jennjess

2 minutes ago, CruiseMH said:

 

For an injury that happened BEFORE the cruise ? An injury which you did not get checked before the cruise but AFTER embarkation?

You should definitely do some research on cruising to adjust your expectations on customer service.

 

 

Why didn`t you ask the hotel reception for help? They could have called you a cab to bring you to a local hospital and get it checked. Then you would have saved the bill of the NCL medical centre and would have gained several hours of time.

 

 

I did ask the hotel reception what we should do.  They said I could call a doctor to come to the hotel at a charge of 150 euros (who couldn't obviously make a photo) or go to the hospital.  The one they suggested we went to, but it was a public hospital and to be honest they were swamped with people already, who looked like they needed emergency help far more than we did.  At the time we didn't know it was a break it could just have been a sprain. So we left and decided it would be better to see the medical centre staff onboard.  You have to remember we were all in shock and in a strange country and very unsure where to go or what to do.

13 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

When you leave the ship due to injury or illness, you are pretty much on your own. You are responsible for hotel costs and medical care, and dealing with your insurance, which has nothing to do with the cruise line. Most of the time you pay OOP and get reimbursed by the insurance company. Even with insurance, folks need to have the means to pay OOP for emergencies when traveling.

I am aware we were responsible for the costs incurred once we left the ship but it would have been nice to have had a little more info and concern shown by the company.

24 minutes ago, Z3r0 said:

I’m sorry, but I don’t think I understand the timeline here.  Did the injury occur a week prior to the cruise or the morning of the cruise?

No it happened on the night before the cruise.  We didn't know the extent of the damage or where we should go for help.  Thought we would board the cruise and get help from the medical centre onboard which we did.  They virtually bundled us off the ship and we didn't have a chance even to talk to our travel companion to tell her what was happening.

1 hour ago, 4 cruisers said:

Wait a second…when we board our cruise, that is our home away from home.  They paid and yes, insurance should kick in.  Not being able to receive council from NCL is NOT acceptable.  

Yes, I was expecting alittle more from NCL. Just to have kept in contact would have been nice or if they had given us a contact number so we could call them to let them know what was happening or if we could reboard later.  All we had was the port agents number who said he was only responsible for getting us to a hospital. We felt abandoned.

We should have disembarked the Jade today but a week ago Saturday we arrived in Athens and my son fell and broke his wrist that night.  Not knowing if it was broken or not (it was painful) we boarded and went to the medical centre for an x-ray and it was deemed that he needed hospital treatment and we were disembarked after only an hour onboard and billed almost $400.  The port agent took us to a hospital and left.  One phone call from someone in the USA to ask how it was going, they never got back to us at all.  The hospital we were dropped at wanted 3000 euros up front to do the necessary operation (we already had confirmation from the insurance that the cost would be covered) so we left and went to a hotel for the night.  NCL had supposedly booked this room for us but they hadn't and we had to pay.

Next day we went to a different hospital organised by our travel/health insurer and he was admitted and had the operation on Tuesday with payment guaranteed by them.

He was released on Wednesday and we decided to try to get back onboard, but as everything seemed to go against us, after flying to the next port the ship couldn't dock due to bad weather and we were again stranded.

Decided that we should just go home from that point and took the first flight back home.

Anyway nobody from the ship has contacted us since day one and now I don't know if any of our pre-paid excursions, gratuities or free st sea drink packages will be refunded.

I think my travel insurance will cover most of the cruise cost eventually.  I found it very difficult to contact anyone at NCL for help or advice, my cell phone will not call 0800 numbers.

All in all not the fun filled relaxing holiday we had hoped for.

Does anyone know if it is possible to change your cruise close to sailing.  My son has had an accident and we will need some medical services during the cruise we are booked on.

Just wondered if they would allow us to move the cruise to a different date or whether their medical services are up to his needs?

13 hours ago, latin princess said:

Email states test to be done up to 48 hours prior to departure. Is this 48 hours before your embarkation time or all aboard time or ship sailing time? TIA

 

 

 

 

I'm assuming embarkation time, it's what I'm planning to do anyway.

