Positive reviews for NCL for pre-Cruise, post-Cruise, and support

[NerdyGirl2001]

Hi all, I am doing a research project where I am looking for what NCL is doing well before booking and after the cruise - I thinking there are plenty of positive reviews for during the cruise itself and on the various ships... 🙂

 

Could you could write one or two lines about what NCL does right when/if you call in, that would really help. Thanks!!

[kitkat343]

um..the call centers are generally not the strongest aspect of any of the cruise lines, NCL included.  Occasionally you will find a good employee but generally you want to double check everything they tell you with the website or on CC (that's not a slam of NCL, it's advice we give for all the cruise lines).  

 

A few threads above you is a pretty typical example of they kind of miscommunication that happens when you rely on the phone operators:  

 

 

 

[herbanrenewal]

3 hours ago, NerdyGirl2001 said:

 

Could you could write one or two lines about what NCL does right when/if you call in, that would really help. Thanks!!

One area i think NCL phone is especially useful is price adjustments. Their policies allow rebooking before final payment due date. The cruise consultants know if the package is really a better deal  (lower price can mean losing sign-on perks). After final payment you can upgrade to a better cabin if prices change, or get a future cruise credit. I've had better luck with the call-in number than with a travel agent or a personal cruise consultant.

 

[DrSea]

Lol. The post cruise support is nonexistent bc they already have your money

[libtrek]

I’ve used the special needs department for things like a shower chair, sharps container, etc. they are very helpful.

[herbanrenewal]

1 hour ago, DrSea said:

Lol. The post cruise support is nonexistent bc they already have your money

nonexistent? An example since you obviously cant relate - I bought a November cruise in studio. A balcony is now selling for less than $100 more than i paid for the studio. A phone call got the new deal, after final payment was made. another cruise I received $464 future cruise credit after a price drop. They had my money, but both cruises gave me more for the money I had paid. I'll take that "nonexistent" benefit of a phone call!

[DrSea]

48 minutes ago, herbanrenewal said:

nonexistent? An example since you obviously cant relate - I bought a November cruise in studio. A balcony is now selling for less than $100 more than i paid for the studio. A phone call got the new deal, after final payment was made. another cruise I received $464 future cruise credit after a price drop. They had my money, but both cruises gave me more for the money I had paid. I'll take that "nonexistent" benefit of a phone call!

That's what I define as pre cruise. Post cruise to me means after I went on the cruise and disembarked. Over the years across multiple lines, getting money from any line is like squeezing blood from a stone. I'm talking for obvious things too, like getting a refund on port taxes and fees on missed ports. How is it legal for a cruise line to keep port taxes and fees to a port that I never went to? Idk 

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, NerdyGirl2001 said:

Hi all, I am doing a research project where I am looking for what NCL is doing well before booking and after the cruise - I thinking there are plenty of positive reviews for during the cruise itself and on the various ships... 🙂

 

Could you could write one or two lines about what NCL does right when/if you call in, that would really help. Thanks!!

 

As a frequent cruiser, I think that the biggest issue/challenge is people's expectations. For the most part, those expectations are totally unreasonable, and therefore they are disappointed, angry, hateful when their expectations are not met. I think of it as when my kid was just out of high school answering phones for a big corporation as a summer job.

 

When you contact NCL (or any cruise line), you are calling into a call center, sometimes off shore, staffed by minimum wage workers hired to answer phones. The vast majority have never been on a cruise ship before. Like any business, those call center staff can only answer your questions based on what they can google on their call center system. That call center information system, for the most part, has generic information for the entire cruise line. So, when someone calls and asks "What time is Choir of Man going be be preformed on my cruise on May 22, 2025",,,, or even October 1, 2023,,,, that information is does not exist. "Will there be a chicken dish on the main dining room menu on Tuesday, April 9, 2024"?  "What effect will Hurricane Lee have on my cruise?" "Why did my itinerary change?" While exaggerated, when you read the comments left here on Cruise Critic, they basically come down to information that does not exist.

 

NCL is doing well if you have a "simple request". "Make a reservation on the Norwegian Viva in a balcony room on April 1, 2023. Done. No one can answer truthfully "is room 12310 better than 12312?"

 

People often are yelling and making a fuss over things on the phone,,,, and call center people get in trouble when they "wing it" and start making stuff up just to get an irate, irrational, person off the phone. 

 

Post cruise, I have had a lot of positive interactions when trying to resolve issues. The call centers and guest services have gone out of their way to "make things right"... mostly after schedule changes where I incurred costs because of NCL changes. Those interactions have often [far] exceeded what they put in their written communication on compensation. 

