Worst cruise of my life.

[Redcab]

Ok, it was the first cruise of my life, but I remain VERY disappointed in NCL. I don't intend to ever give them another chance.

 

In a word, "ARROGANCE" pervades the cruise line.

 

We sailed on the Christmas 2011 to New Year's 2012 western carribean cruise out of Miami on the NCL Pearl.

 

Yes, my focus here are the negatives. Sure there were some good times, but the negatives put such a shadow on the week that I will avoid NCL at all costs in the future.

 

So you don't think I'm a bad person, first the positives:

 

-We ate mainly in the specialty restaurants, and they were generally quite good. We enjoyed LeBistro (French). Quite surprisingly the food at the "massive" Summer Palace was very tasty, particularly the lamb shank.

 

-Our rooms were adjoining balcony rooms on Deck10. Well decorated & maintained. The steward was super nice and very attentive. He earned the extra gratuity I placed in his hand.

 

- In general, the (mainly Filipino) staff was extraordinarily hard working and very nice. They tried very hard within the limits of the rules that they were bound to execute to.

 

Ok now the negatives, highlighting the arrogance...

 

Let me summarize it by saying that the real problem here is that the NCL management is so hung up on providing a consistent product (ie, the staff must only follow the rules to the letter) that they miss every opportunity to "make things right" and really thrill a customer. This is not the fault of the hard working staff. It is the arrogant management that isn't even on the boat. Every excellent hotel chain earns their stars by "doing the extra little things". No such thing happens on NCL.

 

Case in point:

 

Teenagers meet in the Teen lounge. They don't hang there, but they make friends on the first 2 days. My son turned 13 during the cruise but was barred from entering the Teen Lounge (minimum age 13). They checked his name and birthdate against the ship manifest! Yes, we took it up with the Youth Director, and then the Cruise Director and finally the Hotel Director. Everyone of them could not change the rules. Finally the Cruise Director contacted Headquarters in Miami (though delayed by xmas holiday) and my son was granted permission to enter the Teen Lounge, though by that time (4 days into the cruise) all the Teens had made their friends and not returned. It was sad because the very nice Hotel Director (a man with probably 35 years in the trade) was not given the authority to make a judgement call on my son's admission. The simple solution would have been "We'll give him a provisional admittance - if he cause one bit of trouble he is gone". Instead I got a bunch of legal b.s. about NCL not being able to accept liability for his presence in that teen room. Huh? Whatever liability contract that existed between us during that vacation is what it is...I don't see how being in that room affected it one way or another. I can't believe I wasted my special vacation time on this nonsense. One night I spent almost 2 hours with the hotel director to get this wrong righted.

 

Now for those of you who might point out that rules are rules and he technically wasn't 13 on the day he attempted admittance, let me say that all the best hotels satisfy their guest by using GOOD JUDGEMENT, not mindless rules.

 

Next case: My daughter and I were sitting in a nearly empty Japanese restaurant at the sushi bar for a late lunch. My son comes in. The hostess say he has to leave because "she needs the seat" for a reservation. He leaves, pissed off. In the next 30 minutes, the restaurant remains 10% full. Why didn't she just give us a "heads up" that she may need the seat? Why didn't she offer an alternative, like moving to one of the twenty open tables? The hostess didn't know that this was a particularly sensitive situation because my son was already banned from the Teen Lounge, but she had no room to flexibly deal with situation. She kicked him out. How rude.

 

When I went to leave that same restaurant, I asked for a "to go" container for the extra food (since my son could not stay there was extra). I was told that food from the sushi bar could not leave the restaurant. That made sense to me, you know, raw food should be consumed promptly. Then I looked at my leftovers. All cooked food. I pointed this out. I got confused stares of recognition that the edict was being wrongly applied but "hey, I'm not going to risk my job over this" denial. Again, the NCL staff is not given any authority to use their brains and their judgement. Everyone is too scared of losing their jobs not to follow the letter of the rules set out before them. The management (off the boat) that sets these rules is arrogant and clearly has their heads in places the sun doesn't shine.

 

I discussed this (and other silly offenses that I won't mention here) constructively with the Hotel Director. He spiffed us 2 cheap bottles of wine and a plate of strawberries. I appreciated the thought and I'm sure he was doing what was allowed in the manual, but it rang pretty superficial. Another "gift" they gave us (to buy our love no doubt) was picking up our New Year's Eve dinner in the Italian restaurant. A nice touch worth $100 or so to our group. At the conclusion of the dinner I was presented with a bill for $6.95 for the single after dinner drink ordered. Now I don't mind paying $7, but it was the wrong punctuation on a meal that they comped for us. Don't they "get it"? Plain rude and arrogant in my mind.

 

See my point? The cruise line misses all the subtle cues that could have made it a "wow these guys really accommodated us!" but instead resulted in me posting this warning to all who will read it.

 

The final straw came after the cruise was over... I got a letter (not an email, but a letter in the snail mail several weeks after the cruise) from a customer service rep "Dustin" who gave another hollow apology and a $300 certificate to be used on a future NCL cruise. Well, no way am I going on another one of their cruise for a measly $300 discount! I spent about $10,000 on a week with them which the screwed up for my son and my wife & I who spent lots of time meeting with staff, trying to get things right and only ended up frustrated (ruining our vacation I might add because if you're kid isn't happy it sure is hard to enjoy yourself).

 

Dustin did not provide any email contact info, so I learned his email from our attentive "Cruise Consultant" Robert. I sent Dustin a reply by email a week ago and I have not heard even a peep of acknowledgement. Again, arrogance pervades this cruise line to its core.

 

To all those that have read this far, I recommend choosing an alternative to NCL....

[SuiteCruiser]

Ok, it was the first cruise of my life, but I remain VERY disappointed in NCL. I don't intend to ever give them another chance.

 

In a word, "ARROGANCE" pervades the cruise line.

 

We sailed on the Christmas 2011 to New Year's 2012 western carribean cruise out of Miami on the NCL Pearl.

 

Yes, my focus here are the negatives. Sure there were some good times, but the negatives put such a shadow on the week that I will avoid NCL at all costs in the future.

 

So you don't think I'm a bad person, first the positives:

 

-We ate mainly in the specialty restaurants, and they were generally quite good. We enjoyed LeBistro (French). Quite surprisingly the food at the "massive" Summer Palace was very tasty, particularly the lamb shank.

 

-Our rooms were adjoining balcony rooms on Deck10. Well decorated & maintained. The steward was super nice and very attentive. He earned the extra gratuity I placed in his hand.

 

- In general, the (mainly Filipino) staff was extraordinarily hard working and very nice. They tried very hard within the limits of the rules that they were bound to execute to.

 

Ok now the negatives, highlighting the arrogance...

 

Let me summarize it by saying that the real problem here is that the NCL management is so hung up on providing a consistent product (ie, the staff must only follow the rules to the letter) that they miss every opportunity to "make things right" and really thrill a customer. This is not the fault of the hard working staff. It is the arrogant management that isn't even on the boat. Every excellent hotel chain earns their stars by "doing the extra little things". No such thing happens on NCL.

 

Case in point:

 

Teenagers meet in the Teen lounge. They don't hang there, but they make friends on the first 2 days. My son turned 13 during the cruise but was barred from entering the Teen Lounge (minimum age 13). They checked his name and birthdate against the ship manifest! Yes, we took it up with the Youth Director, and then the Cruise Director and finally the Hotel Director. Everyone of them could not change the rules. Finally the Cruise Director contacted Headquarters in Miami (though delayed by xmas holiday) and my son was granted permission to enter the Teen Lounge, though by that time (4 days into the cruise) all the Teens had made their friends and not returned. It was sad because the very nice Hotel Director (a man with probably 35 years in the trade) was not given the authority to make a judgement call on my son's admission. The simple solution would have been "We'll give him a provisional admittance - if he cause one bit of trouble he is gone". Instead I got a bunch of legal b.s. about NCL not being able to accept liability for his presence in that teen room. Huh? Whatever liability contract that existed between us during that vacation is what it is...I don't see how being in that room affected it one way or another. I can't believe I wasted my special vacation time on this nonsense. One night I spent almost 2 hours with the hotel director to get this wrong righted.

 

Now for those of you who might point out that rules are rules and he technically wasn't 13 on the day he attempted admittance, let me say that all the best hotels satisfy their guest by using GOOD JUDGEMENT, not mindless rules.

 

Next case: My daughter and I were sitting in a nearly empty Japanese restaurant at the sushi bar for a late lunch. My son comes in. The hostess say he has to leave because "she needs the seat" for a reservation. He leaves, pissed off. In the next 30 minutes, the restaurant remains 10% full. Why didn't she just give us a "heads up" that she may need the seat? Why didn't she offer an alternative, like moving to one of the twenty open tables? The hostess didn't know that this was a particularly sensitive situation because my son was already banned from the Teen Lounge, but she had no room to flexibly deal with situation. She kicked him out. How rude.

 

When I went to leave that same restaurant, I asked for a "to go" container for the extra food (since my son could not stay there was extra). I was told that food from the sushi bar could not leave the restaurant. That made sense to me, you know, raw food should be consumed promptly. Then I looked at my leftovers. All cooked food. I pointed this out. I got confused stares of recognition that the edict was being wrongly applied but "hey, I'm not going to risk my job over this" denial. Again, the NCL staff is not given any authority to use their brains and their judgement. Everyone is too scared of losing their jobs not to follow the letter of the rules set out before them. The management (off the boat) that sets these rules is arrogant and clearly has their heads in places the sun doesn't shine.

 

I discussed this (and other silly offenses that I won't mention here) constructively with the Hotel Director. He spiffed us 2 cheap bottles of wine and a plate of strawberries. I appreciated the thought and I'm sure he was doing what was allowed in the manual, but it rang pretty superficial. Another "gift" they gave us (to buy our love no doubt) was picking up our New Year's Eve dinner in the Italian restaurant. A nice touch worth $100 or so to our group. At the conclusion of the dinner I was presented with a bill for $6.95 for the single after dinner drink ordered. Now I don't mind paying $7, but it was the wrong punctuation on a meal that they comped for us. Don't they "get it"? Plain rude and arrogant in my mind.

 

See my point? The cruise line misses all the subtle cues that could have made it a "wow these guys really accommodated us!" but instead resulted in me posting this warning to all who will read it.

 

The final straw came after the cruise was over... I got a letter (not an email, but a letter in the snail mail several weeks after the cruise) from a customer service rep "Dustin" who gave another hollow apology and a $300 certificate to be used on a future NCL cruise. Well, no way am I going on another one of their cruise for a measly $300 discount! I spent about $10,000 on a week with them which the screwed up for my son and my wife & I who spent lots of time meeting with staff, trying to get things right and only ended up frustrated (ruining our vacation I might add because if you're kid isn't happy it sure is hard to enjoy yourself).

 

Dustin did not provide any email contact info, so I learned his email from our attentive "Cruise Consultant" Robert. I sent Dustin a reply by email a week ago and I have not heard even a peep of acknowledgement. Again, arrogance pervades this cruise line to its core.

 

To all those that have read this far, I recommend choosing an alternative to NCL....

 

Wow. You tried to break the rules time and again, and were rewarded for your efforts, and you come on here to complain?

 

That is ridiculous.

 

They have rules for the kids club. It's all over their website, in plain English. Kids are assigned to the group in their age the day they board. Full stop. People try to change this for various reasons, they want their kids together, their kid is mature, etc. The rule is there for a reason, and it didn't work out for your son, but that is life. Good life lesson.

 

The Sushi bar is there for paying guests, and the restaurant is separate.

 

You were given so much and it's not enough. You ruined your own vacation by not accepting anything. I read this as another win in the NCL column. You've got someone who keeps on complaining (with really no valid complaint in the first place) and you keep doing things to appease them. Talk about great customer service!

 

Talk about no good deed goes unpunished. Wow.

[dasmonkey]

So they bent rules for you, comped a $100 meal for you, sent you a $300 voucher and THEY are the arrogant ones? :rolleyes:

 

You don't sound so much mistreated as you were not molly coddled to your expectations. Somebody sounds a little overly entitled. ;)

[sdmike]

I was in the middle of a scathing reply and just had to stop. Kudos to the NCL staff for trying to make the best of what had to be a frustrating situation for them. Sorry your son didn't enjoy his trip. I hope you have a vacation more to your liking the next time you try.

 

Congratulations on all the friends you'll make with this first post

[NengEuis]

It seems as if you let the way your son was treated affect your entire vacation. And someone not giving you a to-go box is going to spoil your whole day? Come on.

 

What I don't get is do you not know when your own son's birthday is? Did you not know he was going to turn 13 on the cruise? It would seem to me that knowing in advance he would be straddling two Kid's Club groups would be cause to find out what the rules actually were so that no one would be surprised at the outcome once onboard. Reminds me of that saying: poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine....

