Dawn's Adrift!

[lakeuser2002]

I have just finished reading all 23 pages of posts on this thread. One thought kept going through my mind the whole time - wouldn't it have been in NCL's best interest to encourage as many passengers as possible to make their own arrangements as soon as possible? While NCL worked on arranging charters passengers could have easily used their own cell phones to make arrangements on commercial flights. One poster said NCL told them that they didn't have the resources to commit to finding commercial seats. No NCL resources would have been needed - the passengers or even their families at home - would have done the legwork. If they had announced, for example, "we will provide transportation to Miami by end of the day Sunday OR reinburse a maximum of $250 per passenger towards the cost of rescheduling your own travel" I assume (yes, it is an assumption) that enough people would have done what lakeuser2002, pieshops and the doctor did to make the last 2 chartered flights unneccesary. How much per person did they pay for those chartered flights? The cost difference would have been minimal and the fewer people they had to deal with on board the less horrible the experience would have been. Yes it sounds like everyone got home and no not EVERY contingency can be addressed in an emergency plan. However, as someone posted earlier, NCL will need to do a post mortem on this situation. If there really were empty seats on flight from San Juan on Saturday (not just to Miami but also to various home cities) then they will need to look at how they could have utilized those resources to improve their response.

 

Thanks to all who have posted their experiences. It always helps to have these stories in the back of my mind if anything occurs while traveling. I hope you have the chance to relax, recoup and enjoy the comforts of home.

 

Agree 100% except I'd word it that enough people did make their own arrangements to make 2 (1?) charter flights not necessary (needed 7 instead of 8 or 9). Not sure how many were on flight 7, and the capacity of each plane, but my farmer math estimates that a few hundred did it their own way.

 

And thanks fin if your comment was (hopefully) referring to me as one of the reasonable posters. I was not a user/member of CC before this but was surprised by the personal attacks when my attempt was to inform those who had interest in my experience of the event.

[Ericktina]

Pete' date=' I would assume that they are not reimbursing peoples costs that took things into their own hands. Isn't that what travel insurance is for. I think the $150 reimbursement for changing flights is generous.

 

I remember being stranded in St. Louis a few years ago due to a snowstorm. The airline offered us a 10% discount coupon for hotel and nothing for food. Thankfully we had insurance to cover this extra cost because of something out of the travel providers hands.

 

PE[/color']

I am interested in the insurance questions--never had to make a claim. What I wondered is if you think they would reimburse for making your own arrangements in view of the fact that air was available from NCL at no cost...would like to hear how this turns out for those who made their own arrangements.

[halos]

Okay. A few of you have decided to make personal attacks towards me that need to be addressed. Those specifically are halos, webegone, planer's edge, smeyer418, don haynes, sjbdtz, and a1cruises. Let me explain something to you in English. You were not on the cruise, I was. Furthermore, even though I don't have 5,000, 10,000, or even 15,000+ posts here doesn't mean that I'm not capable of being an educated traveler. It seems to me that sitting at a computer posting here gives you more credibility. Think again.

 

Now, for those of you who think I wasn't prepared for my first cruise, think again. I had trip interruption insurance and enough cash to get me home from where ever I was. We all know cash talks and BS walks. To also assume that I was not aware of the potential mechanical complications is farther from the truth. I've owned may boats and I'd be lying if I said I've never gotten stranded in the ocean. I have. However, I always had an emergency plan to get home. NCL it seems did not have one to get me home. If I had been like the other sheep following the herd, I would not have been on my sofa, with the a/c running, at 4:30pm Saturday afternoon.

 

I'm not sure who here decided that being without electricity, a/c, and water is acceptable. I walked into a bathroom where the floor was covered with human urine. Yes, we all know that urine is a sterile body fluid, but do I want to be walking around in it. My answer is no. Just think about the contamination through out the ship from me and several other people walking around with urine on our shoes. The cross contamination was grotesque. Since I'm trained to keep a sterile environment, I knew what to do. Throw away my shoes and not go back into a public restroom on the boat. How many of you would throw out your shoes?

