Heronymous

44 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

 

NOLA is a normal port for NCL and the have relationships with all the vendors there, It would not have been that hard to give them 24 hour notice and get a resupply - look at how fast they are loading ship with relief supplies - not a valid excuse here

 

Yes this is very bad press for NCL, it will tun a number of first time cruisers to another line that handles the situation better

 

Really not a situation of timing of decisions, just a case of really really bad decision making.  You can support there decisions all you want, but it is plainly obvious to all that they did not make the right decision.

 

This is the a good example of a Captain that was embarrassed by the decision of his upper management.

 

 

Finally this was a very poor showing by NCL and I wish them the best of luck figuring out what all they did wrong and in implementing procedures to rectify the problem in the future.

 

 

They've already released their own press releases about their trip to the Bahamas for humanitarian aid. While I commend them for their actions because the Bahamas sure needs it, I can't help but feel the motivation behind it was purely PR and to bury the bad press beneath the new press. I don't blame them for changing ports or cancelling the subsequent cruise, but I do blame them for how they handled it, the lack of communication, the time, money, and resources they wasted by announcing decisions and then changing them hours later after people scrambled to change flights, hotels, and travel plans, and the lack of support they provided people despite claiming they provided it to everyone. No one offered us support or assistance, and we kept asking for it. I had an amazing experience on that cruise, aside from my wedding on another ship, it was the best cruise we ever had.. The staff was amazing, went above and beyond offering Haven-like service, then they ruined it all by a series of poor decisions. I was sticking up for them at first in my posts, but I can't defend them after how they handled things.

And for all the NCL cheerleaders out there, don't confuse our dissatisfaction of how NCL screwed this up as a lack of compassion for the people injured, killed, or alive left with nothing in the Bahamas. We are allowed to be furious with what we had to deal with. That doesn't mean we don't have compassion for those who have it way worse. Being kept safe on their ship doesn't grant them free license to screw with people's lives and abandon them at a random port and take off. I am beyond sorry that I purchased more cruise next after this stunt because I have only ever cruised NCL before, but now I am compelled to try their competitors.

2 hours ago, herdingdogmom said:

You have to submit a "claim" for the $300 per person reimbursement via NCL's website.  Attach copies of airline tickets and I'd include the hotel receipt too and explain it was part of your returning home expenses.  Here's the link to the form.  https://www.ncl.com/case-submission  Unfortunately, it can take awhile to be processed and they usually mail a check which also takes some time.

Ahh thank you for that. When I get home I have to make sure I check the process for the full refund they're supposed to give on the B2B they cancelled. The Breakaway was in New Orleans until 4pm local time. I heard its horn and looked out the window and got to see it sail away without us.

For those that needed to get back to another airport, or who required a hotel to since flights were not available until the next day, they have done nothing. At least for myself and the rest of my family.  They did announce they'll pay up to $300 per person for "change fees" but no instructions how, and its unclear if that will cover our scenario of having to change airlines completely in order to get home. Not complaining, just reporting some facts.

I do have trip insurance, and not via NCL but with a third party. I'll give them a ring.

The 8/25 sailing of the Breakaway will be terminating the cruise in New Orleans instead of Miami due to the hurricane. I'm curious what happens after they dump us there. Their update on the website said they would be assisting passengers with travel arrangements, but from what I've seen already that just means they'll let passengers use their phones and computers for free. Has anyone ever experienced this with NCL first-hand before and can enlighten us with what to expect?

Thanks

So far on the Breakaway, they extended the beverage package where the last time this happened they didn't according to staff. Dining packages are only for X nights so you would probably keep the nights you had left if any.  They're handing out new keys to one deck of people at a time, not sure how the keys look yet as far as UDP and BEV package go. Spa is still opened to ua.

Now text messages are being sent instructing people to call a recording which says the 9/1 cruise has been shortened to a 4 day cruise setting sail on  9/4.

7 minutes ago, jaja said:

I feel so bad for all who are on board  and for those who were looking forward to tomorrow's cruise. 

And I hope everyone makes it home safely.....

We're actually both of those, not sure what to do at this point

Captain just announced current plan is to return to Miami on 9/4.

16 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

So are they extending the current cruise? As of one hour ago the BA was moving at 17 knots toward Miami 

Yes, but no estimate or idea of how long.  All they know is we can't return to port tomorrow to drop off passengers or pick up new ones, so the next cruise is cancelled.  That explains why they weren't telling anyone about the next cruise being cancelled, it didn't only affect those people but everyone currently on-board who now have to cancel their flights and /or hotels but can't book anything new since no one knows when we'll get back to port. Again, it's not NCL's fault since they have no choice as the port of Miami was closed on them. I just wish they stuck with their original plan to extend the stay in Cozumel. I wonder how many days we're talking about until they re-open the port...

