Are there any employees/officers of NCL that read these boards?

[fun4us2do]

Hi, I was curious to know if anyone at NCL actually is a member of Cruisecritic or possibly just peruses these boards to get a sense of the overall cruising experience shared by fellow cruisers? I hope to get some interesting responses!:D

 

Vince

[claudie]

Oh yes there are.

[Planer's Edge]

They are many reports of people, in different levels of NCL, keeping track of this and many other cruise message boards.

 

Klaus Lugameir (Hotel Director or Hotel Directors) has someone on his immediate staff that reads cruise boards and gives reports to him. Alex Forbes (Jewel Concierge) mentioned that he personally reads CC.

 

PE

[KeystoneCruiser]

Yes, according to many reports, people at NCL read these boards. They dont' really respond on here to anything but I have seen their work in action.

 

On the recent 40 Free cruises promotion, CC members pointed out problems with the registration form and within 2 days, the problems were corrected.

 

Many CC members posted in support of me last June when I was having a cabin assignment problem with NCL and I firmly believe that their support helped force NCL to solve the problem. (everything else had been tried without success, but within 4 days of the support postings on this board, NCL contacted my TA with a solution.)

 

Of course, NCL does not want their crew members on these boards. There was a very helpful crew member on the Pride of America a few weeks ago, who had been giving out great and helpful information about cruising NCL and in particular the POAm. He never said anything negative about NCL or the POAm and was a great resource for cruisers. NCL fired him and told him that he was being fired for posting on CC. (a greatful cruiser on the POAm had thanked him for his help on the Guest Comment card and that is how NCL found out his identity.)

 

I am really shocked however that NCL won't use these boards themselves. It could be an effective PR and Customer Service tool to answer questions and respond to problems that are brought up on these boards. I think NCL is "missing the boat" (pun intended...:D ) by not using CC to their advantage.

 

So these boards are a two edged sword for NCL.

[cruizinwithkids]

I am really shocked however that NCL won't use these boards themselves. It could be an effective PR and Customer Service tool to answer questions and respond to problems that are brought up on these boards. I think NCL is "missing the boat" (pun intended...:D ) by not using CC to their advantage.

 

But NCL would have no way of controlling who was legitimately an official "NCL responder" and who was just identifying themselves as one.

 

There are enough problems with different answers coming out of NCL without adding "fake" NCL's to the mix.

[shoreguy]

I am really shocked however that NCL won't use these boards themselves. It could be an effective PR and Customer Service tool to answer questions and respond to problems that are brought up on these boards. I think NCL is "missing the boat" (pun intended...:D ) by not using CC to their advantage.

 

So these boards are a two edged sword for NCL.

 

The have in the past. But as is so common here those threads turned into food fights and what was hoped to be effective PR turned to garbage.

 

You are right many folks at NCL on shore and at sea read the boards. There are few that drop in and post from time to time mostly when they are on vacation.

 

I don't think they are missing the boat. I think they take issues and reactions to changes here very seriously. A great data point for instant market feedback. We have all seen changes that directly impact the concerns discussed here. I think they have learned to stay out of petty bickering that is common on a message board and work the big issues off line.

[newmexicoNita]

Shoreguy has it down: yes, they read CC as well as other websites and yes, they take complaints as well as praises seriously, but if we expect everything to change we might as well keep dreaming. Certain things can be contolled, others not. I would guess the management pays more attention to the comment cards as they represent a higher precentage of the cruise population. NMnita

[Carolyn1950]

During our Cruise Critic meet and greet this past October, the Captain told us he reads Cruise Critic every day.. And the cruise director chimed in and said he reads here daily too..

[bsbobup]

I just came off the NCL Jewel 12'24/2006 and at our cruise critic meet & greet the captain and crew all said they review these boards on a regular basis when we asked them that question.

[fun4us2do]

Wow, I'm impressed with everyone's quick responses. Thank you! I suspected it was true when Captain Tommy on the Jewel half joked that they read the boards at our CC meeting. The meeting went well and the officers quickly returned to their posts leaving us to mingle amongst ourselves. It was definitely interesting putting names to faces. lol:D And Shoreguy, we took your advice from a previous thread(cruise rituals) and booked our next cruise while on board, plus made some new friends!:)

 

Thanks everyone

Vince

[Host CMLA]

I am really shocked however that NCL won't use these boards themselves. It could be an effective PR and Customer Service tool to answer questions and respond to problems that are brought up on these boards. I think NCL is "missing the boat" (pun intended...:D ) by not using CC to their advantage.