I also mentioned that I saw things that I never expected to see, such as a mother taking her approximately six month old infant into the ocean to go stingray feeding. I don't know about the rest of you, but this is stupidity at it's best. She should be a candidate for the Darwin Award. I do have pictures to back up this story. If I need to go on, I certainly will. I was very concerned about the health of some of the passengers on the ship who were obviously in poor health. I wouldn't let anyone in my family in poor health go on a trip to any island where there wasn't a trauma center. Yes, I do believe that the USofA has the best healthcare, and I was fortunate to have gone through the system.

 

A1cruises publicly called me a "pompous jerk". Well you have never meet me. However, I can say that "education will never be as expensive as ignorance."

 

Good day.

 

I, in no way took a personal attack on you. If you are referring to my comment that it is a wise decision that you don't cruise again, that was not a personal attack. You were the one who stated you will never cruise again. I agreed with you that it was a good decision. I meant it.

 

Read any of the boards here for a couple months. There will be a disaster on any given ship at any given time. To me, it seems you are one of the few intelligent people who realize that if this kinda stuff is going to happen to you, then cruising is not something you want to do again. I wish that everyone would be that sensible.

 

There were people like you who thought this situation was totally unacceptable and handled poorly, yet there are others who had opposite opinions/reactions. They should cruise and you shouldn't. This is not an insult...it's just plain common sense. if this were an isolated incident, it would be different, but like I keep saying there are a LOT of variables out there. A LOT can go wrong on a cruise and there is no possible way to have a contingency plan for everything. If EVERONE on that ship was as horrified as you, I would feel differently, but seeing how there were people who handled this better leads me to believe that no matter what NCL did, it would have been not enough for someone.

 

if there is another post that I missed where I did take a personal attack on you, I apologize. I cannot find it however. I looked through this entire thread all over again looking to find it but I had little interaction with your posts.

[halos]

Actually, after reading here over the years, that's exactly what I would do.....HIDE.

 

Even the videos some post on YouTube when things go bad are VERY HARD TO WATCH.

 

Lynch mobs.

 

The nice thing is it sounds like that didn't happen on this one.

 

I'd hide right with you Pete....seriously, the You Tube things scare the hell out of me.

 

A good experiment for those that do, and are at home, is to turn off all their electricity in their house, and turn the water off to their toilets for 24 hours, and report back.

 

I know how frustrated I am when I lose power, even for a couple of hours.

 

Sea or no sea, I can't imagine it to be pleasant.

 

:eek: Actually, I go through that nearly every winter. I have a well....run by am electric pump...no electricity, no water.

Nope, it ain't fun...

 

 

 

I think that's part of it but here's my take:

 

They're damned if they do and damned if they don't. It's truly a no-win situation. .

 

 

That about sums it up.

[lakeuser2002]

I am interested in the insurance questions--never had to make a claim. What I wondered is if you think they would reimburse for making your own arrangements in view of the fact that air was available from NCL at no cost...would like to hear how this turns out for those who made their own arrangements.

 

Remember, the air that was available didn't get many (likely more than half) of the folks to MIA in time to get their scheduled flights. Thus, change fees and rebooking costs (and maybe hotel costs) would of been incurred anyway.

[ddakrt]

I have just finished reading all 23 pages of posts on this thread. One thought kept going through my mind the whole time - wouldn't it have been in NCL's best interest to encourage as many passengers as possible to make their own arrangements as soon as possible? While NCL worked on arranging charters passengers could have easily used their own cell phones to make arrangements on commercial flights. One poster said NCL told them that they didn't have the resources to commit to finding commercial seats. No NCL resources would have been needed - the passengers or even their families at home - would have done the legwork. If they had announced, for example, "we will provide transportation to Miami by end of the day Sunday OR reinburse a maximum of $250 per passenger towards the cost of rescheduling your own travel" I assume (yes, it is an assumption) that enough people would have done what lakeuser2002, pieshops and the doctor did to make the last 2 chartered flights unneccesary. How much per person did they pay for those chartered flights? The cost difference would have been minimal and the fewer people they had to deal with on board the less horrible the experience would have been. Yes it sounds like everyone got home and no not EVERY contingency can be addressed in an emergency plan. However, as someone posted earlier, NCL will need to do a post mortem on this situation. If there really were empty seats on flight from San Juan on Saturday (not just to Miami but also to various home cities) then they will need to look at how they could have utilized those resources to improve their response.

