Guest Denied boarding due to being oversold - NCL Breakaway

[SirTomster]

11 minutes ago, hallux said:

They didn't get JUST a full refund, they also got a 100% FCC

And they took a vacation from work, and flew to Florida, and paid for a night stay before the cruise, and had a meal or two.

 

To just show up after being told that they will have a room, and then being told that they lied to him.

 

Yeah, this should be a PR nightmare for Norwegian.  Any time a cruise line does that to anyone, they deserve to be roasted so that the cruise line will NEVER do it again.

 

I can see overbookings, you read about it.  Weeks before the cruise, people are offered refunds and FCC to move to another date.  Cruise lines can add up the number of people and the rooms needed vs the rooms they have and determine if they have too many people vs rooms and do something.

 

But they chose to lie and inform him that they will have a room until the last second.

 

Yeah, this needs to be spread far and wide to ensure cruise lines understand the consequences.  

 

 

[Menocchio]

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

On the Breakaway now. I saw this person posted on the other social media website for this specific cruise and about getting a great solo deal to sail last minute a few days before sail date at under $600 total for an inside guarantee after the cruise had been sold out for several weeks. Yes, it was booked a few days before departure.  
 

It’s easy for NCL to provide a full refund plus 100% FCC when the fare is only $600. 
 

 

 

And just to spell it out, this is suggestive that NCL specifically chose the passenger with the cheapest fare so a refund+FCC is... still pretty cheap.

 

And getting a last minute cruise also usually means getting a last minute flight. And airlines really aren't about those late breaking deals. It's very easy to imagine him paying out $600 again for airfare and a hotel. 

[lepidoptera]

8 minutes ago, Menocchio said:

And just to spell it out, this is suggestive that NCL specifically chose the passenger with the cheapest fare so a refund+FCC is... still pretty cheap.

 

And getting a last minute cruise also usually means getting a last minute flight. And airlines really aren't about those late breaking deals. It's very easy to imagine him paying out $600 again for airfare and a hotel. 

I saw the thread before it disappeared on Reddit. The OP was saying in a comment he was out about $1800, if I remember correctly. Some it sounded like it was things that would get refunded-thermal spa-but hotels and flights were expensive with it being a holiday weekend. 

 

Personally, I would not be happy. I feel like NCL should have covered hotel/ air fare as well. Maybe per contract they don’t have to but it seems miserly and bad PR to only refund his money and give him a FCC and act like they are being generous. I would be worried about it happening again if I rebooked but probably would not be booking with NCL for a long time if ever, so the FCC doesn’t begin to make you whole. 

[julig22]

38 minutes ago, Menocchio said:

And just to spell it out, this is suggestive that NCL specifically chose the passenger with the cheapest fare so a refund+FCC is... still pretty cheap.

Or they chose to bump the last person to book the last cabin, which happened to be a cheap inside.

[zqvol]

32 minutes ago, lepidoptera said:

I saw the thread before it disappeared on Reddit. The OP was saying in a comment he was out about $1800, if I remember correctly. Some it sounded like it was things that would get refunded-thermal spa-but hotels and flights were expensive with it being a holiday weekend. 

 

Personally, I would not be happy. I feel like NCL should have covered hotel/ air fare as well. Maybe per contract they don’t have to but it seems miserly and bad PR to only refund his money and give him a FCC and act like they are being generous. I would be worried about it happening again if I rebooked but probably would not be booking with NCL for a long time if ever, so the FCC doesn’t begin to make you whole. 

He’s getting everything he paid to NCL back. The $1800 included all the taxes, gratuities, FAS upgrade, spa pass, etc. all of which is refunded to anyone who doesn’t sail. 
 

what you should do is book more than 6 days before your cruise and don’t book if you can’t get a cabin assigned. 
 

Lengthy discussions still exists on other social media sites. 

Edited May 28 by zqvol

[Menocchio]

30 minutes ago, lepidoptera said:

I saw the thread before it disappeared on Reddit. The OP was saying in a comment he was out about $1800, if I remember correctly. Some it sounded like it was things that would get refunded-thermal spa-but hotels and flights were expensive with it being a holiday weekend. 

 

Personally, I would not be happy. I feel like NCL should have covered hotel/ air fare as well. Maybe per contract they don’t have to but it seems miserly and bad PR to only refund his money and give him a FCC and act like they are being generous. I would be worried about it happening again if I rebooked but probably would not be booking with NCL for a long time if ever, so the FCC doesn’t begin to make you whole. 

Oh man, I forgot what day it is. 

 

Coincidentally, I just bought travel insurance today. For an NCL cruise, no less. I don't think it covers this, and I didn't buy a rock-bottom plan. It looks like if I got the flight out, the night in a hotel, and the flight back home that I paid for and NCL refunded everything else, then as far as the insurer is concerned I'm square. Maybe I could get any extra expenses I gained changing my flight home, but even that seems a little iffy. I mean, I'd still try to file a claim, but I wouldn't be optimistic. 

