optimusprime82

This is not intended to be derogatory, but you signed a contract, you sailed during hurricane season, the cruise line make a decision not to sail into the storm, and the cruise line "owes" you nothing (in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract that you signed).

 

Good on you that you got additional compensation.

I agree that we signed a contract. Carnival, RC and Disney passengers signed contracts too, their ships were equally affected by the weather and yet those cruise companies made a legitimate effort to make the situation right with their guests. That's all I've wanted from the beginning. I didn't ask for a refund, in the beginning I didn't specifically ask for anything. I just wanted them to make a "reasonable" offer that would be on par with what other competing cruise lines offered.

And before I hear the argument that NCL is "way different" than Carnival and RC and you can't expect them to offer the same service (etc) get a grip, they aren't that different. Way too many people act like NCL is a hot dog vendor while Carnival is McDonalds and they just can't offer to refund money or offer discounts to unsatisfied guests.

We all sign a contract when we sail, NCL gave you something just to make you go away, not because you deserved it.

You take a chance when you cruise period!

Maybe you should fly instead, but just know

flights get cancelled too

Marion

Ah, my favorite argument, one I've heard echoed in this thread several time. An argument actually used by the first Guest Relations Manager (Niles) I spoke with via phone while docked in lovely Port Canaveral way back in October. Aside from telling me that most NCL guests don't care about their destination, they care about the cruise experience, which is BS by the way, he told me that next time I go on vacation I should fly instead of cruise. Sort of a surprising attitude for cruise line Manager to tell an unhappy guest that is still on the ship.

To your condescending point, yes, flights do get cancelled due to weather. Strangely enough I've never heard of a flight from Chicago to Miami being cancelled due to weather while all the guests are on the plane waiting for it to take off and is instead sent Omaha. When questioned about the change no refunds are offered nor do they ask if they'd like to go to Miami on another day. Instead the airline says that the flight to Omaha is going to be great. If that doesn't satisfy you're then told that if you're that concerned about your destination perhaps you should drive next time.

We all sign contracts when going on a cruise, that doesn't necessarily mean that the can't (or shouldn't) make an effort to make situations right with their guests. We chose to cruise to Bermuda in October, NCL also offered to cruise to Bermuda in October. They're aware of the possible risks involved in that as well and still felt comfortable offering that itinerary. This also isn't a situation where we had three or four scheduled stopped and one was cancelled due to weather, this was the only stop, the only reason to take this cruise was to go to Bermuda. If NCL (and you) don't understand why guests would want some kind of compensation when their premium priced trip to Bermuda from NYC turns into a premium priced trip to an industrial yard (Port Canaveral) and a six hour stop at a stray dog sanctuary (Nassau) we just may just have to agree to disagree.

I realize that most people that participated in this thread were of the opinion that NCL didn't "owe" any of its passengers anything. Those people are entitled to their opinion and I hope that what happened to my wife and I, and all the other passengers, doesn't happen to them in the future. Again, I never said that NCL should have sailed to Bermuda despite the weather; I was upset by the lack of communication on their part and the "sorry, but not that sorry" attitude coupled with the lackluster compensation offered compared to other cruise lines that were also affected.

With all that said, I have not let the issue rest. I have made well over a hundred phone calls (not an exaggeration) plus twice monthly emails for nearly six months to NCL about how this situation was handled. Despite being completely stonewalled, have to admit I kind of respect how inflexible they've been, they finally caved, slightly. Last night, after 10pm ET, I received an email from a Guest Relations Manager offering my wife and I two $200 credits towards a future cruise. Small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Was the "juice worth the squeeze on this issue?" So far, no. $400 total off a future cruise isn't quite was I was aiming for but it's a start. If they'll double that or waive their beverage package fee and extend the current expiration date (one year from 03/23/17) I'll let the matter go and book again.

I expect a lot derogatory comments about continuing to pursue this issue and how we're not "owed" anything, that's fine, and not unexpected. Certainly most of you wouldn't have put this much effort into getting a relatively small concession from NCL but I firmly believe they mishandled this situation. I don't feel bad for pursuing it, I won't feel bad if I continue pursuing it. Weather can't be controlled, how NCL disseminates information can be controlled, how they treat their guests that have invested thousands of dollars not only into the cruise itself but also the airfare/hotels and other incidentals can be controlled, and the attitude, policies and compensation they offer can be controlled. NCL failed in that regard and I don't feel any remorse in holding them to a higher standard.