 

Thanks to all who have posted their experiences. It always helps to have these stories in the back of my mind if anything occurs while traveling. I hope you have the chance to relax, recoup and enjoy the comforts of home.

 

The thing is that a commercial ticket cost far more than an equivalent seat on a charter flight.

 

If they let every passenger arrange their own flights I guarantee you that there will be a sizable number of people freaking out over how NCL didn't do anything to help the stranded passengers except to throw a few dollars their way.

A mix situation where NCL would provide charters for those who want it but also fully compensate the ones who wish to arrange their own flights is also not cost efficient. How would they know who wants to go on the charter and who will get their own flights?

If they did a sign up form or something it would further delay the transfer of passengers from SJ to MIA, so even more pissed off people.

 

I am absolutely positive that both these scenarios went through the NCL round table when they were coming up with the official plan to transfer everyone.

[Harleycat]

I have just finished reading all 23 pages of posts on this thread. One thought kept going through my mind the whole time - wouldn't it have been in NCL's best interest to encourage as many passengers as possible to make their own arrangements as soon as possible? While NCL worked on arranging charters passengers could have easily used their own cell phones to make arrangements on commercial flights. One poster said NCL told them that they didn't have the resources to commit to finding commercial seats. No NCL resources would have been needed - the passengers or even their families at home - would have done the legwork. If they had announced, for example, "we will provide transportation to Miami by end of the day Sunday OR reinburse a maximum of $250 per passenger towards the cost of rescheduling your own travel" I assume (yes, it is an assumption) that enough people would have done what lakeuser2002, pieshops and the doctor did to make the last 2 chartered flights unneccesary. How much per person did they pay for those chartered flights? The cost difference would have been minimal and the fewer people they had to deal with on board the less horrible the experience would have been. Yes it sounds like everyone got home and no not EVERY contingency can be addressed in an emergency plan. However, as someone posted earlier, NCL will need to do a post mortem on this situation. If there really were empty seats on flight from San Juan on Saturday (not just to Miami but also to various home cities) then they will need to look at how they could have utilized those resources to improve their response.

 

Thanks to all who have posted their experiences. It always helps to have these stories in the back of my mind if anything occurs while traveling. I hope you have the chance to relax, recoup and enjoy the comforts of home.

 

One thing I can think of is that it becomes a nightmare for them when they are trying to determine how many flights/planes they need to charter. How do they know who got their own flights and who still needed one? It's easy to say that those who got their own flights should report it to guest services but those people were so overwhelmed as it was. Safer for NCL to assume everyone needed a flight home.

[jmcdon7230]

......The video showed the worst part/conditions. Not likely to occur again. If they did, I'm sure that NCL will have learned some from the first event and will improve......

 

 

Didn't the Dawn have a similar disruption to power a few months ago on a Bermuda cruise? If I recall they restored power after an hour or so and resumed the cruise. Hopefully this last incident was the LAST and they found (as an earlier poster wrote) the "root cause".

 

I worked on mainframe computers for the DOD and I know that solutions to electrical problems quite often are temporary and are an illusion. Heat is often involved and after cooling down the problem "goes away".

[richras]

We were on the Dawn. This is a letter we wrote to NCL about our experience. The bottom line is NCL did a great job under the circumstances and the compensation was far more than we expected.

 

 

 

 

We were passengers on the above sailing.

 

In light of the breakdown we wanted to express our thoughts. We had a wonderful cruise and could not have been more pleased with the cruise experience.

