OctoP

We used it on our recent cruise and everything went smoothly. We gave our cruise consultant the day we wanted to arrive and the day we wanted to depart. This way, we had time in the embarkation and debarkation cities. You don’t get to choose your specific flights. They pick and notify you of the itinerary. You will fly economy the whole way, unless you want to pay the airlines directly for an upgrade. You will also have to pay the airlines for assigned seats if you want to have any control over that. The flights selected by NCL were scheduled well enough, with enough time to switch flights on layovers, but not too much time. Overall I consider it a win.

My husband has some work stuff that he needs to stay in touch with periodically. Unfortunately he can’t completely disconnect. Also, we have 2 middle schoolers staying at home with their aunt that we want to stay in touch with.

Very helpful! Thank you! Do you know if our minutes are per person or per stateroom?

This will be our first cruise with NCL. Before this, we have only cruised with Princess. On Princess, getting internet to work is a bit tricky, so I want to make sure I understand how it works with NCL while I’m still at home. Questions: 1) Does each person need their own account with NCL, or can it be one account for the whole party? 2) Can multiple devices be used? That is, could I use both my phone and my laptop? 3) Do you need the NCL app to connect? 4) What are the mechanics of connecting? Also, I heard it’s cheaper to upgrade the internet package once onboard. Is this right? As of now, we only have 150 minutes. We’d like the next package up, just in case of emergency.

Passing on information regarding excursions booked through NCL at the rescheduled ports. 1) If the port simply changed days, the excursion moved with it. No action needed. 2) If the port was cancelled, the funds for the excursion will be credited to your onboard account. They will not be available to you until you are actually onboard. So, if you want to use those funds to schedule new excursions, you have to go to the excursion desk on board. If you prefer the funds go back to your credit card, they will do that, but you have to call 866-625-1167 and request this. It will take about 10 days to credit. 3) If you want to book new excursions before boarding, you have to use your credit card, not onboard credit. The excursions won’t be available for booking for at least a few more days.

Here’s a couple of good articles regarding safety in Turkey and Egypt right now. http://travelinglifestyle.net/is-it-safe-to-travel-to-egypt-now/ https://www.travelinglifestyle.net/is-it-safe-to-travel-to-turkey-now-during-israel-conflict/

Just passing on an update. According to my cruise consultant, the new itinerary for the 11/1 cruise might post on Tuesday but probably not any sooner.

Please stop portraying us as unreasonable. We’re well past “immediately”. Those of us on the Nov 1 sailing are about to get on planes to fly half way around the world, with no idea of what awaits us on the other end. We’re seeing all of the other sailings get their new itineraries, but not us. Of course we’re worried.

That sounds great. I really hope we get something similar for the Nov 1 sailing. There seems to be something holding them up for our sailing so I’m really nervous about where it’s going to land.

Not to derail the cruise talk, but we’ve had really great treatment from Alaska Airlines. Things don’t go wrong often, but when they did, they really stepped up and took care of us. They probably went beyond their basic legal obligations. That’s why we are their loyal customers. A little kindness and compassion goes a long ways, and isn’t forgotten.

Ya, that does seem to be our only option. Just keep waiting. As someone else pointed out, there’s probably no insurance, even “cancel for any reason” insurance that would cover this scenario. It’s a complicated house of cards. Much stress and anxiety. We have my sister-in-law supposedly flying cross-country on Thursday to stay with the kids while we’re gone. I guess she could come anyway if we cancel, but that causes other complications.

Sorry, I meant no communication since war broke out. I did get this one from before everything started. My cruise consultant has been great, but she also has received no information since this. It looks like all the other sailings have their new itinerary. Just not the Nov 1 sailing.

We have travel insurance but not “cancel for any reason” insurance. So, if we choose to cancel, we pretty much lose everything.

Yes, my question around the legalities was answered. I do appreciate that. And I do see others have received a new itinerary. We have not. It looks like we’re the last ones, so I’m trying to understand the possibilities of what might happen.

You’re putting words in my mouth. I never once said it was safe, or that I insisted they stick to the original itinerary, or that’s simple to change. The question was whether they legally had to give us a different ports or if they could just keep us on the boat all week.

I’m fine with going somewhere else. The problem is that we haven’t been told that we’re actually going anywhere else. I’ve received no communication from NCL outside of ads for their credit card and room upgrades. If you went by my email inbox, everything is perfect in the world and everything is progressing according to plan. My itinerary still shows all of the Israel and Egypt ports. I’m flying out in a week for the Nov 1 sailing on the Gem out of Istanbul. So, are we going somewhere else, or are we floating around the Mediterranean for a week? That’s the core of the question.

Beware of the fact that what you may get could be nothing like what you thought you were getting. It’s effectively a game of chance, with all the risk on the customer. I have certainly run into travel issues like cancelled flights, but they either got us on another flight or compensated us in some way for the trouble. Apples and oranges.

It’s Istanbul to Athens. I’m on that same cruise.

This makes perfect sense, especially for something very expensive. If what I purchased changes in a material way, it’s no longer what I intended to buy. So, I guess good for them that they can get away with it, but not good for people who don’t get what they thought they were buying. Buyer beware.

Same.

So far I haven’t received any communication from them. Nothing at all.

That’s encouraging. I’m on the Gem leaving Istanbul on Nov 1 and arriving in Athens Nov 11. We haven’t received any communication yet. Hopefully this means we’ll get our communication soon.

This may be in the fine print somewhere but I can’t find it. I know NCL can and should be able to cancel ports where there is danger, whether it be war, weather, zombies, or whatever. Safety is always the first priority. When this occurs, are they legally obligated to replace a certain percentage of those ports with substitute ports? Or provide any kind of compensation if other ports aren’t available for whatever reason? Could they legally just shift everything to days at sea?

Yes. When I called customer service and asked if I had the option to cancel or reschedule because I was concerned about traveling in or near a war zone. They said I could, but they would not refund anything. The right thing for them to do would be to allow the option to reschedule for a future date. I’m not even talking about a refund. Just apply the funds to a future sailing. Those that felt comfortable going could still go. Those that didn’t want to take the risk could reschedule. At this point, I don’t expect they will do the right thing and allow us to make this choice. We will never go on a cruise with them again, knowing this is how they treat their customers. They won’t care but it’s the one and only thing we have control over.

People won’t/can’t cancel because they’ll lose all their money. I was so excited this morning when I saw an email from NCL in my inbox. That excitement died when I saw it was just an ad for their credit card.