 

And I somehow doubt the guy bought a bargain cruise and gold-plated insurance. 

[Redtravel]

When I was younger, I often booked gty.  Never had a problem. Always ended up in a decent cabin. It was usually in the booked category.  Got a few nice upgrades.  On one cruise , got assigned and reassigned 3 times.  As the cruise came closer, the cabin assignments got better.  I know people who booked gty and got awful cabins.  Guess we were lucky.

Problems can exist even with numbered cabins.  Many years ago, I booked a cruise, not NCL, with a cabin number.  When the invoice came for final payment, I noticed that the cabin number had been changed. Called TA thinking it was just a mistake. It wasn’t.  The cruise line had reassigned my midship cabin and assigned a cabin in the bow. That was not acceptable.  TA blamed cruise line and cruise line blamed the TA.  The real reason was that the TA delayed posting our deposit. That was back in the day when I paid by check. By the time she did post deposit, our selected cabin wasn’t available. Without informing us, she selected another cabin.  We canceled the cruise and never used that TA again.  We did book a replacement cruise on different line.  After that experience, after I book , I call the cruise line to verify all the details. Always use a credit card for all payments. 

[hallux]

10 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

right, which ain't ish

I can't argue that it doesn't cover expenses incurred to get to/from the port for a cruise they didn't get to take, but it's more than JUST a refund as your post that I quoted made it seem.

[dbrown84]

5 minutes ago, hallux said:

I can't argue that it doesn't cover expenses incurred to get to/from the port for a cruise they didn't get to take, but it's more than JUST a refund as your post that I quoted made it seem.

Actually, it's not.  Move on 

[dbrown84]

11 minutes ago, hallux said:

I can't argue that it doesn't cover expenses incurred to get to/from the port for a cruise they didn't get to take, but it's more than JUST a refund as your post that I quoted made it seem.

And I challenge you to find where I said it was JUST a refund 

[G-DawgMN]

16 hours ago, SirTomster said:

I was on Reddit and saw a post in r/cruise from someone who was to be on the Breakaway yesterday.

 

But was denied boarding due to being oversold.

 

He has a GTY Inside cabin and was not assigned a room.  Flew to Florida after confirming he would have a room.  He arrived at the port and was told there was no room.

 

100% refund and 100% Future Cruise Credit.  No mention of the flights and hotel.

 

I do not know the person, I just saw the post and thought I should post here as an FYI. 

 

Post here   I cannot say if the post is legit or not.  Someone else who knows NCL can check out the letter posted.

 

 

 I'm starting the question the legitimacy of the post, it's been deleted on Reddit by the author, and I also saw that same post on Facebook, and it's seems to be deleted also.

 

  But if it was true, besides the full refund/FCC I would have been asking for reimbursement of my flights/hotel/food.

 

 

[jrt.mom]

10 hours ago, lepidoptera said:

 

 

Personally, I would not be happy. I feel like NCL should have covered hotel/ air fare as well.  

I wonder if you used NCL air would they refund the cost of your airfare also? If so, this would be a good reason to use it.

[schmoopie17]

11 hours ago, SirTomster said:

And they took a vacation from work, and flew to Florida, and paid for a night stay before the cruise, and had a meal or two.

 

Plus, they probably checked their luggage with the porters before finding out they were bumped.

I'd like to know how long it took to locate their luggage and get it back...or if they even did.

[hallux]

13 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

For NCL is just think a full refund is enough is ridiculous

This sentence structure is a little odd, but it seems like that's what you're saying, referencing this:

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

And I challenge you to find where I said it was JUST a refund 

 

As for this:

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

Actually, it's not.  Move on 

It IS more than a refund, per the first post the person is getting full refund AND 100% FCC.  That tells me that 200% of their fare was given to them in some manner.  That's more than a refund in my opinion.

[G-DawgMN]

5 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Plus, they probably checked their luggage with the porters before finding out they were bumped.

I'd like to know how long it took to locate their luggage and get it back...or if they even did.

 

 I saw the person involved post on a different social media platform and while they complained that NCL wouldn't do anything like get them a taxi to the airport, they never said anything about having issues getting their luggage.

  If this whole ordeal is true I have sympathy for the person, but it just seems weird that all their posts about this have been deleted. And for sure the reddit one was deleted by them, so it wasn't something done by big tech in that case.

