NCL Switched our Cabin assignment for June!

[Colson39]

I still dont' get why someone is blaming the cruise line when they admit not even checking their bill to see if the rooms were correct.

 

I am new to these forums, so I'm pretty subjective since I don't know any of you, but this whole thing just sounds fishy to me. There are always two sides to a story, and this is the problem with just getting one.

 

I still have seen you yet to admit that your TA would have had to have known about the change first, I've NEVER seen a cruise line just move people around without notifiying them or their TA first. Your TA might have been great in the past, but that doesn't mean they will never do any wrong. As Shoreguy has mentioned, I would seriously consider taking more action against your travel agency and stop trying to blame everything on NCL. If they really had totally been at fault, I seriously doubt there would have been this much of a problem. And for someone to say "Tell them to shut up" during a business call? Please.

 

Once again, I think there is much more to this story that is missing. I feel for you and what you are going through, as that is terrible that it already affecting your cruise.

 

But your attitude about "confronting" the people that are in your old rooms, when there is a 99% chance they never had any clue about what is going on, is juvenile and very uncalled for.

 

And I would seriously think twice about doing that. You never know what "kind" of people you would be confronting, and your cruise could become rather short-lived if you were to be thrown off of it, or even worse, turn it into something physical where someone gets hurt. I know that if confronted me or someone in my party in that way, I wouldn't let you get away with it.

[Mayhalf]

I really do not understand the mis-information.......3 or 4 days behind is absurd:rolleyes:

 

 

Can someone answer a huge question for me. Why does NCL continue to give mis-information like this? Is it because their reps are not trained what to say correctly. Is it because the reps don't have all the information they need or is it because they have been told to say whatever is necessary to make potentially bad situations go away?

 

I spoke with a couple of travel agents as the next step in my journey to select and book our family cruise for January. (kind of like interviewing them...) I asked each one about Princess, NCL, and RCL and also explained that I had been on here and what I heard about the lines. Two travel agents said all three were good lines and it depended on my personal likes and dislikes, but the third said that NCL was well known for giving misleading information in order to keep you and that sometimes the information was in error just so you could hear what you wanted to hear.

(By the way: two of the agents, when I mentioned CC, basically said: "then you are already well informed.")

 

I will continue to follow this interesting story as it develops further. What I can't understand though is why NCL is letting it drag on and continuing to say things that are just "absurd."

[seahorse]

Mayhalf............not sure where the mis-information came from........NCL, the TA, or..........;)

 

As a TA I never.....never take any person`s word for anything I don`t know without checking it twice or thrice. There are newbies out there that only guess at things:rolleyes:

[Cosmopolitan]

You can't make this stuff up ;)

 

3 or 4 days behind :eek:

 

I have been online and watched my cabin leave inventory right after I booked it. Both engines work off the same database.

 

What I learned back then was ever time anyone clicks on a cabin on the web it leaves inventory for 15 to 20 minutes.

 

There are no words for this fiasco....

Keystone good thing you are not a new poster or we would all be ?????'ing this story!

 

Once I book, I ALWAYS check the website to ensure that my cabin is no longer available.

And I continue to check every so often.

 

I also check my on-line registration to make sure my cabin number shows up correctly.

 

It has NEVER taken 3-4 days to leave inventory....leaves the same day! Actually, it is always gone as soon as I check:confused:

[KeystoneCruiser]

Cosmo, Shoreguy, Seahorse: I certainly knew that no booking program would operate 3-4 days behind, that would be a disaster. I just find that it is comical all of the blunders. Now, my TA did tell me that NCL is going to send my entire party..........COUPON BOOKS!! (yeah, yippee, what generosity.....) -- I'll bet they will be outdated...........lol

 

Mayhalf: I'm not sure why they give out misinformation but it is like your TA said, Cruise Critic is a great source of information for passengers and a great source of reviews for cruise lines. BUT, I also think Cruise Critic can have a downside for the cruise lines. Before Cruise Critic became popular, a story told by a Customer Service rep to a customer or at TA would probably be accepted, no questions asked. Now with CC however, when they make dumb comments (like the 3-4 day thing), there are knowledgeable people on here like Shoreguy (and MANY others) who know better because of their experiences. Sometimes I wonder if reps give misleading information and for many people who are not CC members, they believe them. Only a small percentage of those who cruise on NCL or any line for that matter are members, or even know of CC.

