missintuitive

But at this point it is impossible to know whether NCL is at fault. Too many unknowns still.

 

Do you know why it was cancelled?

Do you know who the trip was booked through...a travel agent or directly with NCL?

 

But regardless, it's NCL's fault and their customer service treatment of a customer they never had?

 

I only know what she shared on this board. That's all that any of us know. the rest is speculation whether its speculation to believe her or speculation to doubt her. Clearly this person wanted to be a customer because she attempted to book a cruise (by providing payment information that went from "pending" to "charged" to her account the day AFTER the boat sailed). She also showed up at that terminal to take that cruise (and the way things are these days, she wouldn't have been let into the terminal without some type of proof of booking...i.e. the email she had). If the OP's story is true, one thing you can bet on, she will likely remain "a customer they never had" while their competition will likely gain a customer.

 

And with that, I'm done with this convo.

Your advise has to be the worst I have ever seen. You forget, there are things that do not add up as to what really happened. This doesn't mean we do not sympathize with the op, I think most of us do, but to run to social media with everything is one of the things wrong with our country right now. As for the regular news, that would be ok, except unless she has more to go on than what she has told here, it would go onwhere unless the media was hard up for stories and we know lately they have had so many phoney stories they have had to retrract. My guess is they are not about to jump on this one.

 

We will have to agree to disagree. The problem with this country is the lack of empathy. In addition, customer service is damn near dead. Like I said before, my time is a commodity and if I am treated poorly by a company then I will spread the word (and I'm only advocating social media if she has all of her documentation in order). Companies can and do benefit from positive reports on social media but in the case of poor customer service that can and should be highlighted as well. We're both on a form of social media now so its a great learning tool to know that these types of things happen (regardless of the fault its a cautionary tale).

[quote name='Kcruiser2014']I also excited to read this! I have just booked an SJ on Dawn for jan 2017 under the new March promo. $3200 incl taxes and port fees for 6!! Includes UDP, UBP, prepaid grats and $200 OBC. Now, I'm thinking of adding an inside for two more. Since I am thinking that 6 might be a stretch, I am wondering if I can double book 2 of the ones in my room into the interior, so they get suite benefits, but we also have an extra room. Anyone know if that can be done?[/QUOTE]

With prices like that, plus the reduced deposit that's showing up, I may book that cruise as well. I'm booked in a suite on gem later this year in a two bdrm with 6 but it's twice that cost (which was not a bad deal considering that it came out to be similar to booking to balconies).

OP thanks for this post! This is my first time on ncl and a suite but not my first time in a suite.

First, this is a discussion forum...not a support group. Empathy based on one side of a story is not why this board exists.

 

People here do NOT have a problem pointing out that a cruise line (NCL included) makes a mistake. However, most do wait for all of the facts before passing judgment.

 

How do we know...for a verifiable FACT...that the OP in this case did not book through a Travel Agent? How do we know that it was the Travel Agent who did not notify the OP that the cruise was cancelled within 15 minutes? IF that occurred, then it is the Travel Agent at fault and NOT the cruise line.

 

It is often best to hear BOTH sides of an issue BEFORE passing judgment...especially if your "go to" action is to jump on the social media/local news soapbox.

 

 

 

Consider: Like any cruise line, or other business, NCL exists to earn a profit for their owners/shareholders. What possible gain could come to NCL if the OP's version of this story is the complete truth? Why on earth would they want paying customers to show up at the pier only to turn them away with a complete refund?

 

Any for profit company should know that " the customer is always right." It wasn't as if she was trying to get something for nothing. She provided her cc #, showed proof that ncl initiated the transaction (whether it was pending or not ncl would not have access to her cc info if she had not supplied it to them) and showed up to the port in good faith as a customer contributing to their bottom line. I acknowledged that there is two sides to every story. But in some cases it just doesn't make sense to automatically jump to "it was your fault" especially if you don't have all the info.

 

And if I knew I had supporting documentation I would 100% share my story on social media and to anyone that would listen bc my time is a commidity that I cannot get back. Plus the laws of competition and supply and demand dictate that I can spend my money where I am valued as a customer.

Point taken regarding the military fights. However, my point remains that ncl exhibited poor customer service when they cancelled the cruise (15 min after booking with no email) and at the port. As far as checking in online before the cruise, it's optional. This is true for all cruise lines, as I've explored booking on various lines. No cruise line will cancel you for not filling out edocs before the cruise. That would cut their bottom line bc everyone is not Internet savvy. I've travelled with family in a different cabin who did not fill out their edocs before the cruise. It took them longer to register the day of the cruise but with the randomness of the lines to board they took more time to check in but boarded before me. Plus, I've been praised on two different lines at the terminals for having everything filled out ahead of time. There are always two sides to a story but why kick someone when they are down. Also, operational experience counts and there are data points that show that type of lost reservation has happened before (and thus the reference to the B2b case).

I'm so surprised at the apparent lack of empathy for a fellow cruiser by some who responded. It appears as if some ppl cannot admit that sometimes cruiselines get it wrong. This is an extreme case and the company should have provided an extreme solution (or compensation) but to not acknowledge that it even happened is egregious. Clearly, the military mom didn't get a cancellation notice so there is fault on behalf of ncl there. At a minimum, ncl should keep you up to date on your status (ie email if you're booked, email when you're payed in full, email especially if you or ncl cancels). It's called simple customer service. Plus, I take it that folks are not aware that military families can fly standby on military airplanes for free or at a very low cost (that's a major perk for military families) so I doubt there were any last minute flights booked on a commercial airline. I have cruised Disney and carnival and I'm booked for my first NCL cruise. I would be mortified if this happened to me.

 

I would take to social media, and maybe the regular news, to get my story out there. I bet the evening news would be chomping at their bits to have a story like this about a military family with two cute small children. It really is a nightmare!