NCL is not being honest

[mad as heck]

This is this is the second time NCL has changed the ports a cruise will visit.  Last time they cancelled a stop in Matzatlian so we spent more time at sea than in port. This time they changed 4 out of 8 ports sending us back to ports NCL goes to all the time.  Now, I will loose 1200 dollars.  they changed all these ports after final payment was due.  How can they do that?  I can understand changes due to weather, but this????   I thin it is a case of bait and switch.  Is there anything a potential passenger can do?

[schmoopie17]

You must be new around here. (Actually, I see this is your first post...welcome).

 

This is an ongoing saga with NCL...there is another active thread on this very subject...(sounds like the same cruise you're on) as well as dozens of others in the recent future. While it sucks when they do this, it isn't the first time, nor will it be the last.

 

At least you can take solace that you're not alone.

 

Edited Thursday at 02:17 PM by schmoopie17

[hallux]

9 minutes ago, mad as heck said:

I thin it is a case of bait and switch

Seems you're talking about the same cruise as this post is talking about, and used a phrase they used in the post title - 

 

[commodoredave]

These types of port changes happen too often, but not just with NCL. While some things are genuinely beyond the operational control of the cruise line, other changes might not be. Better communication would go a long way.

[mad as heck]

that's not the point.  NCL is misleading their customers.  We book a cruise based on the ports to visit; we get excited and then NCL changes the itinerary right after the last payment is due.  totally unfair!!!

[IAcruising]

1 hour ago, mad as heck said:

 We book a cruise based on the ports to visit;

 

As do many, but any given port is a crapshoot. That said, NCL is sucking quite hard regarding this at the moment.

 

[DorothyB]

2 hours ago, mad as heck said:

that's not the point.  NCL is misleading their customers.  We book a cruise based on the ports to visit; we get excited and then NCL changes the itinerary right after the last payment is due.  totally unfair!!!

Exactly - and NCL does it very, very frequently.  That is why I cancelled my Feb cruise and rebooked in Nov w/ MSC

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 hours ago, mad as heck said:

Is there anything a potential passenger can do?

Unfortunately, the answer appears to be "stop booking on NCL."  The recent track record is disturbing.  I'm dubious that they had legitimate reasons for cancelling those four ports (i.e. unable to dock, civil unrest, etc.), which leads me (and I'm sure many others) to assume it's to save $$$.  The pandemic is over and debt is being retired.  NCL should again have the "luxury" of placing long term customer satisfaction/loyalty over short term favorable shareholder reports.    OTOH, maybe they've decided that the long-term repeat customer is not very important to long-term financial performance.  That could be true.  I once knew a guy who helped negotiate supplier agreements for a major automaker.  It was all about price.  The supplier would eat the costs of crappy warranty replacement parts and the automaker would pay their dealers 50 cents on the dollar for installation labor.  That automaker went bankrupt and I quit buying their cars after too many quality/reliability issues.  Now I buy only Toyota.  NCL isn't the Toyota of cruise lines.  It appears to be heading more in the Yugo direction.... 💩

 

All that said, I'm in the minority here who mainly values the on-board experience and has little interest in which port we're stopping at.  In many cases, I just want long port times so that the ship is peaceful and uncrowded while I lounge on board.  I have great memories of lounging away the hours in the OL while docked in Juneau.  The views are great and the service is unbeatable.  

[DorothyB]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

 

All that said, I'm in the minority here who mainly values the on-board experience and has little interest in which port we're stopping at.  In many cases, I just want long port times so that the ship is peaceful and uncrowded while I lounge on board.  I have great memories of lounging away the hours in the OL while docked in Juneau.  The views are great and the service is unbeatable.  

I do value the on board experience more than the ports and have stayed on the ship sometimes during port days - but I also don't like their practices.

[JSar]

14 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

I think the OP's meaning is that he has now paid for a cruise he would never have chosen because it bears NO resemblance to the itinerary he booked.  I would think any reasonable person would agree that his feelings about that are valid.  Of course he will go on his butchered vacation and try to enjoy himself because he has no choice being past final payment.

Yep... I was annoyed that they dropped ONE port on my upcoming cruise... but it was just ONE port. I can adapt to a minor change like that, and they did give us more port time at several other ports in exchange. I embraced this change and just looked at ways to get what I was missing at other ports that I will be visiting.

 

Changing HALF of the ports of call? I would be pissed. Especially since I think this is the same cruise that someone else said all of the dropped ports were the uncommon ports of call, and they were exchanged with very common ports of call that you can get on many other cruise offerings. 

[mad as heck]

On 10/3/2024 at 10:20 AM, hallux said:

Seems you're talking about the same cruise as this post is talking about, and used a phrase they used in the post title - 

 

 

[mad as heck]

As of last night the original cruise was still being promoted on Cruise Critic without the changes.  Maybe they didn't tell Cruise critic of the changes.

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, mad as heck said:

As of last night the original cruise was still being promoted on Cruise Critic without the changes.  Maybe they didn't tell Cruise critic of the changes.

Where on Cruise Critic are they "promoting" specific cruises?

[New2cruise2022]

I agree with @ChiefMateJRK  — the only thing you can do is choose a different cruise line in the future. I think ports do get cancelled and adjusted on ALL cruise lines, but based on my unscientific observations across the different boards here on CC, NCL seems to have more posts about cancellations. 

[Oxo]

On 10/3/2024 at 10:10 AM, mad as heck said:

This is this is the second time NCL has changed the ports a cruise will visit.  Last time they cancelled a stop in Matzatlian so we spent more time at sea than in port. This time they changed 4 out of 8 ports sending us back to ports NCL goes to all the time.  Now, I will loose 1200 dollars.  they changed all these ports after final payment was due.  How can they do that?  I can understand changes due to weather, but this????   I thin it is a case of bait and switch.  Is there anything a potential passenger can do?

I know this will not help you. However, this is happening to all the Cruise Lines. Weather, ports reducing size and passengers allowed to port, etc.

This is something that does happen and regardless of Cruise Line, we are all upset. The only thing that we can do, is accept it as we all know that the lines have the option to change ports, or cancel the cruise as soon as we find out. 

 

[mad as heck]

17 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Where on Cruise Critic are they "promoting" specific cruises?

 

[mad as heck]

I clicked on Cruise Critic site for Panama Canal cruises and there it was. 15 days on the Jade going to St. Kitts, St Lucia, Trinadad & Tobago,and  St Croix, among others.  The boat is not going to these places on the cruise...stuck in St marten, St. Thomas and Totola.  Somebody should tell the website.

[ontheweb]

While it may be true that all cruise lines sometimes change ports, It does seem that NCL has a habit of informing passengers of the changes right after final payment is due. That seems to be the gist of many of the complaints.

[hallux]

9 hours ago, mad as heck said:

I clicked on Cruise Critic site for Panama Canal cruises and there it was.

NCL may not directly update that information.  That may be a CruiseCritic error.

 

By the way - when you quote a post you can reply in that same post, you don't have to submit the quote as a reply and then add another message with your content.