I was able to solve my Chrome browser issues with the MSC website by clearing my cache and cookies. Since that point however a new, even stranger, issue has popped up.

When I login with my email and password my booking is gone, that scared the crap out of me. Found my booking number and logged in using that in addition to my first and last name without any problems. The booking is there with the correct amount still owed. I then logged back out and attempted to log back in with just my email address and password, booking is gone again. Repeated logging in with my booking number, first and last name, no problems. What a screwed up, messy website.

I hope they operate their sailings with more competence than they do their website.

Did mine recently. It took a little over a week, perhaps ten days. My wife just submitted her info a few days ago so it will be interesting to see how long it takes for her to get hers.

Had the same problem too (still am). Opening the website in Internet Explorer instead of Chrome fixes the issue. Hope it's temporary and hope they get this debacle of a website under control already.

I just started having the same issue. My normal browser is Chrome and the MSC website began giving me all sorts of hell. Switched to IE and it works fine, well, as fine as the MSC site normally works.

Unrelated complaint...

After booking a cruise I like to make small daily payments, $5-10 daily, on a cruise line's website. It's sort of a ritual that helps me stay focused on our upcoming holidays while at work. I was dumbfounded when I noticed that MSC does not allow payments smaller than the total balance due on their website. If I want to make a $10 payment I have to call the toll free number, wait on hold and then provide them with all my credit card information every single time. What a hassle, I can't believe how far their IT department is compared to the other major lines.

Terrible analogy, apples to oranges .

Is it? Might be apples of different sizes and brands but they're still apples.

Last month during the hurricanes did the airlines withhold information from their passengers until the last minute and then fly them somewhere else with little compensation? Probably not, they probably gave them options including refunds (but, but the flight attendants have already been paid, you can't expect the airlines to just eat that money...) or changed their bookings.

Sadly, I have a pretty stupid co-worker that believed an iceberg collision could be possible in the Caribbean. Had to explain what happens to ice cubes in warm water for her to realize how dumb that thought was.

It just makes me laugh that anyone on that sailing didn't know about the weather ahead of time. We are living in 2016 with apps, weather channel on every cable outlet, alerts, etc....why did anyone think that a cruise ship would have sailed to that destination before they even got on the ship that day or even a few days before?

 

The best part is the complaint that you thing will go somewhere. Corporate doesn't owe you anything. You got on a ship, it sailed, and brought you back without injury. Good luck with that.

Are you being obtuse on purpose? No one has said they weren't aware of the weather. I'm pretty sure most people, like I said in my last post, said they were aware of it and were also checking the NCL website for updates. That website said "all good" until mid afternoon on the scheduled departure date. It's NCL's responsibility to provide updates, me looking at a weather app doesn't change a thing about how they chose to handle the situation.

If I'm traveling in December from Chicago to Miami by plane and it's snowing outside I would be checking the weather but until the airline says the flight is cancelled I'm going to assume the flight will depart as scheduled.

To take my analogy a step further... same situation as above... the airline wouldn't put me on a plane, make me sit on the runway overnight and then fly me to North Dakota and back. Then tell me to be happy about the experience because the plane was so nice and that we got back safely. I also doubt if I went over to FlyerTalk if people would scold the passengers for complaining like what happens here.

what is suspicious about it? i mean, you had to know before you boarded that there were 2 hurricanes in the Atlantic, and one that they were watching to have a direct hit to Bermuda. what's suspicious is that you boarded the ship knowing all of this. it's not like it was a pop up hurricane....not following your take on this..

It's suspicious that in the days leading up to the departure date NCL had a weather advisory tab on their website that essentially said, "We're aware of the weather but everything looks cool." The morning of the sailing the website still said that. I know the weather didn't come out of nowhere but NCL sure acted like it did.

