tjbarney

On 7/7/2023 at 9:00 PM, Sugarlandsooner said:

@roger b I first want to thank you for all of the information.  We will be in Palma de Mallorca on July 31 and I think we will  take the train to Soller and then the tram to Port de Soller after based on your recommendation.  Then most likely a taxi back to the ship. Does all of this sound feasible based on your extensive knowledge? Our ship arrives at 8:00 am. I’ve been in and out of this thread and wanted to make sure I had everything straight with all I have been reading about all of our various stops on the cruise. Thanks again.

Did you take the taxi from Port de Soller back to the ship? If so, do you recommend and how much did it cost?

12 hours ago, roger b said:

Hi ,you will be able to get a later train around 12.15 pm ,not sure of exact time as it will be the winter timetable, which will not come out until later in the year.

Look back in this thread and will give you different  suggestions of what to do at this time of the year.

Roger b

https://trendesoller.com/eng/timetable.php?register_vars[ckAnalitica]=1

Thank you for that info and link.  Strange that I read a couple places that there is only one train a day and a video I watched showed that as well....

We will be on the NCL Prima stopping in Mallorca on Saturday, November 17, 2023 from 10:30 am to 8:30 pm.  I was thinking of doing the train to Soller and Port of Soller, but I just read there is only one train and it leaves at 10:30.  Is this correct?  If so, obviously we won't be able to make that.  Back up plan?

I know this is an old thread, but hoping someone has the notes for the Herculaneum self walking tour by CruiseMom42?  Thank you!!  tnjbarney@gmail.com

9 minutes ago, Vyhanek said:

It is possible, you were kicked off at 9:30 and not allowed to stay the whole day on the ship because NCL was afraid the Chile government might refuse to allow passengers to disembark at some point in the day!     Just like what's going on here, no one wants the cruise passengers to disembark in their port.    So as soon as NCL got the word that they could get their passengers off, they weren't going to waste a minute and allow Chile to decide differently.   

 

Imagine the situation if you were still on the Star, still floating out there begging nations to let you disembark!    The Chile airports weren't closed, you were able to get flights, imagine if you were to have been 2 days later and the airports closed!    Im going to give NCL the pass here and hopeful they wanted you off the ship before the authorities denied you and they wanted you to get to an airport asap, get your ticket and get out of the country asap before it closed.    Yet, you're mad they didn't let you hang around the ship the rest of the day.........

 

I was on the Pearl in late February and I'm positive I got the virus on that cruise.   There was so much coughing it was undeniable.  So many crew were coughing.   I started coughing the day before we were disembarking.   I was at the airport and now it was more than a cough.   Im flying home and have a fever!!    I get home and look up the symptoms of corona virus and freak out!!   Then 2 days later I get the shortness of breath, to the point I can't catch my breath.  I'm wondering if I need to get to the ER!    It was Coronaa virus.   The medical professionals not he ship surely knew.   The captain surely knew his own crew had it.   I get your anger.  Im Platinum Plus and angry too.   But in your case, I think you should be grateful NCL was able to off board passengers before the authorities denied you.   Be thankful the airports were still open.   Maybe NCL knew the airports were getting ready to close at any minute.   You didn't need to sit the day on the ship that was going to be kicked out of that port probably!

You have obviously misunderstood if you think "you're mad they didn't let you hang around the ship the rest of the day.........".  I am upset that NCL didn't provide the b2b cruisers assistance in getting home.  I am upset that the senior officers on board assured us we would get reimbursed for our expenses.  I am upset that upon returning home NCL basically ignores me and gives me canned responses saying they won't give us any compensation for our unexpected international, last minute, flights back home.  

I'm sorry for your experience and am glad it seems you are doing better. Just think of all those people in the airport and everywhere you went that you potentially infected.  You should have known enough about the virus that you should have been taking every precaution not to infect others and quarantine yourself.

6 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

3-15-20     AA   SCL to MIA    I easily got business class.   Most of premium economy also open.   

Lol, well that makes sense...

1 hour ago, Budget Queen said:

I was on the ship and had no  problem checking flights.    I decided to stay overnight and also had no problem getting my preferred hotel booked.     I left Sunday night on a flight with over 150  open seats.    

Out of curiosity, if you were on our ship, why didn't you join the roll call?  Or perhaps you did and I just didn't realize to have met you.

2 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Not only a canned response, they did not even proof check the one word they changed, it clearly used to say:

"The form will be made available beginning March 23, 2020"

Yes, noticed that right away too!

6 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Well that is pretty generous of them to offer you your money back for a cruise that they cancelled, at least they did not make you pay extra , but of course you have to fill out a form first, otherwise no refund for you (nor soup)

Of course you have to also wait 90 days for them to pay you back...