Let me give a more positive example: there is a recent thread where a future passenger is thanking the board for informaiton on upsells that neither she or her TA knew about. Without cruise critic, that cruiser may not have gotten such a great upgrade.

 

Colson: As I have said until I am blue in the face;) ;) , I (me, me, me) accept a large part of the blame. YES, I screwed up, my TA screwed up, BUT the whole problem started with NCL's move so they are to blame to.

As far as the cabins they moved us out of....they didn't move the member of our party who has an inside cabin....directly across the hall from where we were, so bumping into the people they moved in there is a very real possibility, but I thank you for your advice.

[Colson39]

".directly across the hall from where we were, so bumping into the people they moved in there is a very real possibility, but I thank you for your advice."

 

There is no problem with bumping into those people, but for you to make an issue out of it could result in one of 3 things.

 

1) They feel very sorry and apologize, and spend the rest of their cruise feeling crappy.

 

2) They confront you, at which point you confront them back, and one of you gets removed from the ship.

 

3) It turns into a physical altercation, at which point you probably both get removed from the ship.

 

I am not going to assume that any of the above three would happen, but there is a very good chance that one of them would. And none of them result in a good experience for everyone. I just hope that it wouldn't be number two or number three, because chances are that is how most people would react to a situation like this.

 

To assume that these people, who are getting into a non-VIP cabin, would be getting any kind of special treatment is beyond me. They probably are some decent working family that right now are very happy about being upgraded to a better class.

 

Until the time of the cruise when you confront them about it.

[KeystoneCruiser]

Cosmo, Shoreguy, Seahorse: I certainly knew that no booking program would operate 3-4 days behind, that would be a disaster. I just find that it is comical all of the blunders. Now, my TA did tell me that NCL is going to send my entire party..........COUPON BOOKS!! (yeah, yippee, what generosity.....) -- I'll bet they will be outdated...........lol

 

 

I really meant that as a joke, but my TA called today, she got the coupon books. She is sending them back. They are for NCL-America. ("valid on Pride of Aloha, Pride of America and the new Pride of Hawaii.") Too bad, I'm on the Dawn..... (This is just too funny)

[Zeno]

I really meant that as a joke, but my TA called today, she got the coupon books. She is sending them back. They are for NCL-America. ("valid on Pride of Aloha, Pride of America and the new Pride of Hawaii.") Too bad, I'm on the Dawn..... (This is just too funny)

 

Oh for goodness sake - now that really is pretty stupid (but you are right - also pretty funny). Let's hope they at least come up with coupons for the correct ship!

[calicruising]

I really meant that as a joke, but my TA called today, she got the coupon books. She is sending them back. They are for NCL-America. ("valid on Pride of Aloha, Pride of America and the new Pride of Hawaii.") Too bad, I'm on the Dawn..... (This is just too funny)

 

Hmmm.. that is a strange comment too. I am in possession of the "coupon books" and right on the front it says "ONBOARD CRUISE CERTIFICATES Good for amenities onm NCL ships" It does not say anything about any particular ship. Expires December 31, 2006.

I wonder what she got..

[KeystoneCruiser]

Hmmm.. that is a strange comment too. I am in possession of the "coupon books" and right on the front it says "ONBOARD CRUISE CERTIFICATES Good for amenities onm NCL ships" It does not say anything about any particular ship. Expires December 31, 2006.

I wonder what she got..

 

We got coupon books two years ago when we were on the POA and last year when we were on the Star. The NCL-A books have a picture of one of the NCL-America ships on it and are only valid on those ships whereas the main NCL coupon books have a pic of one of the International ships (Dawn, Star, Jewel, etc.) and are valid on all of the regular NCL ships.

 

I know it could be an honest mistake on the part of NCL and probably happens from time to time, but with everything going on, it is just too funny.

