Dawn passengers left “stranded” on African island

[amp-qld]

One way to solve this problem would be for cruise lines to stop charging extortionate prices for ship's excursions. It seems to me that their markups are typically about 200% on top of the operators prices.

[Mike07]

12 minutes ago, blackwing said:

It was the 80 year old woman's daughter who said she saved $20,000 for this trip.  I'm not sure of the actual cost.

 

$21k pp is entering 5-star African luxury safari territory. She didn't get that, because she's on an NCL ship.

[Mike07]

3 minutes ago, bortman23 said:

 

Right? If I'm 1hr late for my flight, or train, there's 0% chance it will wait for me...

 

 

I recommend United Airlines then. On 3 of the 4 flights on my last R/T itinerary, 1 hour late would have safely gotten you on the plane.

[Mike07]

4 minutes ago, amp-qld said:

One way to solve this problem would be for cruise lines to stop charging extortionate prices for ship's excursions. It seems to me that their markups are typically about 200% on top of the operators prices.

 

 

Even simple and straightforward stuff like the HOHO, it's obscene what cruise lines charge compared to going to the website.

[blackwing]

8 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

I think some are almost giddy at this group's troubles to prove a point that rules need to be followed.

I don't think giddy is the right word.  I think maybe disgusted is a better word.  For me, I am disgusted at the attempt by the lead couple to blame everything on NCL.  I am disgusted at the fact that they contacted media immediately to get their name and photo splashed all across international news.  I'm disgusted that the woman claims she wasn't sure if she wanted to get back on board because she didn't feel "safe" about how NCL handled this, but then promptly got on board once it became apparent that NCL wasn't going to give her any additional money beyond the Gambia to Senegal money.  And I'm disgusted that even though they are back on board, they are still contacting the media and doing interviews.

[MizMoon]

I don't see HAL (or anyone else) doing 21 day Capetown to Barcelona next March/April - more than twice as long and less than $20,000.  Here's the closest from VTG (if I can say that here):

 

FastDeal # 15884

21 nights departing November 16, 2024
Norwegian ❘ Norwegian Sky

---

Brochure Inside$10,152

Our Inside$1,062

 

You Save90%

Brochure Oceanview$14,392

Our Oceanview$1,444

 

You Save90%

---

Brochure Balcony$37,592

Our Balcony$3,824

 

You Save90%

Brochure Suite$97,992

Our Suite$9,902

Click for additional rates: Free at Sea, Singles

 

Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.

 

[Capitan Obvious]

15 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

Some of the comments here are simply cruel.

 

So? This is a discussion forum, not a support group. What did you expect?

 

15 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

Case in point:

1. On a HAL ship in Flam Norway, our ship waited about 30-45 minutes, because a single passenger was running late after buying a ticket on the railroad and was late returning to the ship.

2. A Celebrity entertainment director relayed the funniest/oddest story she had ever had was when a single lady was late returning to the ship, not by minutes but by hours... like it was 9:30 PM and she was still not back and the ship all aboard time was 5 PM or 6PM. The Captain was making regular announcements and passengers were starting to get really worried. Then, the Captain hastily and angrily got on the intercom at 9:30 PM and said, "We're leaving". Turns out, she had abandoned ship, because I guess her casino credit line was thousands in the red.

 

Nice stories to be sure, but you've given them without making any connection to the thread topic. How are either of these relevant to these people missing their ship?

 

15 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

I think some are almost giddy at this group's troubles to prove a point that rules need to be followed.

 

That is a point that doesn't need to be proven. Go right ahead and ignore the rules, the consequences will provide all the proof needed. Some people need to learn the hard way.

[Mike07]

2 minutes ago, MizMoon said:

I don't see HAL (or anyone else) doing 21 day Capetown to Barcelona next March/April - more than twice as long and less than $20,000.  Here's the closest from VTG (if I can say that here):

 

 

 

Laughing at your comment b/c of the "Brochure Prices".

 

$97k for a suite on a 21-day cruise.... Right. PCL was charging about $100k pp for one of their 110-ish day world cruises per person in a suite (they sold out fast).

 

Second, $20k for 21 days is RSSC pricing. Even then, I think it'd be cheaper with RSSC.

[Mike07]

4 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

Nice stories to be sure, but you've given them without making any connection to the thread topic. How are either of these relevant to these people missing their ship?

 

 

 

I've provided them as references as not every cruise line is like this. Take it or leave it.

 

 

[spanishguy1970]

20 minutes ago, amp-qld said:

One way to solve this problem would be for cruise lines to stop charging extortionate prices for ship's excursions. It seems to me that their markups are typically about 200% on top of the operators prices.

I completely agree. Our private excursion to go to Rome was half the price NCL was going to charge. The company got us to the ship on time and gave each of us ( 10 of us) a bottle of wine and treats once we arrived back to the terminal.

[Ashlynkat]

Regarding costs of this cruise. My partner and I booked this fairly early (Jan 2023) and paid a little over $15,500 for a Club Balcony Suite. We always do our own airfare and adding that took us up to about $20,000 for the two of us. 

[MicCanberra]

On 4/1/2024 at 12:58 PM, IAcruising said:

 

I am so proud of you right now, I'm tearing up.

 

Basically, the post reads that a harbor pilot will die 5 times every time they attempt to board the ship. That's a tough gig.

 

They just on the inside.

[spanishguy1970]

Is been my experience that because people pay for their cruise some feel entitled for the ship to wait for them. We are all required to be on time, plan accordingly. IMO

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

 

Oh please!  The ship would have had to redeploy the steps and platform they use for normal tender operations.

That is the largest ship in their navy/coast guard. The next largest is a 27 foot Boston Whaler

[herbanrenewal]

I'm booked for this itinerary for Nov 2025, total price $6,164.14, but thats for a solo inside.

[MicCanberra]

23 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

$21k pp is entering 5-star African luxury safari territory. She didn't get that, because she's on an NCL ship.

You don't know what cabin category she may have had or how long her cruise/ cruises were. We are doing a similar set of cruises next year and have just a balcony and it will be close to that for all 3 cruises.

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

 

Apparently they wanted to get their money's worth and finish a very expensive cruise.  Perhaps they wanted to get back on the ship and give the captain a piece of their mind.

That would actually be a good way to get kicked off the ship. Cruiselines tend to frown upon verbal abuse of crew and officers.

 

Besides they do not appear to have much mind to spare a piece of it.

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Last week on embarkation day on Getaway, the couple next to me at Guest Services was screaming at the employee because they didn't get the onboard credit promised to them by their travel agent.  The employee was trying to explain to them that this was something that needed to have been purchased for them on their behalf by their travel agent.  The wife wasn't having it at all.  She was screaming loudly "this is UNACCEPTABLE!  We were told we were going to be given this credit, you are going to give us this credit RIGHT NOW and we are not leaving here until you FIX IT!"

 

The employee had the patience of a saint.  He said calmly, "as I've already explained to your husband, since this was credit promised to you by your travel agent and not by us, we cannot do anything about this, you will have to take this up with your travel agent".  Then the husband got into it and said "you're going to call the travel agent right now and you will speak to them and fix this".  The employee said "you can certainly use our phone and call them, but as it is 4:30 pm on a Sunday, they are probably not open."  Husband thrust the travel agent's card to the employee.  Employee put his phone on the counter and invited husband to call himself.  Of course, no answer.  What a great way to start a cruise!

 

That was on Getaway.  Nowhere near the price point of these Dawn cruisers.  In the article about the 80 year old medical disembarkee, the daughter said she spent $20,000 on this vacation.  So the Campbells spent at least $40,000.  They seem to think that spending money gives them the right to continue to demonize NCL with their version of their story and I'm sure hope they don't take it out on any employees.  I really do hope that people onboard are giving them some grief.

She was traveling solo so she had to pay the solo premium probably 200% normal fare. Depending upon cabin type for each the campbells nay have paid more or less.

[blackwing]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

You don't know what cabin category she may have had or how long her cruise/ cruises were. We are doing a similar set of cruises next year and have just a balcony and it will be close to that for all 3 cruises.

Agreed.  And you make a good point, she could easily have been booked on another cruise afterwards, perhaps Barcelona to Rome.  The daughter says her mom saved $20,000 for this trip of a lifetime, I think that she should be taken at face value.  But I still think the daughter doesn't have any right to complain about NCL "dumping" her mom in a hospital alone.  Somebody should have been travelling with her.

 

The daughter and son-in-law relied on an Apple Air Tag to let them know where Mom was?  What a joke.  Mom should have been providing regular updates.  They said they noticed that the Air Tag stayed in Sao Tome even though the ship had moved on.  They said they didn't hear from Mom until Mom used someone's phone to call them.  If Mom didn't have a phone or didn't know how to communicate with them back home, she definitely shouldn't have been travelling alone.

[Lonedaddy]

9 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

You don't know what cabin category she may have had or how long her cruise/ cruises were. We are doing a similar set of cruises next year and have just a balcony and it will be close to that for all 3 cruises.

Maybe some of this board should look at RSSC we are doing 15N plus included 3 night Cape town pre cruise for just over 26K in a PHB on the splendor.  (Just not the Campbells) includes shore-ex laundry drinks...

Edited April 3 by Lonedaddy

[Mike07]

5 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

You don't know what cabin category she may have had or how long her cruise/ cruises were. We are doing a similar set of cruises next year and have just a balcony and it will be close to that for all 3 cruises.

 

 

Sure, but neither do you. Yes, I did not account that she may have been doing a b2b or b2b2b or even a world cruise. Statistically, most guests are not opting for the most blinged out stateroom on a ship.

 

IMHO, I kind of gloss over the number if a family member is saying they saved that much for a NCL cruise. To me, it's more of an attention grabber. Somebody actually did post their invoice  and it comes close to that... certainly with flights and they have a Club balcony suite? Sounds like it's a decently better room than a regular balcony.

[Mike07]

3 minutes ago, TRLD said:

She was traveling solo so she had to pay the solo premium probably 200% normal fare. Depending upon cabin type for each the campbells nay have paid more or less.

 

 

The Solo tax is real, and Celebrity is one that is going so far as not just charging 2x as much, but sometimes over twice as much (e.g. cheaper to book the same cabin for two people), because Celebrity's algorithms are saying that they're "losing" revenue on casino/SD/excursion/spa spend.

[Lonedaddy]

2 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Sure, but neither do you. Yes, I did not account that she may have been doing a b2b or b2b2b or even a world cruise. Statistically, most guests are not opting for the most blinged out stateroom on a ship.

 

IMHO, I kind of gloss over the number if a family member is saying they saved that much for a NCL cruise. To me, it's more of an attention grabber. Somebody actually did post their invoice  and it comes close to that... certainly with flights and they have a Club balcony suite? Sounds like it's a decently better room than a regular balcony.

If she had business class or PE her air could be a big portion.

[Mike07]

3 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

Maybe some of this board should look at RSSC we are doing 15N plus included 3 night Cape town pre cruise for just over 24K in a PHB on the splendor.  (Just not the Campbells) includes shore-ex laundry drinks...

 

 

There's a lot to consider when booking something like this, IMHO. This isn't like some 4, 7, or 10 day Mexican riveria or Caribbean getaway... The vast majority of NCL passengers are going to be from the USA or Canadaland... making Africa sometimes a challenge to get to... both monetarily and flight time wise.

[Mike07]

1 minute ago, Lonedaddy said:

If she had business class or PE her air could be a big portion.

 

 

That is a very valid point for a TA to Africa, and I've seen people spend more on air than the actual cruise.