Upper Deck Dad

@jcpc  I just received the official email.  It says for "operational reasons" just like the other email from the poster on the social media site.  We can request a refund by calling them. 

Time to plan another cruise. 

20 minutes ago, jcpc said:

My September 15 cruise is no longer showing on my MSC account when I log in.  So I'm guessing we will get the notification from MSC very soon.  @Upper Deck DadPlease post when you get the official notification and I will do the same.  Thanks.

Mine is missing as well.  I will let you know you know when I get the official notification.  Thank you. 

3 hours ago, 8420PR said:

My experience is it took about 2 weeks from learning here the cruise was cancelled to actually being notified by MSC.  

 

I suspect it just takes time for MSC HQ to inform local offices, and then each local office to inform customers.  

Thats what I assumed as well.  The customer service reps and even their superiors are only telling us what they know or are allowed to tell us. They have to get the "official word" from the top before we'll get our refund.  

Two weeks is fine and coming up quickly. Hopefully not much longer.  

10 hours ago, Squawkman said:

Do any of the September/October sailings have a port stop scheduled in Prince Edward Island?

Ours was supposed to stop there 9/30.  It was on the ports websites for PEI when I first checked after booking (mid-November), then gone when I checked again 12/3.  The only Canadian port it was never listed as going to on the port website was Saint John, New Brunswick. 

49 minutes ago, jcpc said:

I am also on one of those September Canada/N.E. sailings and I have seen the post that you are referring to on the other social media site.

 

I, personally, believe these Canada/N.E. sailings in September/October have been cancelled but for some reason beyond my comprehension MSC is not yet saying they are truly cancelled.  Both myself and my travel agent have called MSC and the agents emphatically say they are showing as active sailings and the sailing still shows up as "booked" on my MSC account.  But the simple fact that they do not show on the consumer website or in any of the "port listings" for each port of call leads me to believe they are indeed cancelled.  For the life of me I cannot understand why MSC has not just notified everyone that they are cancelled.  Once that happens we will definitely get reimbursed our deposit amount from MSC.

 

Regarding insurance:  It sounds as if you have not paid for the insurance yet as you say you've only paid deposit of $398, which equates to $199 per person which is the exact per person amount for the cruise deposit that we paid.  So you haven't even paid for any insurance so there's no way you will be financially responsible for it.  I, on the other hand, have purchased insurance through insuremytrip.com and it was purchased immediately after depositing the cruise (to make sure we are covered for pre-existing conditions).  Unfortunately, my premium payment is non-refundable.  Hopefully once the cruise is cancelled if I can book on Princess or another cruise line for a similar date/itinerary the insurance company "might" let me transfer my insurance to this new booking.  But I can't do anything until MSC officially cancels.

I agree, I feel they are cancelled as well, and we will get our full refund back. It's just a waiting game.  I don't know why they won't admit this and refund us now. I would like to make arrangements to go on another sailing with another cruise line asap. 

We have not paid for the insurance. It's only added to the reservation and included in the total amount due. I have changed plans using other insurance companies (usually thru airlines) and they were very accommodating with changing dates. I don't think you should have a problem. 

I wonder how the posters travel agent on the other social media site already knew these sailings were cancelled and MSC doesn't know?   

I hope they "officially" cancel by the end of this coming week.  I dislike having things hanging on like this. 

11 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Insurance companies also have strange rules. For example, in order to get trip insurance to 'kick in', one has to make it to the pier (touch base ?) knowing one's flight arrives and the ship has left hours before your flight lands. If one just turns around at the airport and flys home may be a technicality that one did not try to go on the cruise.

I do understand that, although other cruise lines and businesses don't charge the insurance fee. 

I know I'll have to wait until they officially cancel these 2 cruises to get my refund.  I don't want any other itinerary except NE/Canada for that time of year.   

We booked a New England/Canada cruise for September 2024 a few weeks ago. Paid our deposit and the trip also included their insurance. We figured we were good until next year when it was time to start booking excursions and/or dining and other extras. 

A few days ago, we saw that the cruise mysteriously vanished from their booking site, but was still in our booked trips. All of the ports that we were supposed to visit had the ship gone as well (it was previously there since we had checked that). Only the 2 New England/Canada trips were missing from the ports itinerary. Everything else seemed00000000000000000000000

to be the same. 

Saw on the book of faces that someone got a letter from their travel agent that their NE/Canada cruise was cancelled for "operational reasons."  Seems like it's not sailing for about 3 weeks next September. 

Called MSC and they have no record of the 2 sailings being cancelled at this time. They said if they are cancelled, they will send an email to let us know and we can either pick a different cruise or get a refund.  

They also said we can cancel now and up to June with no penalty, but we would have to pay the insurance we took out ($210 total).  We only paid the deposit $398. The insurance was included in the full price of the cruise. Other cruise lines normally refund your deposit if you cancel and don't hold you to your insurance amount this far ahead of time. 

I assume I have to sit and wait for the "official" email that the cruise has been cancelled. Not sure how long this is going to take.  I am not going to cancel if I have to pay the insurance cost. 

Any insight into paying the penalty of the insurance if we cancel ourselves?  Is that normal for MSC? 

Anyone going on either of these September NE/Canada 2024 cruises that may have any additional information about them being cancelled?  

Thank you all for the replies.  We have no problem with not smoking in our cabin, or even indoors, since we've been used to that now for years with traveling.  The trekking to a remote corner at the top of the ship (on one deck only) or to enclosed glass rooms almost makes us not want to cruise any more.  We will have to do a lot more research. 

