Has anyone had success with a refund from NCL?

[Asawi]

2 hours ago, Never cruise with NCL said:

 

Imagine this: You’re on a cruise, and due to a medical emergency or family situation, you have to leave the ship for a day or two..

 

2 hours ago, Never cruise with NCL said:

Think about it any of us could find ourselves in a situation where we're off the ship temporarily, 

 

Honestly, I would probably consider vacation over at that point and try to find my way home.

 

OK, if it was just something small that kept me from making all aboard time and the next port was reasonably accessible I might give it a go. Note, I said "next", not the one 4 ports away. Edit: If that was the case I would make sure to set up some sort of communication with the ship and port. That would be MY responsibility!

 

Edit again: Either way, this isn't what you did. You made a (bad) plan and in your head, because NCL allowed they assumed some sort of responsibility to make it work.

Edited August 20 by Asawi

[odie1024]

I had to stop reading as I get the feeling that you THINK you are entitled to a refund. Suck it up and move on. Next time do a land vacation.

[WickedRed]

The part that blows my mind is that someone thought this was a good idea.  In 10 cruises, have none of them missed ports or had an itinerary change? I'm at 16 cruises between 3 different lines and probably at 60/40 for changes.  60% have gone by with no changes.  40% have had a change either missed an island or big total route changes.  The big changes were discovered either at check in or while the ship as leaving port.  IF I were going to try something like the I'd rejoin the ship at an embarkation port.  Those are much less likely to be missed. 

 

Chances are slim you'll find anyone who has tried this and a slimmer chance you'll find someone who tried, failed, and got a refund.  This seems like an at your own risk kind of idea.  I'm going to second someone else's advice to try Redit.  There are way more people there than here.  I'd try a generic cruise group and not NCL specific to reach a larger audience. 

[Ellis1138]

5 hours ago, Never cruise with NCL said:

 

Imagine this: You’re on a cruise, and due to a medical emergency or family situation, you have to leave the ship for a day or two. You’ve made arrangements with NCL, gotten the green light to rejoin the cruise at a specific port, and you’ve invested in the vacation. Now, what if something changes, like an itinerary update, and you’re not informed because you’re off the ship? How would that impact your experience?

NCL's responsibility to communicate changes shouldn’t be based on whether you’re physically on the ship at that moment it should be about keeping all passengers informed, especially when they’ve prearranged to reboard later. This is not just about us or this specific case; it’s about ensuring that cruise lines have protocols to keep everyone in the loop, even in exceptional circumstances.

Think about it any of us could find ourselves in a situation where we're off the ship temporarily, and wouldn’t we want to be notified of changes that could affect our return? It’s not about taking unnecessary risks it’s about expecting that the cruise line will fulfill its duty to keep us informed, no matter where we are.

 

---

 

I do imagine this every time I cruise. It's the exact reason I buy travel insurance. It's why I buy EXTRA medical evacuation insurance on cruises where we'll be far away from the mainland US or transatlantic, where I might have to be helicoptered.

I don't fully trust NCL. They usually send changes but not always and not always in a timely manner. That's why I check Cruisemapper to find out where the ports have my cruise ship scheduled. On my recent Prima cruise, I noticed a time discrepancy, weeks before the sailing. I marked it down with the idea that the port is correct and NCL was wrong. and planned our independent excursion based on the port website. During the sailing, the notice came to our cabin about the time change.

NCL has been famous in the news this past year, for "abandoning" their passengers at "remote" ports all over the world, so... no, I don't go into the cruise expecting NCL to make sure I'm on the ship and wait for me. 

When my husband and I left the ship to explore ports, I made sure we had our passports in zipped pockets, a small bag of any Rx or emergency meds, the contact info for the NCL port agent and the info for the US Embassy (in foreign ports),

I even had apps ready for when we did the Pride of America on Hawaii. If we had missed the boat, I would have had to fly us to another island.

 

I'm the kind of person that, had I been trying your itinerary, I would have already had a Plan B in place for NCL not being able to make Akureyri due to weather or port overcrowding. 

 

I'm sorry this happened to you. I can tell you outright that no one should expect NCL to take care of them, as far as leaving the ship on an independent excursion goes. They will not. They might give you Goodwill FCC. That's it. 

I don't know what cruise line does. Maybe Silversea if you buy their "door to door" package?

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, Never cruise with NCL said:

After all, customer care shouldn't stop just because we disembarked temporarily.

Perhaps it shouldn't stop, but the "customer care" of advising passengers on board a ship of changes to the current itinerary, does.

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, Never cruise with NCL said:

While it’s true that we weren’t on the ship, we were still paying customers for the entirety of our cruise.

