Official word from the pier for jewel dec 5 cruisers

[theshortchef]

There is no one here from ncl, only port authority personnel. They are directing those from ny, pa, ct, to drive home and come back tomorrow morning.

 

No I am not joking.

 

After not contacting me, they are sending me 6 hours out of my way.

 

I cannot comment on this treatment at the moment.

[njhorseman]

There is no one here from ncl, only port authority personnel. They are directing those from ny, pa, ct, to drive home and come back tomorrow morning.

 

No I am not joking.

 

After not contacting me, they are sending me 6 hours out of my way.

 

I cannot comment on this treatment at the moment.

 

While I'm not going to excuse NCL's shortcomings in communications, I have to ask why you drove to the pier today when you apparently knew the ship wasn't going to be there until tomorrow? You even started a thread yesterday afternoon to help people who might be coming in today, suggesting hotels, etc.

[theshortchef]

After 4 cruises on ncl over the last 2 years, suite level and above, i had expected them to act like a company that I was loyal to.

 

I never expected nonsense of this degree.

 

I will provide for my hotel tonight and have fun on my 6 day cruise before looking into other lines.

[BIG_Steve]

While I'm not going to excuse NCL's shortcomings in communications, I have to ask why you drove to the pier today when you apparently knew the ship wasn't going to be there until tomorrow? You even started a thread yesterday afternoon to help people who might be coming in today, suggesting hotels, etc.

 

The point is that NCL has no one on site. A remarkable thing, especially since it appears that not everyone was contacted. Perhaps they drove over in an attempt to get first hand info to relay to others. If so, it was a great thing to do, no?

[njhorseman]

The point is that NCL has no one on site. A remarkable thing, especially since it appears that not everyone was contacted. Perhaps they drove over in an attempt to get first hand info to relay to others. If so, it was a great thing to do, no?

 

I'm sorry, but the OP knew the ship wasn't departing until tomorrow and it sounds like he made a bad decision. Why would NCL or any cruise line pay for hotel accomodations for anyone who lives within driving distance of the pier?

 

Again, no excuses for NCL dropping the communications ball.

 

The OP is communicating via Cruise Critic, and everyone who reads this forum already has the information, so I'm not buying your explanation that he went to the pier just because he wants to help.

 

FWIW, most cruise lines do not have employees in most ports, and I'm sure they had no one within reasonable distance to send to the pier. The necessary information needs to be communicated through the contractor that does the pier check in. No doubt another communication screw up.

[Fishbait17]

FWIW, most cruise lines do not have employees in most ports, and I'm sure they had no one within reasonable distance to send to the pier. The necessary information needs to be communicated through the contractor that does the pier check in. No doubt another communication screw up.

 

There were an estimated 500 people who showed up at the pier this morning for sailing... They were met by NCL employees who said they didn't know anything and told they would have to wait until another, more "knowledgeable" team arrived. Friends who got there at 10am were given a hotel room at about 2pm and were awaiting transportation to the hotel. Given that NCL knew yesterday at 1pm that the sailing was delayed at least one day, they could have easily had a crew in place (even if flown in from Miami) by this morning, or at least one single knowledgeable, empowered employee to quickly fill in the people (be it employees, contractors, or passengers) that were there. Unacceptable indeed.

 

Robin

[crew mom]

Update from NCL via facebook:

Updated as of 3 pm EDT

 

Because of a crane collapse during Norwegian Jewel’s dry dock in Boston, Norwegian Jewel will arrive later into New York on Monday, December 6. The ship is now estimated to arrive at noon on Monday. Norwegian Cruise Line sincerely apologizes for this further delay and appreciates our guests’ understanding and cooperation.

 

Embarkation for guests sailing on Norwegian Jewel’s December 5 Bahamas & Florida cruise is now scheduled to begin at noon on Monday, December 6. For the comfort of our guests, we strongly recommend that guests not arrive at the cruise terminal until noon. The ship is scheduled to depart New York at 4 pm on Monday.

 

Norwegian Jewel’s itinerary has been revised to accommodate the new departure time. The ship will now call in Port Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday, December 8 from 1 pm to 8 pm and in Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas on Thursday, December 9 from 11 am to 6 pm.

 

Guests will receive a refund of 1/7 of the cruise fare paid and an onboard credit of $100 per stateroom.