Captain just announced that the port of Miami will close at 10pm tonight and we will NOT be returning to port tomorrow and will remain at sea until the captain of the port re-opens it.

I can confirm that I called NCL in Miami and they told me that tomorrow's cruise is cancelled. I called up an officer on the ship and they wouldn't tell me anything other than "The captain will announce if there are any changes".  We were supposed to be sailing B2B next week but haven't been told anything about the cancellation yet. I'll respond once I hear the official announcement..

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Still in Cozumel. Not sched to leave until Saturday morning. 

Not accurate, that was changed and we have indeed left cozumel.

9 minutes ago, zqvol said:

This is from ncl.com as of the time I am posting this message:

 

Norwegian Breakaway – August 25, 2019 Sailing: As scheduled, Norwegian Breakaway arrived to Cozumel, Mexico on Friday, August 30, 2019.  At this time, we are uncertain if the ship will be able to return to Miami, Florida on Sunday, September 1, as planned.  As such, the ship will extend its time and overnight in Cozumel until September 1, departing at 5 p.m. During this time, guests will have the option to conclude their cruise and arrange their return home or remain on board. Guests who choose to end their cruise in Cozumel will receive a 25% future cruise credit.

We welcome and encourage guests to remain on board and will provide an update on the anticipated return date to Miami by 8 p.m. or sooner on Friday, August 30.

Considering how long it took them to update their site with the first update, I would assume they will eventually post the new update eventually. The staff is outside doing their last port all on board party thing and they announced all crew must be on board by 5:30pm to depart.

17 minutes ago, aero777 said:

Hope everyone is back on the ship.

Me too, many left thinking all-aboard was tomorrow morning, not 5pm today. 

We were informed that we will now be leaving as originally scheduled and will be at Miami Sunday morning as originally scheduled. 

Captain just updated that we will be changing ports at 4am tomorrow to the one in Cozumel used by Carnival and we'll be leaving port at 5pm Sept 1 but the arrival at Miami is still to be determined. 

Yes, the captain announced we will be staying in Cozumel until 5am Sunday morning at which point we'll have to change berths at the port to a different one. I forgot what time he said we're leaving but he did say the time of our arrival at Miami on Tueaday will be based on port conditons at that time. 

I'm on the Breakaway, the captain just announced they are working on an extended stay in Cozumel due to the hurricane. No other details were provided as they haven't solidified them. Hope this helps some of the questions people had, but probably raises some more. Obviously they have to do what's safe for everyone on board and have no control over weather so go easy on them :)

On 8/1/2019 at 8:32 AM, macandlucy said:

I seem to recall a "bundled" promo that was available to book some time ago -- last year sometime.  It did include a number of photos (as well as other things that I don't remember, but different than the usual Free At Sea choices).  If you booked the cruise last year, perhaps it's from that?

We only boooked a few months ago, it wasn’t on there originally which is weird. One of our family members who booked at the same time via the method and phone call even is not getting the promo to appear though. Very strange

A family member noticed that when he made a change to his edocs for an upcoming cruise, a promo code “photo” appeared for a 25 photo package. I didn’t have that on my edocs so for the hell of it I made a change that updated my edocs, and sure enough the photo package appeared as well. We booked via Costco travel, and it’s not listed as a perk for our cruise nor is it on the ncl website currently.. the funny thing is another family member tried this for the same cruise and it didn’t work for him. Curious if anyone has any insight on what this might be from?

It’s only weird if you don’t have any kids. Lol

Next month will be my first cruise at the Platinum level, I’ve been curious about this too.. I did notice that the FAQ is very vague about this question and tells you to go to the cruise next desk. I will definitely do this and post the results. I’ll also ask the officers at the meet and greet if we have one. 

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-faq/how-do-i-find-out-details-concierge-service-priority-restaurant-and-entertainment-seating-priori

Hey everyone, 

Just curious if anyone knows what ship captain Gunnar Hammerin is on these days, if he’s still with NCL that is?

I’ve done the Haven many times in the past and used the pre-cruise concierge email for things like this, but not doing the Haven this time and have 3 cabins. I wanted to find out if there is a way to reserve premium dining for all three cabins at the same table / time in advance but not sure if I can. Trying to it appears to want to (understandably) charge me for every seat when it should be divided by room. To complicate things further, we purchased our cruise via costco for the extra perks. We are lattitudes platinum and I know there is some sort of concierge, but I’ve read on here that even they pretty much ignore you and it’s a fake perk. I’m sure I’ll find out how my mileage will vary since this is our first time with one, but anyone know if there is a way to accomplish booking reservations for 3 linked rooms and if there is a pre-concierge for lattitudes platinum and up members?