 

Btw: Armed with the info that Shoreguy and others have posted on here about the website being instantaneous (which I already figured anyhow, but now I have back-up), my TA is going to try one more time on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning to try and get us the upsell to the AB/AF connecting cabins that still show available. Although I am still upset about the whole ordeal, a move to these cabins with even a reasonable upsell price would be strongly considered!

[Another ship trip]

How genererous of NCL's idea of compensation is! An opportunity for you to spend more money on things you might have avoided with coupons!!

[chris209]

I can't figure out why you or your travel agent has had so much difficulty finding out if there is an AB/ Af combination available? It has been available and visible on the website consistently for the past 2 weeks (I know because I am booked in an AB and check websites just to see if there have been any price changes?) Just checked this am and it is still available. Shouldn't your TA know that the website is instantaneous- TA's also have access to booking sites that also show what is availabble in real time. This all seems to make no sense, and although you seem to want to say that NCL is trying to keep these cabins from you, it was cofirmed to me that there still is an AB left when I called to check prices. In fact, I could book it right now (and so could you !) if I liked. Obviously you could just pay the difference and book it immediately- I guess the hold-up is in negotiating the price you have to pay!

[KeystoneCruiser]

I can't figure out why you or your travel agent has had so much difficulty finding out if there is an AB/ Af combination available? It has been available and visible on the website consistently for the past 2 weeks (I know because I am booked in an AB and check websites just to see if there have been any price changes?) Just checked this am and it is still available. Shouldn't your TA know that the website is instantaneous- TA's also have access to booking sites that also show what is availabble in real time. This all seems to make no sense, and although you seem to want to say that NCL is trying to keep these cabins from you, it was cofirmed to me that there still is an AB left when I called to check prices. In fact, I could book it right now (and so could you !) if I liked. Obviously you could just pay the difference and book it immediately- I guess the hold-up is in negotiating the price you have to pay!

 

Chris: Everyone on here has said just that, the website is instanteous and we all keep looking at it. The problem is NCL keeps saying it is not available. I don't think they are trying to keep the cabin from us, I think they are afraid that we may want it for the same cost that we are already paying or for less and they don't want to confront that issue. At least give me a price and let us make a decision! (I will be honest, I would hope they would offer a reduced price to solve the mess they created.)

 

The problem with going ahead and booking ourselves now off the on line site is that we already have cabins and would not get our deposit back when we would cancel them for the new rooms. We are basically stuck going through NCL.

[sjbdtz]

Chris: Everyone on here has said just that, the website is instanteous and we all keep looking at it. The problem is NCL keeps saying it is not available. I don't think they are trying to keep the cabin from us, I think they are afraid that we may want it for the same cost that we are already paying or for less and they don't want to confront that issue. At least give me a price and let us make a decision! (I will be honest, I would hope they would offer a reduced price to solve the mess they created.)

 

The problem with going ahead and booking ourselves now off the on line site is that we already have cabins and would not get our deposit back when we would cancel them for the new rooms. We are basically stuck going through NCL.

 

Keystone...when your TA makes a reservation, you typically have 24 - 48 hours to provide a deposit.

 

Grab the AB/AF combo, and then call NCL and say...here they are...Rez #123456. Can you please give them to me, in exchange for the cabins I have over here.....etc.

 

That way they can't say they aren't available, you'll already have them booked!!!

[Mayhalf]

It appears to me that this whole situation could easily come to a happy ending for everyone very easily. When the TA calls NCL, they send the call to someone high enough up the ladder to deal with the situation. Then NCL simply moves this party into the open connecting rooms. Situation solved. Keystone gets their connecting rooms, there would be no reason to confont other cruisers, NCL ends up looking good, and this thread ends and people forget it happened.

 

Seems simple to me.

 

What are the coupons in these coupon books for and how do you get them.

[shoreguy]

It appears to me that this whole situation could easily come to a happy ending for everyone very easily. When the TA calls NCL, they send the call to someone high enough up the ladder to deal with the situation. .

 

Absolutely the key to resolving this.

 

KeystoneCruiser, try calling and asking to speak to Cathy Vazquez. Not sure she is still in the roll but last fall she was the center manager. She is the person Andy Stuart put in charge of resolving my booking problem on the Jewel. Your rooms were moved my reservation disappeared and there where no more:eek: I ended up back in the original cabin I had booked.