[theshortchef]

While I'm not going to excuse NCL's shortcomings in communications, I have to ask why you drove to the pier today when you apparently knew the ship wasn't going to be there until tomorrow? You even started a thread yesterday afternoon to help people who might be coming in today, suggesting hotels, etc.

 

We would have to have left at 4 or 4:30 am to make the time that is no longer correct. I don't often opt to begin my vacation that way. Do you?

 

The question that should be asked is: when ncl posted on these threads, knowing that they had not fully contacted their passengers, why didn't they post the message that they were well aware of: if you are from pa (imagine Pittsburgh), ny, or ct don't come because you will be told to drive home and come back tomorrow.

 

You have missed the point entirely. They chose to not communicate. Things happen and I am fine with that but I am not fine with deliberate disrespect.

[ssgmike]

Even thou I am not on NCL until Feb 2011, finalizing my payment for my upcoming cruise I noticed an alert on my NCL cruise page which states:

 

 

• Information for Jewel Passengers (12/05/2010 2:30 PM EST)
  

• 
   
  

  Because of a crane collapse during Norwegian Jewel's dry dock in Boston, Norwegian Jewel will arrive later into New York on Monday, December 6. The ship is now estimated to arrive at noon on Monday. Norwegian Cruise Line sincerely apologizes for this further delay and appreciates our guests’ understanding and cooperation.

  
  Embarkation for guests sailing on Norwegian Jewel’s December 5 Bahamas & Florida cruise is now scheduled to begin at noon on Monday, December 6. For the comfort of our guests, we strongly recommend that guests not arrive at the cruise terminal until noon. The ship is scheduled to depart New York at 4 pm on Monday.
  Norwegian Jewel’s itinerary has been revised to accommodate the new departure time. The ship will now call in Port Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday, December 8 from 1 pm to 8 pm and in Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas on Thursday, December 9 from 11 am to 6 pm.
  Guests will receive a refund of 1/7 of the cruise fare paid and an onboard credit of $100 per stateroom.
  # # #

  
  

[Don Haynes]

We would have to have left at 4 or 4:30 am to make the time that is no longer correct. I don't often opt to begin my vacation that way. Do you?

 

The question that should be asked is: when ncl posted on these threads, knowing that they had not fully contacted their passengers, why didn't they post the message that they were well aware of: if you are from pa (imagine Pittsburgh), ny, or ct don't come because you will be told to drive home and come back tomorrow.

 

You have missed the point entirely. They chose to not communicate. Things happen and I am fine with that but I am not fine with deliberate disrespect.

 

Really folks, NCL is giving one seventh of the cruise fare back, plus another hundred dollars per cabin. Surely anyone can afford to spend a night in a modest New York City hotel and cab fare from this compensation. Its up to you to make lemonade out of lemons, to go with the flow...

 

I understand many didn't get the word of the delay, but the compensation NCL is providing is more than sufficient... If folks can't afford a one night stay in a hotel, in my mind they can't afford a seven day cruise...

 

I will agree its not the best way to start a vacation cruise, but you can still enjoy a six day cruise minus one day of the itinerary, that is if you wish to. Its not NCL's fault a crane fell, and making command decisions on a weekend day when most of the NCL corporate office staff is off...

[Don Haynes]

No doubt another communication screw up.

 

Communications in any corporation is difficult in the best of times, nearly impossible on a Saturday or Sunday when the corporate office is empty... Have any of the cynics ever attempted to call in staff on a Saturday or Sunday? You'll be lucky if ten percent answered the telephone call, that is if you can find someone to make the calls...

[jame_g]

My experience is that the reason most people don't receive communications is because they provide invalid, incorrect, incomplete contact information, they don't bother to update it when it changes, or provide contact information that goes to their office or somewhere else. They decide to do this because they don't want to be bothered, but then get upset when someone can't reach them with important information. You wouldn't believe how often people make requests and don't provide enough information to properly identify who they are or how to get back in touch with them.

 

I bet a bunch of people even hung up on the automated calls without listening to the message.

 

I would always make sure that NCL had both my cell phone number and my e-mail address in case there was a need for last minute communications.

[Fishbait17]

I bet a bunch of people even hung up on the automated calls without listening to the message.

 

I would always make sure that NCL had both my cell phone number and my e-mail address in case there was a need for last minute communications.