My wife, and this is just a rumor... NOT A FACT, heard from another another guest who was friends with some NCL employees on the Breakaway said the crew knew that morning we weren't sailing to Bermuda and they were sworn to secrecy. Again, that is what she heard from someone else, who could have been completely full of it.

I understand that NCL doesn't want to sail with a ship that's half empty but I don't believe for a minute that NCL didn't know until 3pm that they weren't going to Bermuda.

People, let it go and move on. You let this ruin your vacation and your anger and indignation doesn't make it better.

Sorry, I'm not letting it go or moving on. We made the best of it but it's not the trip we paid for... it's not even close.

I emailed Andy Stuart, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Vivian Ewart, Vice President of Passenger Services, the night of our unexpected stay in NYC. After a few emails to them my information was forwarded to the Guest Relations Coordinator of the Breakaway that told me that the "Executive Team" was reviewing all the complaints from that sailing and he would contact me when their review was complete. Unfortunately, that was a month ago and the Guest Relations Coordinator that Mr. Stuart's office put me in contact with never followed back up with me and won't return my calls.

I'm not going away and I'm not going to be ignored so I'm back to emailing Mr. Stuart and Ms. Ewart. Everything about this situation has been mishandled by NCL; how they notified the guests, the compensation, a NCL Customer Service Manager telling me to fly to my destination next time, and now refusing to return calls. I'm not going to let NCL off the hook.

WE saw a senior couple who got to an Atrium show very early, and snagged front row seats... then nodded and slept though the entertainment.:p

I saw an older couple in scooters sleeping during one of the Atrium shows as well.

Fresh off the Breakaway.

While still in NYC the first day NCL offered a press only deal. Wednesday was the laundry bag deal ($19.99). Clothes were returned that afternoon even though the flier stated they would be returned on Friday evening, your mileage may vary on the turnaround time.

Was on the same cruise, still working on my review but I had a few thoughts based on the OP's review so far.

1. I never realized the women or men near the entrances to the buffet area were there to give you hand sanitizer. They were never once pushy with me, they would occasionally smile at me but I don't recall them ever saying anything other than "Hello." Sometimes I would use the self-serve sanitizer station, sometimes I wouldn't. I'm not crazy about touching things that have touched by thousands of cruisers including "jam hand" children so I do wash my hands often just out of habit for disliking the hygiene habits of most of society.

2. The buffet is not my preferred method of dining. Some of the food is good, the people watching is both horrifying and amusing, but it's the glutenous attitude of it that bothers me. Far too many people just pile the food on their plate never asking themselves if they'll eat everything, or close to everything on their plate. Nor do they seem aware that they can go back up for seconds, thirds or fourths. I'm a heavier guy, I'm sure people see me at the buffet and they assume I'm going to "Homer Simpson" that entire area but I try to minimize the food I may end up throwing away. Sometimes you'll be adventurous and try something you end up not wanting to finish but I see way too many full plates of food just being left for the servers to clean up.

At the buffet I'd also like to see more parents watching their children. Not only do they cut in front of you with little regard to what's going on around them but far too many of them feel the need to "finger" the food, especially the desserts, and then just walk away. I stopped taking food that was within reaching distance of the kids and started taking food from the back of the station.

3. I wasn't expecting to like the Cirque show but it was one of bigger surprises of the cruise. I thought the food was descent, not fantastic, but it is a dinner show so my expectations were lowered somewhat. I didn't find the seating arrangement diminished my enjoyment of the show. The thing I struggled with the most was my juvenile sense of humor mixed with form fitting outfits and a lot of face to crotch interaction.

The Cirque show was also where an old man decided to back up his scooter without looking behind. He proceeded to hit me with enough speed that his scooter was stuck on top of my foot. He wasn't even aware he had hit me, he looked around when his family started freaking out and asked, "Did I hit something?" I didn't make a scene, accidents happen but a lot of people on those scooters shouldn't be driving at all, scooter or car. I proceeded to lift him and the scooter off my foot, luckily no damage was done to my shoe but there was a little blood in my sock and some skin missing. Sort of sad when the shoe handles a scooter accident better than human skin.

