NCL Pearl Forward Facing Penthouse - Excessive Noise = Minimal Sleep for 11 days

[mugtech]

3 hours ago, silverturtle said:

About 7 /8yrs ago, we booked a aft balcony on NCL's Pearl to Alaska. In the middle of the night we were awaken by a really loud sound coming from our balcony, opened up the doors to find ice mixed in with lettuce/chips on our chairs and balcony floor!!!! We found out they were cleaning the deck on top of the ship and throwing the ice overboard!!!! Which was totally illegal, but they did it every night. We complained every day and to anyone we could find. They even sent chocolate strawberries and I explained to guest services that I didn't want strawberries, I wanted them to stop throwing ice off the back of the boat! Nothing was done about it, so we were done with them. I can't remember booking another cruise with them again.

Yes, but we have not heard their side of the story!

[UKstages]

i find the OP's story quite credible. i have experienced exactly this sort of disconnect among staff members, from the GM to the assistant to the GM to the manager of guest services... all signing frm different hymnals. i had a stateroom noise complaint earlier this year which went on for several days before being resolved. i don't see how the cruise director has much impact or import here; the CD position is really a figurehead and doesn't really get involved in solving specific guest complaints. 

 

if i were the GM, here's the way i would have handled this. assuming that the rehearsal schedule and potential for disruption were known...  shortly after embarkation, i would have invited the occupants of the three affected cabins above the theatre to a special meeting or maybe even a dinner. and i would have said something like:

 

"we are delighted to have you onboard. and we are committed to providing the best possible service to you and all our guests. as part of our commitment to our guests, we regularly refresh our entertainment offerings and are always putting new cast members into our shows. this week, we will be doing exactly that. unfortunately, that means more rehearsals than we would normally have and many of them will be at inconvenient hours which may disrupt your sleep and your ability to enjoy your stateroom. we have no alternate rooms available, but we would like you to enjoy your cruise as our guest and enjoy your cabin as much as you can under the circumstances. we will be issuing you a 100% refund for your cruise, or if you prefer, we will give you 150% future cruise credit. we will be providing you a copy of our rehearsal schedule, so you can enjoy your cabin at other times. and if there is anything at all that we can do to help you make your vacation more enjoyable, please let us know." 

 

and then i'd comp them a few dinners or spa treatments or whatever they wanted.

 

my recommendation is to email katty byrd (kbyrd@ncl.com) while you're on the ship. last i checked, she is the senior vice president of guest services for NCL. you probably won't hear from her, but somebody from her office will contact you and also contact the ship and hopefully be able to provide a resolution. unfortunately, most of this sort of compensation seems to be limited lately to just $500 in OBC per paying passenger. i don't know what you will receive, but that's where most people have landed lately. be sure to refer to your case number in your email communication..

 

your situation is unique, however, and a strong case can be made that these rehearsals substantially altered the nature of your vacation, your ability to use your stateroom and your ability to function properly when out and about onboard the ship, due to sleep deprivation. it can also be said that while these disruptions were intermittent, they occurred regularly during hours in which most people would expect to be sleeping. it seems to me NCL has already admitted that the problem exists. they have already admitted they know about it. they have already admitted that rehearsals continued at "forbidden" times, even after you were told they would stop.

 

the only thing left is to agree on proper compensation.

 

good luck.

[Laszlo]

If you had that much noise in cabin 9500 how much noise did the other cabins below you have? Did your cabin neighbors have a problem? 

 

This makes me slightly worried since we have 10500 booked on the Gem in June.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Laszlo

[mugtech]

15 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

If you had that much noise in cabin 9500 how much noise did the other cabins below you have? Did your cabin neighbors have a problem? 

 

This makes me slightly worried since we have 10500 booked on the Gem in June.

Yes there are plenty of cabins on deck 8 and deck 9 who were also in the direct line of fire.  So 9500 was not special, but part of a group of victims..

[ljrfrm]

41 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

If you had that much noise in cabin 9500 how much noise did the other cabins below you have? Did your cabin neighbors have a problem? 

 

This makes me slightly worried since we have 10500 booked on the Gem in June.

We are also in 10500 and it makes me wonder - I also did a lot of research on this cabin and didn't see any noise concerns over the years, but rather many positive reviews (with only concerns related to closing curtains at night and wind issues). We sail next month - fingers crossed that excessive noise outside any "normal" times won't be a problem. It sounds like these particular rehearsals will be finished but it does make you wonder what might be heard. I'm happy to share our experience with this after our cruise.

[DCGuy64]

10 hours ago, mugtech said:

Shake them pom poms.

Oops, my bad! Darn it, there I go again: I keep forgetting that the only acceptable response to a critical post is 100% approval, "you get 'em," blind acceptance of all the claims, etc. I'll try to remember that in the future, LOL! 🤣 Maybe Cruise Critic should have a rule: whether you're complimenting the cruise line or scolding it, EVERY REPLY MUST BE IN AGREEMENT WITH YOU, no disagreement allowed. Sound good?

[Laszlo]

9 minutes ago, ljrfrm said:

We are also in 10500 and it makes me wonder - I also did a lot of research on this cabin and didn't see any noise concerns over the years, but rather many positive reviews (with only concerns related to closing curtains at night and wind issues). We sail next month - fingers crossed that excessive noise outside any "normal" times won't be a problem. It sounds like these particular rehearsals will be finished but it does make you wonder what might be heard. I'm happy to share our experience with this after our cruise.