 

They have that information from many of the people on our roll call who were not contacted. I, in fact, received messages on both my home and cell phones, but many others did not, even though their online check-in shows their cell numbers listed. Travel agents did not receive calls for groups they had booked, and had busloads of people show up this morning ready to sail.

 

Can you imagine heading to the port to get ready for a warm cruise only to be put up in Manhattan, and not have proper cold weather gear? I generally wear a jacket, but not a very warm one and no hat or gloves, anticipating to be indoors and warm quickly. I guess you could remain in your hotel and not venture outside...

 

And why were some people given the option to cancel for a full refund when others were not? I was told that as a casino comped guest, if I cancelled I would lose everything (comp, $600 taxes, etc). But of course, nobody at NCL knew anything at all for sure, so I am in limbo. There are no adjustments being made to my fare as it is a comp, so who would pay for the extra overnight in Manhattan? And by eliminating Nassau and shortening PC, they have eliminated most possible excursions, really making this almost a "cruise to nowhere". Until the latest schedule change, I was ready to eat the extra costs and enjoy the trip, but now I am not sure if it's even worth it to go at all, as it will cost me at least $4000 to build up that lost comp again, and with no appreciable stops (for me anyway), I would only spend more money on the ship..

 

Robin

 

Planning to call CAS tomorrow to see what my options are.

[boopsahoy]

I would have been extremely upset-HOWEVER I wouldnt let it ruin my vacation I once had a charter flight to Aruba that took off and had to land to be fixed-yikes-and we had to stay in some crappy hotel at the airport and then they gave us crappy food! But it was a great vacation anyway! Just pack more fun into every day to make up for the lost one.

 

To all the delayed cruisers-sometimes the vacations that start the worst end up being the best! Best wishes for a great cruise!

[Apex11]

Here is the news story from WHDH-TV http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12002920254229/crane-collapses-in-south-boston/

[njhorseman]

We would have to have left at 4 or 4:30 am to make the time that is no longer correct. I don't often opt to begin my vacation that way. Do you?

 

The question that should be asked is: when ncl posted on these threads, knowing that they had not fully contacted their passengers, why didn't they post the message that they were well aware of: if you are from pa (imagine Pittsburgh), ny, or ct don't come because you will be told to drive home and come back tomorrow.

 

You have missed the point entirely. They chose to not communicate. Things happen and I am fine with that but I am not fine with deliberate disrespect.

 

Look, no one is going to be happy about their vacation getting messed up, and NCL apparently could have done a lot better job of communicating, but sorry, I don't agree one iota with what you're saying. You knew the cruise was departing on Monday, not Sunday. That information was posted here and on NCL's Web site. You chose to drive to the pier despite knowing the ship would be a day late, and despite being told in the original announcement that embarkation was beginning at 8 am Monday. Where you find "deliberate disrespect" in any of that is beyond me.

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

Communications in any corporation is difficult in the best of times, nearly impossible on a Saturday or Sunday when the corporate office is empty... Have any of the cynics ever attempted to call in staff on a Saturday or Sunday? You'll be lucky if ten percent answered the telephone call, that is if you can find someone to make the calls...

 

Disagree with this statement.

 

I work for the local electric utility and when there is an outage at one of our power plants I (and a team of others) are immediately contacted and we report to work. Not because we want to. Not because it is fun. Because it is our job.

 

This sounds like a similar situation. If NCL can't get a core team of individuals to deal with a crisis like this on a weekend then they have serious issues with the way they run their business. Heads should roll after this debacle. And I bet they will.

[silkhair1]

Disagree with this statement.

 

I work for the local electric utility and when there is an outage at one of our power plants I (and a team of others) are immediately contacted and we report to work. Not because we want to. Not because it is fun. Because it is our job.

 

This sounds like a similar situation. If NCL can't get a core team of individuals to deal with a crisis like this on a weekend then they have serious issues with the way they run their business. Heads should roll after this debacle. And I bet they will.

 

Hopefully, if anything comes out of this, they will be able to learn how to handle a situation like this a little better!

Just wait til those reviews roll in...............WOW!

[Don Haynes]

Disagree with this statement.

 

I work for the local electric utility and when there is an outage at one of our power plants I (and a team of others) are immediately contacted and we report to work. Not because we want to. Not because it is fun. Because it is our job.

