Difficult time with NCL reservation agents and flights.

[Canbylancer]

I am 113 days out of my cruise.  I have a family of 4 and we are purchased 2 rooms with the airfare (a lot cheaper than booking on our own and the main reason we choose NCL on this trip).  They booked my son and mine airfare.  Everything is good.  They booked my wife and daughter out of New Orleans!  We live outside of Minneapolis.  I called to have them switch it to Minneapolis.  They make the change, but won’t book her on the same flights.  “It is company policy that you are not guaranteed to be on the same flight if in separate rooms”   I can understand the policy last second, busy times, etc.  This is 113 days out, screwing up her booking, penalizing people for purchasing 2 rooms, etc.  This is horrible policy for the NCL brand.  Why can’t they book it now and get a family of 4 on the same flight?  I talked to 2 different people with NCL (air and reservations) and was hung up on.  I have cruised 5 times with NCL and will be platinum after this cruise. 

 

I know a lot of people have been disappointed by the airfare, drop in entertainment, nickel and diming, and lower quality of food options.  I have been a big NCL supporter (I own 1000 shares on top).  We are all on these boards because we have or continue to like NCL.  At what cost do we stay with them?  I know they are cutting all these costs to dig out of debt, but if you lose your loyal customers in the meanwhile.  Is it worth staying with the brand or switching to a different company (been on 4 royal cruises) or a land based vacation.  

[D_And_K_gocruising]

Book your own flights

[shof515]

In the terms and conditions of the airfare promotion:

All guests booked within a singular reservation will be booked on the same flight.

 

NCL is following thier policy. there is noting you or NCL can do this. This is what happens when you have multiple reservations. Airlines will also do something similar if you have multiple reservations 

[tgloersen]

Try this one on for size!

 

My buddy booked a cruise that included round trip air fare.  He gets his air docs and finds out that they only booked him for a flight home and not a flight to the ship.

 

They tell him nothing they can do as its below 65 days until sailing and just left him hanging after peaking with management. Thats BS was not his fault but they did not care.  Just kept stonewalling with no change under 65 days!  First and last ime for him on NCL, can't really blame him.

 

Like the other post says the free or so called free airfare just not worth it.  I myself booked my own flights, not with the headaches!  Shouldn't have to be that way though.

[TheDawg79]

Blaming NCL because they are sticking to their policy that you agreed to seems a bit silly. If you don’t like the travel and booking policies of a 3rd party, book your own travel. You tried to save a buck and now you don’t like the terms you agreed to in order to save said buck. Can’t have it both ways. You aren’t being “punished”. No one is out to get you and their policy wasn’t written to be aimed at you. NCL doesn’t have the same flexibility to book and change flights as you do. This is how they get the flights at a huge discount from the carriers. Low costs airfares almost always come with significant restrictions. You not liking a restriction isn’t their fault..it’s yours when you agreed to it.

Edited December 1, 2023 by TheDawg79

[julig22]

1 hour ago, tgloersen said:

Try this one on for size!

 

My buddy booked a cruise that included round trip air fare.  He gets his air docs and finds out that they only booked him for a flight home and not a flight to the ship.

 

They tell him nothing they can do as its below 65 days until sailing and just left him hanging after peaking with management. Thats BS was not his fault but they did not care.  Just kept stonewalling with no change under 65 days!  First and last ime for him on NCL, can't really blame him.

 

Like the other post says the free or so called free airfare just not worth it.  I myself booked my own flights, not with the headaches!  Shouldn't have to be that way though.

Who is they?  If his confirmation says that he requested (and paid for) RT, then they will find him a flight. In my experience, the air department staff doesn't have a lot of leeway with respect to solving issues.  However, in the past, a very polite and carefully worded email to katty byrd got my flight issues resolved almost immediately.

[Catchum]

Is the inconvenience of being on separate flights worth the cost saving? If yes, then bank the saving and enjoy it later. If no then pay for two of you to switch to be on the same flight as the other couple. 

 

This is why I will never book a flight other than direct with the airline, inside cabin but I'm booking my flights. 

[tgloersen]

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

Who is they?  If his confirmation says that he requested (and paid for) RT, then they will find him a flight. In my experience, the air department staff doesn't have a lot of leeway with respect to solving issues.  However, in the past, a very polite and carefully worded email to katty byrd got my flight issues resolved almost immediately.

Well Ok,

 

They are "NCL"

And yes the confirmation did show round trip flights, and the story goes on under 65 days no changes.  Sorry you can root for NCL all you want here but they failed big time.  He was not asking for changes just what was promised and they told him to pound sand.

 

Next?

[Canbylancer]

5 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

While I applaud the use of the forum for open discussion, I think it goes off-track when you start with the passive-aggressive statements that are just thinly veiled insults like:

 

I knew that a number of you would jump "blindly" to the company line.

OR

If they tell you to eat poop, I hope you ask for seconds. 

OR

I did not know that NCL supporters were like Trump supporters.  All policies are great!

 

Can't we have the discussion without these kind of comments?

If you read the first 5 or more posts, you will see there was not much hope for discussion.  Sure there is frustration in the title.  There has been a lot of frustration with NCL since COVID.  As long as they have avid followers willing to accept all cutbacks, then it will be better to be a shareholder and not a consumer.  This is not a long term plan that will work for NCL and opens itself up for more competition.  There are things to like about the brand (freestyle, free at sea), but their negatives (ship layouts, private islands, main dining room food, upselling, lack of deck chair space without Vibe or Haven, lack of pools, (I could keep going), entertainment going from broadway plays to game shows) are killing the brand.