Nope, you were not.  I can speak from experience on this point.  A few years ago my wife and I sailed on the Norwegian Getaway on a Trans Atlantic cruise from NYC to Southampton.  Four days after that cruise ended, we had plans to board a river cruise in Amsterdam to sail to Budapest.  So, how do we get from Southampton to Amsterdam within four days?  The options that came to mind were plane, train (through the Chunnel), and ferry.  Each of those would require nights in hotels, taxis, meals, repeated packing and unpacking, and other expenses and inconveniences. 

 

Then we noticed that our NCL ship was scheduled to depart on a ten day Baltic cruise the same day we arrived in Southampton.  It's itinerary included stops at Le Havre, Zebrugge, and Amsterdam on it's way to Copenhagen.  So, we emailed NCL's VP for Guest Services and asked if we could book the ten day cruise, but disembark at Amsterdam.  We figured that the cost would be similar to what we would pay for planes, trains, and automobiles (and hotels and restaurants), but that the convenience factor would make it worthwhile.  We received a written confirmation from the VP that we could do this, with specific instructions as to how we were to proceed..  Note that this authorization came from an NCL VP, not some reservations clerk.  Copies of that mandate also were forwarded to the ship, so everyone from the Captain down to our stateroom attendant knew what was happening. 

 

So, we paid for the ten day cruise and stayed onboard, but we exited the ship and CEASED TO BE PAYING CUSTOMERS after three days.  It didn't matter what our plans were after we disembarked at Amsterdam.  The fact is that when they closed our onboard account and scanned our key cards as we left the ship, we were on our own, and NCL no longer owed us any duty or responsibility as passengers.  Even if we had planned to rejoin the Getaway on its next cruise, NCL owed us no further duty until we again successfully boarded the ship.

 

I'm sorry that your vacation was negatively impacted and that you missed out on the second cruise, but as many others on this forum have advised, NCL does not owe you anything simply because you "missed the boat."  Instead of boarding the second cruise at the designated port of embarkation, you attempted to board subsequently at an intermediate port.  The fact that the ship skipped that port because of weather does not relieve you of your responsibility to get to the ship.  As others have stated, the fact that you were given permission to do this did not imply that NCL guaranteed that you would be able to do it.  Neither does the fact that customs regulations meant that you were not allowed to board in Greenland somehow shift the responsibility to NCL.  You missed your opportunity to board the ship for the second part of your planned B2B, and that is on you.  As others have said, travel insurance would have been a good idea for this trip.  You chose not to purchase it.  You chose to attempt a risky travel plan.  The responsibility falls entirely on you.

[The Traveling Man]

3 hours ago, WickedRed said:

In 10 cruises, have none of them missed ports or had an itinerary change? I'm at 16 cruises between 3 different lines and probably at 60/40 for changes.  60% have gone by with no changes.  40% have had a change either missed an island or big total route changes.  The big changes were discovered either at check in or while the ship as leaving port.

We have over 40 cruises on eight different cruise lines.  Long ago I gave up counting the number of changes in arrival or departure times or itinerary changes.  I expect that fewer than a handful made it to each port at the advertised time.  As they say, "Ya pays ya money and ya takes ya chances."

[graphicguy]

OP....I wish you the best.  As you can tell, the best advice we can give you is to not spend another minute of effort on this.

 

I've been on these boards for a while.  As soon as I think I've read it all, something like this crops up.

 

I have to say, this is the strangest, most convoluted, twisty, turny thread I've ever read.

 

For obvious reasons, there is no refund owed.  Don't know that I'd follow this as some sort of warning or Public Service Announcement.  Might be a cautionary tale about what NOT to do.

 

Best advice?  Don't ever try to do something even remotely like this ever again (if it's not clear by now).

 

[kitkat343]

10 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

OP....I wish you the best.  As you can tell, the best advice we can give you is to not spend another minute of effort on this.

 

I've been on these boards for a while.  As soon as I think I've read it all, something like this crops up.

 

I have to say, this is the strangest, most convoluted, twisty, turny thread I've ever read.

 

For obvious reasons, there is no refund owed.  Don't know that I'd follow this as some sort of warning or Public Service Announcement.  Might be a cautionary tale about what NOT to do.

 

Best advice?  Don't ever try to do something even remotely like this ever again (if it's not clear by now).

 

And anyone else considering this needs private trip insurance and to contact the insurance to confirm prior to final payment.  that you would have coverage if you miss the reboarding stop.  
 

i emailed my trip insurance when my flight was delayed due to hurricane debbie and they explained what my coverage would be if my flight were cancelled - they’d pay up to 1000 per person for us to meet or reboard the ship. And if you can’t get insurance to cover something like this please don’t try it. 

