RocketMan275

5 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

If NCL can have 20+ Haven staff members standing around waiting to personally escort passengers onesies twosies onto the ship, they can reallocate them elsewhere during non-peak Haven boarding times and *gasp* ask the Haven guests to take a seat and wait 15-20 mins to be escorted on in a small group - or let us walk on our own. Some of us don't need/want that escort.

 

I'm saying they need to drill down into the why. Why were folks particularly upset at port xyz on this particular day. When they have data that suggests a true problem, look into ways to resolve it. If that means renting additional folding chairs - so be it. If it means someone sets up a cup of water station when you get into the terminal building like they have at each port of call when you return to the ship - so be it. If that means asking someone to print out a neon sign that says "Priority boarding this way" because the existing signs aren't big enough, so be it. If it means working with the port staff to better educate them on the workflow and process for their cruise line so there's no confusion about what is/isn't supposed to happen, so be it.

 

Not for me to fix their problems when I don't know for sure what they are. But if organizations like Disney can figure out "if you're standing here you have another 2hr wait before you get to see Mickey" then I'm sure NCL or the port crew can figure something out as well.

You really don’t understand how union shops work. If cruise line personnel did any of those things the unions could file a grievance which could result in penalties against the port, the city,and the cruise lines. 

3 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

My point was simply that if there's a problem at any embarkation port where consistently the line at guest services once folks get on board is an hour deep more often than not - NCL should be looking into the reasons why. There will be things they can control or account for or compensate for (more chairs, cups of water, clearer instructions on where to go, estimated wait times, etc), and there will be things they can't (heat, rain, capacity of the building).  But they don't have to just accept it as what it is and continue to sail out of there.

Are you saying that NCL should pay the port to provide additional seating, water, better instructions (signage)?  BTW, who/how would NCL provide information on wait times?

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

I totally agree. It used to add another suitcase for evening dresses, shoes, and a tux. All of that stays in storage now. 

Storage?  We gave it all to Good Will.

57 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

I do wonder if driving to port vs. flying to port is a factor for some people. I have the luxury of packing 2 weeks worth of clothes for a 1 week cruise since I drive to port.

 

Those who fly have to be cognizant as to the weight limit of their luggage so maybe people leave the "extra" dress clothes at home.

 

Personally, I dress how I feel on a particular day/evening. If I want to wear a tie, I will. If I want to wear shorts and a t-shirt, I will.

 

Good time, good food, good drinks, etc. is more important to me than what I am wearing and is certainly more important to me than what other people are wearing.

I've heard some use air travel and baggage allowances as a factor.  Even when we drove to the port, we never took 'dressy clothing'.  We spent years in the military where we had to attend 'dressy' parties.  We've had enough of 'dressy'.  There was a time when we though dressing up was fun. That time is long gone.

22 hours ago, SAmome said:

Only doing one specialty restaurant and it's between Ocean Blue or Le Bistro if anyone has recent experience and opinions?

Thanks everyone for any info you can provide. 🙂 

Been on Breakaway twice.  Have done both Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.  Le Bistro by far.  The thermador is well worth the upcharge.  The Pear Helene is fantastic.

Our next cruise is Encore and wife has already  told me to book Le Bistro again.

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

There is very very little business casual and nearly no dressed up now days. 

JMHO, but that's a very good thing.  

Just now, BirdTravels said:

Have you considered that these film crews are guests of the cruise line and would not put them in a negative light???? Maybe go to YouTube and watch pier runners get left behind or read the news. 

All reality shows are 'scripted'.  Showing the late-returning guests adds drama. 

My point wasn't that none are left behind.  I was pointing out that if all you watched was these reality shows, you would think the cruise lines will wait on you which encourages late arrivals.

13 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

If the cruise line cared about their customers they would advocate on behalf of them and not just accept shoddy customer service.

Have you ever tried 'advocating' with unionized municipal workers?

16 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

 

Exactly. We cruise out of manhattan, I’m sure the ny/nj port authority chose how they run their business. Sind the vast majority of cruisers have never even heard of CC, it’s not like they are aware what terminals are sticklers for check in times.

CC posters should be aware that anything that happens in the embarkation terminal is managed by the ports.  Blaming NCL for long lines, etc., isn't appropriate.

1 hour ago, tsahall01 said:

Some blaring facts or nonfacts.  Who was the tour operator??  Why weren't they mentioned in the article??  Did the tour operater try contacting the ship when they knew they were late??  If not, why??  I find it odd that only 2 people missed the ship if they were on an independent tour, especially on a bus!! I use a LOT of independent tours.  They all guarantee on time arrival back to the ship, but we all know things happen.  The tour operaters that I use also say that they would get us to the next port at no charge to us (Viator, Spain Day Tours, Get your Guide, Italy Tours, EU all have this guarantee).  No tour operator wants to be known as the one that doesn't get you back on time and if they don't, get you to the next port--that's why the tour operator should be named!  

Very good questions.  One wonders if they were on a 'tour' or if they were just taking a public bus to where ever they wanted.  That would answer many of your questions.  

Just now, Ellis1138 said:

 

And in shows, people run away from explosions without messing up their hair. They shoot guns that have no recoil. I'm not sure I would base my expectations in life on what happens in a TV show.

I wasn't saying the cruise line always waits, only that in those shows it always waits.  There was one show where the same guests were always late every port often over an hour.  Seems like they were VIP, major stockholders, etc.  The ship always waited.  

1 minute ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Not to start 'that thread', but other than on formal nights can I wear shorts in the MDR? Maybe more so for breakfast and lunch for the MDR? And for the complementary restaurants like Jasmines or the Sushi Bar at dinner? Still working on a packing list for this 32-nights and trying to slim down my day-wear options. 😁

NCL doesn't do 'formal nights'.