4 hours ago, purplecow15 said:

Again so unclear. The words in addition seem to indicate a previous test to the one taken at the port.

• All vaccinated guests age 12 and older (Excluding Greece & Israel): must provide proof of negative NAAT test (I.e. PCR) or antigen test taken within 72 hours prior to embarkation. Testing at the terminal will not be facilitated.
• For sailings departing from Greece: In addition to above testing requirements, all guests must additionally provide proof of negative antigen test within 24 hours prior to embarkation. This test will be paid for and administered by Norwegian Cruise Line.
•  

I agree this makes no sense so I called NCL today and was advised to take a test within 72 hours so that is what I'll do.  Pcr not needed unless going to Israel which my cruise isn't, an antigen test is sufficient.

I bet no-one checks it either.

On 5/8/2022 at 2:23 PM, KnATL said:

Yes, take a look here, it does change, and someone just realized that Athens and Greece…are part of Europe (they used to have separate entries…)

https://www.ncl.com/travel-requirements-by-country#europe

Thanks for pointing this out and seems they have changed things again.  We leave on Saturday with no chance of getting tested on day of travel, could get tested on the morning of the cruise in Athens but NCL say they will pay for it so might as well get tested at the port. We are not going to Israel. Am I reading this right? 

1 hour ago, ChC said:

I drink little alcohol. I am the occasional drinker. And I prefer Coca Cola than Pepsi. I also refuse to pay overpriced water.

 

But I do take the drink package only because from UK point of sale there is no gratuities to be paid. Otherwise I will be the first one to refuse it. Not worth it. So I totally understand all you guys above me here.

Yes the drink package is worth it if booking from Europe since the gratuities are included.  I also drink very little alcohol or soda but several juices a day and a glass of wine at dinner it is worthwhile.

1 hour ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

UPDATE

We have confirmed today with both Costa and our TA that the rules changed wef 1 May and that there is no testing at the terminal, so it is a requirement to show up with results of a test taken within the previous 48 hours.  We have booked antigen tests in Paris on route.  It's not entirely clear from the website whether proctored / web monitored tests will be acceptable, so we are playing safe and having one done person-to-person at a pharmacy.  

 

BVILady - we're thinking of booking a back-up test in Savona as well.  Haven't done it yet, but this website boasts 500 test centres across Italy, so you may find one that works for you in Mestre or Trieste  https://onecheck.org/?lang=en

 

Yes it's been a bit of a nightmare to find a test centre in Genoa but think we may have something sorted.

48 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Excellent.  That's what we thought.  Thanks very much for coming back so quickly.

I received the same email today and have been busy trying to find out how to get tested in Italy since we will be there within the 48 hours before the cruise.

Seems this is a new thing since the beginning of this month so experiences on previous cruises will not be of much help.

3 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

Just a side note:

In most (probably all?) Western Europe countries, the most used form of payment is a DEBIT CARD and not a credit card. We use our debit cards for "everything" - even for very small amounts. Even in a regular supermarket you may experience not to be able to pay with a regular credit card....

In this country it's not possible to use a credit card in supermarkets or most other shops.  Debit cards or cash, and some don't accept cash either. 

16 hours ago, Alex71 said:

We just disembarked the Costa Toscana today. Happy to answer any questions regarding this ship and current procedures on board.

Sounds like you had a good time onboard.

The insurance thing worked out OK? Did you need to produce any test results before boarding or was testing done at the port?

On 4/20/2022 at 12:49 AM, John Bull said:

 

 

I feel sure that the OP is aware that a "free" drinks package is actually paid for in some other way, such as in the cruise fare.

 

Their query is whether something should be described as "free" when $20 pppd is buried in the small-print and added to the on-board account, something which I see as sharp practice..

Most of us were pretty sure that the cruise line in question is NCL (confirmed by the OP), because NCL are known for their nickel & diming, and nobody on this thread has experienced that example with other cruise lines.