I have already said I would take the FCC because we have 6 Cruise Next certificates we purchased in January.  Just wished they would acknowledge me with a human response and at least the appearance of caring.

Surprise, surprise.  My email to Harry Sommer was responded by Paula Ponder, Manager, Guest Relations.  Again, they can't bother responding with an actual response that speaks of my circumstances I have written about, just another canned response.

Thank you for your email to Harry Sommer, President & CEO.   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid, unprecedented and challenging times.  Our organization stands behind the two options listed below and no further compensation will be granted.  
 
•    All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 150% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
•    For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus, under suspended sailings.  The form was be made available beginning March 23, 2020. We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

For any additional out-of-pocket expenses, we recommend that you contact your travel insurance directly to file a claim.  We are unable to honor your request for a refund of any transportation or hotel expenses.    

As always, your business is important to Norwegian Cruise Line and we appreciate your trust in us. We remain dedicated to providing our guests with the best travel experiences across the globe.
 

Kind regards,

1 minute ago, Budget Queen said:

You have already been denied reimbursement of your submitted claim?    

Yes, this was their emailed response:

5 minutes ago, NLH Arizona said:

Knowing that officers sometimes say what they think you want to hear, so you will leave them alone and that guest services don't always have the correct information, that is why I suggest you send a letter to Mr. Del Rio copying Mr. Sommer.

I truly believe they just told everyone that so they wouldn't have a riot on their hands.  Some people were getting very loud.  I understood people being upset, but the crew had nothing to do with it and were only the messengers.

I have sent an email to Mr. Sommer, couldn't find the email for Mr. Del Rio.

1 minute ago, NLH Arizona said:

I have no idea, I was just responding about who said the cruise line would pay for the travel expenses and it appears that some officers said they would.  Whether it is correct or not, I have no idea.  

It is correct, plus I even went to the guest relations desk and they told me the same thing.  I was also told by other B2B cruisers they were told the same thing.  I had a gut feeling they wouldn't honor it in the end since I didn't have anything in writing though.  Unfortunately, my gut feeling was correct.

Just now, Budget Queen said:

 

Have claims even been submitted?    And do you think they have even been audited yet?   The cruise was only 2 weeks ago.   You can’t jump to conclusions until payments or denials are issued 

Did you even read my post, or a post a few below to OP? 

2 hours ago, Petoonya said:

 

Harry Sommer is president and CEO NCL    harrysommer@ncl.com

That email address doesn't work 😞

Edit, seems to be hsommer@ncl.com

2 minutes ago, disneylover89 said:

I can understand why NCL cancelled the cruise and had people disembark but there is 2 things NCL handled very badly. 1- Not providing free transportation to the airport for people whose cruise was cancelled and 2- Telling people they would be reimbursed for their flight changes and then not following through.   The more I read about how NCL treats their customers the more I am glad I got out of my cruise to Alaska before I paid in full.  When I book my Alaska cruise next year, it will not be with NCL.

I loved Alaska, we've done both, cruise and land.  I personally recommend Alaska by land (you can still do the glaciers from land excursions) via RV.

As for cruising, I personally felt the cruise we did around the tip of South America to be far greater than our Alaska cruise.  Namely because you get to see so much from the ship, cruising through the channels and glaciers as well as wildlife (penguins, seals, sea lions, dolphins, whales).

1 minute ago, Petoonya said:

 

Frank Del Rio is not the CEO of NCL. FDR is the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holding a financial holding company that owns three cruise lines.

 

Harry Sommer is president and CEO NCL    harrysommer@ncl.com

Thank you very much

6 minutes ago, NLH Arizona said:

Totally disagree with not having a time restriction .  If there wasn't a time restriction, there would be those passengers that would stay on it for hours.  They needed to restrict time, so everyone could have the opportunity to change their flights and other reservations.

Lol, well there wasn't much time for us left on board at this point.  Luckily I am savvy and was able to get us flights booked well before a lot of the others.  The only reason we chose to "streamline" (as some other poster tried to use in a negative way) our transportation to the airport was the fact it was 2 hours away from the airport, in a major commercial port, and I figured we would have the easiest time getting reimbursed if we chose their direct service.  Ha, how wrong I was at that point in hoping they would stand by their word and reimburse us.  Our flights were nearly $1,100 per person as well, the cheapest option available.

8 hours ago, Level six said:

Like mentioned above, write the CEO.

 

When HAL had the "only at sea" cruise on the Westerdam on FEB 1.  I just decided I could not go on that cruise to Asia as the epidemic was gaining speed and did not fly to Hong Kong to board the ship.  I was out to lose a lot of money and my trip insurance would not cover epidemics. 