[DrSea]

7 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

As a frequent cruiser, I think that the biggest issue/challenge is people's expectations. For the most part, those expectations are totally unreasonable, and therefore they are disappointed, angry, hateful when their expectations are not met. I think of it as when my kid was just out of high school answering phones for a big corporation as a summer job.

 

When you contact NCL (or any cruise line), you are calling into a call center, sometimes off shore, staffed by minimum wage workers hired to answer phones. The vast majority have never been on a cruise ship before. Like any business, those call center staff can only answer your questions based on what they can google on their call center system. That call center information system, for the most part, has generic information for the entire cruise line. So, when someone calls and asks "What time is Choir of Man going be be preformed on my cruise on May 22, 2025",,,, or even October 1, 2023,,,, that information is does not exist. "Will there be a chicken dish on the main dining room menu on Tuesday, April 9, 2024"?  "What effect will Hurricane Lee have on my cruise?" "Why did my itinerary change?" While exaggerated, when you read the comments left here on Cruise Critic, they basically come down to information that does not exist.

 

NCL is doing well if you have a "simple request". "Make a reservation on the Norwegian Viva in a balcony room on April 1, 2023. Done. No one can answer truthfully "is room 12310 better than 12312?"

 

People often are yelling and making a fuss over things on the phone,,,, and call center people get in trouble when they "wing it" and start making stuff up just to get an irate, irrational, person off the phone. 

 

Post cruise, I have had a lot of positive interactions when trying to resolve issues. The call centers and guest services have gone out of their way to "make things right"... mostly after schedule changes where I incurred costs because of NCL changes. Those interactions have often [far] exceeded what they put in their written communication on compensation. 

Can you please elaborate on your post cruise experience? And when did it occur?

 

The reason i asked is that NCL used to (per an officer on NCL, so no personal experience) used to give 5% off a future cruise and 80 in OBC. But NCL stopped this practice some time ago (idk when...maybe after the restart?) bc they are trying to stop losing money. Again I have personally never received such a benefit, but it allegedly occurred. 

[laudergayle]

13 hours ago, NerdyGirl2001 said:

Hi all, I am doing a research project where I am looking for what NCL is doing well before booking and after the cruise - I thinking there are plenty of positive reviews for during the cruise itself and on the various ships... 🙂

 

Could you could write one or two lines about what NCL does right when/if you call in, that would really help. Thanks!!

I think @BirdTravels stated it quite accurately. There is “customer service “ which in large organizations is a call center, often offshore, that can do the routine transactional requests…book, cancel, take payment info, read boilerplate information.  
 

Then, there is “customer relations” Here is where one should get the personalized help, like how do I get credit for a price drop, I left my jewelry in the safe, I have special needs, etc.  

 

I believe for superior service, a call center should have seamless transition from the frontline transactional calls to more experienced agents when personalized service is needed. (Please stay on the line with me while I connect you to a specialist).

 

I haven’t made too many NCL calls, but the one time I needed a price drop credit I was left wondering whether my communication with the call center rep was actually going to get me the credit, and what that credit might be and when I would see it.  In the end, it did mysteriously show up in my account several weeks after our cruise.  It was here on Cruise Critic that gave me the intel on what and when I could expect that credit.

 

hope this helps your research.

[mcmomny]

I might be one of the few but I have never had a problem pre, during or post cruise with NCL. 

 

Anytime I have called the service center it has been polite, helpful and very apologetic if they don't know the answer to such questions like "what time will the show be?" or which cabin has a better view.

 

Always helpful with quick refunds for cancelled ports of call or once our excursion was not as described and we were given a quick discounted price refunded to our OBC.

 

And when I have had to cancel cruises my CNC is refunded to my account in a day or two even thou they have told me it would take up to two weeks it never has.

 

Right now I am working with MSC and their call center, have also heard terrible things about them but so far all is fine.

 

My grandmother used to say " you attract more bees with honey than vinegar !" 

 

I have found that if you are polite and not demanding with any call center employee the more willing they will be to help you!

[DrSea]

59 minutes ago, mcmomny said:

 

 

My grandmother used to say " you attract more bees with honey than vinegar !" 

 

I have found that if you are polite and not demanding with any call center employee the more willing they will be to help you!

Got to be honest. That's minimizing people's real experience and almost shifting the blame onto the customer for a bad outcome.

