ajd1969

Hi BirdTravels. Thanks for the message. I have checked with Atlantis and day passes are available and they are open for cruise passengers. Thanks. Andy. 

suometar - Thanks for the quick response and great info

Hi.  I am hoping somebody may know the answer to this.  We are visiting Nassau on the Sky on 21 April and as there is no NCL Shore Excursion to Aquadventure at Atlantis we are hoping to make our own way there.  Are we allowed to get off at Nassau without a shore excursion (we are all fully vaccinated)?  Do we need to apply for a Bahamas Travel Health Visa?  Thanks in anticipation, Andy

I did what was suggested and called back for a second opinion.  I received a double dose of good news, first confirmation that my 25% off vouchers would be reapplied to the new date and second that the new offer introduced in the last few days resulted in the cost to change only being £240 (the previous quote, without the 25% vouchers, was going to be £2,000 more!).

Thank you all for your advice.

Andy

23 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

The agent you were currently talking to -  did not see this?    I’d talk to someone else.   The NCL faq section makes little note about the 25% bonus FCC-   Only that it has to be used against the cruise fare.     Is there a way for you to place a curtesy hold-   Which you can generate an invoice. Then tracking down the missing bonus FCC.  - may be more detailed.  

I think I will take your advice and try calling again and ask somebody else as the person I talked to didn’t seem to be very sure!  Thanks. Andy

3 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

What is the regular  online price?    That would tell you if the 25% is applied.   This is also a completely new booking.  Some prices have risen significantly.    Are you assuming it should be the same?    

Hi Budget Queen

The regular online price is £5,000 (an increase from the regular online price of £4,000 when I booked it - which is fine, I know this can happen). 
 

My 25% Bonus FCC reduced the price of my original booking from £4,000 to £3,000, and so if they are not lost, I would expect the vouchers to reduce the amended cruise from £5,000 to £4,000. 
 

However, when I tried to amend the cruise I was told I would have to pay £5,000 and I was also told this included applying the 25% Bonus FCC’s. 
 

So I am just trying to find out whether or not I lose the 25% Bonus FCC if I amend my cruise as  the NCL rep I spoke to gave inconsistent advice (ie she said I would not lose the vouchers, but the price she gave suggested I would lose them).

Thanks

Andy

Hi

I am hoping somebody can give me some advice on the situation I find myself in. 
 

We had a 2020 cruise cancelled by NCL due to COVID and we accepted the vouchers instead of a refund (so received some 100% FCC and 25% Bonus FCC vouchers).

We subsequently booked a new cruise for 2021, which was £4,000, but we applied £1,000 of the 25% Bonus FCC’s which reduced the price to £3,000 (as the 25% vouchers reduce the price of the cruise, rather than show as a payment against the cruise).

Unfortunately, we now need to change the date of the 2021 cruise.  We checked online and current price for the new date if £5,000. I called NCL and asked how much it would be to move the cruise and they said it would be £2,000.  I asked if I lost the 25% Bonus vouchers if I moved the cruise, and was told no, they had been applied to the new price I was given. 
 

This doesn’t seem right to me as if I don’t lose the vouchers then I would expect the cost for moving the cruise to be £1,000, or if the price is £2,000 then surely I have lost the 25% vouchers?

Just hoping somebody may have the answer. 
 

Thanks in advance

Andy

The revised Grandiosa itinerary has appeared in my cruise planner, but now departing Genoa on 25th October instead of Barcelona on 23rd.  

I may be able to amend my flights, so I contacted MSC customer services to see what my options are.  The latest I can fly back is the 30th, so I suggested either Grandiosa from Valetta on 23rd or Seaside from Barcelona on 24th.  However, they told me I couldn't do either of these as I could only swap to a cruise on the same day or later!  I explained that these are on 'same day or later' as I booked a cruise on the 23rd, but they said "your cruise is now on the 25th, so that is the earliest that you can travel"!  Total madness!

I told the customer service assistant that if that were the case, then I would cancel and have my money back, to which they replied that I would not get my money refunded as they have not cancelled my cruise.  I told them that if moving it 48 hours was not enough to count as a cancellation then surely moving it to a different country is, but they said not.

I appreciate there is a pandemic going on and things are tough for these companies, but this doesn't justify such poor customer service.

1 hour ago, Liviucostin said:

Same for Magnifica. No cruises until November 6th. So either all cruises canceled until that date, or they are going to launch new cruises as they previously announced. These are the 2 ships that they officially announced to sail in the Med this winter.

Thanks for the info - I wasn't aware of that.  I will keep my fingers crossed that its a new itinerary rather than a cancellation.

I called MSC UK and they said they could see the cruise was 'locked', but didn't know why.

Hi.  

