Delays in Miami this morning!! June 25

[quagmire0]

3 minutes ago, Tutone56 said:

With the exception of their poor communications, I think they did as much as possible to deal with the situation.  They did not create the problem, yet they worked hard trying to mitigate the myriad of issues that were created.  The $25 per person was only meant to help ease the cost of buying lunch and nothing else.  Why should they offer more when this wasn’t their fault.  

 

Again, I fully agree that it was a freak situation and the cruise lines had their hands tied in many ways in terms of alleviating the situation.  They didn't *have* to do more than they did. However, it's situations like there where a company can choose to do what is best of the bottom line, or go above and beyond.  It's an opportunity to garner some good PR and make their competitors look bad. 😄 

[hallux]

NCL must have done a fine job of compensating or assisting those that were on board - we haven't heard a PEEP from anyone complaining about their missed flights or delayed arrival home.

[PATRLR]

12 hours ago, RoundGuy2771 said:

 

It should be automatic, not just a consideration. But humans be human. However, even with insurance, it's still a freaking curve ball nobody wants to see.

I would be against including the insurance automatically.  Besides the obvious fact that NCl's insurance sucks, there are times when I choose to self-insure and don't want to be forced to pay money for insurance I feel I don't need.  There are plenty of times I do buy insurance and when I do, my specific needs are likely different from others.  So again, I'll pay for what I need, others pay for what they need.

[luv2kroooz]

2 hours ago, cruisinmeme said:

Also read they got a 25.00 pp OBC.  So guess carnival wasn’t the hero of the day after all.

No, Carnival was just out in front of it more than the other lines. Lots of heros that day including the passengers that had to wait and wait for their vacations to begin....those stuck onboard who had to wait and wait and wait for theirs to end, many of whom have still not arrived home....the crew who undoubtedly worked hard for those remaining onboard and then immediately scrambling to embark new guests...and, of course, the first responders and pilots out at the Port of Miami.

[luv2kroooz]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

NCL must have done a fine job of compensating or assisting those that were on board - we haven't heard a PEEP from anyone complaining about their missed flights or delayed arrival home.

What a strange comment. What are they going to complain about? Someone lost their life, here. Notwithstanding, do you think coming on cruisecritic to complain about NCL would be top of mind at this time, anyway? Lots of valid complaints against NCL. This ain't one of them.

[hallux]

1 minute ago, luv2kroooz said:

What are they going to complain about?

🤷‍♂️ people come here to complain when a ship diverts and is delayed to keep them safe from a hurricane, figured there would be a few...

[2Cruise4Ever]

13 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Roughly 22:55 (10:55 pm EDT) at POM, checking the live cam feed & Marinetraffic: C's Celebration and M's Seascape are still moored at their berth ... just like the Escape. 

 

Disembarked pax trying to book or fly standby on available, alternate flights to get home might have just limited luck and success - 3 ships ... even if that's just a fraction of the combined 10,000+ ship passengers.  It's not as if airlines got plenty of seats available ... on the other hand, flights that departed earlier today/afternoon probably had a good # of no-shows or cancellations, etc.  What a mess triggered by the small boat collision with the ferry 😒

Doubtful there were any empty seats.  Both MIA and FLL airports were closed much of the day on Saturday due to the storms.  So, it was a double-whammy for the airlines this weekend!

[lgdesign]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

NCL must have done a fine job of compensating or assisting those that were on board - we haven't heard a PEEP from anyone complaining about their missed flights or delayed arrival home.

Heard from a friend that there was at least one person over on FB that was complaining big time.  They had a big group flying home and were annoyed they weren't able to get all 25 on the same flight.  

Edited June 26, 2023 by lgdesign

[graphicguy]

And….narcissists strike again.

 

Ship is late dis/embarking……”GIMME SOMETHING!”

 

It was because the harbor was shut down due to a wreckage and loss of life…”don’t care….GIMME SOMETHING”

 

They sent pizzas, cookies and sodas….”don’t care….GIMME MORE!”

 

They offered $25 OBC…”don’t care….GIMME MORE!”

 

SMH!

Edited June 26, 2023 by graphicguy

[mertziek]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

NCL must have done a fine job of compensating or assisting those that were on board - we haven't heard a PEEP from anyone complaining about their missed flights or delayed arrival home.

Oh yes they have been on another social media site and a bit unrealistic about their complaints.

[Liljo22]

There may not be a lot of complaining from the cruise coming back to port but I can promise there will be a rash of bad reviews from the outgoing one.  Like a lot of bad reviews, there are going to be people upset with what happened and it will magnify everything going forward.  Issues that are normally a minor inconvenience people don't notice will now be a bigger issue.   

[Viajera7]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

NCL must have done a fine job of compensating or assisting those that were on board - we haven't heard a PEEP from anyone complaining about their missed flights or delayed arrival home.

I was on the Escape. There was no compensation for people onboard but I was not expecting anything because it was not NCL’s fault. They offered 30 minutes of free internet to make flight or/ and hotel arrangements They also said several times that we were 5 miles from the port and if we could go to the starboard side of the ship, we might get cellular service and use the phone. I did that and could call American Airlines several times until I could change my flight from the 3:05 p.m. to the 7:30 p.m. I was lucky that the flight was delayed and it left at about 9:00 p.m. I heard many people on the ship that had to stay in Miami that night or even go to Fort Lauderdale to go home. The AA Rebooking Center had the longest line I had ever seen that went from about Gate 38 to Gate 44. NCL gave updates every 30 minutes and had activities on the ship like the Family Circus a movie in the theater etc. People were allowed to stay in the cabins until late. One thing that maybe someone can clarify here. When I was eating lunch in the Garden buffet I saw 3 other ships behind the Escape. Was it that there was one cruise line that had 2 ships there?