NCL employees have posted here in the past. I don't mean ship staff but Miami staff. Inevitably those threads have become horrible fights, etc. because board members use the board to attack the employee or pelt them with so many questions that it gets out of control. Contrary to what many believe, the cruise lines (all of them) have no stake in CC. If cruise line employees were able to use CC for communicating with passengers then this board would become NCL.com. It would be nothing but a dialog between passengers and Miami. If you came to this board to find out about restaurants onboard or square footage of a cabin, would you be happy to get that info from another member or would you seek out the NCL employee? It would make this type of forum useless.

 

I'm not making assumptions or saying things that everyone here doesn't know...some members (current and past) have a closer relationship with NCL and have been able to alert NCL of specific threads or problems (there have been recent examples) and they have proven beneficial to all NCL passengers, not just those here. To be clear, I don't think it's a bad thing that some people have a closer relationship with NCL. I think it can be a good thing when there are issues affecting so many people. So while NCL employees don't post here, there are ways that NCL stays informed of things that are posted here.

[VoyageVirgin]

.................Of course, NCL does not want their crew members on these boards. There was a very helpful crew member on the Pride of America a few weeks ago, who had been giving out great and helpful information about cruising NCL and in particular the POAm. He never said anything negative about NCL or the POAm and was a great resource for cruisers. NCL fired him and told him that he was being fired for posting on CC. (a greatful cruiser on the POAm had thanked him for his help on the Guest Comment card and that is how NCL found out his identity.).............

 

Probably true, but I followed the employee's posts (don't know if I can name him) and wasn't surprised that they knew who he was. He gave NCL all the info they could possibly need and more himself online. From his posts........(sorry for any typos, as I just cut and pasted)

 

• Dec 8 ........."Im glad you had a great time. Ill let the cook know he got a comment online . Im sure I saw you and your family because I work full time in the Aloha Cafe! Glad you had a great time.........."
  
• Dec 8..........."Im on the ship till aprilish.........."
  
• Dec 12........"My title is waiter but now I prep a place from night dinner to breakfast morning. Sorry for the lack of info on here but NCL reads these boards and I don't want to give up my idenity here. Email is totally different! I'm using this job to save up money for college in the fall and don't want anything to go wrong!........"
  
• Dec 14 ..........."I just booked a 19 day cruise from Texas to Dover on the Norwegian Dream. I have a few questions about repo cruises and transatlantic ones. If anyone did this before, are there lots of things to do during the day at sea? Also whats the general age group on these cruises? Im wondering if I will be one of the youngest? Im 19 and my friend coming with me is 22........"
  
• Dec 14........."So how many people are coming so far? and my name is James!......"
  
• Dec 15 ............. "I hope its ok that myself and my friend are pretty young. I'm 19 he's 24 but we both work for NCL as a waiter and bellperson and I have been reading cruise critic for a long time....."
  
• Dec 16 ....."the only reason why I dont post my email on here is because I dont want to give up my name because then I would be fired because the company does read these boards. Sorry I can post what i said in the email though......"
  
• Dec 17 ...."They do read them but dont do anything with them. The guest comment cards on the ship are the only thing that goes into the ratings of the ship........."
  
• Dec 17........."They do read them and listen to them and think about them but its just like what any company would do>>>Its pr but they only factor in the comment cards from one hundred percent known passengers intake..........."
  
• Dec 19 .............."Just want to give you a heads up that becuase I was posting on cruise critic the company "released me" today in the very kind way of giving me an hour to get off the ship. I will still do everything in my power to make sure I have the time off to still do this trip but things have changed! I will keep you updated........"

So NCL needed to find a 19 year old waiter in the Aloha Cafe named James who was working till April, was enrolled in college in the fall, had a 22 or 24 year old friend who was a bellperson, and had booked the 19 day cruise on the Dream. And they only had to research the staff of the POA.

