Remember Me???

[seesick]

Some of you might remember my epic thread "Dear Mr. Del Rio, how can you do this to my family?" back in August of 2006 in regards to an Oceania excursion. I learned a great deal during that time, as did many others, and I hope the experience helped my fellow travelers to better navigate the cruise line waters.

 

This time I am posting in regards to an incident with NCL, or Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Hawaii.

 

Again, I am posting on the behalf of a family member, more specifically, my cousin who was on her honeymoon. My father and I ordered a bottle of Moet Chandon White Star and two $100 dollar cruise credits to be waiting as a surprise when my cousin and her husband arrived in their cabin on September 3rd, 2007. I was given a confirmation number after speaking with Tilita Carter, the Pride of Hawaii ship coordinator. Our credit card was charged.

 

One would think with 10 days of cruising the gifts would have arrived in my cousin's room. NO SUCH THING. When we asked if they enjoyed their surprise, my cousin and her husband were just as concerned as I that the gifts had not shown up. They took the confirmation number I was given by Tilita Carter to the ship staff who said there was no record of the order.

 

It disappoints me that my cousin and her husband had to take time out of their honeymoon to figure out the cruise's mistake. What disappoints me further is the refund to the credit card will take up to TWO MONTHS as the customer care representative explained the ship has to be contacted and then accounting has to follow up. Thus far, Tilita Carter has not responded to both my emails and phone calls as to why our gift was not delivered while our credit card was very eagerly charged.

 

If this cruise line can't handle a simple order of bubbly and on-board credits, what else are they going to mess up?

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Seesick

[Tobintemp]

I do remember the Oceania saga....you were bumped and then unbumped (after much hassle)!

 

Sorry this happened, it sounds like there was a real mess up in the paper work. I hope it gets settle quickly for you.

[garycarla]

Stinks for sure. It would make me mad.

 

We have been on a number of cruises with bottles ordered for the cabin. It amazes me that they are always there. With 2000 people getting off and another 2000 getting on along with cabin moves, etc. etc it is amazing the ship leaves on time.

 

Not defending NCL, just saying the whole think is amazing.

[firefly333]

We were on Rhapsody and booked thru a online agency because I was offered a bottle of wine would be waiting when we arrived in our cabin. I emailed the online agency who said I would be compensated. Got a whopping $10. (btw I had to contact them 3 times to get the $10 check in the mail, it was the principle of it by then).

 

I had used that online agency 3 times in about 6 months for bookings. They blamed the cruiseline for not delivering it. I dont care who didnt deliver it, I brought a cork screw just to share it with friends when I arrived. The cork screw came home unused.

 

$10??!!! thats a joke. Spent time with them ordering white wine and them asking what kind I wanted, wasted everyone's time.

 

Booked thru a TA next time for OBC which I can verify I get it or not. Still havent used that online agency again.

[pathubia]

We have ordered bar set ups with no problems, bon voyage pkgs for us and others going on cruises with no problems, but on our last cruise, my daughter's honeymoon package and my other daughter's bon voyage package was not in their cabins. My anniversary package was there and I had ordered everything at the same time....I went down and told reception, who contacted Luciana, the cruise coordinator, she told me she had to check it out with their office on Monday, she did and the packages arrived....But out of 5 cruises and lots of things ordered, this was the first snafu.....

[seesick]

I just don't understand how there is such a lack in customer service! My poor cousin and her husband got no help at all from the staff on the ship and I STILL have not received a call back from Tilita Carter, who sold me the gifts. Some honeymoon surprise, right?

[TPEINC1958]

I am curious, what do you expect us to do about this here? We understand your frustration, but we can't fix it.

 

John

[CC Help Michell]

I just don't understand how there is such a lack in customer service! My poor cousin and her husband got no help at all from the staff on the ship and I STILL have not received a call back from Tilita Carter, who sold me the gifts. Some honeymoon surprise, right?

 

I can tell how frustrated you are. :( Most of us are, when things we have paid for/expected don't happen. However, if your cousin was on the 9/3 POH cruise, it ended yesterday, on 9/10. At what point in the cruise were you able to let your cousin know about the anticipated gift? Your original post mentions a ten day cruise, but POH doesn't have a ten day itinerary. So, sometime during the cruise this last week, you let your cousin know about the surprise she should have had -- she asked the ship but they had no record, and the onboard staff couldn't fix it on the spot? VERY disappointing, I know. But mistakes do happen -- "corporations" are only people, and people DO make mistakes.

