Filing a small claims suit against NCL

[DayFamily5]

My husband and I were set to take a NCL from Venice through the Mediterranean over 1 year ago. Our cruise package was booked directly through NCL and included our flights. We were to fly out of the PHX airport, connect through Dullus airport, 2nd connection in Brussel before landing at Marco Polo airport. Cruise was set to embark at 5pm, however, they recommend boarding the ship 2hrs prior. If all three of our flights had arrived on time, we were set to arrive Venice at 12pm the same day as the boat departure. That is less than 5 hours to deboard, get luggage, customs, immigration and find transportation. Needless to say, our flight from Dullus airport to Brussels airline was cancelled less than an hour 1/2 hour before scheduled departure time. We were unable to catch a flight with any airline that would get us to Venice within the less than 5-hour window given by NCL. NCL refused to allow us to reschedule, did not reimburse us for new flights, hotels caused by the cancelation and simply told us to submit a claim through AON insurance for reimbursement. After almost 2 years of processing and battling of denials I have only been reimbursed 56% of my costs, leaving me with a loss of $4,596.8. I have filed a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, but both have failed at mediation attempts. I'm now in the process of filing a complaint via small claims court. Anyone have experience against a cruise line in small claims court or have any advice on additional steps I can take to get fully refunded? 

[BigWaveDaveAZ]

We went through the exact same BS with NCL and AON in 2022 with a 10 day Canada/New England cruise we had scheduled. With all our expenses that we were told we would be reimbursed for, approximately $6500.00, AON sent each one of us $508.00, exactly what the insurance policy covered. I posted our experience on Cruise Critic to exactly what happened, almost word for word, we received many comments, good, bad and otherwise.

 I just got off the  phone today with AON after filing a trip interruption claim from a 19 day Panama Canal that we were on in August-September 2023 which we were quarantined to our room for the last five days of the cruise. And again, I am have to jump through more hoops trying to prove to AON that we were quarantined for those last five days. Good luck with everything you’re doing to recover your losses, I wish I could help you. 

[CruisingAlong4Now]

2 hours ago, DayFamily5 said:

My husband and I were set to take a NCL from Venice through the Mediterranean over 1 year ago. Our cruise package was booked directly through NCL and included our flights. We were to fly out of the PHX airport, connect through Dullus airport, 2nd connection in Brussel before landing at Marco Polo airport. Cruise was set to embark at 5pm, however, they recommend boarding the ship 2hrs prior. If all three of our flights had arrived on time, we were set to arrive Venice at 12pm the same day as the boat departure. That is less than 5 hours to deboard, get luggage, customs, immigration and find transportation. Needless to say, our flight from Dullus airport to Brussels airline was cancelled less than an hour 1/2 hour before scheduled departure time. We were unable to catch a flight with any airline that would get us to Venice within the less than 5-hour window given by NCL. NCL refused to allow us to reschedule, did not reimburse us for new flights, hotels caused by the cancelation and simply told us to submit a claim through AON insurance for reimbursement. After almost 2 years of processing and battling of denials I have only been reimbursed 56% of my costs, leaving me with a loss of $4,596.8. I have filed a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, but both have failed at mediation attempts. I'm now in the process of filing a complaint via small claims court. Anyone have experience against a cruise line in small claims court or have any advice on additional steps I can take to get fully refunded? 

I guess I'm confused as to why you feel NCL owes you a refund.  It did not cause any of your problems. When you book a transoceanic air trip with three separate segments, scheduled to arrive at boarding time, there is a high probability that you will miss the ship.  This is why people plan to arrive the day before the sailing- to accommodate delayed flights and other operational and weather issues. 

 

I think you should pursue the claims with the insurance company.  If you feel they have not fulfilled their contractual obligations, contact your state insurance commission.

Edited May 21 by CruisingAlong4Now

[CDNPolar]

11 hours ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

I guess I'm confused as to why you feel NCL owes you a refund.  It did not cause any of your problems. When you book a transoceanic air trip with three separate segments, scheduled to arrive at boarding time, there is a high probability that you will miss the ship.  This is why people plan to arrive the day before the sailing- to accommodate delayed flights and other operational and weather issues. 

 

I think you should pursue the claims with the insurance company.  If you feel they have not fulfilled their contractual obligations, contact your state insurance commission.

 

I wanted to come in with the same sort of question.

 

If I am correct with this, you booked your flights through NCL, and I will assume that you will see in the fine print of the passenger contract that NCL is not responsible for flight delays, etc.