 

I am always polite and professional because that is how I want to be treated, and believe me when I tell you I still get the short end of the stick with customer service. 

[BirdTravels]

7 hours ago, DrSea said:

Can you please elaborate on your post cruise experience? And when did it occur?

 

The reason i asked is that NCL used to (per an officer on NCL, so no personal experience) used to give 5% off a future cruise and 80 in OBC. But NCL stopped this practice some time ago (idk when...maybe after the restart?) bc they are trying to stop losing money. Again I have personally never received such a benefit, but it allegedly occurred. 

We sail a half dozen times a year on NCL and Royal. For us, that is a lot of cruising and a lot of opportunities for changes in the cruise line plans. 

 

So, let me more specific. I am not looking for a "gift" for a change in cruise itinerary. I am 100% in agreement with the Terms and Conditions of the cruise contract. If my cruise changes,,,, the cruise line owes me nothing. An I am perfectly fine with that... I have read the contract I signed. I am not looking for compensation for my "pain and suffering"....  I am not looking for a 5% off a future cruise or 80% in OBC.... those are the totally unreasonable expectations. I read hundreds of posts a month here on Cruise Critic on why all of the cruise lines are bad for not giving away money. 

 

NCL used to have a good, clean policy that if your cruise changed because of weather (e.g., hurricanes this time of year) you would get nothing. That is a great policy. I am an NCL shareholder and don't want them to be giving out money for something that has a 100% guarantee of happening. 

 

I just got a notice that my cruise in December has had a itinerary change. I have no expectations for compensation for that. That's business for a cruise line. I signed a contract agreeing to let them do it. But, there are dozens of posts on social media condemning the cruise line for making the change and waiting until after final payment to make the change. I cruise enough to know that changes occur all the time. 

 

So,,, back to your original question. I am not looking for a gift or good will gesture. Post-Cruise, I am looking for compensation for changes made by the cruise line, mostly on short notice, that caused me financial impact. Yeah, most people would say "File an insurance claim for trip disruption".... and I have done that in the past too.

 

Examples:

 

Cruise departure gets delayed by one day forcing me to find a hotel for a night, NCL paid of the hotel. 

 

5 times, I have had NCL cancel a cruise and rebook me on a cruise a week later (or a totally different cruise) and I have incurred increased air fare and change fees. NCL normally give you a small credit for change fees, but in some cases, the difference in air fare can be hundreds of dollars per person which is outside the scope of the written offer. In some cases, not all, I have been able to get NCL to compensated me for the fare difference. 

 

Again, the expectation of a freebie FCC or OBC are the unreasonable expectations that I referenced before. Especially like now, right now during peak hurricane season, there should be no compensation or even an option to cancel/refund for weather diversions to keep the passengers and crew safe. Since I book throughout the year, I have been diverted many times. 

[graphicguy]

I find the pre-cruise support to be quite good.  Their excursion desk pre-cruise is quite knowledgeable and helpful, as just one example.

 

Agree about post-cruise support to be spotty, at best.  But, I’ve learned over the years not to let any open issues linger.  Take care of them while on board.  Billing, fees refunds, customer service failures,etc….best to address them on board where they strive to identify the issue and rectify it while you’re in front of them.

[RocketMan275]

The pre-cruise and post-cruise support offered by the shore based concierge for Haven passengers is excellent.

[cruiseny4life]

51 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We sail a half dozen times a year on NCL and Royal. For us, that is a lot of cruising and a lot of opportunities for changes in the cruise line plans. 

 

So, let me more specific. I am not looking for a "gift" for a change in cruise itinerary. I am 100% in agreement with the Terms and Conditions of the cruise contract. If my cruise changes,,,, the cruise line owes me nothing. An I am perfectly fine with that... I have read the contract I signed. I am not looking for compensation for my "pain and suffering"....  I am not looking for a 5% off a future cruise or 80% in OBC.... those are the totally unreasonable expectations. I read hundreds of posts a month here on Cruise Critic on why all of the cruise lines are bad for not giving away money. 

 

NCL used to have a good, clean policy that if your cruise changed because of weather (e.g., hurricanes this time of year) you would get nothing. That is a great policy. I am an NCL shareholder and don't want them to be giving out money for something that has a 100% guarantee of happening. 

 

I just got a notice that my cruise in December has had a itinerary change. I have no expectations for compensation for that. That's business for a cruise line. I signed a contract agreeing to let them do it. But, there are dozens of posts on social media condemning the cruise line for making the change and waiting until after final payment to make the change. I cruise enough to know that changes occur all the time. 