 

I think you need to give it a little bit of time, to be honest. If you contacted the rep from whom you purchased the gifts just over the weekend or yesterday (the first business day of the week), perhaps she was out of the office, or just hasn't had time to reply to you, or (hopeful scenario) is still trying to track down what happened so she can call you with more than an "I'm sorry?" I hope it's resolved to your satisfaction, as soon as possible.

 

PS Depending on when you ordered the gifts, you may still be within the credit card's disputed charge time frame -- most of them will credit your account while they investigate, and it sounds like you have plenty of ammo to back up your dispute.

[lvtotrvl1]

I am an agent, and when there has been a situation like this, NCL will normally call me to check on OBC, gifts etc. Every cruiseline will mess up on gifts at some time or another...I understand it is not right, but it happens.

.

Not sure why this problem got as far as it did. All your cousins needed to do is have the cruiseline call land and they would have contacted you or your travel agent to correct the problem. Unfortunatly it has happened to me a few times, but one call took care of everything and it did not inconvenience the cruiser in any way.

 

As another poster mentioned...what do you want all of us to do about it. Simply put, if they did not receive the gifts, and you have your credit card statement they will credit it. If they don't, call your cc company.

[newmexicoNita]

Think about the 100s of orders they get for each cruise. mistakes happen. As a TA I had trouble dealing with one line over this very issue: gifts not arriving. I got so frustrated I didn't want to even book the line, but I realized I was being petty. I had a client last year who purchased 2 bottles of booze prior to sailing and I sent them a romance package as it was their 25th anniversary. None were received. They luckily had their conformation and I wasn't charged on my CC. It never entered my mind to come on these boards and remark about the oversight or to name the cruise line. I have learned one thing, the week prior to sailing I usually call the cruise line to make sure the order is in place.

 

Nita

[seesick]

Michell, you're right about the 10 days: they sailed the 3rd but were gone for 10 days total... TPEINC1958, I'm sorry you have to listen to my ranting!

 

I don't expect anyone to do anything about it, I'm just venting. I know nobody is perfect, and people do make mistakes, but no one from the cruise admin is being very apologetic and/or attempting to rectify the situation, which is what got me all hot and bothered in the first place.

 

I know for a fact the coordinator read my email on Saturday as I have the read receipt function activated for the emails I send out. Just dissapointed, I guess. It would be great if the coordinator was taking her time to figure out what went wrong--but I feel left out in the dark in the meantime. In booking a cruise I would want to know I can count on the people who run it, down to the itty bitty details, is my point. In posting this little matter, I am hoping to find people with similar stories or to alert people to the glitches in the system. As you probably can tell, I'm not one to settle for below par service... Picky person, I am.

[dadof2]

We have ordered bar set ups with no problems, bon voyage pkgs for us and others going on cruises with no problems, but on our last cruise, my daughter's honeymoon package and my other daughter's bon voyage package was not in their cabins. My anniversary package was there and I had ordered everything at the same time....I went down and told reception, who contacted Luciana, the cruise coordinator, she told me she had to check it out with their office on Monday, she did and the packages arrived....But out of 5 cruises and lots of things ordered, this was the first snafu.....

 

We always request an email confirmation of our orders and make sure that we receive them.

 

We then bring them on-board. Thankfully, we have never needed them.

[newmexicoNita]

Michell, you're right about the 10 days: they sailed the 3rd but were gone for 10 days total... TPEINC1958, I'm sorry you have to listen to my ranting!

 

I don't expect anyone to do anything about it, I'm just venting. I know nobody is perfect, and people do make mistakes, but no one from the cruise admin is being very apologetic and/or attempting to rectify the situation, which is what got me all hot and bothered in the first place.

 

I know for a fact the coordinator read my email on Saturday as I have the read receipt function activated for the emails I send out. Just dissapointed, I guess. It would be great if the coordinator was taking her time to figure out what went wrong--but I feel left out in the dark in the meantime. In booking a cruise I would want to know I can count on the people who run it, down to the itty bitty details, is my point. In posting this little matter, I am hoping to find people with similar stories or to alert people to the glitches in the system. As you probably can tell, I'm not one to settle for below par service... Picky person, I am.

venting is ok, all of us have to do it sometimes. Just remember these things happen, actually more than some may realize. The job of the coordinator must be a tough one. The gal who handles the Star is a dream...

 

Nita

[Down-Unders]

venting is ok, all of us have to do it sometimes. Just remember these things happen, actually more than some may realize. The job of the coordinator must be a tough one. The gal who handles the Star is a dream...

 

Nita

 

There are no excuses for " The gal who handles the Star is a dream "

She may be a " dream " to you, but on such a important occasion she was not a " dream " to this honeymoon couple.

