Small Issue I had on my cruise - and the positive way it was handled

[DMH15]

I ordered the Birthday package to surprise my nephew when we took him on his 18th birthday cruise... I wanted everything to be set up and perfect so that when he opened the door he would see alll of the decorations and his cake... and it was just like that... perfect!

 

Had it not been, it would not have ruined our cruise. He still would have enjoyed them.

 

I hope I would have been as easy going and patient as the OP, I think I would have. I cruise with my mother and I don't think she would have been pleased if I had not been flexible anyway. She is much more calm than I am.

[AF2010]

everyone wants to praise the cruiseline all of a sudden? The way I see it, there are 2 things at play here;

 

1. NCL DID NOT get the order straight...continued to screw up the order...and then pacified....what appears to be an easygoing pax with strawberries and a 2 part delivery of platters..not when they were initially requested...but in a random pattern over 24 hours.

 

2. The OP WANTS to make NCL look like the good guy here..and wants to express that he is easygoing and was easily satisfied by NCL.

 

 

IMHO....first off..the last thing I would do is order these platters.....and yes...more than strawberries was justified.

For the record..I wouldn't get angry either..because it would upset the beginnings of our cruise...but I would not be praising NCL for the mistake either...but of course I don't see any reason to order these platters anyway.

 

To the poster who said..specialty dinner passes...it makes sense...or drink coupons....

 

What is really happening here is the NCL just did not get the order right in the first place.....

 

think about it...if you wanted flowers sent on Valentine's Day and they arrived the next day...how would you feel? Would you still be willing to pay the inflated price for flowers that have surely been sitting around in a delivery truck for the last 24 to 48 hours? Think not. And who needs a cheese platter at 11pm..especially when they wanted to enjoy it earlier...probably at sailaway.

 

And no, I am not saying that NCL left the platters out overnight...but it could be they delivered them to the wrong cabin initially...or better yet...just didn't manage the order in the first place like they should have.

 

NCL screwed up and the poster just doesn't want to get angry...I guess that keeps the OP's blood pressure down..so that is good also:)

 

 

It's freestyle cruising, maybe that's why he didn't want to get upset - it's his vacation, as he said "he had no time frame." As for the valentine's day analogy - that would not work for NCL, Valentine's Day is not freestyle, it's only one day.

[camz]

Now you see, this is the kind of attitude that makes for a great vacation. The OP is not all gloom and doom because someone had the nerve to make a mistake during his cruise. Attitude is everything and that is why some people never have a great vacation because they are negative. I agree with the OP 100% and would have reacted to the situation the same way. ;)

[hftmrock]

For the record...

 

I did say and will state again, NCL made a mistake. They are to blame. no one else.

 

The difference here and one of the reasons why I posted is that they took ownership of the mistake. They did not blame me, or blame other things or tell me to go to another area or lie to me. I have read some posts where mistakes happen and the people were lied to or misled or even blamed themselves and I wanted to show that NCL will take ownership and work on resolving the problem. Maybe if I raised a stink and asked to speak to the manager or threatened them I would have gotten more than what I got. But I was not looking for that nor did I believe that I deserved so much more for my 'troubles'.

 

Its really interesting to see how others view this. I was not looking to show I was an easygoing pax, I was not trying to show that NCL is not to blame. I was just sharing a situation that happened to me last week that was resolved (IMO) to my satisfaction. I have read where mistakes happen and its not resolved to anyones satifaction. Those posts are more prevelant because many people will be quick to announce faults and vent but rarely will post when things go wrong and they get them resolved in a manner that is ok.

[jeanettep]

For the record...

 

I did say and will state again, NCL made a mistake. They are to blame. no one else.

 

 

Wait a minute -- let's count the mistakes! There was not one, not two, but three mistakes. I'm a fan of NCL, but come on, this is an example of people not doing their job. That's all I ask for when it comes to service -- just do your job! After the first "mistake" someone should have seen to it that you got what you paid for.

[iheartbda]

It sounded initially as though NCL was not being blamed.....but as I said..I wouldn't get upset by it either.....but I still say that NCL should know how to handle these orders without any problems...they do them all the time...yes, mistakes happen...but in addition to your strawberries...let's hope they found out what caused the problem and make sure it doesn't happen again....that is what a good company would do...and I believe that NCL is a good company....I just don't think that your issue went any further than to give you strawberries.....doubt they really looked into it.

Ummmm. here's something you don't know, it's only what you THINK.;)

You have no idea if they really looked into the situation to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[Zeno]

Well I must admit astonishment - some are actually criticizing the OP for being a reasonable human being instead of an entitled, demanding whiner.

 

OP - you are someone I WANT to cruise with. You have reasonable expectations. NCL makes a mistake and fixes it and you are satisfied. I don't want to cruise with spoiled brats who make a big fuss over a minor mistake or when perfection isn't achieved.

 

NO business runs without making mistakes. NCL screwed up the OP's order and then fixed the situation to the OP's satisfaction - so what is there to complain about. This was a small mistake, satisfactorily dealt with.

[Mooder]

Call me superstitious, but one thing I have learned in my line of work is that once a case goes wrong, it seems cursed and things go wrong throughout. That's what happened to this bon voyage gift because, yes, there were 3 mistakes. But the OP wants us to know that NCL does correct them - we so often read posts complaining that NCL does not correct their mistakes to a customer's satisfaction, that I really appreciate the OP coming here to tell the story. Cruising6, I don't see where anyone is absolving NCL of the mistakes. Forgiving them, but not pretending they didn't happen.