 

No matter how you feel about NCL corporate, I think they could have put the clues together all by themselves.:) Whether he should have been fired or not, he certainly knew that he would be if caught. Hopefully whatever Jame's future career path may be, he will be more cautious.

 

G

[Planer's Edge]

Touche, VV

 

PE

[garycarla]

There are many reasons that companies do not allow posting by employees, just like they do not allow the regular employee to speak to the press. Agree or not, this is how big companies work.

 

I have seen boards here and elsewhere where employees post. The smarter ones will go to great lengths to make sure they do NOT give away their identity. They just post things as they see it and provide some good insider information that helps the regular traveler.

 

There was a guy on flyertalk.com on the Delta board that was very very helpful. He was not an official company spokesman, but he was able to resolve some issues and answer questions on a regular basis. Then Delta fired someone else one day and he opted to disappear for awhile. Worried about his job. Too bad for Delta because he was way more helpful than their customer service staff.

[mbisson]

Hi, I was curious to know if anyone at NCL actually is a member of Cruisecritic or possibly just peruses these boards to get a sense of the overall cruising experience shared by fellow cruisers? I hope to get some interesting responses!:D

 

Vince

 

I can say that I wasn't posting the "Monteisms" to the previous contest!

 

-Monte

[KeystoneCruiser]

But NCL would have no way of controlling who was legitimately an official "NCL responder" and who was just identifying themselves as one.

 

I agree, but if NCL could have an "official poster" on these boards. One that was known to all as the official voice of NCL, I think they could be much more effective in PR and Customer Service.

 

NCL could get a specific screen name and announce that name. Then they keep the password and access information to a select few who would be authorized to speak for the company.

[KeystoneCruiser]

Probably true, but I followed the employee's posts (don't know if I can name him) and wasn't surprised that they knew who he was. He gave NCL all the info they could possibly need and more himself online.

 

So NCL needed to find a 19 year old waiter in the Aloha Cafe named James who was working till April, was enrolled in college in the fall, had a 22 or 24 year old friend who was a bellperson, and had booked the 19 day cruise on the Dream. And they only had to research the staff of the POA.

 

No matter how you feel about NCL corporate, I think they could have put the clues together all by themselves.:) Whether he should have been fired or not, he certainly knew that he would be if caught. Hopefully whatever Jame's future career path may be, he will be more cautious.

 

G

 

James or OhioNCLCruiser was a great asset to NCL. He was giving helpful information, not company secrets or badmouthing the company.

 

I commend James for what he did and I applaud him for being so helpful. Its a shame that NCL does not have more employees with the dignity, helpfullness and integrity that he had.

 

Ignore VV, James.....in your future career path, be the same person you have been, you are the tops. (the moron who fired you for practicing your right of free speech however has no dignity or integrity.)

 

I certainly hope the ACLU investigation into your incident goes forward.

[crew mom]

Yes, they do read the boards and I am sure they pass on information to the proper people. I know I personally have passed on information I have read here and felt that it needed to be addressed. I have seen NCL employees post on the boards at various times over the years also (with-out losing their jobs, by the way).

 

However, the best way to communicate to NCL is directly to the corporate office or on your comment cards on-board ship. They read each and every one and they do pay attention to what is being said by the passengers. The crew is informed of their weekly ratings and issues to be addressed.

[crew mom]

Yes, they do read the boards and I am sure they pass on information to the proper people. I know I personally have passed on information I have read here and felt that it needed to be addressed. I have seen NCL employees post on the boards at various times over the years also (with-out losing their jobs, by the way).

 

However, the best way to communicate to NCL is directly to the corporate office or on your comment cards on-board ship. They read each and every one and they do pay attention to what is being said by the passengers. The crew is informed of their weekly ratings and issues to be addressed.

[Globaliser]

James or OhioNCLCruiser was a great asset to NCL. He was giving helpful information, not company secrets or badmouthing the company.

...

Ignore VV, James.....in your future career path, be the same person you have been, you are the tops. (the moron who fired you for practicing your right of free speech however has no dignity or integrity.)

 

I certainly hope the ACLU investigation into your incident goes forward.