[newmexicoNita]

There are no excuses for " The gal who handles the Star is a dream "

She may be a " dream " to you, but on such a important occasion she was not a " dream " to this honeymoon couple.

I think you need to read again the Ops statement, he was referring to the Pride of hawaii, not the Star. I mentioned the shipcoordinator for the Star is wonderful. She is and I think it is important to give credit where it is due, plus it is good to know some are better than others. .Could you explain what is wrong with my making such a comment and why are you suddenly on my case? Personal attacks do nothing but get threads, that otherwise can be informative and often enjoyable, pulled.

 

Nita

[TPEINC1958]

I think you need to read again the Ops statement, he was referring to the Pride of hawaii, not the Star. I mentioned the shipcoordinator for the Star is wonderful. She is and I think it is important to give credit where it is due, plus it is good to know some are better than others. .Could you explain what is wrong with my making such a comment and why are you suddenly on my case? Personal attacks do nothing but get threads, that otherwise can be informative and often enjoyable, pulled.

 

Nita

 

Nita,

 

Sorry to say I believe there is a competition for "Hall Monitor" going on and you are the most recent target of our friend Down-Unders. It certain has gotten mean around here lately.

 

Don't bother pushing the "triangle" on me Unders-buddy. I am going away quietly.;)

 

John

[TPEINC1958]

TPEINC1958, I'm sorry you have to listen to my ranting!

 

By the way, I did not say anything about listening to your ranting. I just asked "What could we do about it?"

 

I said we understand your frustration!! A little testy are we??

 

John

[Down-Unders]

I think you need to read again the Ops statement, he was referring to the Pride of hawaii, not the Star. I mentioned the shipcoordinator for the Star is wonderful. She is and I think it is important to give credit where it is due, plus it is good to know some are better than others. .Could you explain what is wrong with my making such a comment and why are you suddenly on my case? Personal attacks do nothing but get threads, that otherwise can be informative and often enjoyable, pulled.

 

Nita

 

Nita it is nothing personal but lately you appear to be over the top when you do not agree with other posters. Just because you are a travel agent and have got 11,000 posts you are open to scrutiny like the rest of us. There are a few who would dominate and try to bully others on these boards, please do not fall into that trend as you have great information to share with us. In the past I have contacted you through e-mail and you have kindly given me valuable information.

[lvtotrvl1]

I personally don't find Nita over the top at all. I think she is extremely open minded and fair in her responses on the forum. Keep up the great posts Nita!

[steph428]

We just booked an NCL cruise and much of it was due to reading Nita's posts and her "fair and balanced" way of providing info. I don't find anything she writes to be offensive. I guess sometimes the written word comes across differently to some than to others. Anyway, thanks Nita!

[MrLee]

There are no excuses for " The gal who handles the Star is a dream "

She may be a " dream " to you, but on such a important occasion she was not a " dream " to this honeymoon couple.

 

Don't you think that's a bit harsh since the Star has nothing to do with the OPs problem? :(

[MrLee]

There are a few who would dominate and try to bully others on these boards, .

 

 

I'm sorry but that is EXACTLY the way you came across in that post!

[newmexicoNita]

thanks for the support and I didn't mean to start a discussion over who was right or wrong. never do I intend to sound like I am bullying anyone, I just have a real problem with negatism. I don't mean constructive criticism nor can everyone enjoy the same things or same ships. Down-Unders, I guess you pushed my button and I started spinning like a top: I still beleive my statement was simply meant to let some know about a really helpful shipcoordinator, not to minimize the problems someone else had.

 

Now I am going, like John, quietly. I think I have said about all there is to say on this subject.

 

Nita

[PangeanSir]

Keep up the good work Nita. I find your posts informative and generally well balanced.

 

P.

 

PS: Besides, since I understand you like springer spaniels you can't be a bad person.

[goodml]

By the way, I did not say anything about listening to your ranting. I just asked "What could we do about it?"

 

I said we understand your frustration!! A little testy are we??

 

John

 

Umm actually it's not the op that sounds testy. This is after all a message board and a place for people to share their experiences with the rest of us so we can all learn about the issues and the resolutions. The op never once asked anyone to do anything for them.

 

The op's response that you were quoting in this instance was quite civil and sincere.

 

Thanks OP for letting us know about this situation. I hope you'll give us an update when it's fully resolved. I know mistakes happen but this is a service the cruiselines offer and quite willingly accept payment for. It's a disappointment when the service is not provided as promised and they should make every effort to resolve it a whole lot quicker than two months time. I am held instantly accountable if one of my customers doesn't receive the proper service from my staff and rightly so.

 

Let us know how it goes.