 

I wrote an email to CEO, stated my case (CDC and WHO recommendations, etc).  I was polite, stated only the facts.  Did not blame anyone.  I just stated what I wanted, a full refund.

 

The next day, someone from CEO office called me and said I would get a full refund back to my credit card.  I got the full refund about a month later. 

 

It is better to handle it in a professional manner and go to the top.  Good luck  

 

 

 

Thank you for giving your experience and success, I'm so glad they listened and gave you a full refund.  We were super lucky to have just ended our NCL SE Asia cruise in Hong Kong on Jan 25 and barely got out of there.  Funny this happens to us on the very next NCL cruise we had scheduled.  I actually tried to get out of the SA cruise due to the fact I wasn't sure what was going on with the virus.  We too were told no way we would get a refund and would lose all our money.  I am glad we went and at least got the first half of our trip as it was a really cool cruise.

Do you have the CEO's email?

5 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

That was my point...it was the OP who suggested it was my fault for assuming that "kicked off" meant something wrong.

 

Odd that you think NCL should be booking their flights though. I actually had flown to Port Canaveral on March 12th to board the Carnival Breeze on March 14th. The morning of the cruise, Carnival notified us that the cruise was cancelled. There I was in Port Canaveral...no cruise, no hotel, and no flight to take me back home. Does that make it Carnival's responsibility to become my travel agent and get me home?

Much easier situation, and cheaper, to find your way back home than from a different continent and in less than 24 hours.  I'm not saying that doesn't suck at all, it does.  I personally wouldn't have been leaving on a trip at that point though.  When we left the States on February 25th there were only a handful of known cases in Washington State, and none in South America (where we were going).  It blew up quickly while we were on our first 2 weeks.  When you left your home on March 12th, it was becoming a much bigger issue and more travel restrictions were starting to be put in place.  I'm not here to argue with anyone.  I am only trying to bring attention to a situation that happened.  If I didn't share, you all would not know.  Of course I hope that NCL can also be held accountable for leaving us stranded.

1 minute ago, Liljo22 said:

 

NCL should in the least reimbursed for travel expenses but they didn’t put anyone’s health in risk.

Technically they did put us all at risk for getting stuck in a foreign country during a pandemic.  The borders of Chile closed down on the 16th, and we were off the ship on the 14th.  We were super lucky to get seats on a flight as shortly after we booked, the same flight sold out and the next flight out with seats available would have been 2 days later.  Might have gotten stuck.  God was certainly looking out for us!  

11 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

I'm 68 and have been cruising for over 40 years. This is without a doubt the most horrific story of cruise line neglect and disregard of passengers needs I've ever heard. Not to mention the outrageous, unconscionable lack of reimbursement for your expenses. I wonder what some attorneys reading your account on here would think. So sorry for your catastrophic cruise and aftermath.

Thank you.  I am not one to complain and call people out.  I tried for the last week and a half to get NCL to make this right, or at least acknowledge this situation.  They haven't, so I have resorted to posting this so everyone will know how they are treating their customers.  

1 minute ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

How would the U.S embassy take you home?   

Thankfully we made it home.  I have been reading about many instances though where the US Embassy is helping get flights to Americans that are stranded in other countries right now.

1 minute ago, queenL said:

I just wanted to say I'm sorry.  I'm glad you made it home safe. That sounds super frustrating, and if plans changed leaving us in a country we didn't intend to be in.  I'd be peeved too.  Particularly with the shortage of international flights these days. I think it is likely Port Canaveral didn't want you guys there.  Were there any suspected Covid cases on board?  These are unprecedented times, however it does not appear that they did all they could to help.

No cases of suspected Covid-19 on board.  We were probably in the safest place we could have been on the ship, that is if they didn't allow any new passengers to come on board.

I know NCL couldn't help what was going on in the world with the pandemic.  They could, and should, have at the very least provided us assistance to get us back home.  I would even accept a future cruise credit in the amount we had to pay for our flights home if they couldn't afford the cash refund, while I would imagine they really could.

2 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

 

This was not a normal disembarkation.  They had no idea they were going to end the cruise at that point.  And to give them no help with flights is just wrong.  

Thank you.  Plus they made us pay for their bus transportation to the airport, just another way they could make a buck off of us when they knew we had no other choice.  It wasn't as if we could hope to get a taxi from the very commercial port for a 2 hour drive to the airport.  People who had planned to disembark there had prior arrangements for private cars to transport them.  We had to be taken in bus shuttles from the ship to a safer area near the port exit due to the fact it was a commercial port (think only large container ships and containers and cranes everywhere).