 

In my business we do what we can to make a client happy after a mistake, but we don't give anything away - a discount MAYBE - so the extra strawberries seems about right to me. It is really the apology that most people want - an acknowledgment of the error - and that is what has become so rare in customer services nowadays.

 

BTW, I have had flowers for a special occasion delivered the wrong day. I got an apology, not a free dinner.

[Planer's Edge]

 

BTW, I have had flowers for a special occasion delivered the wrong day. I got an apology, not a free dinner.

 

...and you screwed up by not demanding said "free dinner", according to some in this thread. :rolleyes: You did not make them properly pay for their error. :D

 

PE

[Mooder]

...and you screwed up by not demanding said "free dinner"' date=' according to some in this thread. :rolleyes: You did not make them properly pay for their error. :D

 

PE[/color']

 

Woe is me. Now I have to feel badly about myself. :rolleyes:

[sparks1093]

Woe is me. Now I have to feel badly about myself. :rolleyes:

 

You'll just have to take a cruise to assuage your bad feelings about yourself;).

[dwjoe]

I remember reading many posts on other cruise lines boards about sailaway treats not being delivered as expected. Seems like home port turnarounds are always a frantic time for the crew and sometimes stuff gets missed.

[Partyatsea]

Does anyone know if the shrimp platter are the huge shrimp from Cagneys? Sorry to be off topic.

[hftmrock]

they were... sorry I didnt take a pic but we had the shrimp at cagneys and in the room. They were the same

[tjaker11]

Kudos to you!!! You deserve a blue ribbon for taking the high road.:)

 

 

I agree! congrats on the high road.

[Mooder]

You'll just have to take a cruise to assuage your bad feelings about yourself;).

 

Go ahead, twist my arm! ;):D

[iheartbda]

Well I must admit astonishment - some are actually criticizing the OP for being a reasonable human being instead of an entitled, demanding whiner..........................

 

As the old saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished".;)

I imagine the OP was just wanting to share what they thought was a good deed to counter those who show up with their knickers in a knot.

 

*note to self.

Never post something positive.:p

[Boolie]

And that, IMHO, is the difference between "travelers" and "tourists." The ability to roll with those little punches sure makes it easier to handle the really important ones. No offense intended toward ANYONE, just the first thought that came to me when I read HFTMROCK's post.

[Mooder]

And that, IMHO, is the difference between "travelers" and "tourists." The ability to roll with those little punches sure makes it easier to handle the really important ones.

 

I never heard that distinction before, but it's a good one. OT - As soon as I read that sentence I thought of the difference between people who relish the differences in countries they visit and those who find those differences to be annoyances.

[Crusin6]

Wait a minute -- let's count the mistakes! There was not one, not two, but three mistakes. I'm a fan of NCL, but come on, this is an example of people not doing their job. That's all I ask for when it comes to service -- just do your job! After the first "mistake" someone should have seen to it that you got what you paid for.

Thank you...because this is what I was trying to get the posters to realize.

 

The reference to free dinners was only because...there is only so much they can give away on NCL...maybe I should have said $20 in casino tokens?

 

Doesn't matter...I stand by my opinion....NCL should be able to know how to avoid these mistakes...and of course they make them better...eventually

 

but let's not turn them into saints for being able to finally get it right.

 

And one more time....if this had happened to me...it would not have upset me at all

 

what is disturbing...and I said it before...is that....so many will praise them for this error....instead of just stating..."it didn't and wouldn"t hurt my fun..but really NCL should be able to get this sort of stuff right..as it is a common request from pax to have bon voyage items delivered at bon voyage"

 

Just sayin':) btw..I am a traveler....because I know things like this shouldn't happen...IMHO a tourist is one who is thrilled that it was taken care of and doesn't realize that NCL really didn't care enough to get it taken care of immediately...or never had it happen in the first place.

 

As a traveler...I know and expect these things to happen....that is why I know not to order them. Same thing with certain excursions..restaurants...etc. or the biggest little secret of all...use a different Credit card for port than the one you use on the ship...and don't use a debit card. Pick that little well known tidbit apart if you like.LOL!!!!

[hftmrock]

I see it differently...

 

I see so many times where people are not satisfied or not taken care of in the proper manner in ANY business that when a company makes a mistake (they all do) and then takes ownership and tries to do the right thing, it may appear as 'That is what is supposed to happen, so what' type of attitude but on boards like this, people who were not satisfied and people who had problems that were taken care of wrongly appear to be the only ones posting.

 

All I wanted to do was show that when things do go wrong, NCL does try to rectify it and own it. As much as this should be SOP and the norm, On boards like this, the venters and the complainers and the people who might not have had their situation addressed properly seem to be the ones that feel they have to post to 'warn others' about this behaviour. If that is all that is posted, it will appear that this company (and in reality any company) is the worst company in the world.

 

I was just trying to show a bit of balance. Not calling NCL saints, Not saying they were not to blame. I am not kissing their feet on this either. I am saying that there are situations that mistakes happen and NCL does try to fix it and in this case I was satisfied.

[bplazo]

I think that the strawberries was a nice gesture and I am glad that the op enjoyed them. Mistakes happen and it is nice when a gesture is given and then appreciated.

[FSHLOT]

Some ppl seem like NCL should never make a mistake.

 

Sure they made a mistake,but so what, it didn't ruin the OP's cruise.I totally agree with all who say it was handled well.It really don't sound like the OP's praising NCL,he just sounds satisfied with the outcome.

[Automation]

I don't think anyone is saying that the cheese ruined the cruise. The op is saying what a good job NCL did. I think after the first mistake, NCL should have given a little something extra. After 3 mistakes, on a simple order, they should reverse the charges.

[Sauer-kraut]

Gotta luv your little avatar!