 

My brother was one of 46 people recently that on a direct flight to Panama City to join a cruise that the flight was delayed in arrival over 12 hours and these 46 people missed the embarkation and the actual partial transit of the Canal.  The Cruise line did not reimburse any of these people - AND they booked the air through the Cruise Line.

[newcruzer2]

I agree that your fight and lawsuit should be against aon

[PatrickW]

Yes you can sue NCL at your local courthouse because they do business in the states. I had to do it a couple years ago and they settled before the court date.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

People often sue large companies because the company will often settle the nuisance case even if they are not responsible.

 

Under what legal theory does NCL have liability for your missed cruise?

 

Or are you just looking for $3500 from somebody.

Edited Wednesday at 11:56 PM by CruisingAlong4Now

[Hlitner]

Here in the USA, we live in a litigious society.  Once folks threaten or take legal action against an insurance company, cruise line, airline, etc. any resolution becomes the purview of lawyers.  Our experience is that being persistent, and saving the legal route (which seldom works) will usually have a better outcome although it can test one's patience.  In the case of the OP, rather than going the legal route, we would have contacted a decent advocacy group (such as Elliott.Org).

 

I would have a lot of sympathy for the OP, if the cruise line had scheduled the air (without the OP's input).  However, if the OP chose those flights, and made a decision to fly-in on the day of a cruise (after 2 flight changes) then we have little sympathy.  

 

Many of with a lot of travel experience will routinely advise folks to always fly-in at least a day early for domestic embarkations and suggest that with foreign departures a few days is a good idea.  Not only does same day flights run a high risk of missing a cruise, but it also means that if your luggage is misrouted, it will not likely catch-up until later in your trip or after you return from your trip.  Some folks will post that they cannot (or simply will not) fly-in early because they do not have the time, do not want the extra cost of a hotel, etc.  But those folks need to accept some responsibility for their own decision, which is not wise in this era of late/cancelled flights.

 

Hank

[CDNPolar]

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Here in the USA, we live in a litigious society.  Once folks threaten or take legal action against an insurance company, cruise line, airline, etc. any resolution becomes the purview of lawyers.  Our experience is that being persistent, and saving the legal route (which seldom works) will usually have a better outcome although it can test one's patience.  In the case of the OP, rather than going the legal route, we would have contacted a decent advocacy group (such as Elliott.Org).

 

I would have a lot of sympathy for the OP, if the cruise line had scheduled the air (without the OP's input).  However, if the OP chose those flights, and made a decision to fly-in on the day of a cruise (after 2 flight changes) then we have little sympathy.  

 

Many of with a lot of travel experience will routinely advise folks to always fly-in at least a day early for domestic embarkations and suggest that with foreign departures a few days is a good idea.  Not only does same day flights run a high risk of missing a cruise, but it also means that if your luggage is misrouted, it will not likely catch-up until later in your trip or after you return from your trip.  Some folks will post that they cannot (or simply will not) fly-in early because they do not have the time, do not want the extra cost of a hotel, etc.  But those folks need to accept some responsibility for their own decision, which is not wise in this era of late/cancelled flights.

 

Hank

 

Hank - you speak such logic with what you are saying here.

 

We have never missed a cruise embarkation but have family that have.  We fight internally about going a day or two early... I want to, my husband does not always think necessary.

 

We take many precautions - as many as we can - to avoid issues like this.

 

CC also brings many situations like this to the forefront to be aware of.  One of these is it does not matter if your fight is booked through the cruise line or not when it comes to cancelations and delays if you miss the sailing.

 

I do want to add that I still do feel for the OP and their situation.  No one wants to be out money for a travel disaster that was out of their control.

 

 

Edited Sunday at 10:17 AM by CDNPolar

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Hank - you speak such logic with what you are saying here.

 

We have never missed a cruise embarkation but have family that have.  We fight internally about going a day or two early... I want to, my husband does not always think necessary.

 

We take many precautions - as many as we can - to avoid issues like this.

 

CC also brings many situations like this to the forefront to be aware of.  One of these is it does not matter if your fight is booked through the cruise line or not when it comes to cancelations and delays if you miss the sailing.

 

I do want to add that I still do feel for the OP and their situation.  No one wants to be out money for a travel disaster that was out of their control.

 

 

I notice you are in the Toronto area, which happens to have a major airport that is known for delays/cancellations.  Pearson has the most delays of any Canadian airport with 51% of flights delayed and 12% cancelled (Montreal is not much better).  Let's face it, those of us who live in the North have more reason to be cautious than most in the southern climates.  

 

As independent travelers (we do most things on our own) we like to talk about "Plan B" which is our back-up plan for when things do go wrong.  When it comes to flying-in for embarkation, we always look at the first port and how difficult it would be to catch-up.  When going out of Florida ports to the Caribbean, it usually means missing at least several days of the cruise.  DW and I take many long cruises and a lot of them involve transatlantic or transpacific crossings.  Miss embarkation on a TA cruise and one is likely to miss more than a week of a cruise...not to mention thousands of extra dollars involved in playing catch-up.

 

Many American cruisers take what is known as "closed loop cruises" where they do not need (or have) a valid Passport.  If they miss embarkation, they cannot possibly play catch-up because it takes a valid Passport to fly to fly to any of the ports outside the USA (not sure if the Bahamas are an exception).

 

Hank

 

  

 

Hank

[CDNPolar]

34 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I notice you are in the Toronto area, which happens to have a major airport that is known for delays/cancellations.  Pearson has the most delays of any Canadian airport with 51% of flights delayed and 12% cancelled (Montreal is not much better).  Let's face it, those of us who live in the North have more reason to be cautious than most in the southern climates.  

 

As independent travelers (we do most things on our own) we like to talk about "Plan B" which is our back-up plan for when things do go wrong.  When it comes to flying-in for embarkation, we always look at the first port and how difficult it would be to catch-up.  When going out of Florida ports to the Caribbean, it usually means missing at least several days of the cruise.  DW and I take many long cruises and a lot of them involve transatlantic or transpacific crossings.  Miss embarkation on a TA cruise and one is likely to miss more than a week of a cruise...not to mention thousands of extra dollars involved in playing catch-up.

 

Many American cruisers take what is known as "closed loop cruises" where they do not need (or have) a valid Passport.  If they miss embarkation, they cannot possibly play catch-up because it takes a valid Passport to fly to fly to any of the ports outside the USA (not sure if the Bahamas are an exception).

 

Hank

 

  

 

Hank

 

We don't do the closed loop, or typically the Caribbean type cruises.  We are Europe, South America, Asia...

Flying out of Toronto we have a lot of direct non-stop options to our destinations because we are the biggest and essentially the hub in Canada if you call it that... which we don't.

 

We typically choose the direction of the cruise based on the city we can get to directly without a connection and we generally fly overnight which means we land between 6am in 10am in European cities... generally extra time if we are delayed.  We often however in the winter season fly a day early.

 

As much as this is published about how bad Toronto Pearson Airport is for delays, we don't experience this and never have.

[Hlitner]

3 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We don't do the closed loop, or typically the Caribbean type cruises.  We are Europe, South America, Asia...

Flying out of Toronto we have a lot of direct non-stop options to our destinations because we are the biggest and essentially the hub in Canada if you call it that... which we don't.

 

We typically choose the direction of the cruise based on the city we can get to directly without a connection and we generally fly overnight which means we land between 6am in 10am in European cities... generally extra time if we are delayed.  We often however in the winter season fly a day early.

 

As much as this is published about how bad Toronto Pearson Airport is for delays, we don't experience this and never have.

We used to use Pearson on some of our trips, since AC used to operate a commuter flight (small turboprop) from Harrisburg to Pearson.  Business Class on AC was sometimes a real bargain, and our experience has been good.  However, those commuter flights have since been eliminated which, for us, also means that AC is history.

 

Person is one of my least favorite North American airports, but the AC Signatrue Suite Lounge is among the best airport lounges in North America.  

 

Hank

[CDNPolar]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We used to use Pearson on some of our trips, since AC used to operate a commuter flight (small turboprop) from Harrisburg to Pearson.  Business Class on AC was sometimes a real bargain, and our experience has been good.  However, those commuter flights have since been eliminated which, for us, also means that AC is history.

 

Person is one of my least favorite North American airports, but the AC Signatrue Suite Lounge is among the best airport lounges in North America.  

 

Hank

 

We have not yet had the pleasure of the Signature Suite, but hope to in the future.
 

Agree, Toronto Pearson is not a great airport.  Old - even the newest Terminal - and needs a major redesign in many ways.  Crowded, dirty - especially toilet facilities - and bad food options.

[Coral]

Some cruise lines require lawsuits to be filed in the state that their home office is.

 

I think your issue is with AON and not the cruise line. The cruise happened, you just were not on it. I would consider hiring an attorney to work with AON. That may be your best bet.

 

Personally - on international cruises, I fly in 3 days early. I can not fly anywhere direct and often have 3 legs on flights. The chances of me or my luggage missing a leg is huge. Even domestically for a conference I am flying in 2 days before the conference as opposed to one day. Flights are full these days and the chance of getting a seat on a later flight is easy.

 

On a side note - I have had better luck with insurance companies not named AON.

Edited Sunday at 04:27 PM by Coral