 

 

Edited May 28 by G-DawgMN

[mjkacmom]

14 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

This is horrible!  I really hope this person is local to Fl (or at least drove to the port) and is retired.  Otherwise, they have to get a hotel or get a last minute flight.  then there is the wasted vacation time at work.  For NCL is just think a full refund is enough is ridiculous.  Not like they had a choice in the matter.  Maybe a 2 BDRM haven suite with first class round trip flights and transportation to/from the port could at least showed they cared.  Not saying that would have made up for this, but at least it would look like they cared 

The OP said that a flight and hotel were needed, they received a full refund and a FCC for another cruise. Did you not read it?

[KKB]

17 hours ago, SirTomster said:

I was on Reddit and saw a post in r/cruise from someone who was to be on the Breakaway yesterday.

 

But was denied boarding due to being oversold.

 

He has a GTY Inside cabin and was not assigned a room.  Flew to Florida after confirming he would have a room.  He arrived at the port and was told there was no room.

 

100% refund and 100% Future Cruise Credit.  No mention of the flights and hotel.

 

I do not know the person, I just saw the post and thought I should post here as an FYI. 

 

Post here   I cannot say if the post is legit or not.  Someone else who knows NCL can check out the letter posted.

 

Ships are like airlines--they use algorithms to determine how much they can overbook (if bookings come to that) to maximize profits.

 

Most of the times 2 things happen:

1--they do not get overbooked

2--They get overbooked but they incentivize people to cancel or change their reservation: we met a couple on Princess who was offered to move from a 7 to a 10 day cruise departing the same day, giving them a suite (they had a balcony) & $1000 OBC. They refused as they were traveling with another couple (uh, ask for a similar deal for them & both couples move!)

Nearly always they will find SOMEONE willing to take the incentive to change.

 

BUT occasionally they don't find someone...and yes, those guarantee bookings are the ones at risk. They got a better deal--at a tiny risk.

[roddy good boy]

31 minutes ago, hallux said:

This sentence structure is a little odd, but it seems like that's what you're saying, referencing this:

 

As for this:

It IS more than a refund, per the first post the person is getting full refund AND 100% FCC.  That tells me that 200% of their fare was given to them in some manner.  That's more than a refund in my opinion.

In the words of Elsa, “Let it go!”  🤦🏻‍♀️

[lepidoptera]

56 minutes ago, jrt.mom said:

I wonder if you used NCL air would they refund the cost of your airfare also? If so, this would be a good reason to use it.

Good question. I feel like they might? I feel like I have seen NCL rebooking people who had airfare through them when they were delayed getting into port. 

[Laszlo]

17 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Perhaps I have a different understanding of the meaning of the word "guaranteed."

Its the same guarantee for a car rental or hotel room Lol

[BirdTravels]

Stuff happens. And it sucks when it happens. All sectors of the travel industry tries to keep fully booked. Airlines, hotels, car rentals, and yes,,, cruise lines overbook. All have a statistical estimates on the number of no-shows they can expect. And 99.99% of the time, it works out fine. But, in the exception, someone gets left behind. It sucks. 

 

Back in the day, I used to do statistical analysis for an airline (old school/manual AI). And some flights had as much as 25% no shows and based on the analysis, we would recommend an overbook level by flight, by day. 

 

Our experience with NCL is that they are very reasonable and accommodating when stuff happens,,, if you work with them professionally and respectfully. If you go in there with guns a-blazing and social media extortion going, you'll get the bare minimum that the cruise contract requires. We've got nights at a Conrad hotels, $1000+/pp fare bumps for first class tickets to Europe, $300 taxi rides all reimbursed,,, all above the minimum "advertised" compensation. We never had to file a travel insurance claim because NCL reimbursed us for all of our expenses resulting from their changes. 

[erisajd]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

Plus, they probably checked their luggage with the porters before finding out they were bumped.

I'd like to know how long it took to locate their luggage and get it back...or if they even did.

Gotta wonder how they checked their bags with the porters without a cabin assignment?  How do the porters know where to send the bags?  

[Kortehgehn]

3 hours ago, G-DawgMN said:

 I'm starting the question the legitimacy of the post, it's been deleted on Reddit by the author, and I also saw that same post on Facebook, and it's seems to be deleted also.

It is possible that if the passenger contacted NCL regarding their other incurred expenses, and if they were offered additional compensation, a requirement of the agreement may include a stipulation that they take down all online posts about the incident.

Edited May 28 by Kortehgehn

[roddy good boy]

1 minute ago, Kortehgehn said:

It is possible that if the passenger contacted NCL regarding their other incurred expenses, and if they offered additional compensation, a requirement of the agreement may include a stipulation that they take down all online posts about the incident.

My thoughts exactly. Retired attorney here!🤣 It could be part of a settlement.

[thistimeplease]

20 minutes ago, Kortehgehn said:

It is possible that if the passenger contacted NCL regarding their other incurred expenses, and if they were offered additional compensation, a requirement of the agreement may include a stipulation that they take down all online posts about the incident.

 

This is exactly what I think happened.