Dawn's Adrift!

[dejongs]

We are one of the cruisers to depart today on the Dawn. Had no clue what was going on till we got to the port. So we are sttting here trying to figure out what to do. NCL is paying for the room for a night and 50.00 each towards meals(lunch cost us 42.00 for a burger and chicken wrap). They are allowing 150.00 for flights. The flight option is what is hurting us. It's 180.00 to change flights plus the difference in fares. We are looking at 700.00 to get home. We are suppose to get 100% of our cruise back and 50% off the next cruise. I wasn't real excited about cruising but it is the best option for a vacation for the wife so I did it for her. I really want to bitch and rant but it won't do any good. I will say "this sucks".

[pieshops]

i am sorry but i do not believe you, i was up at 5 am and walked the length of 5 stateroom levels and every single cabin had the notice on the door, i guess they missed yours.

 

We NEVER EVER received a letter on our stateroom door about compensation. We left the ship at apx. 1:50 and we had to go back to the room to get our bags and not only did we not have a letter on our door but I did not see one on anyone elses midship-front of the ship on floor 10.

We read about the compensation at 9am from one of the Miami newspaper websites.

The "clueless Atrium girls" did have access to list 6 and 7 of the chartered flights which were not posted as of 1pm on Saturday as well so they did have information they were not releasing. They told other customers at the desk they were told not to release the names yet because, and from their mouths "there were another 684 people on Board NOT on those two lists who would be very upset about having to stay another day" so they weren't going to release those flights until later in the day.

[MrPete]

We are one of the cruisers to depart today on the Dawn. Had no clue what was going on till we got to the port. So we are sttting here trying to figure out what to do. NCL is paying for the room for a night and 50.00 each towards meals(lunch cost us 42.00 for a burger and chicken wrap). They are allowing 150.00 for flights. The flight option is what is hurting us. It's 180.00 to change flights plus the difference in fares. We are looking at 700.00 to get home. We are suppose to get 100% of our cruise back and 50% off the next cruise. I wasn't real excited about cruising but it is the best option for a vacation for the wife so I did it for her. I really want to bitch and rant but it won't do any good. I will say "this sucks".

 

Disappointed, I'm sure.

 

A couple of Q's if you come back....

 

Where were you informed?

 

Did you book direct or through a TA?

 

Try to make the best of your short stay in Miami. And don't forget to rebook for your wife. You will find cruising WILL get you excited! :)

[pieshops]

they did not charge me for our service charge for the last day total of $48 for the 4 of us, but if they did i would never even consider taking it off, the crew took the brunt of the heat and the brunt of the rude pasengers getting upset with them for thing beyond their controll. they deserve that money for the last day of the cruise, it was not their fault and they should not be penalized for the breakdown.

 

in my opinion if you actually waited on line to make sure you did not get charged that 12 dollars for the last day, you have way more problems than we can address on this board

[Tideone]

dejongs if you are still in miami and at the sofitel ask at the front desk about a great cuban restaurant that is not far from the hotel - you could even walk to it if you want. They have great food and it is a whole lot cheaper than what you paid for the burger and wrap...

Heck, for that amount you could have gone to Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant on South Beach and gotten a great meal for almost the same price...

Miami has a lot of great places to eat - we found one place by asking a taxi driver - who took us from our hotel - we were staying at the Hilton at the Blue Lagoon - just a few short blocks to a great family restaurant... There were four of us and our entire bill came to about forty bucks and we didn't eat burgers or wraps...

You are stuck in Miami at a great time - the weather is great and the hotels are cheap - check out a place on the beach and if you have to pay the extra plane fare - enjoy yourself before you have to fly back to go north land of Michigan...

Make some lemonade out of those lemons...

[dejongs]

Disappointed, I'm sure.

 

A couple of Q's if you come back....

 

Where were you informed?

 

Did you book direct or through a TA?

 

Try to make the best of your short stay in Miami. And don't forget to rebook for your wife. You will find cruising WILL get you excited! :)

At the NCL office at the port. There were a bunch of NCL people around. Was handed a letter.