 

The breakdown did not occur until after we had visited all the ports of call. We had two sea days left and then the scheduled arrival in Miami on Sunday. When the breakdown occurred we were in the garden café and had just finished breakfast. Since we had not planned on doing anything, we just took the breakdown in stride and relaxed.

 

Fortunately, we had a balcony cabin and the sun was on the other side of the ship. Our cabin was relatively comfortable and we just adjusted to the inconvenience. Our toilets started working within a short time of the breakdown and we had no problems in that regard.

 

Francisca and I are both lawyers, and everyday we deal with situations where something goes wrong and somebody gets mad. We realized that the crew was doing all they could do, so we just relaxed and made the best of it.

 

Saturday was a different story. When we arrived in San Juan, we realized that there was a major problem with the ship and we would not be returning to Miami on the ship. We knew that NCL was working hard to find a way to get everyone home. If we had one complaint at that time, it would be a lack of information and misinformation about what to expect next. We were told not to come to the main lobby, yet the only way to find out whether you were on a flight was to look at the flight list which was, you guessed it, in the main lobby. When the lists of flights were posted it was like a feeding frenzy. Only two lists were posted and hundreds of people were gathered around trying to look at the lists. Eventually two other copies of the lists were placed on the table. This did nothing to abate the frenzy. We felt that no one was in charge and if they were, they could have just as easily printed 10 more lists to avoid the problem.

 

About three o’clock our name appeared on a new list for a 9:00pm flight. We had spent the day on the sundeck so we returned to room and showered and repacked. We had a light dinner and proceed to disembark as directed. At this point another mad scramble occurred, but again we understood the situation.

 

We got on the bus and headed to the airport. This is where we felt NCL completely dropped the ball. There was no one from NCL to meet us at the airport and take charge. We patiently went through the agriculture inspection and then took our place standing in a long line. For over an hour this line did not move and nothing happened and no one at this point had anyone to talk to, to get an explanation of what was happening.

 

The area of the airport we were in was completely deserted. After an hour, someone moved the head of the line to a different part of the airport. At this point five hundred or six hundred passengers were still standing in a line that was going nowhere with absolutely no information from anyone. There was still no representative from NCL anywhere to be found.

 

 

After standing in this new spot for at least 45 minutes the line finally started to move. We went around a corner and could finally see what was happening. Three representatives’ for the charter airline were checking people in. After another 45 minutes standing in line we got to point where we were about 75 people away from the front of the line. Someone (not from NCL) came out and started counting the people in line. He then stopped about 20 people behind after us and had the rest of the line follow him to another part of the airport. Again, still no one from NCL was there to help or explain what was happening.

 

Just as we were the next couple in line to step up to the ticket agent, someone came out and said the plane was full and then guided us to the back of the line of the other passengers who were originally behind us in the original line. We could see that they were being checked in by a different airline.

 

Now it appeared that we missed the flight and we were probably going to miss the next flight because we were at the end of a line of people who arrived at the airport 45 minutes to an hour after us. Finally someone from NCL showed up. He had no information about what was happening and just kept repeating NCL was a cruise line and not an airline and this was the busiest time of the year. This may have been true and a great way to spin the situation, but he was talking to people who had been standing in line for over three hours and had no idea if they were t get on a plane that night. In other words, he had no information about what was actually happening.

 

We eventually got on the OIA flight and arrived in Miami. The flight was a very pleasant surprise. We were expecting an airplane from a third world country and no service whatsoever. We got on DC10 with comfortable seats, eight flight attendants, a movie, snacks and drink service. The service and experience was better than any I have received on a regular airline in many years.

 

We got to Miami and wanted to get to our car which was parked at the port, but were told the port was closed. Instead we were taken to a hotel. Another very pleasant surprise, The JW Marriot. Check in was smooth, you had box lunches waiting for us and a buffet breakfast the next morning.

 

If you could have handled the situation at the San Juan airport like you handled the situation once we returned to Miami, we would have had no complaints.