The NCL dress code only requires long pants in IIRC, one of the MDRs and a couple of the specality restaurants, Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.

3 minutes ago, UKstages said:

according to the article, NCL says they arrived "approximately" an hour late... that would mean 6:30, since they were supposed to be there at 5:30. but that is - according to NCL - an approximation! the couple says they were there at 6:10. maybe they were, maybe they weren't. NCL says they were there at "approximately" 6:30. let's split the difference and call it 6:20. twenty minutes seems to me to be a reasonable delay... so does a half hour, quite frankly. it's the captain's decision and i'm not the captain, but i would have held the ship for twenty minutes. yeah, the couple screwed up. spank them and reprimand them. and don't give them a window table in the MDR. i hope it never happens to you. (missing the ship that is... not the window table snub.)

Lot of handwaving trying to create an excuse.   No reason to 'split the difference'.  They were an hour late, not 10 or 20 minutes.  They were supposed to be back at 5:30, not 6:00, not 6:10 or 6:20. 

44 minutes ago, justsayinisall said:

THEY made all the arrangements; I don't understand them. I'm just disgusted and I'm wondering if any of you nice people know where I can go from here? 

 

I also have a TA scheduled with NCL in December that I'm seriously thinking about cancelling, do you guys know if I get my full deposit, and other payments I've made already, back?

I doubt any other cruise line or insurance company would treat this any different.

Just now, luv2kroooz said:

Might want to recheck the math on this one.

My post was four hours ago.

42 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

You could always do an experiment on your next cruise.   See how long the captain waits for you and then report back to this thread 🤨

We rarely get off the ship.   

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I think the question has an incorrect premise asking how "strict" NCL is with on board time. NCL is like most other cruise lines that require passengers board 30 minutes before sail away.  Is that being strict?  Does not every mode of transportation have a board time?  Imagine airports if planes had no set time for departure but waited for all ticketed passengers to board.   Its common sense and not an issue of being "strict."  If there was no set time ships would be constantly waiting for passengers.  Is there not a set time we start work, attend school, get the bus, etc?  Its confusing to me to think of this as strict?  Maybe the OP meant to ask, when does NCL require passengers on board before sail away?

Have you watched any of the cruise line shows on, IIRC, Discovery channel.  Every episode, regardless of the cruise line, has a scene where the cruise line waits for passengers returning late from shore excursions.  The cruise line, in these scenes, always waits....

2 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

It's called being denied entry to the embarkation terminal and waiting outside. Happened to me in both Seattle and LA. So they can do it if/when they want to.

The cruise lines do not control the embarkation terminals.  Those personnel work for the port.  

1 minute ago, The Traveling Man said:

Now you've gone and given them a idea.☹️

Hopefully.

Just now, mistertomatoe said:

Hmm.. screenshot?

Hmm. Google.

3 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

It actually means they made LESS than expected.   They just spent less than expected. I guess not enough Haven passengers order extra lobster tails???

 

You can only cut so much.  Future profitability is based on revenue.   I wonder what new fees there will be "for your convenience ".

all the cruise line stocks are down.  CCL and RCCI down more percentage wise than NCLH.

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'd love to see NCL actually enforce the boarding times people are given, since so many people have complained about the long lines. NCL could say something like "we listened to you, our guests. In order to ensure an orderly boarding process and minimize waiting in lines, guests who show up in advance of their printed boarding times will be asked to wait in a separate area of the terminal until their assigned time has arrived." And I 100% guarantee people will find a reason to complain about that, too! 🤣

 Every day we see posters insist upon being on the ship as soon as possible.  Of course they would complain if the cruise lines enforced the assigned arrival times.     

I doubt if most terminals could provide a waiting area for early arrivals.  Wonder what would happen if the cruise lines charged for the early arrival times?

4 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

We've received a small downward adjustment as a matter of customer courtesy in the form of an onboard credit once or twice in years past. I can't say if it's been done recently. We've never been charged for a tax/fee increase while on board, although it would  be allowed under the terms of the Guest Ticket Contract: 

3. Terms of Fare

(a) Items Included in Fare

"...If governmental or quasi-governmental action results in any element of such taxes and fees exceeding the estimates used by Carrier for purposes of computing the quoted amount, Carrier reserves the right to pass through the extra amount."

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, the rebates of taxes and fees is never very large.  For Rocketman, note the use of "estimates" and "quoted amount".

That doesn't change my assertion that upward adjustments must be very, very rare.  I would imagine CC would be in a major meltdown if such ever happened.

4 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

If the taxes per passenger were to increase (too few passengers), the line generally eats the increase.  If they go down (more passengers), there is an adjustment to the onboard account rebating the difference.  

The cruise line has to eat the difference if there is an increase per passengers.  How often has a cruise line increasing the taxes paid on a passenger after the cruise has departed?  Must be very, very rare or we would have certainly heard about it on Cruise Critic.

Nor, have I ever heard about a downward adjustment after sailing.

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

What the OP does not realize is that the "taxes" are not taxes placed on his/her purchase, but taxes paid by the ship to the port.  Now, many of these taxes are fixed for the ship, so that fixed tax amount is divided up by the number of passengers onboard to get a "per passenger" amount of taxes and fees.  Now, the identical cruise the next week, may have significantly more or less passengers historically booked than the first week, and this will affect the number of passengers that the fixed tax or fee is divided into.  In many cases, when actual occupancy on the ship is vastly different (either up or down) from historical data, the "taxes and fees" get adjusted once the cruise starts.

Now how do they adjust the taxes per passenger from cruise to cruise when the passengers have paid for their cruise weeks/months in advance of the cruise?