 

Vacations To Go

 

I don't know, it ws a pretty big deal for me this time, to go though this again(sorry just not in a good mood). Sitting in a hotel by the airport, not my idea of fun, I will survive. Just want to get home and salvage the vacation time.

[dejongs]

dejongs if you are still in miami and at the sofitel ask at the front desk about a great cuban restaurant that is not far from the hotel - you could even walk to it if you want. They have great food and it is a whole lot cheaper than what you paid for the burger and wrap...

Heck, for that amount you could have gone to Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant on South Beach and gotten a great meal for almost the same price...

Miami has a lot of great places to eat - we found one place by asking a taxi driver - who took us from our hotel - we were staying at the Hilton at the Blue Lagoon - just a few short blocks to a great family restaurant... There were four of us and our entire bill came to about forty bucks and we didn't eat burgers or wraps...

You are stuck in Miami at a great time - the weather is great and the hotels are cheap - check out a place on the beach and if you have to pay the extra plane fare - enjoy yourself before you have to fly back to go north land of Michigan...

Make some lemonade out of those lemons...

 

food voucher is for hotel only

[HlGHMAlNTENENCE]

i am sorry but i do not believe you, i was up at 5 am and walked the length of 5 stateroom levels and every single cabin had the notice on the door, i guess they missed yours.

 

 

Yes every room on the dawn had a notice that morning...That notice was the amount you owed to NCL for your onboard account. And no they did not miss mine.!

[lakeuser2002]

Yes every room on the dawn had a notice that morning...That notice was the amount you owed to NCL for your onboard account. And no they did not miss mine.!

 

For what it's worth, mine was under my half open door on Sat. AM (almost missed it).

[riviera]

Just watching CNN and they interviewed some people from the ship and they said

Yes, we are very angry with the cruise line" ???? Like NCL is enjoying this nightmare and had control over it. Best wishes to all on this cruise and especially to the ones who realize that it is not the fault of NCL!!!!

[MrPete]

and especially to the ones who realize that it is not the fault of NCL!!!!

 

They've already reveal the issue and whose fault it is?

[Planer's Edge]

They've already reveal the issue and whose fault it is?

Did I miss something? Where?

 

PE

[rucruizin]

We are one of the cruisers to depart today on the Dawn. Had no clue what was going on till we got to the port. So we are sttting here trying to figure out what to do. NCL is paying for the room for a night and 50.00 each towards meals(lunch cost us 42.00 for a burger and chicken wrap). They are allowing 150.00 for flights. The flight option is what is hurting us. It's 180.00 to change flights plus the difference in fares. We are looking at 700.00 to get home. We are suppose to get 100% of our cruise back and 50% off the next cruise. I wasn't real excited about cruising but it is the best option for a vacation for the wife so I did it for her. I really want to bitch and rant but it won't do any good. I will say "this sucks".

 

dejongs, it does suck, and I too would be bummed in your circumstance. However, I asked my husband... I read your post to him and said, "what would you do?" His answer was ridiculous, so I will spare you haha.

 

What I would do...? I would get on Priceline and bid on a hotel. You can probably get one downtown, or on the beach for under $100 a night. Stay in Miami, make the best of an unfortunate situation and then keep your regular flight plans home. It's got to be better that Michigan? Right?

 

You can't predict the unpredictable, but when it happens... do the best you can to make the best of it :)

 

I wish you the best. I love Miami, I could definitely spend 5 days there.

[PattiHere]

I do feel bad for the folks on this cruise, it had to be disappointing.

 

That said, I worked with DCL for a few years, and one of the first cruises on the Magic had to return to Port Everglades instead of Port Canaveral because of a small hurricane. DCL had to bus people coming off of the ship to Orlando to make their flights, and bus people arriving at the airport to Port Everglades, we also had to bring folks disembarking the ship in Port Everglades to Port Canaveral to pick up their cars. People arriving at Port Canaveral were then transported to Port Everglades. Was it a hectic time, you bet. Were people angry, yes, many were, but DCL was doing the best they could, they had no control over the weather, and the decision not to return to Port Canaveral at the end of the cruise was based on safety issues for our guests. Many other people were understanding and made our job a lot easier.