 

 

[bluesea777]

10 hours ago, julig22 said:

Hogwash. I have been on 20+ NCL cruises to date and I have NEVER received a text or email regarding changes to the itinerary once the ship has sailed. If they regularly communicated last minute changes to all passengers then you would have received that same communication.

Just exactly when were the changes to the itinerary made? Before the ship sailed or after the ship was underway? 

 

So true, and we've been on 30+ NCL cruises.

 

I saw in the roll call that the first port of call Grundarfjörður was dropped and substituted with Isafjordur at the time of embarkation, and then the next port of call Akureyri was dropped when the ship was in Isafjordur. 

 

 

[graphicguy]

I've had the Capt come over the intercom and announce itinerary changes.  I've also seen those changes reflected on the TV in my cabin. They've even had announcements posted on the big screen in the Atrium (which would be very hard to miss).  But, if you aren't on the ship to begin with (as in OP's case), S/He would never know of the changes because S/He didn't embark on the ship.

Edited August 21 by graphicguy

[detroitlions]

For one NCL and other cruise company's do not compensate you for things like they used to. 

I do not know why folks try to do risky or weird alterations to travel plans and freak out when they do not get away with it. very strange.

Insurance may not of even covered most of your costs anyhow since you altered your trip. 

[Buford T Justiice]

I think the OP should speak with an attorney.... drop $10k as a retainer and see where it leads.  In for a penny, in for a pound.

[ChiefMateJRK]

42 minutes ago, Buford T Justiice said:

I think the OP should speak with an attorney.... drop $10k as a retainer and see where it leads.  In for a penny, in for a pound.

That sounds like throwing good money after bad.  

[luv2kroooz]

On 8/20/2024 at 12:41 PM, The Traveling Man said:

We have over 40 cruises on eight different cruise lines.  Long ago I gave up counting the number of changes in arrival or departure times or itinerary changes.  I expect that fewer than a handful made it to each port at the advertised time.  As they say, "Ya pays ya money and ya takes ya chances."

Wow, that is really unfortunate luck. So thankful our experience also on over 40 cruises couldn't be more different. 

[Asawi]

34 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Wow, that is really unfortunate luck. So thankful our experience also on over 40 cruises couldn't be more different. 

It may depend on where in the world you're usually cruising. When it comes to northern Europe, the REAL north (like Greenland and Iceland) itinerary changes and missed ports are more rules than exceptions. 

[julig22]

17 minutes ago, Asawi said:

It may depend on where in the world you're usually cruising. When it comes to northern Europe, the REAL north (like Greenland and Iceland) itinerary changes and missed ports are more rules than exceptions. 

So true. I've been on the fence regarding a Greenland/Iceland cruise. I've been lucky so far going to Iceland, so it's Greenland that I'm hoping to see some day.

Other than a cancelled port in Mexico due to a hurricane, it wasn't until I went to Antarctica some 15 cruises later that I actually missed a port (Stanley) due to weather. Not to say that there weren't some pre-cruise itinerary changes along the way for obvious reasons (I had 2 different cruises scheduled to port in Russia). In many cases, other ports were substituted when the itinerary change was scheduled in advance of the cruise. Even with port changes during cruises the captain has often been able to find another port. 

[Asawi]

3 minutes ago, julig22 said:

So true. I've been on the fence regarding a Greenland/Iceland cruise. 

I will be doing my second cruise with Iceland stops in a few weeks. 

Both of them have had itinerary changes but nothing that have bothered me. Hoping for the best but the likelihood of a port being skipped is pretty high. I make sure to adjust plans and expectations so that it won't be a huge disappointment if it happens.

Edited August 21 by Asawi

[The Traveling Man]

31 minutes ago, Asawi said:

It may depend on where in the world you're usually cruising. When it comes to northern Europe, the REAL north (like Greenland and Iceland) itinerary changes and missed ports are more rules than exceptions. 

Many of our cruises have been in Europe, where changes in ports and schedules are commonplace, but our Trans Atlantic, Australian, and some of our North American cruises also have been subject to an itinerary change or two.  It usually is pretty minor, such as arriving late or leaving early at a port, but sometimes we have experienced radical itinerary changes.  We try to roll with the punches and have come to expect changes as the norm, not the exception.  For those who have not yet experienced hiccups in their travel plans, all I can say is just wait, it will come.

[Asawi]

1 minute ago, The Traveling Man said:

We try to roll with the punches and have come to expect changes as the norm, not the exception.  For those who have not yet experienced hiccups in their travel plans, all I can say is just wait, it will come.