I hope that OhioNCLCruiser learns something from both sides of this issue. Asset to the company he may have been, but it just doesn't wash when there's a non-communication rule. Companies are entitled to control what their employees say about them, and the employees' right to free speech is curtailed by the company's right - this issue arises on any number of Internet message boards.

 

But OhioNCLCruiser is still very young and I'm sure that with his attitude he has a good future ahead of him; with this experience under his belt, I'm sure that he will exercise his discretion more cautiously next time.

 

The CC member who managed to cause his downfall, however, was just downright naive.

[VoyageVirgin]

James or OhioNCLCruiser was a great asset to NCL. He was giving helpful information, not company secrets or badmouthing the company.

 

I commend James for what he did and I applaud him for being so helpful. Its a shame that NCL does not have more employees with the dignity, helpfullness and integrity that he had.

 

Ignore VV, James.....in your future career path, be the same person you have been, you are the tops. (the moron who fired you for practicing your right of free speech however has no dignity or integrity.)

 

I certainly hope the ACLU investigation into your incident goes forward.

 

So your advice is not to be cautious in the future? :confused: My post contained nothing but facts other than the advice to be cautious down the road. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but where has that got James?

 

I never got into the issue of whether or not he should have been posting or whether or not he should have been fired. I just pointed out that he knew ahead of time that he would lose his job if caught. I believe in free speech, yours mine and James. I also believe that there has to be some rules, even if I don't like them all.

 

So my advice again is to be cautious. Don't take that as the same thing as advising you to never speak out. I say cautious because should you ever want to work for a large corporation that does any kind of rudimentary background check, your name could come up. Companies these days are looking for "team players" and are absolutely terrified of industrial sabotage and "whistle blowers". I'm not saying that you are either of these, but a company might not feel comfortable with someone who has a history of speaking out publicly.

 

Never said James did a bad thing, but that he was careless. Of course my main concern was with his well being, and not just the First Amendment.

 

G

[DaisyL]

However, the best way to communicate to NCL is directly to the corporate office or on your comment cards on-board ship. They read each and every one and they do pay attention to what is being said by the passengers. The crew is informed of their weekly ratings and issues to be addressed.

I really don't think NCL does a very good job of addressing written complaints.

 

We had a complaint about an excursion taken on the PoAm in Oct. and immediately went to the excursion desk to complain. After speaking with the employee there, we were informed to fill out a complaint form; which we did immediately. We have not heard anything since!

 

In contrast, we filled out a complaint card once on a CCL cruise and they bent over backwards trying to understand and then rectify the situation, immediately while onboard the ship.

 

BTW, these were the only 2 complaints we ever filed while cruising. Obviously CCL takes it's complaints seriously and NCL does not.

[VoyageVirgin]

James or OhioNCLCruiser was a great asset to NCL. He was giving helpful information, not company secrets or badmouthing the company.

 

I commend James for what he did and I applaud him for being so helpful. Its a shame that NCL does not have more employees with the dignity, helpfullness and integrity that he had.

 

Ignore VV, James.....in your future career path, be the same person you have been, you are the tops. (the moron who fired you for practicing your right of free speech however has no dignity or integrity.)

 

I certainly hope the ACLU investigation into your incident goes forward.

 

So your advice is not to be cautious in the future? :confused: Well isn't that great advice! I assume that's what you meant since my post contained nothing but facts other than the advice to be cautious down the road. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but where has that got James?

 

I never got into the issue of whether or not he should have been posting or whether or not he should have been fired. I just pointed out that he knew ahead of time that he would lose his job if caught. I believe in free speech, yours, mine and James. I also believe that there has to be some rules, even if I don't like them all.

 

So my advice again is to be cautious. Don't take that as the same thing as advising you to never speak out. I say cautious because should you ever want to work for a large corporation that does any kind of rudimentary background check, your name could come up. Companies today are looking for "team players" and are terrified about industrial sabotage and "whistle blowers". I know that is not the case here but a future employer might not feel comfortable with someone who speaks out

publicly despite knowing it is against company policy.

 

I never said James did a bad thing, just that he was careless in how he did it. Those are the facts. Of course I only had his best interests in mind, and not just the First Amendment or a personal agenda.

 

G

[VoyageVirgin]

The dreaded double!:eek: