Has this ever happened to anybody?

[Sthronds]

I'm booked on the Pride of Aloha on July 11th. I booked on Pride of America last August, in a balcony cabin. In January I was rebooked for the same category, balcony cabin. Today, when I made final payment my receipt showed a completely different category (lower), room and no balcony. Does anyone know if they can change this after I had confirmation and paid a deposit? My TA didn't even catch it, I didn't find out until I was home and compared confirmations. Of course my TA was gone for the day and NCL told me that they couldn't give information to me only my TA. Any advice?

[zimmerjulie]

ugh, Sthronds,
I feel that sinking feeling for you. What a pain. Hopefully your TA can work it out. I expect that the balcony cabins are all taken up and there won't be one available to reclaim for you. I hope this is not the case!!!

Although this "shouldn't" have happened, it looks like it did. I'm not sure what can be done to un-do it, especially since you have submitted final payment and it is 75 days out. Was 75 days prior to sailing your final payment due date, or did you fall under the 60 day policy that previously existed?

I'm pulling for you.

[margu1241]

Sthronds,
Do you have a written confirmation of the rebooking which shows the cabin numbers? If so, I don't see how they could change if AFTER you made final payment, especially if you are now in a lower (and presumably less expensive) cabin. I am on the 7/18 sailing and was originally in an aft balcony on America, moved to a midship balcony on Aloha and finally had my pricing straightend out last week to find that I had been moved back to the aft cabin, which I am very excited about. I hope the same thing doesn't happen when I go to make my final payment. I will be interested to see how it works out for you.
Patty

Pride of Aloha
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[Sthronds]

Here is an update. Basically, what we think happened was a large group booked and bumped several people down. I am not sure what made them more important so that they could take my room, but that is what I am still trying to find out. My TA was off today so another TA in the office was trying to help me out. I most likely will not get my balcony room even though I booked in August. I am very disapointed but I am still going to go and have a good time. The TA said that I should push NCL for some sort of compensation. I am also upset with my TA who didn't inform me of this when I made final payment. When I asked why my total was lower, she said that NCL runs specials. She told me it was better not to ask, just accept. I really feel like I should have been told of the change before I paid. What do you think?

[newmexicoNita]

If this is the case and you lost your balcony there is no way you should be charged the same price. This happened on another line when I was a TA. I got no satisfaction from the line and that is one reaston I will never sail that particular line. In this case, I certainly hope your TA sent you a complete invoice and itinerary. I always did. This way you would have some way of proving what you were supposed to get and paid for. Keep us posted please. NMNita

Commodore 1984, Costa 1985, RCL 1987, Chandris 1989, NCL 1989, Commodore, 1991, NCL 1997, Carnival 1997, Carnival 1998,NCL 1998, NCL 1999, RCL 2000, RCL 2000, NCL 2002,NCL 2003, Celebrity 2003, NCL 2004

[MOMofONE]

I would be fuming Sthronds!
It appears your TA KNEW you were being downgraded BEFORE you made final payment? (her remark of NCL specials?)Someone assumed you would be happy with the lower price.
I think you should push for a compensation definetly! See if you can find out what date you were reassigned and if your TA was notified on that date before your final payment.
It that is the case, it is your TA's responsibility to give you option to accept before making payment - I don't believe a downgrade is automatic without your acceptance.
NCL has done some screwy tings but I have not heard of them, or any other cruiseline downgrading without notice - I would press your TA about this.
I wish you luck - very unfair - talk it out calmly but firmly and be persistent.
Tina

[zimmerjulie]

It could be that your TA just didn't catch the change of cabin number and the "specials" explanation was the first thing they thought of to explain it. That would certainly occur to me before thinking , "Hmm, maybe the cruide line changed the cabin category without asking or even notifying ."

Something similar happened to one of my cabins in my group for the Star this summer. I think it had to do with the changeover to the new computer system at NCL. One of my cabins was changed to a "guarantee" status accidentally. When the system went around to assign guarantees, we were given a new cabin number. All of this went undetected for months because we were in between payment times and did not have any activity on the reservation. When I found the error and contacted them, they did not know what had happened. Luckily, my story had a happy ending and got the original cabin back. This was a GOOD thing, as this was the cabin for the children of the parents in the neighboring cabin. They had been re-assigned to the other end of the ship.