[Capitan Obvious]

18 minutes ago, Canbylancer said:

If you read the first 5 or more posts, you will see there was not much hope for discussion.  Sure there is frustration in the title.  There has been a lot of frustration with NCL since COVID.  As long as they have avid followers willing to accept all cutbacks, then it will be better to be a shareholder and not a consumer.  This is not a long term plan that will work for NCL and opens itself up for more competition.  There are things to like about the brand (freestyle, free at sea), but their negatives (ship layouts, private islands, main dining room food, upselling, lack of deck chair space without Vibe or Haven, lack of pools, (I could keep going), entertainment going from broadway plays to game shows) are killing the brand.

 

You support them as a consumer by booking, and you support them as a company by investing (how much invested in your 1,000 shares?)

 

If things were as bad as you say, you'd cancel the bookings, sell the stock, or both. You can't hide your actions here....they say far more than words ever will.

[RocketMan275]

Amazing that those who book bargain basement flights are surprised to learn their seats are in the basement.

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, Canbylancer said:

I am 113 days out of my cruise.  I have a family of 4 and we are purchased 2 rooms with the airfare (a lot cheaper than booking on our own and the main reason we choose NCL on this trip).  They booked my son and mine airfare.  Everything is good.  They booked my wife and daughter out of New Orleans!  We live outside of Minneapolis.  I called to have them switch it to Minneapolis.  They make the change, but won’t book her on the same flights.  “It is company policy that you are not guaranteed to be on the same flight if in separate rooms”   I can understand the policy last second, busy times, etc.  This is 113 days out, screwing up her booking, penalizing people for purchasing 2 rooms, etc.  This is horrible policy for the NCL brand.  Why can’t they book it now and get a family of 4 on the same flight?  I talked to 2 different people with NCL (air and reservations) and was hung up on.  I have cruised 5 times with NCL and will be platinum after this cruise. 

 

I know a lot of people have been disappointed by the airfare, drop in entertainment, nickel and diming, and lower quality of food options.  I have been a big NCL supporter (I own 1000 shares on top).  We are all on these boards because we have or continue to like NCL.  At what cost do we stay with them?  I know they are cutting all these costs to dig out of debt, but if you lose your loyal customers in the meanwhile.  Is it worth staying with the brand or switching to a different company (been on 4 royal cruises) or a land based vacation.  

This is tough to believe.

He actually has a confirmation on booking indicating a round trip air purchase, but when NCL provides only one way, they say it's too late to correct it?

Sorry, not believable.

Either there's a missing piece to the story about the booking, or, if accurate, he need to scream a lot louder at NCL to get a fix, rather than rely on a stupid agent's mistaken refusal to help.

[nimbex1970]

I booked the BOGO airfare for a cruise in April. As we have only one room for the two of us, I didn't realize this was a policy. I see your point that with this many days out, surely they can make an accommodation.  It does seem to be a reasonable request. I have no knowledge of how the fights are booked though and all you can do is try again and go up the chain.  PS, get a new hobby as you wait on hold, it's going to take some time.  Know that a policy exists that NCL can stand behind and you may still not get what you are requesting. 

[hallux]

9 minutes ago, nimbex1970 said:

It does seem to be a reasonable request.

They used to offer an option to grant this reasonable request, and charged for it.  But, when the airlines had difficulty meeting their obligations to to get ticketed passengers to where they wanted to go NCL also had trouble accommodating those requests and dropped the option to link reservations for the purposes of booking airfare.

[Noworkforme23]

I would never give someone else control over something as important as my flights.  Even if it is free.  That is what starts off my vacation.  Too important to give that control to someone else.   I am too much of a control freak. 😊

I hope all goes well for you though. 

[TwinMamainMN]

29 minutes ago, Noworkforme23 said:

I would never give someone else control over something as important as my flights.  Even if it is free.  That is what starts off my vacation.  Too important to give that control to someone else.   I am too much of a control freak. 😊

I hope all goes well for you though. 

Agreed. Airline, departure time, arrival time and layover length (if any) are too many variables to leave to someone else or a computer. I don't want a red-eye flight if I can help it, nor do I want a 6 hour layover or a 30-minute layover in a huge airport.

[nimbex1970]

15 hours ago, hallux said:

They used to offer an option to grant this reasonable request, and charged for it.  But, when the airlines had difficulty meeting their obligations to to get ticketed passengers to where they wanted to go NCL also had trouble accommodating those requests and dropped the option to link reservations for the purposes of booking airfare.

Thanks for explaining!!!

[SomewhereGirl]

At 113 days out, have the actual airline tickets been issued?  Maybe you will all end up on the same flight after all.

[Wulfwyn]

We had ours tickets issued at 100 days before cruise.  Was really  surprised.   

Our friends who are cruising a month before us to Galveston got theirs the same day as ours.  

Wulfwyn 

[cruiser2015]

On 12/1/2023 at 6:18 PM, cruiser2015 said:

This is tough to believe.

He actually has a confirmation on booking indicating a round trip air purchase, but when NCL provides only one way, they say it's too late to correct it?

Sorry, not believable.

Either there's a missing piece to the story about the booking, or, if accurate, he need to scream a lot louder at NCL to get a fix, rather than rely on a stupid agent's mistaken refusal to help.

Apologies for this post.

Somehow my comments, destined for a different thread, ended up here. 

No idea why.

[Canbylancer]

On 12/2/2023 at 2:37 PM, SomewhereGirl said:

At 113 days out, have the actual airline tickets been issued?  Maybe you will all end up on the same flight after all.

My room has been ticketed, my wifes room was booked out of New Orleans instead of MPLS.  So we had to call and tell them to change it.  Since then they have not booked her room.