[omahabob]

38 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

What a strange comment. What are they going to complain about? Someone lost their life, here. Notwithstanding, do you think coming on cruisecritic to complain about NCL would be top of mind at this time, anyway? Lots of valid complaints against NCL. This ain't one of them.

Some of the guests got sunburned standing at the rail waiting to get into port. Obviously NCL should compensate them. It's their fault the sun was shining.

[Liljo22]

9 minutes ago, Viajera7 said:

 When I was eating lunch in the Garden buffet I saw 3 other ships behind the Escape. Was it that there was one cruise line that had 2 ships there?

MSC and Carnival also had ships anchored offshore.  

[luv2kroooz]

Some on here have some pretty "far out" theories. But hey, post whatever is reality or fantasy in your world.

Edited June 26, 2023 by luv2kroooz

[luv2kroooz]

42 minutes ago, lgdesign said:

Heard from a friend that there was at least one person over on FB that was complaining big time.  They had a big group flying home and were annoyed they weren't able to get all 25 on the same flight.  

Annoyed at who? Norwegian? The airline? Themselves? The overall situation? It ok to feel annoyed given the situation. But, eventually they'll come to realize that they made the best of a most unfortunate situation.

[mertziek]

5 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Annoyed at who? Norwegian? The airline? Themselves? The overall situation? It ok to feel annoyed given the situation. But, eventually they'll come to realize that they made the best of a most unfortunate situation.

Annoyed at NCL.  Never going to use them again.

[UKstages]

5 minutes ago, mertziek said:

Annoyed at NCL.  Never going to use them again.

 

just to clarify... you personally are not going to use NCL because of the miami situation described in this thread? or something else?

Edited June 26, 2023 by UKstages

[omahabob]

4 hours ago, hallux said:

In case anyone is curious, here's the video of the incident.  You can see the private vessel sailing East in the channel as the ferry leaves the dock on the North side (left in this picture), another is heading to that dock from the South (right).

https://youtu.be/PCRu7FIpz0M

So he went directly into the cruise ship channel from Government Cut and drove straight into a large vessel lit up like a Christmas tree. Small craft usually turn right or left before entering the cruise ship channel. How much you want to bet he had the autopilot set on a steady course, and wasn't paying attention?

[lgdesign]

27 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Annoyed at who? Norwegian? The airline? Themselves? The overall situation? It ok to feel annoyed given the situation. But, eventually they'll come to realize that they made the best of a most unfortunate situation.

 

The people on FB were pissed at NCL and were never going to use them again because NCL could not arrange to get their whole group to fly home together at the same time during this chaotic and unique situation.  Unrealistic considering the circumstances.  Pretty amazing they were able to keep 24 of the 25 together.

 

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by lgdesign

[omahabob]

Fine by me. Sounds like somebody I wouldn't want to share a cruise ship with anyway.

[knitlady037]

I never travel without insurance. One I was booked on a HAL ship that was coming in infected with norovirus. We had already flown to Florida so I called Allianz to see what my options were. They told me to keep my hotel room, go to dinner and keep all receipts. The ship finally departed at midnight. I was able to wait in comfort and have a great dinner instead of being bussed to the convention center and waiting on line for a hot dog and trying to find a seat. Insurance reimbursed all the extra fees.

[omahabob]

I get the NCL insurance, airline insurance (we book ourselves) and Medjet evacuation coverage. NCL only covers evacuation to the nearest medical facility, and most third party insurance programs only cover evacuation back home if it's considered a medical necessity, unless you pay huge prices for an upgraded plan. A Medjet plan that allows evacuation for any reason is much cheaper. Our credit cards also have some limited travel related insurance benefits. Between all that, we're covered pretty well.

[Panhandle Couple]

1 hour ago, Viajera7 said:

I was on the Escape. There was no compensation for people onboard but I was not expecting anything because it was not NCL’s fault. They offered 30 minutes of free internet to make flight or/ and hotel arrangements They also said several times that we were 5 miles from the port and if we could go to the starboard side of the ship, we might get cellular service and use the phone. I did that and could call American Airlines several times until I could change my flight from the 3:05 p.m. to the 7:30 p.m. I was lucky that the flight was delayed and it left at about 9:00 p.m. I heard many people on the ship that had to stay in Miami that night or even go to Fort Lauderdale to go home. The AA Rebooking Center had the longest line I had ever seen that went from about Gate 38 to Gate 44. NCL gave updates every 30 minutes and had activities on the ship like the Family Circus a movie in the theater etc. People were allowed to stay in the cabins until late. One thing that maybe someone can clarify here. When I was eating lunch in the Garden buffet I saw 3 other ships behind the Escape. Was it that there was one cruise line that had 2 ships there?

Thank you for the real info.

 

At that point 30 min of internet is worth more than a $20 ham sandwich.

 

I assume after the first announcement many people used their cell phones to track what was happening.  Gossip and rumors probably spread around quickly.  Allowing people to stay in cabins is a real plus, even if their luggage was gone the night before.  Sounds like the buffet was open as well, another plus.

 

I don't think NCL handled this "poorly".  An unexpected situation on an otherwise regular travel day weather wise.  Had it happened later in the day, the ships would have been in port, and the disruptions would only have been on the outgoing schedules. 

 

Glad to see you managed to get home eventually.

 

[RoundGuy2771]

3 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I would be against including the insurance automatically. 

 

 

I was unclear. We never buy NCL, or any other insurance, for a single trip. We have annual insurance for the medical and evacuation coverage and use our travel credit card for trip cancellation/interruption.