 

In summary we enjoyed the cruise, understood the problems and appreciated the efforts made to get us home and felt that your refund on the cruise and discount of a future cruise was more than fair. Our only suggestion for the future is that you should consider using the ship’s shore excursion staff once passengers leave the ship and to help organize what goes on at the airport. At every port when we left the ship, we saw the staff organizing the various shore excursions. They should do the same in a situation like this.

 

. You will see us onboard one of your ships again.

[Zeno]

We were on the Dawn. This is a letter we wrote to NCL about our experience. The bottom line is NCL did a great job under the circumstances and the compensation was far more than we expected.

 

 

 

 

We were passengers on the above sailing.

 

In light of the breakdown we wanted to express our thoughts. We had a wonderful cruise and could not have been more pleased with the cruise experience.

 

The breakdown did not occur until after we had visited all the ports of call. We had two sea days left and then the scheduled arrival in Miami on Sunday. When the breakdown occurred we were in the garden café and had just finished breakfast. Since we had not planned on doing anything, we just took the breakdown in stride and relaxed.

 

Fortunately, we had a balcony cabin and the sun was on the other side of the ship. Our cabin was relatively comfortable and we just adjusted to the inconvenience. Our toilets started working within a short time of the breakdown and we had no problems in that regard.

 

Francisca and I are both lawyers, and everyday we deal with situations where something goes wrong and somebody gets mad. We realized that the crew was doing all they could do, so we just relaxed and made the best of it.

 

Saturday was a different story. When we arrived in San Juan, we realized that there was a major problem with the ship and we would not be returning to Miami on the ship. We knew that NCL was working hard to find a way to get everyone home. If we had one complaint at that time, it would be a lack of information and misinformation about what to expect next. We were told not to come to the main lobby, yet the only way to find out whether you were on a flight was to look at the flight list which was, you guessed it, in the main lobby. When the lists of flights were posted it was like a feeding frenzy. Only two lists were posted and hundreds of people were gathered around trying to look at the lists. Eventually two other copies of the lists were placed on the table. This did nothing to abate the frenzy. We felt that no one was in charge and if they were, they could have just as easily printed 10 more lists to avoid the problem.

 

About three o’clock our name appeared on a new list for a 9:00pm flight. We had spent the day on the sundeck so we returned to room and showered and repacked. We had a light dinner and proceed to disembark as directed. At this point another mad scramble occurred, but again we understood the situation.

 

We got on the bus and headed to the airport. This is where we felt NCL completely dropped the ball. There was no one from NCL to meet us at the airport and take charge. We patiently went through the agriculture inspection and then took our place standing in a long line. For over an hour this line did not move and nothing happened and no one at this point had anyone to talk to, to get an explanation of what was happening.

 

The area of the airport we were in was completely deserted. After an hour, someone moved the head of the line to a different part of the airport. At this point five hundred or six hundred passengers were still standing in a line that was going nowhere with absolutely no information from anyone. There was still no representative from NCL anywhere to be found.

 

 

After standing in this new spot for at least 45 minutes the line finally started to move. We went around a corner and could finally see what was happening. Three representatives’ for the charter airline were checking people in. After another 45 minutes standing in line we got to point where we were about 75 people away from the front of the line. Someone (not from NCL) came out and started counting the people in line. He then stopped about 20 people behind after us and had the rest of the line follow him to another part of the airport. Again, still no one from NCL was there to help or explain what was happening.

 

Just as we were the next couple in line to step up to the ticket agent, someone came out and said the plane was full and then guided us to the back of the line of the other passengers who were originally behind us in the original line. We could see that they were being checked in by a different airline.

 

Now it appeared that we missed the flight and we were probably going to miss the next flight because we were at the end of a line of people who arrived at the airport 45 minutes to an hour after us. Finally someone from NCL showed up. He had no information about what was happening and just kept repeating NCL was a cruise line and not an airline and this was the busiest time of the year. This may have been true and a great way to spin the situation, but he was talking to people who had been standing in line for over three hours and had no idea if they were t get on a plane that night. In other words, he had no information about what was actually happening.