 

I have also been on two cruises that did not return to the original port, and went through the above situation. I realized it was not the fault of the cruise line and everyone was working real hard to help us arrive home safely.

 

Then there was our dream cruise around Hawaii, one week before our cruise, the ship's engine went down, our dream cruise was cancelled. We had to make new arrangements and our cruise was delayed, and our dreams were put on hold, but hey, I have gone outside to go to work and my car has died. It is a part of life.

 

There are so many things that happen in life, we have no control over them. My DH and I look back at the above cruises, and even with all the problems, those are the cruises and memories that stand out in our mind. We laugh about the one cruise where we got off the ship in Port Canaveral at eight in the morning, we were bussed to Port Everglades to pick up our car, to only turn around and drive back to Orlando, where we lived at the time. From the time we got off the ship, until we got back to our house was a total of twelve hours. The turnpike was jammed, Port Everglades was shut down, no gas anywhere. Hurricane Wilma had visited Florida while we were on our cruise!

 

I do feel sorry for everything these people experienced on this cruise, but life is too short and there are so many things we have no control over, being angry can sometimes just make a bad situation worse. Kindness and understanding when things go wrong makes life more enjoyable. :)

[coaster]

We are one of the cruisers to depart today on the Dawn. Had no clue what was going on till we got to the port. So we are sttting here trying to figure out what to do. NCL is paying for the room for a night and 50.00 each towards meals(lunch cost us 42.00 for a burger and chicken wrap). I really want to bitch and rant but it won't do any good. I will say "this sucks".

 

We have stayed in Miami the night before a cruise many times. Never have paid the premium price at the restaurants inside the hotels we got on Priceline in Miami or elsewhere. The options outside a hotel will always be cheaper. Calling a nearby pizza delivery place is another option. A short walk to Miami Subs or Checkers has worked for us also. NCL can't be blamed for your lack of being reasonable. Throw your voucher away and purchase food out of your pocket at a reasonably priced place that you normally would.

[BIG_Steve]

That said, I worked with DCL for a few years, and one of the first cruises on the Magic had to return to Port Everglades instead of Port Canaveral because of a small hurricane. DCL had to bus people coming off of the ship to Orlando to make their flights, and bus people arriving at the airport to Port Everglades, we also had to bring folks disembarking the ship in Port Everglades to Port Canaveral to pick up their cars. People arriving at Port Canaveral were then transported to Port Everglades. Was it a hectic time, you bet. Were people angry, yes, many were, but DCL was doing the best they could, they had no control over the weather, and the decision not to return to Port Canaveral at the end of the cruise was based on safety issues for our guests. Many other people were understanding and made our job a lot easier.

 

 

It's hard to prepare for every contingency. It looks from the comments that while NCL is working hard, there may be a lot of wheels spinning. So many factors at work here. Modern business runs practically on skeleton crews anyway, and in this economy so many have been let go or not replaced. One hundred folks working frantically on a project that requires two hundred folks, are not going to be overly effective or efficient.

 

But, that's the modern work world I guess.

[coaster]

This many people involved in a unpleasant situation on a Holiday weekend is going to have a fair share of difficulties. NCL seems to be doing the best they can and you will never make everyone happy even during a normal cruise without mechanical problems. The subject of not having enough voucher $ to cover the cost of overpriced food at a hotel paid for by the cruise line is ungrateful and selfish at the very least. NCL covering the price of a hotel is beyond what I would expect.

[WinnipegCruiser]

Their compensation is fair as well....I guess if it were me, I'd just fly to Miami and stay there for the 5 days and start researching what cruise I was going to book next. :)

 

Or find another ship to get on. I mean this is Miami,... there are ships leaving almost every day. If you could find an NCL ship to substitute, it would be half off..

[halos]

Or find another ship to get on. I mean this is Miami,... there are ships leaving almost every day. If you could find an NCL ship to substitute, it would be half off..

