marilyn_g

I was on the 11/21 sailing and asked the chief engineer what happened to the azipod.

He said the windings.

Same problem with the star.

Luckily they had a repair kit in Finland (?) And flew it to Barbados to fix.

 

He said in the future, ncl will have the kit in their Miami hq.

We were on the Grandeur of the Seas (RCL) jan 2nd cruise. Guess what broke. They flew a guy and the part on a charter to port Canaveral, only two day delay.

You are misinterpreting post #244

 

 

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Oh, right. Transposed a few words. Of course I put travel on cards with insurance.

Many credit card companies have trip interruption insurance, rental car insurance etc as long as you used that card to pay for the trip....

 

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Okay... but what about the charge. Was it authorized?

Curious if any passengers checked with their credit card companies that they used to book their cruise. I have up to $10,000 in travel protection for trip purchases on my card.

Wait, what?

From NCL or elsewhere?

I saw that and figured marilyn_g seems to know people who were denied the ability to stay behind and forced to fly home against their will and thus suffering...... could shed some first hand knowledge

 

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CC isn't the only place people connect. We have other groups. They know we're being trashed here.

It would have only taken a few minutes to talk with dining services and it wouldn't have taken long to get something together for the passenger. Maybe you should have read my other posts, I said NCL can learn from this experience and hopefully next time (if there is a next time) do it better. I feel great about myself, thank you.

Really, you were there? Non passport people were herded together after customs, not allowed to roam the ship. They were provided with a continental breakfast while waiting for the buses. No idea what happened afterwards. So, we assume they were fully functional in the middle of the night, sans sleep, maybe herding other family members, maybe fighting, or resigned, having people in the same cabin put on separate flights. I'm just asking for compassion for others. Not seeing a lot.

I doubt that anywhere on that page are the words "one may fly with any other condition". IOW the list is not complete.

 

But that really doesn't matter. The cruise line is responsible for the broken ship. It is, in the final analysis its fault. (I would be shocked to learn that the company was taken entirely by surprise when the ship broke.) There is nothing in the contract that says a passenger must fly or be able to fly in order to book passage. If a passenger says s/he cannot fly that should be reason enough for the cruise line to make other arrangements.

They were grilled. There are people who are still suffering the affects, today, a week later, from being told their condition wasn't bad enough.

You are correct, we don't know about the communications between passengers and NCL with regard to their dietary restrictions, but I would bet my last dollar if those bringing this up did, we would have heard it loud and clear from the very first post.

 

How would they get it off the ship. First, go to NCL's dining manager and explain your dietairy restrictions or the fact that they have to eat X or Y. NCL would have made sure that they were give proper food and made sure they could take it off the ship, because the one thing they would not want is someone saying that they had conversations with NCL about their restrictions and NCL told them to shove it and they became ill.

You might have missed the part about not being given a lot of lead time. Confusion. First told Friday a port day. Thursday 6:30 pm being given our departure information, received letter telling us to get our luggage out by 10 pm. First group had customs at 1 am. Now, you can continue to slam passengers who thought they had a luxurious, stress free vacation, which is what the industry advertises, or you can have compassion and just point out lessons learned. You and I might, emphasize might, do better. But continue to feel good about yourself.

I'd bet my last dollar, that if someone went to NCL and said they were diabetic and was afraid that there was no food they could eat either at the airport or on the plane, NCL would make something for them and make sure they could take it with them (there would be no uncooked fruits, vegetables, meats, etc.) or had it delivered to the airline, but I would bet that not one person did that. Like I said, better to be prepared, than be a victim.

 

BTW, if all you want is an apology, then why not call Customer Service and tell them that is all you want and you might get a call back from a Supervisor giving you that apology.

Were you there?

I'm not here wringing my hands moaning, I am still able to roll with events. I'm fortunate. They kept me and my husband together. I ended up at the better hotel by dark. It was only hours of confusion for me. I only suffered minor physical complaints. I was able to give my smuggled water bottle to the woman choking from the heat on our bus. I was able to give a spare pair of gloves, and lend my wool shaw to the elderly woman shivering, waiting for our bus in record cold NJ. I found out at the hotel, I was fortunate, from those separated from families, friends, ported from hotel to hotel, and, to quote "lied to my face" by the rep.