 

If you can't reach her a quick reasonable email begging for help to her or Andy may get this rolling. Usual email address like everyone at NCL first initial last name.

[KeystoneCruiser]

All right the update:

 

1.) We got the right coupon books and they are not out of date. Ooooo, I can get a 30% discount on a combo t-shirt package if I spend $50 or more in the gift shop and I can $25 in cash if I spend $250 or more on jewelry. (and don't forget the coupon for 25 free reward points when I sign up for a mastercard.....) In all fairness, the two for one coupon to the specialty restaurants and the photo shop coupons are nice.

 

2.) TA called and spoke to a Penny in Customer Service. Said its the nicest person she has spoken to at NCL. Asked about 11010 and 11012. Guess what....not available. (she is right 11012 is no longer showing available, but 11010 is still on the board.) But now 11512 just popped up and 11510 is still open. NCL said that perhaps some of those rooms would come open "closer to the cruise date" and we might be considered for the upgrade. (very tell tale comment right there....see how much money we can get for them.....) Just give me a price for crying out loud...(or at least remove the rooms from the inventory on the website to better hide the misinformation.)

 

3.) Got our documents. At least the NCL airfare is good and we have our seats together! We will get to NY mid morning which is good. (not all the members are happy about a 6:30 a.m. flight but I like to travel early....lol)

 

4.) I did pass the name that Shoreguy gave to me to the TA and on her next call, she will ask for her.

 

5.) As much as I want to, I am refraining from firing off a fiery letter to Colin Veitch. As so many have mentioned already on here, that would serve no purpose except put NCL's defenses up higher. He has had one letter from me (a very civil letter) for almost a month now and there has been no response, so another letter would do no good.

 

It is so entertaining however to hear the latest NCL story from the TA.:D :D :) :)

 

I will be gone this evening and during the day on Thursday, so it may be Friday before I can provide any more updates.

[cruisingfromMN]

I really do not understand the mis-information.......3 or 4 days behind is absurd:rolleyes:

 

When a specific cabin is clicked on in the system it has to go out of inventory. The main reason is that it is being "worked on" by you or the res agent....names etc. being entered. Can anyone imagine if it were not? It would be chaos.

 

I have seen the same thing Jim, if cabins are changed for some reason or canceled, it is pretty much instantaneous in the site.

 

This same scenario has happened to me as I was working with the upsell desk. They made the offer, I quickly got online to look at the location and boom, all of sudden the upsell contact is going "oh no, what happened to the penthouse, it disappeared". She didn't realize that I had it locked up. So, I "released it" and the two of us sat on the phone for about 20 minutes waiting for it to come back into inventory. When it did, she grabbed it and all was well.

[cruisingfromMN]

All right the update:

 

1.) We got the right coupon books and they are not out of date. Ooooo, I can get a 30% discount on a combo t-shirt package if I spend $50 or more in the gift shop and I can $25 in cash if I spend $250 or more on jewelry. (and don't forget the coupon for 25 free reward points when I sign up for a mastercard.....) In all fairness, the two for one coupon to the specialty restaurants and the photo shop coupons are nice.

 

2.) TA called and spoke to a Penny in Customer Service. Said its the nicest person she has spoken to at NCL. Asked about 11010 and 11012. Guess what....not available. (she is right 11012 is no longer showing available, but 11010 is still on the board.) But now 11512 just popped up and 11510 is still open. NCL said that perhaps some of those rooms would come open "closer to the cruise date" and we might be considered for the upgrade. (very tell tale comment right there....see how much money we can get for them.....) Just give me a price for crying out loud...(or at least remove the rooms from the inventory on the website to better hide the misinformation.)

 

3.) Got our documents. At least the NCL airfare is good and we have our seats together! We will get to NY mid morning which is good. (not all the members are happy about a 6:30 a.m. flight but I like to travel early....lol)

 

4.) I did pass the name that Shoreguy gave to me to the TA and on her next call, she will ask for her.