Very True!!

Keeping all these possible scenerios 'stored' just in case I ever run into a situation like this.

[ILov2cruise]

I know right, NCL could have been left them in San Juan with no hotel or flight back to Miami.

People are so ungrateful.

 

Their contract was for round trip back to Fla, NCL had to return these people to

Fla or deal with thousands of lawsuits .

I also think they got a great deal.

[Glassrobinson]

had she been there? Maybe. Very easy to cast aspersions from ones armchair how others should react.

 

Personally, i'd rather read the pov's of those affected, not read those telling others how they should have acted, or reacted.

 

amen!:)

[EileenN]

Email note from Hugo, the Hotel Director, indicated that the ship is now operational and will be heading for Miami to welcome the next voyage pax on board. He raved about the hotel crew and all the staff for their good work and attitude. He showed great pride in how the situation ended. Kudos to him and his staff. He said that most passangers were understanding and tolerant. Good to hear this news.

[figuremom]

Email note from Hugo, the Hotel Director, indicated that the ship is now operational and will be heading for Miami to welcome the next voyage pax on board. He raved about the hotel crew and all the staff for their good work and attitude. He showed great pride in how the situation ended. Kudos to him and his staff. He said that most passangers were understanding and tolerant. Good to hear this news.

 

Hopefully this is the truth and not just information to keep us hopeful. I am on the next sailing, this Friday 12/4. I know it isn't NCL's fault and will remain positive.

[Quilt_Nurse]

We aren't caught up on all the threads or discussions yet, but my husband and I were on one of the charter flights from San Juan last night, arrived in Miami about 1:15am, transported to the JW Marriott in Miami for some much needed sleep and food. We drove home to Cape Canaveral this afternoon. Much thanks go to the crew of the Dawn for great day 1 handling of the crisis - day 2 handling left some room for improvement but overall we are grateful to be home tonight.

[Red_Dawn]

I was on this cruise, aka the "NCL Refugee I" in my opinion. I don't have the time to read all 12 pages of this thread so I appologize if I am being redundant. Although the cruise up until the loss of power was nice, being stuck at sea for six hours without power was not fun. Furthermore, not having a/c for 24 hours is even more intolerable. This cruise was special for me as I planned to get engaged during the trip. Luckily I proposed just as we left Miami, otherwise I'm sure my fiancee would have thrown me overboard if I waited until the end. Now let me expalin some facts at how the NCL staff lied to the occupants of the ship.

 

Lie number one: The captian had said that they had backup power to run the ship. They didn't! There was no a/c, and the ship could barely move at 9.5kts. When the Navy helicopter arrived, it dropped a GPS beacon into the water so our position could be monitored. We were a floating garbage pail.

 

Lie number two. We were informed about being diverted to San Juan and they said we would all be transported back to Miami Saturday. They had no plans to do such a thing, and traveling on Thanksgiving weekend is brutal, nevertheless trying to get 2,200 people off of an island unexpectedly is next to impossible. I found out at 04:00am Saturday that there were only two flights out that day and that all of the passengers we're already selected. I was not on the list to get out that day. However they kept telling us that they would inform us at 07:00am when we would be leaving that day.

 

Lie number three. They said all non-U.S. citizens who had flights leaving Miami on Sunday were the first off. Not true. I meet some people who were not leaving Miami until Monday who were on the first chartered flight out.

 

But what really upset me was that they said U.S. citizens were not allowed to leave the ship Saturday morning. Sure, you try keeping a U.S. citizen from setting foot on a US Territory. In retrospect, maybe U.S. citizens make better hostages. When they tried to stop me from getting off the ship at 09:30am Saturday they got a real awakening from me and my fiancee. There was no way I was staying aboard a floating piece of cr@p.

 

Unfortunately, even with a 75% refund and 50% off voucher for another cruise, I will never go on another trip with NCL. This was my first and last cruise. :mad: Oh, I also to pay to get home on my own and purchased the last two seats on Jet Blue.