 

I think the amount of time the employees had to spend with you discussing these petty complaints alone is compensation enough... But hey, you got booze, strawberries, free dinner, and a $300 credit too. Sheesh. I'm jealous.

[cliffd64]

arrogance - overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors

 

Can you please explain how any of the actions by any of the crew in any of the above situations was arrogant or displayed arrogance?

 

I realize that you did not enjoy certain aspects of your cruise that you found disappointing, but unless there is more information that you are not providing, I personally don't see how any behavior made towards you was arrogant, at least by how I understand the word "arrogance". It seemed to me that they did try to accommodate you by your own examples. Having a dinner comped to you is arrogant? Really?

[retiredonthesea]

Sorry you had such a terrible experience--but rules are rules and if everyone wanted to bend them just a little, it would make no sense to even have them. I for one am glad that NCL sticks to the rules--more cruise lines should do the same. Always complaints about kids in adult pool area, chair hogs, saved seats in the theater, suite guests inviting non suite guests, liquor being smuggled onboard ect. ect. Seems like rules are only for others and not for the ones breaking them!:rolleyes: That even has included me a time or two.;)

 

Seems like your compensation was fair! Did you take any excursions? Did you have any fun? You can't really compare a cruise to a stay in a hotel--I'am sure they have rules that need to be abided by too. Maybe cruising just isn't your kind of vacation.

[JLC@SD]

let me say that all the best hotels satisfy their guest by using GOOD JUDGEMENT, not mindless rules....

 

.....do you really think a company that employs 20,000 plus worker really say to them.....use your ....."good judgement"......don't follow the rules.....especially the ones you think are..."mindless"......:confused:

[Jasalth]

You did say this was your first cruise ever, but reading your post, it seems that NCL went way out of their way to help you with your problems. There are other cruise lines out there that would say "To bad so sad" and not give you a thing!!

 

As for the kids club and your son, that is the same rule on every line with generally no exceptions. We had that problem once also. One would think if you were spending over $10,000, you would have looked up information about the kids club, ages for the groups, and realized the problem. Our next cruise my youngest will be turning 13 on the last day of the cruise, by your logic I should fight for him to get in there on day 1.

 

As for the sushi lunch, well if your son wasn't with you, he obviously found something to do, which goes back to the kids club being a big deal. Even though it's at sea, it is a restaurant you pay for. Try going into a sushi bar, or any restaurant around home and just sit down. Don't order or anything or even say you are waiting for one more, just sit there and I bet they will kick you out to! Did you explain to the staff he was just running late to meet you?

 

If the cruise staff was able to "bend" every rule, then why have rules at all on the ships? Yeah I know no one has sat in that lounge chair for 4 days, but they put a book on it so it's theirs! Let the kids run wild and use the buffet for food fights! Every seat in the theater having a sweater on them, well people are just making sure they have their seat even if they never go!

 

As for the staff not being able to bend the set rules, well that is just how it is in the world. Call up the cable company and say you want free service to make you happy. I worked there, the codes are in there for anyone to put in who knows them, but they aren't allowed to be used except by upper management. That fast food employee gets 50% off their mean, that doesn't mean all their friends do, even though they know how to enter their meal for that price.

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

Wow! We made the mistake of trying a Carnival cruise. We will never cruise with them again but our vacation wasn't ruined by it. We didn't ask for any kind of compensation, it was just a lesson learned. We will just stick with NCL from now on. Maybe a different cruise line would be better for you.

[titanguru]

Ok, it was the first cruise of my life, but I remain VERY disappointed in NCL. I don't intend to ever give them another chance.

...

 

I Second your decision. You should never ever get on an NCL ship again. You should leave this cruise line to people who enjoy it and can appreciate good time.

[yoyocruiser]

You are seriously complaining? OMG. This has to be a joke. What irritates me is hearing all the comps one can get for being a jerk. Miserable complainers get a lot of rewards. Still and yet--glad I know what is important and how to have a good time. That was a really sad post when you think about it.

[bonvoyagie]

First I would like to compliment you on your to the point post with specific examples of what went right and wrong - no subjectives. That said rules are rules and as long as they are applied evenly to everybody they should be adhered to. Personally I think you are the arrogant one here for letting some simple things "ruin" a vacation and then complain when they compensate you for your pain and suffering. As others have said, perhaps crusing is not for you. BTW I don't think your situation would have been any different on another cruise line.

[sail2sea]

This is a joke, right?