 

5.) As much as I want to, I am refraining from firing off a fiery letter to Colin Veitch. As so many have mentioned already on here, that would serve no purpose except put NCL's defenses up higher. He has had one letter from me (a very civil letter) for almost a month now and there has been no response, so another letter would do no good.

 

It is so entertaining however to hear the latest NCL story from the TA.:D :D :) :)

 

I will be gone this evening and during the day on Thursday, so it may be Friday before I can provide any more updates.

 

Oh my, I'm just hoping for this to get resolved for you and in all honesty for the rest of us too. Having an AB I also believe will allow you to go and enjoy the vacation with positive thoughts and not dwell on the problems that you've encountered. Plus, I do hope that you don't confront the other cruisers in the original rooms. Something that would be acceptable if you happen to run into them in the hallway... "hi, my name is xxx, and I was just curious. I was booked for your rooms and was somehow bumped, when did you book and was it directly with NCL?" This would open the dialogue at least in a non-confrontational manner. My guess is that they had no clue what happened to you.

 

Anyway, I'll look forward to your next update. And do take Shoreguys advice. Every piece of info he's ever given me has worked!

[Mayhalf]

It appears to me that this whole situation could easily come to a happy ending for everyone very easily. When the TA calls NCL, they send the call to someone high enough up the ladder to deal with the situation.

Seems simple to me.

 

What are the coupons in these coupon books for and how do you get them.

 

I am believing to believe that nothing is ever easy or simple with NCL. You would think an officer over there would get involved. This is not helping my impression of NCL.

 

But onto a more positive note, what are all the coupons in the book for and can anyone get one?

[newmexicoNita]

Can someone answer a huge question for me. Why does NCL continue to give mis-information like this? Is it because their reps are not trained what to say correctly. Is it because the reps don't have all the information they need or is it because they have been told to say whatever is necessary to make potentially bad situations go away?

 

I spoke with a couple of travel agents as the next step in my journey to select and book our family cruise for January. (kind of like interviewing them...) I asked each one about Princess, NCL, and RCL and also explained that I had been on here and what I heard about the lines. Two travel agents said all three were good lines and it depended on my personal likes and dislikes, but the third said that NCL was well known for giving misleading information in order to keep you and that sometimes the information was in error just so you could hear what you wanted to hear.

(By the way: two of the agents, when I mentioned CC, basically said: "then you are already well informed.")

 

I will continue to follow this interesting story as it develops further. What I can't understand though is why NCL is letting it drag on and continuing to say things that are just "absurd."

The two who gave you the information about all 3 being good lines and it depends on what you are looking for are professsion and doing their job: the third one is extremely unprofessional, I would never deal with someone who made a statement like that. I have had a very bad customer service problem with a particular line and hesitate, myself to cruise them for that reason: I would never push this view off on a client if they said they were thinking of A,B or C lines. My experience is not that of everyone's. On the oppisite side, I have yet, in 7 years of being an agent had a problem with NCL, but that doesn't mean others haven't. All companies are suffering in the customer service dept right now. Heck, we are trying to get new french doors and a couple of windows put in: either we get stood up or they come and measure but forget to call the supplier with the information. We called Home Depot yesterday to find out what was going on: our salesman is no longer with the company, they can't find the order and the installer hasn't gotten back to them with the measurements. This is the 3rd company we have tried in the past 2 months. BTW, back to this soap opera, we are hearing one side of the story only. NMNita

[AnneNchris]

BTW, back to this soap opera, we are hearing one side of the story only. NMNita

 

I agree and I also feel that there are three sides to every story...theirs, yours, and the truth. I have not posted in this thread as of yet because truthfully, I am a little overwhelmed with all of the bizarre information. I fully understand that a crib will not fit in certain rooms...a 1 year old needs a crib....I understand that the OP was so so looking forward to connecting rooms...but the crib will not fit...saying that I also must say one word...VACATION...it is not as if NCL is out to get this family and split them up so they cannot have a vacation together. I am by no means "flaming" at this post; however, I am amazed at how such a thing has become such a large deal...my last thought...and soley my opinion here, but...when we cruisers have our rooms changed because of an upgrade we brag and boast and celebrate...but as soon as NCL changes something becasue of the laws of physics...we want to change physics (the crib will not fit)....

