NCL Star passenger revolt

[david_sobe]

4 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

If you are going on a cruise to Antarctica, it is not your first cruise, if it is not your first cruise you know the captain can change the itinerary  at any time. 

 

I did welding on the SPT (South pole telescope) in 2007 at Amundsen-Scott research station population 137 it was really "cool" to be a cog in the Event Horizon Telescope Project. We partied our penguins off.

yes so true.  Weather and so many other factors including ship issues can come into play. You would agree that the Captain explained why there was a change, no?

[dlh015]

40 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

I think you can also read my post again.

My first sentence was "Not to argue but, the ports themselves often ask the ships to alter their itineraries. ".

I went on to provide examples of situations why changes may have been made.

Some of my explanations may have been "To enhance the guest experience".

Not specific, or even about you.

Spin it whatever way you wish. I used plain English to describe what bothers me about certain phrases used by, well, just about every business...in this forum, it's cruise lines.

 

 

 

 

[Mike07]

Imagine being the manager of Future Cruise Sales on the Norwegian Star now.... 🤣

[JasonMochilero]

On 2/13/2024 at 5:57 PM, txjim09 said:

NCL was suppose to be in Port Stanley with us (Sapphire Princess) on Feb 1 but was a no-show.  Our tour guide was informed the prior evening and the rumor was that Captain requested a 5:30AM arrival, was told it was not possible and replied by telling port authorities that he would skip the port because of this.  

I was on that trip. We were told the problem was the weather which was clearly a lie. Plenty of other ships managed to dock that day. 

[TravelBluebird]

20 hours ago, MarciAnn said:

As I understand it based on the size of the ship, there wasn't going to be any landings in Antartica so was it just going to be a sail by, am I correct?  Not downplaying the passengers disappointment but trying to understand exactly what they are missing.

 

They are missing quite a lot. Incredible scenery; penguin colonies, and much more.  I just did a cruise to Antartica with Holland America last month—only a “sail by” but absolutely amazing:

 

 

[milolii]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I was wondering why the NCL Star bypassed Port Stanley. Initially someone posted the following on my Sapphire Princess Live From thread at 9:13 am on Jan 31:

 

It looks like the Norwegian Star skips Port Stanley tomorrow, as their AIS destination (on Cruise Mapper) now indicates AR BSAS for Buenos Aires. Earlier, it showed FK PSY for Falkland. Port Stanley was on the Star's itinerary: 01 Feb 06:00 - 16:00

Then I posted this observation around 9:30 pm on Jan 31:

 

Port Stanley does seem like a popular place this evening. The blue ship heading south away from the port is the Oceania Marina while the yellow ship above the island heading in a NNW direction is the NCL Sun. The other blue ship heading in a ENE direction is the Azamara Quest while the other yellow ship heading due north is the NCL Star. According to CM (Cruise Mapper), both the Quest and the Sapphire are still planning to arrive in Port Stanley tomorrow morning while the NCL Star seems to be bypassing the port as @EDVM96 mentioned earlier.

 

But I will also note that the weather was forecasted to turn pretty nasty in Port Stanley around 3 pm, which it actually started getting ugly around noon and peaking around 4 pm. About the same time the Star would be tendering back most of their guests.
 

My unofficial guess from over here in the peanut gallery is the Star’s Captain wanted to start tendering earlier, as note above, so they could leave earlier and avoid the heavy winds and rain that were in the forecast. But I imagine that change would also require a major overhaul to their booked excursion schedules, which is probably why the port authority said no.

 

Anyway, thanks for sharing that little tidbit of information. That explained why the Star passed Port Stanley.

Hi Ken, I started following your thread after I leaned about the NCL Star’s incident at the Falklands (on another media site); and seeing clips of a large, vocal & singing gathering in the  NCL Star’s  atrium the day before, January 31.  Originally, I was following @scubacruiserx2 ‘s January 7, 2024 thread as we booked on the NCL Star for  February, 2025.  

I’ll admit I didn’t know much about sailing to Antarctica other than there are plenty of sea days and it is clear that neither NCL or Princess offer/sell expedition cruises amd no one would be setting foot on the continent.  Due to the costs and time spend to get to BA or Santiago, my guess is most of the passengers on both ships understand these two points very well.  
 