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I stopped reading when you said your child turned 13 during the cruise and they still wouldn't allow them into the Teens club. The only time we broke that age rule WAS if they were celebrating a birthday onboard the cruise. If that was indeed the case, that was poor on NCLs part but if it wasnt the week or two after the cruise, they did what they were suppose to. I wouldn't want my kid or teen in a age club if other people older or younger then a few years was there also esp if I didn't know it.

[jack300s]

San Francisco Bay Area......

[portcbob]

Hey Redcab...

 

I just read your list of complaints about NCL and reckon you should attempt to " GET A LIFE ".

You don't really think for a minute you were treated badly do you??????

I don't even believe they should of attempted to give you gratituties at all, you don't deserve them mate.

Stay on shore and enjoy your holidays from a hotel in future. I'm sick and tired of persons complaining and whinging about minor things that are not relevant.:mad:

[gerryl12]

WOW! I don't believe what I just read.

I just hope that I never run into the op. I can't believe that this is a true story, how could someone be so so so stup.......

The customer from Hell.

[Urban trekker]

If it was your first cruise how can you say that it was the worst one of your life - you have nothing to compare it too.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[donaldsc]

[quote name=Redcab;32423108

I discussed this (and other silly offenses that I won't mention here) constructively with the Hotel Director. He spiffed us 2 cheap bottles of wine and a plate of strawberries. I appreciated the thought and I'm sure he was doing what was allowed in the manual' date=' but it rang pretty superficial. Another "gift" they gave us (to buy our love no doubt) was picking up our New Year's Eve dinner in the Italian restaurant. A nice touch worth $100 or so to our group. At the conclusion of the dinner I was presented with a bill for $6.95 for the single after dinner drink ordered. Now I don't mind paying $7, but it was the wrong punctuation on a meal that they comped for us. Don't they "get it"? Plain rude and arrogant in my mind.

 

See my point? The cruise line misses all the subtle cues that could have made it a "wow these guys really accommodated us!" but instead resulted in me posting this warning to all who will read it.

 

The final straw came after the cruise was over... I got a letter (not an email, but a letter in the snail mail several weeks after the cruise) from a customer service rep "Dustin" who gave another hollow apology and a $300 certificate to be used on a future NCL cruise. Well, no way am I going on another one of their cruise for a measly $300 discount! I spent about $10,000 on a week with them which the screwed up for my son and my wife & I who spent lots of time meeting with staff, trying to get things right and only ended up frustrated (ruining our vacation I might add because if you're kid isn't happy it sure is hard to enjoy yourself).

 

Dustin did not provide any email contact info, so I learned his email from our attentive "Cruise Consultant" Robert. I sent Dustin a reply by email a week ago and I have not heard even a peep of acknowledgement. Again, arrogance pervades this cruise line to its core.

 

To all those that have read this far, I recommend choosing an alternative to NCL....[/quote]

 

In my opinion, you got 2 bottles of wine, some strawberries, a $100 dinner, and a $300 certificate more than you deserved. Just my opinion, however.

 

DON

[sjbdtz]

So you don't think I'm a bad person, .

 

 

I was in the middle of a scathing reply and just had to stop. Kudos to the NCL staff for trying to make the best of what had to be a frustrating situation for them.

 

 

What Mike said.

[EileenN]

First Post?????However did you find us?

Did you read the list of rules before you booked? did you miss any of them?

[Medtech2]

I was in the middle of a scathing reply and just had to stop. Kudos to the NCL staff for trying to make the best of what had to be a frustrating situation for them. Sorry your son didn't enjoy his trip. I hope you have a vacation more to your liking the next time you try.

 

Congratulations on all the friends you'll make with this first post

I agree. I'd like to add that you missed a golden opportunity to teach your son that sometimes things don't go how YOU may want them, but then you look at all the positives and follow another plan.

 

A comped meal does NOT include alcohol. Why shouldn't you pay for it? We had a small instance of "rules" on our Epic trip. Did it ruin our vacation? Oh, heck no! That was the best vacation of my life. I had a silly grin on my face, which co-workers kept commenting on, for weeks after!

 

Since I believe this will be a 1 post wonder, I doubt you'll see this, but hey, I can vent too...

[Medtech2]

BTW, a written letter is ALWAYS more appropriate then an e-mail, even in this day and age, just sayin'

[tiggerfan616]

"Warning High Maintenance!"

 

Here's your sign for whatever cruse line you try next, good luck.