I wish you could get your balcony back, but if you can't, I would definitely ask for compensation. This should be done by your travel agent. I realize that it is an extra service for which they will not get any extra commission, but they should be willing to go to bat for you. In my experience, a complaint/request through a TA will get more consideration than one from an individual.

Would you be interested in an on-board credit? This might be a good place to start, if this interests you. Think of an amount that you would consider appropriate and have your TA negotiate it for you.

Good luck. Too often a "ball dropping" such as this can cause the initial damage, then the added stress factor to bring you down even further. Hopefully any negotiations following this mistake will not cause you extra trouble. Sounds like you are planning to have a good time anyway, so hopefully NCL will be able to reward your good faith with an appropriate "apology".

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by zimmerjulie:
Sounds like you are planning to have a good time anyway, so hopefully NCL will be able to reward your good faith with an appropriate "apology".<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Julie I often agree with your posts but I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here. If the mistake was the TA's, why would NCL be at fault and owe an apology? It could have been that NCL alerted the TA and told her to let her client know. If the TA didn't, isn't that the TA's fault and not NCL's? Shouldn't the TA be responsible for apologizing and making it right?

Cecilia

I can be contacted at [email]ladyndnver@aol.com[/email]

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My Wedding!

[zimmerjulie]

I think the mistake was made by NCL, in that the cabin category was changed without the passenger's knowledge or consent. This is something that I would consider a bungle worthy of some sort of gesture of goodwill, since they probably can't make it right by honoring the original deal for the balcony.

I thought the agency might not have caught this cabin category change and explained instead with a theory that there had been a discount applied (not necessarly out of complicity or dishonesty, just didn't catch it). Just trying to offer them the benefit of the doubt and trying to answer the question "What do you think?".

It just doesn't make sense to me that an agency would initiate a change against a client's established reservation without their consent to a cheaper (read: less commission) cabin. I think the mix-up was caused in the reservation system somewhere. JMHO [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[stever]

It concerns me that you can book a balcony cabin (when the cruise is just becoming available), then when someone else is willing to pay more or it is better for NCL, for whatever reason, they lower you catagory. Oh the mighty $. When you book a hotel, air, or even a wedding caterer, you have financially accepted their price at that time. People make plans and expect certain details to take place. TA's fault not to notify you that is a problem but even the TA wasn't expecting this to happen to you. NCL should have called you personally and given you options. Maybe they could have offered another date with a balcony.

[zimmerjulie]

stever, I agree with your statements, but have no way to know yet if this change was done purposely. It was my experience that there was an error made that caused the cabin number to be ejected. I do not know if this was the case with Sthronds cabin, but considering that this would be, as you said, a very unethical thing to do purposely, and considering that word does get around faster nowadays, it would be a terrible choice on NCL's part.

I completely agree that people make plans and expect certain details to take place. I, personally, consider my cabin choice very carefully and am usually quite excited when I have my number all secured and can really look forward to what I am going to get. If I had booked a balcony, I would be VERY upset to see that I had been lowered without my consent. Some might see that they were paying a lower price and look at the bright side, but in this case, I would be mad (at least for a short time [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]). I would then probably start telling myself that my cabin type has never made a huge impact on my cruise experience (then again, I have never had a balcony). I also might start to feel better more quickly if I was offered an explanation and/or an apology. IMHO, the passenger is definitely due both in this case.

[Sthronds]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the discussion and advice, it made me realize that what I was feeling was normal to have so many of you express your views. Here is today's update. My TA was back in the office today and although I last night my intention was to call her and get mad, this morning I found myself being very pleasant on the phone. Guess that's what a nights sleep can do. She wasn't aware of the problem. She did not catch the change. NCL did not inform her. While I think she should have checked, I am not blaming her anymore. NCL claims that they just didn't have enough balcony rooms, but no reason why I was bumped. They are offering a $200 cruise credit for a future cruise. My TA is also trying to get me some shipboard credit. They did say they would give me a full refund if I wanted to cancel, or I could have a balcony in October. Considering I have waited my entire life to go to Hawaii and to go on a cruise, I am not cancelling. As for October, I am a teacher so that is out of the question. I guess, that is basically it. I will keep you posted on any other compensation if any.

[mbisson]

I'm still concerned that you seem to have billed the same price. You booked a balcony and got downgraded, but the price remained the same? I've heard of free upgrades, but this is the first time I've heard of a free downgrade!