4. I'm not a smoker, nor I am I a heavy drinker and we didn't run into nearly as many problems as the OP did. Did I notice a faint smell of tobacco occasionally? Yes. Did it bother me? Not really. Same thing with the drinking. One day on the ship I had six cocktails, a large amount for me but I never saw anyone falling down drunk or being anymore disruptive than being a little bit louder they what was necessary.

Where should they have gone? They gave out $400,000 in Obc. That's not insignificant.

As I've said, and others have said, repeatedly... Can-a-da.

There's a big difference in OBC and cold hard cash. Did NCL really lose $400K? No.

I also really enjoyed the big pile off dirt and steel buildings of PC... Breath taking. The beggars, trash filled sidewalks and stray dogs were a lovely bit of atmosphere in the Nassau port area.

Looks like Ncl made the right decision regarding Breakaway itinenary

Will someone please find one post in this thread where anyone said that NCL made the wrong decision about not going to Bermuda? It's never been about canceling Bermuda because of the weather. Most of us are upset about the communication and lack of compensation for the lousy itinerary change.

Go to duty free, buy a postcard and go back to ship to get ready for dinner.

I just checked prices for one of the first sailings the BA is going back to the Bahamas - $2600+ for a minisuite. There really isn't a huge price difference between Bermuda and Bahamas when sailing out of NYC, especially this time of year.

And yet I didn't book a cruise from NYC to the Bahamas, I booked to go Bermuda. I can leave from almost any city and go to the Bahamas which is why those cruises are dime-a-dozen and cheap. On Sunday night I could have booked a seven night Mini-suite to Nassau with two other stops for $1500 total leaving this Saturday.

I don't live I near NYC so I have to travel a decent distance to cruise anywhere. I could cruise from anywhere in Florida, Mobile, or New Orleans to go to Bahamas. To cruise to Bermuda my options are much more limited. The only cruises I would take from NYC are to Bermuda or Canada. I'm sure people from the NYC area may think of cruising further south for convenience but that's not why I chose NYC.

I understand being Upset. I would have been too...

 

However, there is a hurricane hitting Bermuda tonight. What options did NCL have?

 

It would be unreasonable for them to offer refunds for every one on the ship....They have workers to pay and Food that they have already purchased. If a change upsets you that much, I would suggest not cruising in the Future and sticking to Flying to destinations that are under your control.

They probably had the same options as some of the other cruise lines. Instead, they decided to play hard ball with their paying customers, send them to two short stop ports designed to keep them making money off already disappointed passengers. They took the easy money short term decision That will insure I'll never cruise with them again.

We booked in October for a birthday celebration, not to be cheap.

I also like all the comments about booking because of the cheap prices. We spent over $3k for a mini-suite. That's the most we've ever spent on a cruise. I wish this was some deeply discounted cruise for us but it wasnt.

Just spent 45 minutes on the phone with a Customer Service Manager named Miles. Offered nothing, said the GS rep on board was wrong to suggest I call them. Miles also said that if the destination was so important to me I should fly instead of cruise even though I clearly said that canceling Bermuda due safety was not the issue.

This cruise is a loss, won't be sailing on NCL again. Plenty of other lines to choose from. Hopefully the Princess cruise we're booked on in February is better.

Literally took 45 seconds to find...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2386122

Thanks, literally 'Googled' it and didn't see anything. Based on that thread title I'm not sure what I would have searched for to find it.

True, but even if no time, I'm the type of person who is just glad to be on vacation, whatever that consists of. I would happily spend the day enjoying the ship, even with the 4000 +/- other passengers.

It looks as though my entire trip is going to be limited to enjoying the ship. The ship is great, hooray. I enjoy cruising but the ship is only half of the reason I cruise, I also enjoy the islands of which this cruise is now a "tire fire."

So you don't believe they're doing what they can with the options they have? The time they lose by not sailing tonight (because of a hurricane) prevents being able to get to a certain amount of ports. Itinerary changes are a possibility, as stated in your contract (as I'm sure you know) and they don't have to give anything at all but are giving $200. I'd say that's above what they are contractually obligated to do, so again, why so much complaining?