 

We eventually got on the OIA flight and arrived in Miami. The flight was a very pleasant surprise. We were expecting an airplane from a third world country and no service whatsoever. We got on DC10 with comfortable seats, eight flight attendants, a movie, snacks and drink service. The service and experience was better than any I have received on a regular airline in many years.

 

We got to Miami and wanted to get to our car which was parked at the port, but were told the port was closed. Instead we were taken to a hotel. Another very pleasant surprise, The JW Marriot. Check in was smooth, you had box lunches waiting for us and a buffet breakfast the next morning.

 

If you could have handled the situation at the San Juan airport like you handled the situation once we returned to Miami, we would have had no complaints.

 

In summary we enjoyed the cruise, understood the problems and appreciated the efforts made to get us home and felt that your refund on the cruise and discount of a future cruise was more than fair. Our only suggestion for the future is that you should consider using the ship’s shore excursion staff once passengers leave the ship and to help organize what goes on at the airport. At every port when we left the ship, we saw the staff organizing the various shore excursions. They should do the same in a situation like this.

 

. You will see us onboard one of your ships again.

 

Excellent, reasoned report. What you felt went well under the circumstances and what you felt could have been done better. Thx for posting this. REALLY EXCELLENT that you sent it to NCL - this is the kind of sensible feedback that I think will be useful to them in the future.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

Excellent, reasoned report. What you felt went well under the circumstances and what you felt could have been done better. Thx for posting this. REALLY EXCELLENT that you sent it to NCL - this is the kind of sensible feedback that I think will be useful to them in the future.

 

And from attorneys. (my favorite profession :) ) God love ya! Nicely done.

[mypleasure]

Nice Richras. You got all of your points across and I am sure that they will take on board your well reasoned thoughts. Kudoa and Karma to you for relaxing and going with what was thrown your way.

[cruzeluver]

richras- Perhaps the best letter I have ever seen written to a company. You stated everything you liked about your cruise, and presented the issues you had without any drama. Bravo! Please share what response you get from NCL.

[goodml]

Excellent, reasoned report. What you felt went well under the circumstances and what you felt could have been done better. Thx for posting this. REALLY EXCELLENT that you sent it to NCL - this is the kind of sensible feedback that I think will be useful to them in the future.

 

Ditto from me. Well done richras.:)

[Tideone]

I definitely think your letter to NCL should be well received as you not only pointed out the good things that happened but also gave them constructive criticism in where they can do better if anything of this nature ever happens again... hopefully it will not... but you never know...

While reading all of these posts, I kept thinking to myself, do they have a plan in place for the Epic if something ever happens...

Being a big ship, it only has limited places it can dock... so I hope NCL bigwigs read your letter and sit down and not only make plans for emergencies of this sort for the Dawn but also for the Epic...

[WeBeGone]

Richras - Wonderfully written letter and a breath of fresh air. It's too bad others could not share your well reasoned response.

 

Bravo !!

[paulekrause]

Yep, I was on that one eating dinner in the Venetian at the back window. We could still see Bermuda in the distance. It was a strange feeling but dinner went on. Many of us were uneasy, hoping to return to Bermuda to check the problem out but the captain said all was well and we headed to NY.

 

We made it back without further incident and the next cruise left on time.

 

My question is, what was done to prevent this from happening again? Was it thoroughly checked or did NCL just "duct tape" the problem until it came back like many of us do with car repairs?

 

Is NCL maintenance a problem? Wasn't that an issue with the Norway? Poor maintenance of the engines? Just asking, especially since i like NCL's product and will cruise with them again.

 

 

 

 

Didn't the Dawn have a similar disruption to power a few months ago on a Bermuda cruise? If I recall they restored power after an hour or so and resumed the cruise. Hopefully this last incident was the LAST and they found (as an earlier poster wrote) the "root cause".

