NCL cancels Epic sailings from 12.1.2023 to 4.9.2024 for "Fleet Redeployment"

[schmoopie17]

2 hours ago, amygutman said:

Ok...so I was trying to be funny (Get it..."Tender" hooks...like on a cruise ship?). 

Apologies for the pun but noted. 

Warmest, Amy

Those cruisers on the drink package are on bartender hooks...

[MkeCruzn]

Just checked my NCL account. The 20% off and 10% off FCC are now available, though they said June 1. Time to see what qualifies and maybe jump on some bookings to get the additional Lat points plus discount, and before they all sell out...

Small difference/concern: originally they said through April 2024, but the certificate says the offer has to be booked by June 15, it's only on new bookings for 2023 Europe sailings, and TA/Extraordinary Journeys are NOT included.

https://www.ncl.com/exclusive-coupon-terms for the details.

Edited May 29, 2023 by MkeCruzn
More info

[di T]

Got all my money back on my card! Never know it to happen so quickly, So. Booked flights and hotels today, for the extra trip in November. But hey need something for February/ March to make up for the cancelled one.

[amygutman]

7 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Those cruisers on the drink package are on bartender hooks...

My FAVORITE 🪝!!!!!!

[mpk]

7 hours ago, MkeCruzn said:

Just checked my NCL account. The 20% off and 10% off FCC are now available, though they said June 1. Time to see what qualifies and maybe jump on some bookings to get the additional Lat points plus discount, and before they all sell out...

Small difference/concern: originally they said through April 2024, but the certificate says the offer has to be booked by June 15, it's only on new bookings for 2023 Europe sailings, and TA/Extraordinary Journeys are NOT included.

https://www.ncl.com/exclusive-coupon-terms for the details.

 

I think it is an edit error on the Terms and Conditions.

 

On the coupon title, it has the correct date range.  Looks like someone copied and pasted from a different offer, but not fully edit and customize for this offer.

Edited May 30, 2023 by mpk

[GLYNAGP]

I've just booked  Norwegian Dawn 26th April 24. 10 days Rome to Barcelona. I think that's probably the last available date before the cut off for the 20% Discount 

Edited May 30, 2023 by GLYNAGP

[MkeCruzn]

18 hours ago, mpk said:

 

I think it is an edit error on the Terms and Conditions.

 

On the coupon title, it has the correct date range.  Looks like someone copied and pasted from a different offer, but not fully edit and customize for this offer.

Just called NCL. The agent said it was good through April 2024, but there are not many sailings that qualify. They could have extended it a bit longer, at least into May. I think we'll try for a fall 2023 sailing, maybe to Iceland and Norway from London.

[room with a view]

16 hours ago, GLYNAGP said:

I've just booked  Norwegian Dawn 26th April 24. 10 days Rome to Barcelona. I think that's probably the last available date before the cut off for the 20% Discount 

With Easy Jet you have 90 days from booking to change your booking (no refunds) the charge is £25 per person per booking. For us that's £100. 

 

Every day prices go up - sometimes when you are looking at prices ...the page will freeze and then when you look again the price has gone up .  Easy it is not !!!

 

Looking to see what is available in Europe in September.

[GLYNAGP]

17 minutes ago, room with a view said:

With Easy Jet you have 90 days from booking to change your booking (no refunds) the charge is £25 per person per booking. For us that's £100. 

 

Every day prices go up - sometimes when you are looking at prices ...the page will freeze and then when you look again the price has gone up .  Easy it is not !!!

 

Looking to see what is available in Europe in September.

Unfortunately I don't need any tickets until April next year and the flights aren't out yet so it looks like the Lisbon tickets will be wasted. 

[room with a view]

11 minutes ago, GLYNAGP said:

Unfortunately I don't need any tickets until April next year and the flights aren't out yet so it looks like the Lisbon tickets will be wasted. 

Yes, it is a case of use the tickets now  or face higher penalties . Original tickets cost £652 less £100 admin charges ..so not £552 to spend on inflated prices !!

[GLYNAGP]

1 hour ago, room with a view said:

Yes, it is a case of use the tickets now  or face higher penalties . Original tickets cost £652 less £100 admin charges ..so not £552 to spend on inflated prices !!

As I have used Easyjet frequently in the past I am a member of their “Flight Club” which allows me to change flights without the change fee and with no 90 day restriction, just pay any difference in price. However Easyjet do not operate the route from my local airport that I require to join my replacement cruise booking so with the added costs of travelling to an alternative departure airport and the likelihood of needing an overnight hotel prior to the flight, as well as the fare difference its highly unlikely I can make use of my original tickets to Lisbon. My local airport is 10 minutes from my home.