Again, as I previously mentioned we paid $3000+ for a cruise that is worth far less than half of that amount. What's a $200 ship board credit going to do for us? Shore excursions are a joke, we already have the UDP/UBP/Spa Pass and I'd prefer not to be using the internet once we depart. I guess my options are to go shopping or blow it in the casino.

Did you get insurance? Why not leave, get your money back, and book something else?

We didn't get insurance. A mistake on our part to be sure. In all our travels I've never thought it would be worth it, it finally caught up to us.

If you are determined to discuss the ramifications with NCL then I suggest you mention SEATTLE!!! One of NCL's ships returned to Seattle a day early and NCL only offered a paltry sum in compensation ($50?). Those on the ship got in touch with the Seattle Radio and TV stations and newspapers.

After some discussions NCL refunded then a seventh of their cruise fare; it was a 7 day cruise.

NCL can be shamed into doing the right thing.

Any links?

I'm on the same itinerary and feel the same way, even though this is out first attempt at Bermuda. Rerouted to Bahamas? I've been there more than once, so I'll take advantage of the ship that day. Port Canaveral? Eff it, we can go back to Disney again, even for just the day. Headed north to Canada? Oh well, we'll see some places we've never been to before.

If, like us, you're only at PC for nine hours good luck getting to and from Disney World with any meaningful amount of time to actually enjoy the park.

I honestly don't get how people can be mad at a cruise line for not going to an island about to be hit by a hurricane.

Maybe I'm just missing something, I haven't heard anyone complaining about not going to Bermuda because of the weather concerns. That's understandable, it's the replacement itinerary and compensation that bothering most of us. The other bothersome issue is how last minute the announcement was. A lot of people have been critical about how none of us have been monitoring the weather. We've been in NYC since Friday, have been checking the weather and the NCL website several times a day looking for any announcements about potential changes. You can't honestly tell me that NCL didn't make the decision to cancel Bermuda until after lunch this today. We didn't get told about the change until thirty minutes before the Muster Drill.

My first cruise was on NCL and I heard it on the last day - some people complain just to see what they can get. Some people are just miserable.

You're right; a lot of people just like to bitch and moan, many will say and do anything to get a freebie. I can't speak for anyone else but that's not my intention; I want to have great time and I don't want to take advantage of NCL. I'd just like to walk away from this trip not feeling as though I just thrown $5000+ away on a few days in NYC and what's boiling down to be a cruise essentially to know where.

Just spent forty-five minutes at the Guest Services area speaking with a rep. There was karaoke and then a live band playing right next to the Guest Services desk so it's almost impossible to hear. I asked to speak with someone in a quieter area so I was taken back to a private room behind the GS desk, heard it referred to by another rep as the "panic room." As I was entering an older couple was leaving the "panic room." I asked how their conversation went, the man said they were getting off the ship.

I calmly explained (you always get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar) that I would like to discuss my options, specifically regarding what I can expect if we choose to get off the ship. The rep apologized repeatedly, explained that the weather is outside of their control, et cetera et cetera. I told him that's fine, I understand the weather has a mind of its own, my concerns have more to do with the value of this trip versus what I paid for it. He stated that they are only authorized to offer the $200 ship board credit which is based on the number of ports missed, in this case one. Anything else needs to come down from corporate but they hadn't heard anything new. He did indicate that NCL wants to have positive relationships with its customers and would most likely attempt to appease anyone that's dissatisfied. He suggested and dialed the corporate customer service line and was surprised to find out that they're already closed. He didn't have any other suggestions. He said we could get off the ship but couldn't guarantee what would happen, he suggested we stay onboard but again could not guarantee what NCL could/would do.

The rep did make me feel confident that NCL will reach a compromise with those of us that are dissatisfied. He understood how frustrating it would be to spend $3000+ on an aborted cruise to Bermuda when I can book a Mini-suite for seven nights out of Miami tonight that visits St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau for $750 per person.

I'll probably go back down to the GS desk tomorrow morning to speak with someone on the phone. I feel like the longer I'm onboard the less likely I'll be to get the problem resolved to my satisfaction.

15 hours off the ship in PC and Nassau versus almost 60 hours in Bermuda? If we went to Canada at least we'd have usable time. The stop in Nassau is an absolute joke.