dmb0619

I don't like flaming companies online with complaints (even the best businesses will disappoint at times). But, I cant let others experience the damage that I experienced by not being able to connect to my work email (or the internet generally) for the duration of a voyage.

Let me be clear -- do NOT book on NCL if you need access to Internet. My family and I traveled in December on the NCL Gem. Because of work, I needed to connect to email and figured I would have no issues since they advertised services that included "streaming" packages where you could access You Tube and other heavy bandwith sites. I figured access to work internet shouldn't be a problem -- boy was I wrong. Despite paying close to $400, most days I couldn't even load gmail.com without a timeout. I measured download speed and it was often below 500KBS (that is slower than old time AOL dialup speeds. I am not exaggerating.

I spoke with the internet manager onboard on multiple occasions and he acknowledged ridiculously slow speeds (and that the ability to "stream" was laughable), but also indicated he couldn't do anything, including refund my money. I wanted to give NCL the benefit of the doubt and lodged a complaint with their customer service after returning home. Their response was underwhelming (basically that the service depends on satellite and can't be as fast as land service -- no kidding...). They also refused to even refund my money. Note that I wasn't looking for blazing speeds, all I wanted to do was access gmail!

Perhaps I just had bad luck, and others had better experiences. I actually had hoped that someone would have just admitted it was an anomaly so that I could feel safe booking another cruise on NCL. But given their response, I can't afford to take the chance on NCL again -- I will have to limit myself to RCL (which has awesome internet -- in fact much faster than I would ever need). 

its free - you can go on as many times as you like, but I think you can only make one reservation -- if you go again, has to be standby.

Voom is fast enough to let you use Voice over IP (Wifi). So once you pay for voom you can talk unlimited using Skype, Google Voice and even your plain old cell number (if your carrier/phone has wifi calling). Anyone paying per minute of $7.99 to make calls would do better with Voom.

It always amazes me that in the WJ, the only sanitizer is at the entrance. Think about it, even if EVERYONE washed their hands (and we know they don't), merely by touching your lips or messy eating, you could re-infect your hands. Then when they touch the serving spoon again, the spoon is infected.

We always bring our own sanitzer to the buffet and clean our hands (not only when entering) but also again after touching the serving utensils. But, RCL doesn't make this easy as the only sanitizer they provide is near the entrance.

If you want to avoid Noro and eat in WJ, I suggest you religiously clean your hands AGAIN after touching serving utensils.

Miopyk,

Glad your journey is close to over and you managed to make the best of it.

I saw the article from RCI (I am scheduled on the 2/13 cruise so interested), but I don't necessarily believe them (what would you expect them to say -- the ship is damaged and needs two weeks to repair -- after making your group take a three day cruise back north?)

Just curious though for more detail on why people on board are speculating more damage then can see? Did they explain at all why they are going so slow? Seeing the damage you can see, do you think they can fix in 2 days? Was the ship more rocky then it should have been on way back north?

Thanks in advance!

Lou,

I wouldn't doubt that it would be a good idea [for the Captain and RCI] for the Captain to tell the officers not to discuss the operational status of the ship. But we all know Captains (including this one) do not always do the right thing.

If one of the pods are not working correctly and the Captain determined that such was "none of the business" of the 5,000 lives on board the ship, I along with at least 5,000 other people would strongly beg to differ.

Further, if an officer did indicate that one of the pods was only working say 50%, how would that lead to a false rumor (assuming he was telling the truth, and why would that officer lie?)

Generally Lou, I have agreed with you, but you really should look at your statement. The captain is in charge, but this is not the Navy and the folks on board that ship have a right to know the operational condition of the ship that they have been sailing back up the east coast for the last three days.

Love Cruises,

As your name implies, you guys must really love cruising. Hats off to you guys for the eagerness to get back on the horse. Somewhat surprised though that people would do 4 back-to-backs on a NY based ship -- but of course everyone has their reasons and you guys must too.

Thanks for the info -- it is more info then those of us on land have gotten. If you get a chance, see if you can get confirmation of those things from an officer type as well (as opposed to just the cruise staff).

Finally, note that it is going to be VERY cold in NYC for the next three days (highs in the teens, so dress/plan accordingly).

Hoping to see you on board next week!

I disagree ---

1) Golfin doesn't have anything to support his statements, and I am not even going to waste typing.

2) Loubetti -- I have been on plenty of cruises, and the officers walking around (which mostly are junior ones) have plenty of down-time (you see them in bars at night, right?). I would prefer answers to specific questions because them saying "yeah the ship is likely to sail or I dont know" are somewhat meaningless. Them saying "the starboard azipod isnt operating normally" (NOTE I AM MAKING THIS UP AND HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE SUCH IS THE CASE) would suggest it much less likely we are sailing.

The truth is that RCL doesn't know for sure, but they have an idea. If they know there is a mechanical issue, you can bet they (meaning Miami) aren't going to admit it with 5K passengers still on board. If they know that the stabalizers and Azipods are working completely normally, then they should say so and the chances of keeping our cruise are that much higher.

My family is scheduled on the 13th sailing and I would love (like 5,000 other folks) to know something. RCL is obviously not going to say anything until at least tomorrow (likely around 3PM - 48 hours prior to sailing). The most informative info we have gotten was from the Captain's video on Monday/Tuesday.

The most info we are going to get today would be from those on board (all of whom I am glad are ok and hopefully recovering from tremendous trauma on Sunday).

So.... Could anyone who is currently on board find out something from one of the officers on board (the other crew members are certainly in the dark). Like:

1) The slowdown is for some reason? Is it to avoid rough seas, port scheduling or damage to the ship? Is there azipod or stabilizer damage? If so, and i was on board that would tick me off as then the boat certainly should have docked in Florida or Norfolk or somewhere else rather than risking getting into a mechanical breakdown situation at sea.

2) How much cosmetic damage looks like it needs to be repaired? How many glass panels are broken? How many balcony railings are damaged? Is the retractable roof on the indoor pool really stuck open? Why would it have been in the open position anyway during the storm?

3) Is it true that the ship has been more rocky then the seas suggest (suggesting some sort of stabilizer issue)?

4) Ask an officer directly if they think the ship will be sailing next week?

5) If nothing else, ask the crew (they dont want to lose another week of tips. On that subject PLEASE everyone still tip the crew -- its not their faults -- they were through the same harrowing experience as you and they were at work for it not on vacation. Their families depend on the $$$$.