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, GLYNAGP said:

As I have used Easyjet frequently in the past I am a member of their “Flight Club” which allows me to change flights without the change fee and with no 90 day restriction, just pay any difference in price. However Easyjet do not operate the route from my local airport that I require to join my replacement cruise booking so with the added costs of travelling to an alternative departure airport and the likelihood of needing an overnight hotel prior to the flight, as well as the fare difference its highly unlikely I can make use of my original tickets to Lisbon. My local airport is 10 minutes from my home.

Do they have a route via one if their other airports night be more convenient than alternative UK airport.

[GLYNAGP]

7 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

Do they have a route via one if their other airports night be more convenient than alternative UK airport.

They may have, I take a raincheck on it for now, when the flights are out there may be a direct service to Rome with another carrier. 

[jsn55]

I can't imagine how devastated y'all are.  This seems like such a horrid, cruel move on NCL's part after the past several years of travel plans blowing up every time you turn around.  I realize that the virus raised havoc with the economy and made it difficult to stay viable, but the point is to stay viable, and it's just a 'business decision', but cruising is far more than just booking a trip.  I'll have a hard time overlooking a blunder like this when it comes to booking future cruises ... there's a lot of choice out there.  I don't want to plan and research and dream for months and months, only to have the rug jerked out from under me.

[shof515]

According to this article, the Epic will reposition to Florida for the winter.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/06/norwegian-epic-heading-to-port-canaveral-instead-of-europe

 

 

[insidecabin]

6 hours ago, jsn55 said:

........

 

I'll have a hard time overlooking a blunder like this when it comes to booking future cruises ... there's a lot of choice out there.  I don't want to plan and research and dream for months and months, only to have the rug jerked out from under me.

Agree tough for those hit by these changes but they are not exclusive to NCL.

 

If you eliminate all the lines that have done this sort of thing there is not a lot of choice.

 

Elimination of only those you have had a problem with just takes longer to have the  reduced list.

 

Our main strategy to avoid disruption is booking closer to sail date.

 

It comes with different challenges and uncertainties especially logistics and tour availability.

 

Starting to look upto a year ahead now for a couple of specials

 

[amygutman]

Just spoke to our TA - the Epic will NOT be returning to the Mediterranean / Europe in 2024-2025. He's suggesting that because we had blocked off that time for a TA, to actually not cancel the room now (still showing under our cruise reservation) but wait for the obligatory cancellation offer to rebook. He said it's likely to be 100% of deposit + 10-20% + OBC. 

 

Not sure if anyone is in the same boat. If we look at our "manage your cruise" page, it still shows this cruise even though it doesn't exist anymore. We are bummed, but at least not out any airfare / hotel like so many on this thread. Hope the "heads-up" helps

 

Warmest, Amy

[di T]

On 5/25/2023 at 2:50 AM, brookie848 said:

I'm assuming if you have non-NCL insurance it will cover the flights? We're booked for next year on the Viva and already have our trip down and hotel booked. We estimated the cost for the flights when we got the insurance.

I thought the same, but received an email  from my insurance today and they say no! Reason failure of device provider, I rang them to get a better explanation but the lady said it’s the cruise line who would need to compensate. Don’t think we have much chance with that! Looks like we are out of pocket.

[laudergayle]

57 minutes ago, amygutman said:

Just spoke to our TA - the Epic will NOT be returning to the Mediterranean / Europe in 2024-2025. He's suggesting that because we had blocked off that time for a TA, to actually not cancel the room now (still showing under our cruise reservation) but wait for the obligatory cancellation offer to rebook. He said it's likely to be 100% of deposit + 10-20% + OBC. 

 

Not sure if anyone is in the same boat. If we look at our "manage your cruise" page, it still shows this cruise even though it doesn't exist anymore. We are bummed, but at least not out any airfare / hotel like so many on this thread. Hope the "heads-up" helps

 

Warmest, Amy

What dates were you sailing?

[jcncamsdad]

3 hours ago, amygutman said:

Just spoke to our TA - the Epic will NOT be returning to the Mediterranean / Europe in 2024-2025. He's suggesting that because we had blocked off that time for a TA, to actually not cancel the room now (still showing under our cruise reservation) but wait for the obligatory cancellation offer to rebook. He said it's likely to be 100% of deposit + 10-20% + OBC. 

 

Not sure if anyone is in the same boat. If we look at our "manage your cruise" page, it still shows this cruise even though it doesn't exist anymore. We are bummed, but at least not out any airfare / hotel like so many on this thread. Hope the "heads-up" helps

 

Warmest, Amy

Your TA may have not seen the latest update for the Epic.  She will be heading back to Rome on April 7, 2024 and back for the 19th.  Of course, things can change.

 

[jsn55]

3 hours ago, di T said:

I thought the same, but received an email  from my insurance today and they say no! Reason failure of device provider, I rang them to get a better explanation but the lady said it’s the cruise line who would need to compensate. Don’t think we have much chance with that! Looks like we are out of pocket.

"Reason failure of device provider" ... what does that mean?  Insurance reimbursement for flights may be tricky because so many airlines will issue a future flight credit.  And probably the insurance isn't concerned with whether you USE those future flight credits or not. 

 

I've just filed a large claim on an Avalon cruise; including intra-Euro flights on British Air ... BA  wouldn't issue a credit or a refund.  Flights were valued at $918 and I paid for them with my Chase Ultimate Rewards.  The international flights were easily rebooked with Virgin-Atlantic.  It will be interesting to see what the travel insurance will have to say about the BA part of the claim.  

 

I do know that insurance people come to work every day expected to deny as many claims as possible.  I advise diT to appeal the denial ... in writing, not on the phone.  Never deal with this kind of stuff by phone!

Edited June 2, 2023 by jsn55
clarity

[di T]

25 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

"Reason failure of device provider" ... what does that mean?  Insurance reimbursement for flights may be tricky because so many airlines will issue a future flight credit.  And probably the insurance isn't concerned with whether you USE those future flight credits or not. 

 

I've just filed a large claim on an Avalon cruise; including intra-Euro flights on British Air ... BA  wouldn't issue a credit or a refund.  Flights were valued at $918 and I paid for them with my Chase Ultimate Rewards.  The international flights were easily rebooked with Virgin-Atlantic.  It will be interesting to see what the travel insurance will have to say about the BA part of the claim.  

 

I do know that insurance people come to work every day expected to deny as many claims as possible.  I advise diT to appeal the denial ... in writing, not on the phone.  Never deal with this kind of stuff by phone!

Sorry, should read service provider not device provider, I have contacted both airlines and they will not issue future flight credit.+£500 out of pocket not happy with the insurance, they said it’s up to the cruise line to make it right.

[OB Cruise Group]

I had a group of 51 cabins on the Epic for February 4-15, 2024 sailing!

 

I was quite angry that they sent out notices to all my guests before they informed me that the sailing was cancelled. I understand that ships go into dry dock and need updates but I have been told a couple different reasons for this cancellation from the group department and regular reservations. I also brought up the fact that I felt I should have been contacted first, since I am the group leader/travel agent and she said, "well", we did contact you. I explained that my guests started getting their emails at 8:30am that day and I was not notified until 12:30pm and I really think the only reason I was, is that I was also booked on the sailing. Where is the "Partners First" supposedly NCL's commitment to travel advisors? 

 

Today was the icing on the cake, one of my guests called me and let me know that NCL contacted them directly, saying, "I see that your cruise was cancelled and I want to try and help you get re-booked on a different cruise". Since my guests are pretty committed to using my services ,she asked him if this was allowed because they always prefer to go through their agent. His response "well if you prefer to use them, then there is no need to offer you what we were going to offer"

 

[cruiseny4life]

10 minutes ago, OB Cruise Group said:

I had a group of 51 cabins on the Epic for February 4-15, 2024 sailing!

 

I was quite angry that they sent out notices to all my guests before they informed me that the sailing was cancelled. I understand that ships go into dry dock and need updates but I have been told a couple different reasons for this cancellation from the group department and regular reservations. I also brought up the fact that I felt I should have been contacted first, since I am the group leader/travel agent and she said, "well", we did contact you. I explained that my guests started getting their emails at 8:30am that day and I was not notified until 12:30pm and I really think the only reason I was, is that I was also booked on the sailing. Where is the "Partners First" supposedly NCL's commitment to travel advisors? 

 

Today was the icing on the cake, one of my guests called me and let me know that NCL contacted them directly, saying, "I see that your cruise was cancelled and I want to try and help you get re-booked on a different cruise". Since my guests are pretty committed to using my services ,she asked him if this was allowed because they always prefer to go through their agent. His response "well if you prefer to use them, then there is no need to offer you what we were going to offer"

 

You may have better luck expressing your displeasure with your BDM. 

[OB Cruise Group]

40 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

You may have better luck expressing your displeasure with your BDM. 

No luck at all!