 

This sounds like a similar situation. If NCL can't get a core team of individuals to deal with a crisis like this on a weekend then they have serious issues with the way they run their business. Heads should roll after this debacle. And I bet they will.

 

Power plants are a bit different than corporate offices. Power plants, hospitals, and police departments operate 24-7, corporate offices don't. The one security man on duty only has the phone numbers available to a few authorized personnel. Power plant employees are on stand by, corporate offices aren't...

[aces389]

Every company has a crisis management plan and procedures in effect to alert everyone necessary to handle the crisis. NCL droped the ball on this one big time.

[GigCrusier]

Really folks, NCL is giving one seventh of the cruise fare back, plus another hundred dollars per cabin. Surely anyone can afford to spend a night in a modest New York City hotel and cab fare from this compensation. Its up to you to make lemonade out of lemons, to go with the flow...

 

I understand many didn't get the word of the delay, but the compensation NCL is providing is more than sufficient... If folks can't afford a one night stay in a hotel, in my mind they can't afford a seven day cruise...

 

I will agree its not the best way to start a vacation cruise, but you can still enjoy a six day cruise minus one day of the itinerary, that is if you wish to. Its not NCL's fault a crane fell, and making command decisions on a weekend day when most of the NCL corporate office staff is off...

Don, I would tend to agree with you that 1-night's hotel should not be a big deal until I read the thread included below. It was an eye opening read to see how some folks who choose to travel are spending literally their last buck and don't have access to credit.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1303982

 

I continue to be amazed with NCL's decessions to save a few bucks on hotel accomidations and risk loosing a customer.

 

but... I also realize that with some cabins being sold for for as little as $399.00 - I guess I would have to think twice about paying for a New York hotel room when the nightly cruise fare in $57.14 and that was being credited to the passenger.

 

Ummmmm.... waht to do?

[Fishbait17]

Power plants are a bit different than corporate offices. Power plants, hospitals, and police departments operate 24-7, corporate offices don't. The one security man on duty only has the phone numbers available to a few authorized personnel. Power plant employees are on stand by, corporate offices aren't...

 

But the call center was open yesterday, manned with personnel who knew nothing about the delay for hours.. Even today, someone from our roll call was told by NCL that the Jewel was on her way to NYC, and that the webcam was incorrect ( this was hours before she was even ready to leave). If you have a problem getting information to your staff when they are in your offices at work, that is your problem. I know plenty of 9-5 M-F companies who could get one person to the pier in 20 hours to explain what is going on to the many confused, uninformed, displaced passengers -even if it was the CEO himself.. Inexcusable.

 

Robin

[bob brown]

The call center I suppose is in HQ in Miami (unless outsourced to some place in India:rolleyes:). I wonder how many agents they have working on a weekend making sales?

Surely, some of that staff should be cross-trained to handle contacting passengers in cases such as this. Don't the airlines do this routinely, whenever they have flight cancellations due to mechanical or weather related causes?:confused:

 

And I bet this isn't the first time that a drydocking or other event has taken longer than anticipated to complete. Shouldn't all cruiselines have contingency plans for this in advance?

[theshortchef]

But the call center was open yesterday, manned with personnel who knew nothing about the delay for hours.. Even today, someone from our roll call was told by NCL that the Jewel was on her way to NYC, and that the webcam was incorrect ( this was hours before she was even ready to leave). If you have a problem getting information to your staff when they are in your offices at work, that is your problem. I know plenty of 9-5 M-F companies who could get one person to the pier in 20 hours to explain what is going on to the many confused, uninformed, displaced passengers -even if it was the CEO himself.. Inexcusable.

 

Robin

 

To add to your good points: when the primary business is on the weekend, a company must staff accordingly.

 

Plus, hasn't anyone else realized that a full staff WAS in place for Sunday until ncl cancelled each and every one of them? That was very wrong of them and an example of the disrespect I objected to last night.

[RNPJN]

The call center I suppose is in HQ in Miami (unless outsourced to some place in India:rolleyes:). I wonder how many agents they have working on a weekend making sales?

Surely, some of that staff should be cross-trained to handle contacting passengers in cases such as this. Don't the airlines do this routinely, whenever they have flight cancellations due to mechanical or weather related causes?:confused:

 

And I bet this isn't the first time that a drydocking or other event has taken longer than anticipated to complete. Shouldn't all cruiselines have contingency plans for this in advance?

The call center is in Mesa Az.