I have a cruise booked on the MSC Grandiosa departing 23 October from Barcelona and I just went onto the cruise planner to look at the internet packages, but discovered all of the details of the cruise have vanished (ship, itinerary, cabin number etc) and it now shows we have a guaranteed cabin, but no ship and no itinerary.  The balance due is still the same.

I have tried to do a dummy booking on the same cruise and there no longer appears to be any sailings for the MSC Grandiosa until the 7th November (most of the other MSC ships having availability from August onwards).

Has anybody heard about any changes that I have missed as I am unsure why this has happened and why MSC have not contacted me.  I am hoping it is a glitch as this cruise was to replace another that was cancelled and I really hoped this one would actually go ahead.

Thanks in advance for any information,

Andy

1 hour ago, mugtech said:

Was just being sarcastic, cannot see how they can cruise Seattle to Alaska with Canada being closed in September, they just have not cancelled yet.  Good luck in your search.

Must have missed the sarcasm - perhaps too early in the morning for me - maybe I will read it again later and have a laugh.

The September Seattle plans are a mystery.  People will say its so they can hold on to cash longer, but if that was the case then why not just cancel August now and then cancel September in a months time - why cancel voyages they didn't have to yet while not cancelling voyages that look impossible because of Canada's rules.

24 minutes ago, mugtech said:

According to their letter they are still sailing Joy to Alaska in September.  Perhaps you could move it back a month?  Otherwise take your refund, you could have it by Christmas.

Thanks for the suggestion, however our schools go back at the beginning of September, so sadly that wouldn’t work for us. I think we will take the refund and look out for any better deals on NCL over the next 90 days (as I see NCL now has a form to change your mind about a refund request and go back to the voucher during the 90 day waiting period).

Hi all

we have just had our August Alaskan cruise on NCL Joy cancelled and planned to reschedule our trip for the same time next year. We paid £3,428 for three of us in a family outside cabin and the equivalent cruise next year (on the Bliss) is £4,687, an increase of £1,259 or. 37%.  Even adding on the 25% bonus credit for cancellation, I still need to pay £402 extra for the same cabin on the same cruise. I note that previous cancellations received 20% off if they made a prompt booking, but it doesn’t look like that has been offered to us.

i have looked at the same cruise with Royal Caribbean on Quantum of the Seas and it is £2,395.  Even adding £230 for gratuities and £700 for 2x drinks packages comes in at £3,345, which is £1,342 less than NCL.

We are big fans of NCL, but currently instead of rewarding us for our loyalty, we are being pushed away towards a competitor. 
 

Andy

The NCL UK website is now just showing one sailing in August (Encore our of NYC on 23 August).  I am booked on the Joy on the 22 August, but its first sailing on the website is now 24 October (which ties in with the restart list that has been floating around).  Not all ships tie in with that at the moment though as the Epic's first cruise on the website is 6 Sept, whereas the shared list said 6 December.  I imagine that they are shifting most ships to their first cruise in September, but know they can't realistically do that with the ships that were due to visit Canada.  My second booking is on the Epic on the from Barcelona on 25 October, but I am not confident that it will be travelling across to Europe at all this year.  

Can't believe they look like they have cancelled our Joy sailing the day after we paid the final balance!

Stay safe!

 Mattman1 - I agree that NCL could have given a few more details.  The officer I spoke to said they had lost one engine, but that leaves three still working (perhaps the person who told you it was down to one engine thought the ship only had two engines).

interestingly, I saw some engineers wearing Man Diesel (the engine manufacturer) uniform around the ship yesterday, so I wonder if they were already working on a problem.

When the noise happened we thought we had hit something and sat awake for some time expecting to hear the emergency signal - pretty scary at the time. 

Turns out it is $100 per person regardless of whether booked on a trip, which seems very fair. 
 

Issue caused by failure of a diesel generator resulting in reduced maximum speed.  

DUBROVNIK CANCELLATION.pdf

We are currently on the Norwegian Star and have woken up expecting to be docked in Dubrovnik, but found ourselves in the middle of the Adriatic instead. The Captain has just made an announcement to say that our stop in Croatia has been cancelled for technical reasons and that we will head straight to Venice arriving as expected tomorrow morning. 
 

This follows some strange occurrences in the night. At around 1:15am the ship vibrated / shook violently for around 30 seconds, this was followed two coded messages to crew members over the tannoy during the next fifteen minutes and the emergency lighting around the ship came on. 
 

I’m a bit sad to miss Dubrovnik, but I guess safety has to be a priority.  Hopefully nobody has been hurt and the technical issues don’t prevent a safe return to Venice. It would have been nice to have a little more information on the technical issues. 
 

They have announced that all excursions will be refunded along with an additional $100 on board credit, but I don’t quite see why people who have booked a trip get compensation, but us DIY people don’t as we are all missing the port. 
 

Anyway, we’ll just have to make the best of another day at sea while hoping the technical issues are kept under control. 
 

Andy