My wife and I have been on 14 NCL cruises from the Sun to the Escape. I've never seen any reports about forward suite cabins having a noise issue. Like you the only "negative" about those cabins I have read about are how the curtains need to be closed at night and people complaining about wind

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

This makes me slightly worried since we have 10500 booked on the Gem in June.

 

1 hour ago, ljrfrm said:

We are also in 10500 and it makes me wonder - I also did a lot of research on this cabin and didn't see any noise concerns over the years,

We’ve sailed in this stateroom and 10000 next door (on the Gem and the Jewel) a total of four times, never heard noise from the theatre.  There are two decks of cabins between the theatre and Deck 10.  These are great suites. 

[Turtles06]

54 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

the only "negative" about those cabins I have read about are how the curtains need to be closed at night . . . 

I’m getting tired of saying this, but this is absolutely not a negative. Once it’s dark out, having your curtains open in your stateroom when your lights are on is really useless, because you can’t see out. You just see reflections on the windows. It’s no big deal to pull the curtains. Also, the darkness in the bow at night makes for incredible stargazing, weather permitting. 

[ljrfrm]

15 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

We’ve sailed in this stateroom and 10000 next door (on the Gem and the Jewel) a total of four times, never heard noise from the theatre.  There are two decks of cabins between the theatre and Deck 10.  These are great suites. 

Thanks, exactly my thought (and hope!!) and I've only read good things about them.  Looking forward to it - so thanks for the confirmation!

[ljrfrm]

13 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I’m getting tired of saying this, but this is absolutely not a negative. Once it’s dark out, having your curtains open in your stateroom when your lights are on is really useless, because you can’t see out. You just see reflections on the windows. It’s no big deal to pull the curtains. Also, the darkness in the bow at night makes for incredible stargazing, weather permitting. 

Exactly, which is why we booked it.  Totally not a negative for us at all. Thanks for confirming.

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Oops, my bad! Darn it, there I go again: I keep forgetting that the only acceptable response to a critical post is 100% approval, "you get 'em," blind acceptance of all the claims, etc. I'll try to remember that in the future, LOL! 🤣 Maybe Cruise Critic should have a rule: whether you're complimenting the cruise line or scolding it, EVERY REPLY MUST BE IN AGREEMENT WITH YOU, no disagreement allowed. Sound good?

 

respectfully, i think you're missing the point. the point is not that one can not have a dissenting opinion... that's not the point at all. the point is that one should generally refrain from doubting or criticizing the experience of others and questioning the validity of a first person report, unless one has a strong reason to do so. so far, your reason seems to be that there must be another side to the story and we don't have all the facts because there's always another side to the story and we haven't heard from management and  other posters on cruise critic often don't tell us the whole story.

 

but we're not dealing with other posters, we're dealing with a report from this poster, who has already shared that NCL largely corroborates the story as reported here. we can accept that or not, but waiting for "management" to post their version of this story is futile. NCL is unlikely to comment. so, we're left with the first person account of the OP, which seems quite credible to me.  each individual is always free to judge the credibility of cruise critic reports and reviews. if you disagree with the opinions or reports of the OP, please state why. in my opinion, just stating that there must be another side to the story, when the OP has already indicated that "management" has admitted that there is a legitimate and chronic problem, makes no sense whatsoever.

 

we are not blindly accepting all the claims of the poster... we're reading a report and making a judgment as to whether or not it sounds credible. it certainly does sound credible to me. it may not to others. but, generally, if it doesn't sound credible, people state why. and that's where the pom poms come in. many would conclude that somebody who questions the credible report of another poster without stating why might sorta kinda be a cheerleader for NCL.

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

respectfully, i think you're missing the point. the point is not that one can not have a dissenting opinion... that's not the point at all. the point is that one should generally refrain from doubting or criticizing the experience of others and questioning the validity of a first person report, unless one has a strong reason to do so. so far, your reason seems to be that there must be another side to the story and we don't have all the facts because there's always another side to the story and we haven't heard from management and  other posters on cruise critic often don't tell us the whole story.

 

but we're not dealing with other posters, we're dealing with a report from this poster, who has already shared that NCL largely corroborates the story as reported here. we can accept that or not, but waiting for "management" to post their version of this story is futile. NCL is unlikely to comment. so, we're left with the first person account of the OP, which seems quite credible to me.  each individual is always free to judge the credibility of cruise critic reports and reviews. if you disagree with the opinions or reports of the OP, please state why. in my opinion, just stating that there must be another side to the story, when the OP has already indicated that "management" has admitted that there is a legitimate and chronic problem, makes no sense whatsoever.

 

we are not blindly accepting all the claims of the poster... we're reading a report and making a judgment as to whether or not it sounds credible. it certainly does sound credible to me. it may not to others. but, generally, if it doesn't sound credible, people state why. and that's where the pom poms come in. many would conclude that somebody who questions the credible report of another poster without stating why might sorta kinda be a cheerleader for NCL.

An interesting take. Incorrect, and internally contradictory, but interesting. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[Laszlo]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I’m getting tired of saying this, but this is absolutely not a negative. Once it’s dark out, having your curtains open in your stateroom when your lights are on is really useless, because you can’t see out. You just see reflections on the windows. It’s no big deal to pull the curtains. Also, the darkness in the bow at night makes for incredible stargazing, weather permitting. 

You are right having to close the curtains is not a negative. I'm going to enjoy sitting on that big deck watching the stars

[ljrfrm]

16 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

You are right having to close the curtains is not a negative. I'm going to enjoy sitting on that big deck watching the stars

The balcony is what sold me!!!  🙂