Absolutely! I tell people that if a particular destination is very important to them, do a land trip there. Especially if it's a tender port. And learn to roll with the punches when cruising! 😁

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, luv2kroooz said:

Wow, that is really unfortunate luck. So thankful our experience also on over 40 cruises couldn't be more different. 

I have told this story on Cruise Critic previously, but my wife and I were on the Star in Australia when it was having problems with its propulsion system and was operating at about half speed, missing some ports and arriving late to others.  After leaving Melbourne one evening, we were awakened about 1:00 AM by the utter stillness of finding ourselves adrift in the Tasman Sea.  After being towed back to port, we spent several more days in Melbourne while the Azipods were being repaired.  We missed all of the intermediate ports in New Zealand, just barely making it to Auckland in time for some passengers to disembark and others to board for the next cruise.  Many who left the ship were visibly furious at missing all those ports.  We took it with a grain of salt, enjoyed the cruise as much as we could, and gladly accepted the compensation which NCL offered.  We went back the next year and finally got to visit those missed ports via a Jewel cruise.  When life gives you lemons...

[chengkp75]

On 8/19/2024 at 6:04 PM, Never cruise with NCL said:

While we were off the ship, we were still paying customers with a legitimate expectation to be kept informed about changes that directly impacted our ability to rejoin the cruise. NCL approved our plan to reembark in Akureyri, and this approval carried an implicit responsibility on NCL's part to communicate any changes to the itinerary that would affect our ability to reboard.

Here's the biggest misconception you have.  When you were off the ship, you were not still paying customers.  You did a downstream disembark from your first cruise.  Cruise over.  You had a second cruise booked, and you were given the okay to downstream board this cruise.  Until you reboarded, you were not a passenger of NCL's.  And, I can guarantee (yes, I have worked for NCL, about 16 years ago, in a shipboard capacity) that NCL told you that there was a possibility of them not making your requested re-embarkation port.  This is standard language, that has been used for these situation for decades. 

 

On 8/20/2024 at 4:04 AM, Never cruise with NCL said:

Can we agree that if you were on an excursion booked through the cruise line, you'd expect them to take care of you?

This is correct, but you were not on a ship sponsored excursion.  You keep saying that the cruise line has a responsibility to allow you to safely re-embark.  No, they don't.  Passengers who go ashore, and do not partake in a ship sponsored excursion (meaning they have no official contact between excursion provider and ship), and who miss the ship departing, are left on their own, as this was their decision.  It happens all the time.  Are they supposed to be texting every passenger every hour to make sure they know when to return to the ship?  And, as I've said, while a passenger is on a ship sponsored excursion, yes, they are still "paying customers", since they have no intention of leaving the ship at that port.  You, on the other hand, ended your first cruise early (whether you think of a B2B as one cruise, it isn't in the cruise line's view), and you were no longer a passenger, but a customer who had permission to join a second cruise late, and as I've said, this always has the caveat that you may not be able to join at the later port.

 

To answer your question directly, no one has had any success getting a refund in your situation, because you don't have any reason to get a refund.

[chengkp75]

On 8/20/2024 at 2:56 AM, Never cruise with NCL said:

While it’s true that we weren’t on the ship, we were still paying customers for the entirety of our cruise.

First off, you were booked on two cruises, not one.  One ended, and one began in Reykjavik.

 

Second, this is like saying "I got on a city bus, and paid the fare (which allows me to travel to any stop anywhere along the route, and re-enter the bus at any stop along the route), but I got off after two stops, walked around the corner, and got hit by a car.  Since I was "still a paying customer" of the bus line, they should be responsible for my medical bills.  SMH.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21 by chengkp75

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Asawi said:

I will be doing my second cruise with Iceland stops in a few weeks. 

Both of them have had itinerary changes but nothing that have bothered me. Hoping for the best but the likelihood of a port being skipped is pretty high. I make sure to adjust plans and expectations so that it won't be a huge disappointment if it happens.

Ship is skipping Grundarfjordur today - someone posted a video of the preliminary tender as it tried to go ashore - not something I would have wanted to be in! And with the weather forecast looking to get worse as the day progressed, the captain pulled the plug. People sometimes forget that the captain has to consider both the current conditions as well as later conditions. Not a good look to strand a ship full of passengers because the seas were too rough to return to the ship!

 

[luv2kroooz]

5 hours ago, Asawi said:

It may depend on where in the world you're usually cruising. When it comes to northern Europe, the REAL north (like Greenland and Iceland) itinerary changes and missed ports are more rules than exceptions. 

Well, of course, that would go without saying, no?  In our 40 plus cruises we've been from Hawaii to Atlantic Canada, to British Isles, to Med. We've sailed during hurricane season, etc. on and on