel through Princess Cruises will be automatically enrolled in the Princess Late Arrival Protection program. If, on the day of travel, guests miss or will miss their original port of embarkation due to airline delay or an airline service disruption, such as flight cancelation or flight re-routes, Princess will work with the airlines to find a reasonable alternative to provide flights to the next appropriate port at no additional air cost to the guest.

 

Guest purchasing airline tickets through Air2Sea who experience travel disruptions do indeed receive assistance. With our Assured Arrival program, we have a dedicated group of professionals in the Emergency Travel Team standing by to provide air re-accommodation, and to provide hotel and ground transportation if needed. Even though we monitor your flights, we ask that you check with the airline while at the airport prior to contacting the Emergency Travel Team. The Emergency Travel team will work with you to find accommodations on the next available flight. In some instances, same day viable flight options may not be available, and in those instances we accommodate you to the next available port where you may legally join the ship.

[lfreda]

This stinks and I hate to hear these stories but why people let a cruise line book their airfare is beyond me.  I certainly wouldn't let an airline book my cruise.