 

I worked on mainframe computers for the DOD and I know that solutions to electrical problems quite often are temporary and are an illusion. Heat is often involved and after cooling down the problem "goes away".

[AuntieBarb]

Who says the power problem(s) had the same cause(s) ???

[barbarahp]

I'm scheduled to go on the Dawn for the March 12 cruise. I've only been on one cruise previously, hawaii and Fanning Island in March, 2007, on the Norwegian Wind (which was fantastic!) with my mom.

 

I'm going with my mom since my husband gets seasick, :(. My mom has been on probably 15 cruises, with my late stepfather.

 

Personally, if I had been on this cruise, while it would be inconvenient, the fact that it happened at the end of the cruise, I would have been content with a 75% refund and the 50% voucher for a future cruise. I think that was quite generous. Yeah, I'm sure it was a PITA, but sometimes you have to look at things as an adventure.

 

I would have been concerned though about my return flight home from Miami since I used frequent flier miles to book first class, and I'm sure I wouldn't make the flight, or get first class on another flight! ;)

But the 75% refund would make up for it, after all I would've still gotten an 8 day vacation.

[halos]

Excellent, reasoned report. What you felt went well under the circumstances and what you felt could have been done better. Thx for posting this. REALLY EXCELLENT that you sent it to NCL - this is the kind of sensible feedback that I think will be useful to them in the future.

 

 

I totally agree. That was wonderful :)

[NormanW]

Who says the power problem(s) had the same cause(s) ???

 

They didn't and I wish people (and the media!) would stop bringing up the Bermuda incident. It's like saying the 1977 NY blackout and 2003 blackout were related. (they definitely were NOT!)

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[Shak]

While richras letter is clearer and a much more polished it confirms much of the findings from other posters first hand accounts that were on this cruise that communication and planning left so much to be desired.

I have been cruising since the early 90’s and fortunately I have only had to use travel insurance once. That event opened my eyes that travel insurance is not a black and white issue. On the return leg of a round trip Hawaii cruise that started from San Diego we had a medical emergency 12 hours after leaving Oahu. That captain ordered the ship to turn around to meet up with a Coast Guard helicopter. We were insight of land when the helicopter arrived. The cruise line told everyone with flights after 5pm on the day we were to arrive in San Diego to make other travel arrangements. This led many scurrying to make new air arrangements and for many like us hotel reservations because there were no flights that evening. The cruise line let everyone make free calls to make those arrangements but many had to wait for a phone line to open up because of the high volume of people trying to make calls.

We like many were forced to buy new airline tickets and if you have never made last minute airline reservations you would be surprised how much they can be. Our return tickets to Ohio cost almost $1000 and I know others cost more. At the time most were relived they had travel insurance to cover the high costs. As it turned out when people started to make claims all insurance companies paid the hotel and meals part but not all insurance companies reimburse the air. One insurer that is one of the biggest in the industry my friend had denied their claim because the policy states that they would pay if a delay was due to you or a family member caused the delay not a cruise passenger. Fortunately for us our not so well known insurer paid our claim. The other good news was that the person that was evacuated with heart condition was stabilized.

I hope those of you that had insurance and made your own travel arrangements will check back and let us know if they paid your claim.

Shak

[Cruise_With_Me]

I found your post very well written (calm and honest) and I wish my postings would have been the same so I wouldn't have been attacked with my version of how I saw things. I do feel for the crew because they made the best of the situation and I am not angry with anyone ON the ship, I am/was angry at the corporate level because of the lack of communication.

I did receive a call from someone (Carolyn) at the Miami NCL office this afternoon. At first we had it out on the phone and then I explained to her I was more upset about the lack of Emergency Plans that NCL had in place for things like this than I was about the actual incident. She apologized to me and then tried to explain that NCL doesn't have Emergency Plans in place for unforseeable incidents like this.