I really do hope you enjoy your vacation!!!!

[chris209]

Agree with the above- I think the original message got lost in all the debate- they were moved because the crib won't fit and is not allowed in that particular cabin (mistake was in the TA or OP not letting NCL know that one of the children requires a crib when the booking was first made). If NCL were to give them a deal on the AB/connecting AF then that would be very nice but to me, it does not seem that NCL has really done anything wrong- I am sure that if they wanted a suite and wanted to pay the difference NCL would have been happy to put them in a suite!

[newmexicoNita]

Agree with the above- I think the original message got lost in all the debate- they were moved because the crib won't fit and is not allowed in that particular cabin (mistake was in the TA or OP not letting NCL know that one of the children requires a crib when the booking was first made). If NCL were to give them a deal on the AB/connecting AF then that would be very nice but to me, it does not seem that NCL has really done anything wrong- I am sure that if they wanted a suite and wanted to pay the difference NCL would have been happy to put them in a suite!

Makes sense to me: I had a similar situation last fall, but I informed NCL the clients needed a crib thus their choices of cabins certainly did go down hill. Grandma was paying for 4 cabins: nice grandma, but she wasn't happy with the prices; she insisted on balconies. Not being my easies client anyway I had to try and explain why her sister got a balcony cabin for less money. Sister booked with another agent: the difference was on the deck sister was booked on: I couldn't get any balcony cabins for my client on the lower deck that would hold 3 persons plus the baby crib. Eventually, after almost loosing the sale the client realized what I was trying to explain to her. So often we forget what seems like a little detail in the beginning, but that little thing can become a big thing. NMNita

[KeystoneCruiser]

Agree with the above- I think the original message got lost in all the debate- they were moved because the crib won't fit and is not allowed in that particular cabin (mistake was in the TA or OP not letting NCL know that one of the children requires a crib when the booking was first made). If NCL were to give them a deal on the AB/connecting AF then that would be very nice but to me, it does not seem that NCL has really done anything wrong- I am sure that if they wanted a suite and wanted to pay the difference NCL would have been happy to put them in a suite!

 

Chris & Anne&Chris: Let me clear up some facts for you as you are running stories together.

 

1.) We originally were in two connecting AF cabins. Have a statement with rooms numberers on it. My sister in laws sister and husband booked the interior cabin directly across the hall.

2.) During the winter they twice told my sister in law they had to move due to first, it not being a four person room and then second due to the crib. I bought the crib story and to solve the problem, we moved my nephew into our connecting cabin to solve the crib problem. The crib issue has nothing to do with this problem, I just put it in to show NCL trying to get us to move. (oh and by the way, the crib WAS requested and appeared on the orginal statement, thank you.)

3.) Sometime between October and April, they moved both of us from the connecting cabins to two other AF's a couple of doors down. (just not connecting.) That is where both the TA and I made a mistake....we didn't check the statement and the room number before making final payment.

4.) Basically, NCL moved us without informing us or asking us.

 

Now, if you read all of my posts, I have continued to state that We have not been asking for the AB/AF connecting rooms for free. (that was suggested by others who have posted). I have said many times on here, I would simply like to get a quote from NCL as to the price of the AB/AF to see if we might consider moving up in order to get the connecting cabins. If they would just give us a price quote and we decide not to take the cabins, then I would have been satisfied. But every time the TA calls them, one of the several connecting rooms is not available, but when you check the website, they are still there. That is when the comment came from NCL about the website being 3 days behind. Leads to alot of questions about NCL's truthfulness in dealing with the public. I am not sure why they won't give us a quote unless they think we are going to ask for a free upgrade. I will admit, it would be nice, but I am not unrealistic enough to believe that would happen since it is several catagory upgrade.

 

By the way, it now it appears to a moot issue, for some reason almost all catagories including AB's have been pulled from the website. Its funny though that the catagories completely disappeared, when other cataogies are full (click on AC for example), the error screen pops up to tell you that the catagory is sold out. ("no more availability-ship") Funny how they pulled some of the catagories completely.