After reading many of the posts here, it appears some posters don’t completely understand the importance of the “sail by” to Antarctica, as I admitted I didn’t until recently.  If posters want to fully appreciate the significance of this type of cruise, I suggest they read your threads or at least glance at all the amazing pics taken during the Antarctica portion postered in both threads. 
 

We sail both Princess and NCL frequently.  Again, Thank you and @scubacruiserx2for your threads. 
 

 

[mking8288]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just because the contract allows something does not make it the right thing to do.

Other cruise lines choose to go above & beyond, and do the right thing in similiar & other unplanned challenges like this (not nearly identical circumstances ... yeah, apples vs. oranges.)  Where as, NCL choose to do the usual mumble jumble.  Indifferent, blind & deaf cheerleaders alike - the word empathy is meaningless tossing words behind the legalese contract shields, calling out others. 

 

Just ignore and put them on the Ignore List ... use it.

   

3 hours ago, Mike07 said:

Imagine being the manager of Future Cruise Sales on the Norwegian Star now.... 🤣

Ramen noodles 😆  in a cup from the crew store, for a change.  Unlikely to be dining in specialty on this sailing 😬 

[GHCruiser7]

20 hours ago, laudergayle said:

I should have said it changes my perspective of the change.  I initially thought they were stopping, setting foot on land with all sorts of amazing excursions.  Yes, I would be disappointed with the viewing change….but not nearly as much if we skipped a day in port.  

Have you ever been to Antarctica?  If not, then you haven't a clue what this means.  Antarctica "viewing" is the number one highlight/itinerary in my 2000 days of cruising.  It is 100 times more exciting than the ports in 157 countries that I've visited.  Please be informed and not just speculate.

[Mike07]

17 minutes ago, GHCruiser7 said:

Have you ever been to Antarctica?  If not, then you haven't a clue what this means.  Antarctica "viewing" is the number one highlight/itinerary in my 2000 days of cruising.  It is 100 times more exciting than the ports in 157 countries that I've visited.  Please be informed and not just speculate.

 

1. Wow, 157 countries.

2. 100% . Antarctica is as legit, pristine and peaceful (in calm weather) as everybody makes it out to be. In the 2 years of mentally prepping for an Antarctica expedition and spend the money, I never found a single person that had been and said, "Well, it was cool, but not really worth it.". Whereas I've been on itineraries where all the ports were utterly forgettable. E.g. Caribbean/Bahamas/Mexico. Then again, I'm one of those people that my job is already stressful enough that being at sea and looking at the ocean keeps me plenty entertained.

[aggie311]

Totally agree. I was on the 1/21 cruise and words don’t do justice to how beautiful and humbling it was to sail around paradise bay. The passengers lost out on the best part of the cruise. 

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

Hi Ken, I started following your thread after I leaned about the NCL Star’s incident at the Falklands (on another media site); and seeing clips of a large, vocal & singing gathering in the  NCL Star’s  atrium the day before, January 31.  Originally, I was following @scubacruiserx2 ‘s January 7, 2024 thread as we booked on the NCL Star for  February, 2025.  

I’ll admit I didn’t know much about sailing to Antarctica other than there are plenty of sea days and it is clear that neither NCL or Princess offer/sell expedition cruises amd no one would be setting foot on the continent.  Due to the costs and time spend to get to BA or Santiago, my guess is most of the passengers on both ships understand these two points very well.  
 

After reading many of the posts here, it appears some posters don’t completely understand the importance of the “sail by” to Antarctica, as I admitted I didn’t until recently.  If posters want to fully appreciate the significance of this type of cruise, I suggest they read your threads or at least glance at all the amazing pics taken during the Antarctica portion postered in both threads. 
 

We sail both Princess and NCL frequently.  Again, Thank you and @scubacruiserx2for your threads. 
 

 

 

 You're welcome . If you look at our profile you will see Celebrity . Princess and HAL as our favorite lines . These are the ships that we have enjoyed the most and this was our 6th NCL cruise . Our 1st cruise to the Baltic and South America were both on NCL and this last cruise was too good for us to pass up , so we do have a soft spot for them . However , we think that longer is better and for that reason we preferred our 4 day cruise to Antarctica on HAL . We think that you made a great decision switching to the longer cruise and it may cost more but we think that the difference will be worth it in the long run ! Happy cruising . 🙂😊

[laudergayle]

56 minutes ago, GHCruiser7 said:

Have you ever been to Antarctica?  If not, then you haven't a clue what this means.  Antarctica "viewing" is the number one highlight/itinerary in my 2000 days of cruising.  It is 100 times more exciting than the ports in 157 countries that I've visited.  Please be informed and not just speculate.