To me this is still something that should be taken care of, IN ADDITION TO, whatever other compensation they may offer.

-Monte

some of my cruising photos:
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/m1bisson"]http://community.webshots.com/user/m1bisson[/url]
A bad day cruising is better than a good day at work.

The worst cruise I ever took was pretty damned good.

Platinum with RCI, a couple cruises with NCL and 1 with CCL

Clock remove but cruise in Dec

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by zimmerjulie:
I think the mistake was made by NCL, in that the cabin category was changed without the passenger's knowledge or consent.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Looks like you were right. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] I can't even imagine how irritated I would be. To be honest, I've been on 11 NCL cruises and had 11 great experiences! I've even had great customer service experiences. But so many things seem to be happening now. What happened to the cruise line I used to know? It's certainly disheartening. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]

Cecilia

I can be contacted at [email]ladyndnver@aol.com[/email]

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=006400&cdt=2004;10;02;12;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]
My Wedding!

[gdries]

As of this morning it appears that a balcony cabin HAS opened up. I cannot find the thread, but there was a America to Aloha re-accom phone number. to heck with the TA, light up the re-acccom line this morning, as well as the line for your TA. Grab that room!

Aloha Hawaii from LA via San Francisco
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[margu1241]

gdries,
They will not talk to you directly at NCL customer service if you booked with a TA. I asked on a post a week or so ago for someone to post the phone number again if they had it and there was no response. There has been an email address posted: [email]prideofamerica@ncl.com[/email]. I have never seen a phone number specifically for problems with the switchover. I have sent two emails to the specific help email and have not heard anything yet from that.

However, I do think it would help to call. I called the general customer service about my problems and they did call my TA while I was still on the line and (depending on who's story you believe)connected him with someone at the reaccomodation desk. NCL rep came back to me and told me that my TA was talking to NCL right then. TA called me back an hour later and said he "just happened" to be on the phone with NCL at exactly the same time that I called, dealing with my problem. Seems a little coincidental to me, but bottom line is my problem appears to be solved, and it looks like I am getting my aft balcony cabin back. I say appears only because I have not seen the written confirmation yet for the three cabins booked because they are still trying to move one of them. I hope to see the paper copy today or tomorrow. So, I would try to call and hope that they can help somehow...THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE!!!
Patty

Pride of Aloha
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[zimmerjulie]

Good eye, gdries,

Is it the Aloha July 11? When I looked on the NCL website, it showed July 10.

I would have your TA call and talk to the same person they talked to before (if they were good). If you go through re-accomodations and get more than one dept involved, it has the potential to get all mixed up again. Maybe not, but that's where I would start.

Then again, if you are happy with your lower category at a lower price, you could call yourself done with the whole deal. (...Projecting my own desire to be done with the whole "reservations/payments/figuring out all the unforseen problems and getting them fixed so that they can release documents" phase of my group arrangements...I am finding that there is definitely something to be said for that [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]).

Good luck!!

[zimmerjulie]

I would definitely recommend getting that paper confirmation. I find it most effective to get someone on the line who can help you, have them do it while you are still on the line, then have them e-mail or fax you the results while you are still on the line, then check it over and make any corrections while THEY are still on the line. I know this isn't always possible, but it seems like when I have someone voice to voice, they are very friendly and eager to help. Once it is a "work on it and send me the confirmation when you are done", I haven't gotten the confirmations and things have gotten further screwed up and I had no knowledge of it.

Cecelia,
I have had very professional and enjoyable interactions with NCL in booking my group and individual cruises over the years too. This time it has been one "glitch" after another, but I have been hanging in there and I know the agents helping me are also frustrated with the unexpected difficulties. It disheartens me when I hear of others having mistakes made. It seems to me that this transition period to the new computer system has been extra rough. The thing that raises my spirits is getting a helpful agent on the phone that really is sorry and wants to make things right. I have found that this is a lot more effective than sending an e-mail or leaving a phone message and waiting for a response.

Hope this helps others in their efforts to straighten out problems.

P.S. I am REALLY looking forward to having a VERY positive experience aboard the Star this summer and telling all of you about it. I am REALLY looking forward to the time when things settle down/kinks get worked out and this board can reflect that and become a generally more positive place to be.

[This message was edited by zimmerjulie on 04-30-04 at 12:04 PM.]