 

So,,, back to your original question. I am not looking for a gift or good will gesture. Post-Cruise, I am looking for compensation for changes made by the cruise line, mostly on short notice, that caused me financial impact. Yeah, most people would say "File an insurance claim for trip disruption".... and I have done that in the past too.

 

Examples:

 

Cruise departure gets delayed by one day forcing me to find a hotel for a night, NCL paid of the hotel. 

 

5 times, I have had NCL cancel a cruise and rebook me on a cruise a week later (or a totally different cruise) and I have incurred increased air fare and change fees. NCL normally give you a small credit for change fees, but in some cases, the difference in air fare can be hundreds of dollars per person which is outside the scope of the written offer. In some cases, not all, I have been able to get NCL to compensated me for the fare difference. 

 

Again, the expectation of a freebie FCC or OBC are the unreasonable expectations that I referenced before. Especially like now, right now during peak hurricane season, there should be no compensation or even an option to cancel/refund for weather diversions to keep the passengers and crew safe. Since I book throughout the year, I have been diverted many times. 

I don't actually disagree with most of what you write. I am grateful when I receive FCC or OBC due to a port change, weather event, etc. It's not like the cruise line can force a hurricane to move out the way of my ship. It's a pleasant surprise and one I'll gladly take. But, it's one I don't expect, nor will I wail about it.

 

What I don't appreciate is NCL's complete lack of transparency when it comes to reasons they do change things up or cancel things. In the event of a hurricane, they will tell you. If it's something else (maintenance or a port change because well, I don't know) they just aren't clear about what happened. Port changes to existing itineraries due to being more "environmental..." well that's just hokey we want to save money on gas. Tell us that.

 

Don't give us BS lip service. Say "we just endured a once in a hundred years event that almost bankrupted us. We need to save on costs: we have made the decision to change your itinerary as it will allow us to recoup losses from the pandemic." This is but one reason I'm on these boards whining about NCL and yes I freely admit I'm a hypocrite. I whine, moan, judge NCL, then book a new cruise with them. 

 

My plea with NCL would be to just be honest, upfront, and lose the veneer of slick marketing speak. And, when a decision by a cruise line causes actual financial harm to a customer, they ought to be willing to cough up the bucks to make that customer whole. I'm thinking the port changes for environmental reasons and the like.

[BirdTravels]

@cruisen4life I think it comes down to people can't handle the truth. On our upcoming cruise, I got the following message a couple of days ago: 

 

We always strive to deliver remarkable experiences for our guests, both onboard our ships and through our curated journeys to bucket-list destinations worldwide. While we truly do our best to maintain original itineraries as much as possible, unfortunately, at times modifications are made to optimize the itinerary or to accommodate certain circumstances. As such, due to port congestion, we have revised the itinerary as follows:

 

Well,,, we were the only cruise ship scheduled in port that day. It maybe that a non-cruise ship (i.e. Navy ship) bumped the berth. It may be that the US military did not grant permission for us to use the dock (since NCL usually uses the berth on a Navy base and it requires a lot more support from the Navy to escort and maintain guards to inspect people coming/going from the port). 

 

I had expected the change since the only "foreign" port on our itinerary was GSC and there would be an unacceptable risk of blowing the PSVA due to weather/seas at GSC. Now,,,, I don't think that people would understand or appreciate the penalties of blowing the PSVA (i.e., you can't handle the truth),,, and may be "port congestion" is something that the average person can understand. 

 

When NCL had a short period when they cancelled calls to the Dominican Republic, I don't think that NCL really wanted to say "We don't think that our Captains are smart enough to safely enter/exit the port, so we're cancelling the port call until we can train our Captains better" (I guess that the politically correct term would be to "establish protocols for port entry/exit"). We know that the Taino Bay was open and was being used by RCCL with Oasis class ships.

 

So,,, yes,,, putting lipstick on situation. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by BirdTravels

[NerdyGirl2001]

Thanks everyone for you awesome and thoughtful replies. this is really helpful. 

 

Happy cruising!!

 

[nimbex1970]

Not sure if you are looking for more information.  We have three NCL booked after 20 cruises RCL and CCL.  We did not use a TA, we called an NCL rep to ask questions prior to booking.  She was excellent, patient with our basic questions, and had us sold!  We booked a TA.  We were so pleased with her, that even prior to sailing NCL, we booked two more cruises through her.  So for us, pre-sail, the customer service has been excellent!