How fortunate for you to have so many exciting cruising days.  My comment was that I originally thought they would be actually be stopping in and setting foot on mainland Antarctica.  My statement was:

 

Yes, I would be disappointed with the viewing change…but not nearly as much if we skipped a day in port.

 

I wasn’t referring to ANY port.  I was referring specifically to mainland Antarctica.  And, I was sharing my opinion…which happens to be what most of us do when we try to imagine (speculate) what the impacted party may be feeling. 

 

Sorry you misunderstood.

 

 

Edited February 14 by laudergayle

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, milolii said:

Hi Ken, I started following your thread after I leaned about the NCL Star’s incident at the Falklands (on another media site); and seeing clips of a large, vocal & singing gathering in the  NCL Star’s  atrium the day before, January 31.  Originally, I was following @scubacruiserx2 ‘s January 7, 2024 thread as we booked on the NCL Star for  February, 2025.  

I’ll admit I didn’t know much about sailing to Antarctica other than there are plenty of sea days and it is clear that neither NCL or Princess offer/sell expedition cruises amd no one would be setting foot on the continent.  Due to the costs and time spend to get to BA or Santiago, my guess is most of the passengers on both ships understand these two points very well.  
 

After reading many of the posts here, it appears some posters don’t completely understand the importance of the “sail by” to Antarctica, as I admitted I didn’t until recently.  If posters want to fully appreciate the significance of this type of cruise, I suggest they read your threads or at least glance at all the amazing pics taken during the Antarctica portion postered in both threads. 
 

We sail both Princess and NCL frequently.  Again, Thank you and @scubacruiserx2for your threads. 
 

 

Thanks! We first did an Antarctica “drive by” cruise back in 2018 on the HAL Zaandam that included 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula, and had an awesome time seeing a bunch of penguins and sea lions hanging out on icebergs along with a bunch of whales!
 

It was because of that cruise, we booked the 30-day B2B cruise on the Sapphire Princess we’re currently on, which also includes 4 days cruising around the Peninsula. What’s so great about this cruise is that it included going to the huge A23a iceberg, Elephant Island, 3 different bays, 2 different channels, and ending with cruising by Deception Island. However, this time we only saw 2 icebergs that had a few penguins on them, but no sea lions. We also saw quite a few whales in two of bays we cruised in. But nothing like we experienced on our 2018 visit.

 

That's why being able to book wildlife excursions at Port Stanley (penguins, sea lions, elephant seals), Ushuaia (penguins, sea lions and cormorants), Punta Arenas (penguin and Kelp Gull rookeries), and Puerto Madryn (penguins, sea lions, and elephant seals) was also very important as we needed that up close wildlife fix! 😂

 

We originally had booked 14-day Celebrity cruises on both occasions, similar to what NCL offers, but switched when we found out about the longer HAL and Princess cruises that offered 4 days cruising in Antarctica waters plus going to many of the other SA wildlife-rich ports I just mentioned. 
 

But I get it with regards to the Star bypassing Port Stanley on Feb 1st. That had to be painful for the passengers, regardless what the reason was, as they have some awesome wildlife excursions.

Edited February 15 by Ken the cruiser

[TRLD]

12 hours ago, dlh015 said:

Read my post again. I didn't say they didn't have a valid reason. I said I objected to the spin wording...

 

"To enhance the guest experience,"

 

Others are arguing the explanation angle...I'm not...you should have addressed your post to someone who is...

 

 

The language as written does not say that the change was made to enhance the guest experience. The way it is written the enhance the passenger experience only applies to the extension on the time at the Falklands.  They could have made the change and not increase the time at Port Stanley. 

[JulianB]

This time last month I was on the Star and really feel for the people who have had their itinerary changed and certainly not enhanced in my opinion.

It's similarly disappointing that this thread has descended into a slanging match as to who said what in some post and gone away from what I think would be useful in exploring:- Why NCL made the change and How they communicated it to their paying guests.