Been on several cruises with the family and just want to go with the wife this time. I was wondering what cruise line caters to smokers more than others.  I remember the days where it was either port or starboard side, on several decks (and on the balcony!) but now they put us in the outer most places tucked in far corners huddles together a football team.  Although I understand why, it's best to know and plan upfront before booking a cruise. 

We don't need all the bells and whistles of the big ships (slides, arcades, laser tag, VR, etc.)  and would like a more relaxed experience, but also don't want the lights out at 8pm either. Would prefer casual anytime dining, no dress up required.  Don't want to prebook shows. Just want to enjoy a nice cruise. 

Does such a ship exist? I know this is asking a lot.

What time does the NCL shuttle transfer to the Port of Canaveral pick up at the Orlando airport? Is there more than one shuttle?

The ship leaves the port at 6:00pm on a Saturday. Obviously, no real rush to get there.  

We get in late the night before and are staying at the airport, so we'll already be at the airport the next morning.  Don't want to transfer to the port at night after the plane lands. 

Thanks in advance.  

What happens to those of us that have cruises in the fall with money tied up with NCL?  Should we cancel and get our money back?

We're looking at a 10 day Southern Caribbean out of San Juan end of March into 1st week of April 2020.  Easter is April 12th that year.  Ship holds around 4000+ 

I know there no way of knowing but should we expect a lot of spring breakers on this cruise or is it too long?

 Easter is April 12th in 2020.  

I'm looking at an an 11 day cruise next year.  I can drive to the embarkation port city but the cruise disembarks in another city where I would need to fly home from.

The promotion does include the airfare perk.  Would the airfare be included for a one way flight?  The only option it has is to pick from a roundtrip airport.   

The schedule currently on the Bermuda Marine site dated 12/21 shows Gem listed as being at Kings Wharf on November 12 and 13. Anthem at Heritage Wharf November 12 to 14.

 

Ships docking in November on page 5 and 6.

Thanks for the clarification. I was looking at this website. They weren't listed, at least not at the correct docks. http://ports.cruisett.com/

The NCL Gem isn't listed either. There are no ships listed as being in Bermuda in November

The RC Anthem of the Seas is listed as being in NYC on the 10th. The Gem is not.

I could not edit my post so I will correct myself. The Royal Caribbean ship is listed as being docked at Kings Wharf.

The Gem is still not listed as being docked in NYC or the Naval Yard.in November.

Odd that our cruise on the Anthem of the Seas the first week of November doesn't appear on that list. HMMMMM.....

The NCL Gem isn't listed either. There are no ships listed as being in Bermuda in November

The RC Anthem of the Seas is listed as being in NYC on the 10th. The Gem is not.

If there are multiple people in a cabin with different flights, all on participating airlines, some on the same airlines at the same times but different reservation numbers, does each one have to fill out their own form?

That is incorrect.

 

Just disembarked 8/20/17 in Seattle from NCL Pearl. We signed up for the luggage valet by Wednesday, put our luggage out by midnight Saturday 8/19 and didn't have to do a thing until we reached our home airport on 8/21. NCL checked us into our flights, provided boarding passes and luggage tags by 6pm on Sat (though they say 7pm but our cabin steward said she put the envelope in our cabin earlier knowing what they were). Seamless. We had a wonderful day in Seattle without having to worry about dragging bags around and finding storage. It is only offered for certain airlines.

That is fantastic news. Clearly the gentlemen I spoke with over the weekend was unaware of this because he had no clue what I was talking about.

Yes it was offered.

I just called them this weekend and the gentleman on the phone didn't seem to know anything about it.

Did you use the service?

Thanks for all the review of your trip. Sorry about the passenger on your cruise. How sad for something like that to happen on vacation.

Does the Port Valet service work for NCL? I can find a list of the airlines at the Port Valet link but not Cruise lines.

I had spoken with NCL before and just spoke with them again yesterday. They are not participating in this program.

It is mostly Pier 91 ships, NCL is Pier 66. NCL no longer has their own valet service that they did years ago either. You'll have to store your bags downtown at the Pier, the Edgewater Hotel or Nordstroms.

When you're doing this (putting the phone in airplane mode and enabling WiFi) and you connect to the ships WiFi, does your phone show something on it other than the normal WiFi bands and airplane?

I am not planning on purchasing any WiFi for this trip but don't want to get hit with any charges either. Is there something to look out for to know if it's safe to use? I always have data roaming off. Should cellular data be off or on?

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread here. Juneau Tours will do Mendenhall for an hour and have you on the water for about 3 hours for their afternoon tours. The rest of the 5 hour tour is the commuting time to and from the Pier drop off. If you do a morning tour you'll do the whales first and Mendenhall afterward, so if you want to stay longer you can find your own way back to the port from the glacier.

http://www.tallyhotours.com/tours/

 

https://www.victoriacarriage.com/tour/tours-events/

.

Thank you for the information. Can these be bought when you get off the ship or should they be purchased in advance?

Just get off the ship and walk into town, it's absolutely gorgeous. We have lots of old buildings, an interesting China Town, many many very good restaurants. No end of things to see. We also have a street full of tacky tourist shops and they'll be open. The horse carriages will be out as well. Please come and enjoy our city, we are very proud of it.

Do you know how much the horse & carriage rides are? That sounds like a nice option.

We are looking into Wild Wolf Tours, its a combo Rainforest & Totem Pole Tour. I hope it's as good as the reviews say.