And I was there. I don't understand those who weren't there knowing better than those who experienced it. I'm not begging ncl for anything, but I understand those who are. People who have been calling NCL are being told everyone was accommodated, go to the website to comment, and hung up on.

Oh, I did receive an email from NCL, welcoming me to Latitude Rewards. Yeah. I'll probably sail ncl again, I have the bug, and we have deposits. But not this year.

Supposed to be heading out on the Gem in Feb...I used to be excited...now I am kind of approaching it with a mixture of dread and hope. Their handling of, well, pretty much everything since Irma leaves me wondering what I have gotten myself into?

The ship had a mechanical. It happens, even to new ones. Corporate decisions, not ship staff, caused the angst for most, problems for some, and serious issues for a few.

As far as compensation goes, 25-50% may be fair, but it should be a refund, NOT a discount off of a future cruise. I think a lot of these people will be hesitant to cruise again in the future and they should be refunded for the portion of the vacation that they didn't get.

Jenn, that's the issue. I'm not interested in "compensation". We deserve an apology. It was our 4th cruise this year, we loved the ship, crew, even enjoyed the change of itinerary. Hated the thought of flying home, but hey, they said an extra day in Barbados. Cool. We'd adjust. But, that isn't what happened. They had multiple days, they should have had plans in place. They should have talked to us, not at us. Finally, if they couldn't handle something that should have been just minor inconvenient in a professional way, how can I trust them in a real emergency?

We have deposits on two future cruises.

This post is full of opinion and very short on facts.

Were you there?

Amtrak from Ft. Lauderdale to NYC?! That's like a 24 hour train ride.

More than that, 26 - 30 NYPenn. Our favorite way to get to Miami and Ft Lauderdale cruise ports from DC is Amtrak. Less hassle.

I'm diabetic and if I was given a sandwich, I would simply remove one of the pieces of bread (someone could remove both pieces, as well as gluten free could do the same) and would be fine.

 

Also, did those with specialy dietary restrictions ask the night before for special food or take something from the buffet, knowing that there is not always the food that they might need.

You are not allowed to take food off cruise ships. You sign the customs forms stating that. You didn't see the sandwich. Fine for me, grateful to have it, hunger made it tasty (and we had time for breakfast), but not for diabetics. If you threw out the roll, you could have scraped maybe 1.5 tablespoons of chicken mush. If that.

Travel is always an adventure. Many times things go as planned, many times they do not.

 

It is the times when things do not that make life interesting.

 

And yes, I do have a horror story that we lived through and that we still tell with a smile. Short version: a charter flight from Baltimore to Frankfurt, Germany in 1980.We ended up in Atlanta in a pier of the airport that was at that point not finished, had to spend the night (no access to our luggage) and flew out the next day at the last possible moment to arrive in Frankfurt before the airport closed for the night (around 11 PM) which made our arrival 16 hours late. No catering was available for the meals so sacks of Chicka-filet fried chicken sandwiches were purchased by the airline. We could have as many as we wanted during the flight.

 

Did we stop traveling? No, and many of our best experiences have been when things didn't go as plan and we adapted and went with the flow.

 

Attitude is everything.

So, you agree that dumping a elderly couple in their 90's at a closed Pier without a representative after dark is just part if the adventure? Thank goodness for fellow travelers stepping up to help each other out.

I do have empathy for those who have a sincere fear of flying or medical difficulty with long flights. For that reason alone cruising is a wonderful way to travel and see more of the world.

 

For me personally, I've been encouraged by reading what NCL has done for those who were on this cruise. I remember a few years ago reading horror stories of folks stuck on Carnival ships under very uncomfortable conditions. Friends who didn't cruise loved to point out those stories about it to me. It's encouraging to me to hear what NCL is doing to get them safely back to their port of departure even with a super long day of traveling.

Not all.