To those on the Star now ....... hope you loved the Falklands, well done for getting into port and have a beer for me in Cagney's.

[mugtech]

         Ever since those prior propulsion problems, plus the fact that they eliminated the observation lounge, we have made it a point to never book Star, no matter how tempting the prices and itineraries are.  Wonder if we will ever be informed what really happened.  I get the idea that since Paul Harvey died we never get to hear the rest of the story.

[JasonMochilero]

I believe NCL have done this cruise 4 times this summer and haven't done the full itinerary once. The first two times, they didn't make it into Punta Arenas. The 3rd time, they skipped the Falklands and now they've skipped Antarctica, which I find incomprehensible as it was certainly the main reason I booked the cruise. I would imagine a lot of people would feel the same.

[phillygwm]

A friend just returned from an Antarctic cruise on a much smaller ship.  She raved about it, but between the length and the cost, it would be well out of the reach of most people (it's first on my retirement list!)

 

If the issue is the speed restrictions, NCL should have known previously but definitely knows now and should reflect that on future sailings.  As goodwill, they should allow pax to cancel without penalty given that the most important stop of the cruise is cancelled.  If people still choose to sail -- there are sunk costs for travelers anyway -- a some amount of FCC should be given.  

 

I'm sure the other ports were worthwhile but I can certainly understand the disappointment when the centerpiece port is cancelled.  And if it was foreseen in advance by NCL and they didn't disclose, I'd be enraged.

[JasonMochilero]

1 minute ago, phillygwm said:

I'm sure the other ports were worthwhile but I can certainly understand the disappointment when the centerpiece port is cancelled.  And if it was foreseen in advance by NCL and they didn't disclose, I'd be enraged.

If they have to skip somewhere, it should be Punta Arenas. The excursion we did there, which NCL substituted for the one we actually booked, wasn't worth doing. The fort is a reconstruction made out of wood, but the original fort was actually adobe and only stood for about 10 years anyway. It's not exactly historic.

 

Then we did a "hike", which consisted of a 2km walk, though admittedly this did prove a challenge to some on the trip. And all for the a mere $150.

 

Mind you, if you didn't book one of their excursions, you were lucky to get ashore by 11.30am and you had to be back by 2.30.

[JulianB]

I was on the second sailing and missed Punta Arenas. To be honest I was not that bothered (and even less so now I have read this report as I had the same substitution shore ex) and we got to see the Beagle Passage and all it's hanging glaciers in daylight. The crew launched the tenders but then the weather worsened very quickly and we could see the tender pilots not happy. The captain came on and told us he was cancelling the port. In my view, good call, well communicated and I never heard anybody grumble as we all accepted that this is a reasonable risk that you have to accept heading to this part of the world.

In total I booked 5 excursions. On day 1 I got to my cabin to find 1 cancelled, 2 with major changes. All of these changes were known about before hand and could have been communicated to me so I had the option of making other arrangements. I am definitely looking to avoid NCL's overpriced and underdelivered excursions in future.

[JulianB]

1 hour ago, JasonMochilero said:

If they have to skip somewhere, it should be Punta Arenas. The excursion we did there, which NCL substituted for the one we actually booked, wasn't worth doing. The fort is a reconstruction made out of wood, but the original fort was actually adobe and only stood for about 10 years anyway. It's not exactly historic.

 

Then we did a "hike", which consisted of a 2km walk, though admittedly this did prove a challenge to some on the trip. And all for the a mere $150.

 

Mind you, if you didn't book one of their excursions, you were lucky to get ashore by 11.30am and you had to be back by 2.30.

I was on the second sailing and missed Punta Arenas. To be honest I was not that bothered (and even less so now I have read this report as I had the same substitution shore ex) and we got to see the Beagle Passage and all it's hanging glaciers in daylight. The crew launched the tenders but then the weather worsened very quickly and we could see the tender pilots not happy. The captain came on and told us he was cancelling the port. In my view, good call, well communicated and I never heard anybody grumble as we all accepted that this is a reasonable risk that you have to accept heading to this part of the world.

In total I booked 5 excursions. On day 1 I got to my cabin to find 1 cancelled, 2 with major changes. All of these changes were known about before hand and could have been communicated to me so I had the option of making other arrangements. I am definitely looking to avoid NCL's overpriced and underdelivered excursions in future.