And if on NCL you dine in a speciality restaurant, gratuities are charged on your speciality meal, even though you're  paying the daily gratuity. So when you dine speciality on NCL you're paying double gratuities. 🙄

 

JB 🙂

The European free drinks package includes gratuities which is nice. 

59 minutes ago, kmurph22 said:

I tested at home before traveling because it gave me a little peace of mind -  although not a guarantee,  I was hoping not to test positive right from the get-go!  

This is what I am now thinking to do.  Test at home the day before travelling (just to check we are negative) then test at the port when boarding.  We are travelling to Athens the day before the cruise which makes getting tested difficult in the 24 hour period as we arrive in the evening.

Thanks for reviews on your cruise it's very helpful for cruisers in the next few weeks.

In your opinion is it worth getting tested before boarding or just wait until boarding?

6 minutes ago, casofilia said:

@purplecow15

 

Go further down the document you quote to Greece Cruise Protocols and compare/check with the Athens Protocol you quote!!

 

To me they seem at odds with each other.

They most certainly are!

11 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

We are also on this sailing and this was our experience yesterday

After baggage claim and customs there was a lady holding up a Norwegian cruise line sign She signed us off her list and directed us to waiting shuttle bus 

We were all taken to the Hyatt hotel for testing even those who had paid for tests on their own expense within 24 hours 

Fortunately most of us were negative and given wrist bands and directed to another bus which took us to the pier for check in to the ship

There was at least one person who tested positive

He was in a family group and being told that the rest of his family were free to cruise but he would have to isolate for 5 days

 

 

 

 

Sad for that family but this is why it's worth testing before you leave.  To travel and then be refused is really bad news.

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

Arrived at the port at about 10.30 and there were already quite a few people here.

 

There are two lines, one for people who have had a test within 24 hours and one for those who haven’t. No distinction between PCR and Antigen, it needs to be within 24 hours.

 

If you have been tested within 24 hours they are not testing at the port. However, they then didn’t ask to see our test results and gave us a testing kit. We queried this with a staff member who then did check our result and took the kit from us and gave us a red slip to show we are ok to check in and board.

 

There are only a few of us with the slips so I imagine that lots of people are being tested who don’t need to.

 

Anyway, check in opens at 11am and most people are waiting for their results before they can check in.

Interesting.  I'm thinking about getting tested at Athens airport on arrival which would be within 24 hours.  It would save me money rather than a PCR 72 hours before we leave which seems they aren't that interested in anyway.

It's rather annoying that we won't arrive into Athens until early evening and therefore won't be able to get an antigen test there.  So will mean PCR a day or two before we leave home I guess.  And then no one will check it anyway.

Looking forward to your reports as we will be doing this cruise next month so it's very much appreciated.

It looks like they will be testing at the port in Athens so I would like to know if the other testing rules for Greece will still apply.  Since they are only sailing out of Athens it makes little sense that there are two different listings on the NCL website.

13 hours ago, Alex71 said:

 

On the German page there is a tab that is called something along the lines of "my payments". If you click on it, it takes you to a page with an orange button that says "pay now". This took me to the page where I could pay. Credit card payments were rejected, but payments with Paypal, which is linked to my credit card anyway, went through.

No tab at all on the Dutch/Belgian site or the EU site when I log in.  Very very odd.

38 minutes ago, Alex71 said:

 

Hm, I was able to pay online, but only via Paypal, not by credit card directly. This is the page where I made the payment after logging into myCosta: https://www.mycosta.com/de/mycruise/meine-zahlungen.html

 

I had the impression that they manage customer service centrally out of Italy, so it's odd that they use a different payment provider for the Netherlands than they do for Germany.

That page just takes me to My Costa where I can see no place to pay at all.  Where exactly is the payment option?

On the subject of paying for a cruise I am having a problem.  Why can't I pay for it online like I paid the deposit?  There isn't an option for doing that.

You have to call them to use a credit card but my bank requires them to send a request to my banking app for my authorisation and this doesn't happen.  So only option is a bank transfer.