I am sorry, that answer was not good enough for me. So I guess that the 10-12 cruise ships NCL has traveling with apx. 2500 people per week you cannot tell me that you do not have some type of contract with the airlines/plane chartering companies/hotels/travel agents so when/if this happens you can just make a few calls and get things done? She also told me they ONLY booked people on chartered planes that they never attempted to put people on commerical airlines because they didn't have the "manpower" to make those calls to book the flights. Again, lack of Emergency Plan. They certainly have enough reps to answer my calls when I want to go on a cruise but not enough to help in an Emergency?

 

To the people who saw photos of us sleeping out on deck and called us "whiners" and saw we are "lucky" to have gotten 75% of our cruise monies back, let me remind you I paid A LOT of money to CRUISE not to CAMP. I choose to cruise because I like to relax and be pampered. I didn't pay thousands of dollars to sleep on a lawnchair, eat grilled food, drink warm water, walk in other peoples urine. The 75% refund we got on our cruise monies didn't even cover my flights home.

 

I'm sorry, I am not really a "seasoned" cruiser having only been on 4 cruises in 5 years on 4 different cruise lines but I should HOPE that other cruise lines have an Emergency Plan in place when (if) I do decide to cruise again.

 

Sorry to say that but you sound more arrogant with every post.

 

You were pampered for the most part of the cruise. You slept one night on the deck (some seasoned cruisers call that a deck slumber party). You got for missing a day or so on the ship and one night of trouble 75% of your cruise fare back (plus the $75 for your wine and 50% off of another cruise).

 

For incidents like that there are no emergency plans. As a doctor and so many years of college I would hope that you have more common sense and logic. What if incidents like that happen of the coast of Dominica? Have you seen that airport?

 

How do you expect any cruise line to have contracts with EVERY air carrier and EVERY hotel for EVERY airport on any of the ports-of-call?

 

Do you think air carriers and hotels stay under-booked just in case any of the thousands of cruise ships sailing the seas every day has a freak problem?

 

You enjoyed most of your cruise. It ended on a bad note, so be it.

 

I would have stayed as long on the Dawn as possible just to have people like you to get off as fast as you can plus I like being on a cruise ship.

 

Heck, give me a cold beer, a deck chair and I have a grand day. I would not be in any rush to leave. Technically my cruise would have lasted another day or two anyhow.

 

And don't tell me "oh but we had no AC". So what. My AC broke once over labor day. Just gave up on me. In Florida, in summer time. I lived through the aftermath of hurricanes with no power - almost a week without AC - in summer time.

 

Some are capable of adjusting, some are not. Some simply can enjoy life, with all its little hurdles and bumps, other can not. I am grateful that I wake up every morning, that I am healthy. A lot of people can not do that. A lot of people are less fortune than you and me yet you complain about minor stuff like that.

 

I wonder what you would do if that would have happened midway on a transatlantic. :p

I'd see that as an opportunity for an extra few days on a cruise ship. You? Expecting a private helicopter or water plane?

 

Take that sentence on your future travels:

 

"Life is short. It can end any minute. Enjoy every second of it."

 

Happy travels to you.

[jcrandle]

I've been following this thread very closely as we are booked for the Dec. 4th cruise.

 

Along with the usual items (electrical strip, duct tape), I dropped a flashlight into the suitcase as I packed this afternoon. :-0

 

A question that has crossed my mind is: should NCL offer those of us who are booked on Friday's cruise the option of canceling or rescheduling?

 

Not that I would do it, but my wife is getting squeamish about the situation, especially after watching the YouTube video.

 

Just in case, be sure to pack a Guzunder in your luggage. Yep, the name is the description. It's a an enamaled pot that "Guz under" the bed, For those of us that are getting older, it is a hassel to get out of bed and go to the bathroom at night. The Guzunder is the solution this problem. It is also helpful in the event of toilet vacuum difficulties.

 

In the event you choose to avail yourself of a Guzunder, you might consider increasing the auto tip of your room stewards, as they will be responsible for emptying it.

 

Happy cruising.

[DMH15]

Cruise With Me: we seem to have similar outlooks on life. I travel with my mom. If I started to complain, she would set me straight anyway.