[kaisatsu]

15 hours ago, GHCruiser7 said:

Antarctica "viewing" is the number one highlight/itinerary in my 2000 days of cruising

As someone who has been lucky enough to visit Antarctica on three different expedition ships, I do feel qualified to say that I wouldn’t be terribly miffed at swapping a scenic cruise in Paradise Bay for one in the South Shetlands. But I’m admittedly not a geographic purist and was also happy to consider my first landing on the South Shetlands to be “a landing in Antarctica.” (I equate it to going to the UK and saying you’ve been to Europe.) My first continental landing was far less exciting IMO, because the landing site was awkward and there was much less wildlife.

 

Having cruised Paradise Bay (because the landing site was iced in, and we couldn’t get the zodiacs through), it was definitely pretty, but it was a cloudy day. I have far fonder memories and more beautiful photos of lesser-known areas on blue-sky days.

 

That said, while I wouldn’t be terribly disappointed on the location change, I would be pretty upset by what sounds like a significant reduction in time spent in the area. First, more time means more chances of good weather. Second, the sailing between locations is well worth it for whale sightings and seabirds. And some of the most scenic Antarctic cruising I’ve done has been en route to other locations.

Edited February 15 by kaisatsu
typo

[phillygwm]

3 hours ago, JasonMochilero said:

Mind you, if you didn't book one of their excursions, you were lucky to get ashore by 11.30am and you had to be back by 2.30.

This brings me to a broader point, and I say this NOT to slam NCL.  I'm Sapphire Latitudes and have exclusively sailed NCL for the last 15 years or so.  I enjoy the NCL onboard experience, especially as a solo traveler; it's a good experience and value.  I've done multiple Caribbean, Canada, Mexican Riviera, Mediterranean, Greek Isles, etc.  But I've always felt as though I could get back to, say, Barcelona, someday if I really wanted to see more of a city.

 

However, if I were doing a once in a lifetime trip, like Antarctica, I probably wouldn't choose NCL, even before knowing this thread or the recent media stories.  I can say with reasonable certainty that I won't get there more than once, so I'd choose a provider which specializes in Antarctica/more personal experiences.  Yep, it's a lot more money but sometimes, you get what you pay for. 

Edited February 15 by phillygwm

[JasonMochilero]

1 hour ago, JulianB said:

In total I booked 5 excursions. On day 1 I got to my cabin to find 1 cancelled, 2 with major changes. All of these changes were known about before hand and could have been communicated to me so I had the option of making other arrangements. I am definitely looking to avoid NCL's overpriced and underdelivered excursions in future.

 

I booked 3. Montevideo, we just walked around the town on our own. As the dock is right in the old centre, this was great. Puerto Madryn, we dived with sea lions. I organised it myself with Lobo Larsen who were super efficient at rushing us out to the site whilst the tide was right.

 

Puerto Arenas was the one that got substituted. However, when they substituted it, they then blocked $50 on my credit card because they took back the excursion credit and then said I'd be credited it 2 days after doing the tour. I wasn't. I had to complain again. Given I was within cancellation period and I hadn't actually agreed with the substitution, I thought this was taking liberties. 

 

Did the Beagle Passage and train at Ushuaia, which was good but hardly worth $250. It would have been very stressful doing that independently because we got back over half an hour late. 

 

And the Falklands was cancelled.

 

Having to meet in the theatre to listen to someone droning on about a tour before yours for up to 45 mins was very annoying. I don't understand why they couldn't just post the details to your room with the countless other bits of paper they posted every single day.

 

In Ushuaia, we sat for 20 mins in the theatre and were finally told we were on bus 28. There was no bus 28. They'd switched the order and we were on the boat first. The whole 20 mins was totally pointless.

[pete_coach]

6 hours ago, JulianB said:

This time last month I was on the Star and really feel for the people who have had their itinerary changed and certainly not enhanced in my opinion.

It's similarly disappointing that this thread has descended into a slanging match as to who said what in some post and gone away from what I think would be useful in exploring:- Why NCL made the change and How they communicated it to their paying guests.

To those on the Star now ....... hope you loved the Falklands, well done for getting into port and have a beer for me in Cagney's.

The Falkands have many restrictions

https://www.falklands.gov.fk/maritimeauthority/ports-harbours/cruise-ship-guidance