Disgusting experience!!!!!

[Loonbeam]

Can't. Too many variables (who issued the policy, when was it issued, what level of coverage was purchased for starters)

 

 

The big question here, and PLEASE someone answer:

 

WOULD TRIP INSURANCE COVER THIS?

[dasmonkey]

 

 

BTW, I live in Texas, next door to Louisiana too, and I know Fat Tuesday is in two days. I had no idea New Orleans is jumping the Mardi Gras gun. Maybe if I had been cruising today I would have found that out... Maybe not.

 

Again, so sorry for you.

 

There are always as many parades scheduled every day the weekend before as there are on Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras. Been that way for decades.

 

Mardi Gras is far from a one day event in NOLA.

 

http://www.mardigrasday.com/schedule.php

[RedInLove]

We happened to plan a vacation to Washington DC during Memorial Day weekend. I knew it would be busy but was not at all prepared for 200,000 bikers to be there also.

 

For the sole purpose of being informative for either yourself or someone else that is wondering why there would be thousands and thousands of bikes in DC - this event was Rolling Thunder, which is an annual bike ride to DC.

[Cubechick]

We just came back from the 2/12/12 Spirit cruise (darned good, by the way). As mentioned, many of the Saturday parades were cancelled due to tornado warnings here in NOLA. As a result, those parades were moved to Sunday causung the parades to start earlier than originally planned.

 

We were 'inconvienieced', as our cab couldn't make it to our hotel due to the unplanned parades. Know what we did? Grabbed our bags and hoofed it! Problem solved!

 

Maybe sue the National Weather Service for messin' up the parade schedule? :rolleyes:

[bonvoyagie]

While I feel sorry for the OP and missing their vacation. It also drives home the point of planning and how lack of it can cause problems. It also makes a point for travel insurance with clauses that will get you to the first port incase you miss the ship. It also reminds me of the old saying "Lack of planning on your behalf does not consitute an emergency on mine" . In hindsight NCL could have put a note in the edocs for crusies out of NOLA during MardiGras - however Mardi Gras is not something that is new - it has been going on for decades. It even makes the news reports here in Portland OR. Also it did not have to be Mardi Gras - I have been held up for several hours in traffic due to a bad accident. The OP could have also tried to contact the ship or NCL to let them know the situation - perhaps there was a work around, or they might have held the ship.

[sail2sea]

wow that was bad ... I feel for OP, but that was not Norwegian's fault.

[crew mom]

I'm sorry to hear that the OP missed their cruise. Hopefully they are making plans to catch up with the ship.

 

Mardi Gras is well known in the south, plus the rest of the country so I'm surprised that the OP wasn't aware of it, especially since they are from Mississippi. There are even decorations for Mardi Gras available in the stores here.

 

The parades happen in NOLA for 2 weeks prior to Fat Tuesday and, yes, they can mess up traffic badly. DS had problems walking around NOLA both last Sunday and today. He had a really hard time getting across a parade route today in order to get back to the Spirit on time. He was a bit worried and he still had well over an hour to get to the ship. He had to walk blocks out of his way.

 

New York and NOLA are 2 cities that I would do plenty of research prior to arriving there for traffic disrupting events.

[Toyz711]

since mardi gras is celebrated all along the coast, including the gulfcoast of mississippi...even in tunica, (mississippi casinos) they have been giving away beads and having special drawing. beale street (memphis) has mardi gras beads in the shops. yes, living in mississippi, people have heard and know about mardi gras. if anyone looked into a hotel room they would know that the rooms, near the parade route, are booked a year in advance. it's sad the OP missed their cruise...but NCL is not responsible for the road closures. the port is in a hard-to-get to area, traffic (any day) can influence how to get there and the times to get there. when i drove down there, i check with the NOLA website many times...also googled the ports to get maps in case of traffic problems.

[sparks1093]

We all know that according to the cheerleaders on this board, NCL can do no wrong. Everything NCL does is ok by them. The food is the best, accomodations are the greatest, and there is never a service problem. Nothing is ever NCL's fault. You won't see much sympathy here.

 

And this is NCL's fault how? One can argue that it would have been nice for NCL to warn passengers, but that doesn't equate to an obligation to warn passengers.

 

I definitely agree about the TA dropping the ball. He/she should have warned this poster! 3rd time I'm saying it - I wouldn't have known it was mardi gras unless someone told me. I'm not at all into that sort of thing, and it wouldn't have even crossed my mind!!

 

A customer service issue, yes, but again while it would have been nice for the TA to say something I don't think that equates to an obligation to warn customers.

 

I do feel sorry for the OP, but that's as far as it goes.

[sjbdtz]

I believe you need to read your ticket contract carefully. It may contain limitations concerning how you can handle disputes.

 

Specifically refer to sections 10 & 14.

 

 

It would not be NCL'S fault if we missed the ship, nor their responsibility to notify me of this or give me an alternate route...

 

Besides, how would they know where you were coming from? I'm sure they don't do a Google Map for every customer.

 

 

 

Well, Suite Cruiser, that's the wonderful thing about due process in this country. They most certainly will hear it. No they won't. It's specifically forbidden in the contract. Whether they win or not, well, that's the luck of the draw.

 

If I were cruising today, I would have had no idea it was mardi gras. So, I assume if an educated person like myself could make that mistake, surely anyone could. I agree. I wouldn't have known either.

 

Take a deep breath and relax. The last thing the OP needs is for people to be nasty. They just lost their vacation. A little compassion goes a long way.

 

 

I feel bad for OP, it's disappointing to miss the boat. However it would appear that if a 5 hour traffic delay could cause them to miss the ship, then they didn't plan appropriately.

 

If I'm taking on the risk of same-day arrival, then you can bet that I'm checking weather reports, traffic reports, etc. Google Maps has a traffic overlay (top right of the map) which can show you immediately the condition of the roads. I checked, and right now show that the road to NOLA is showing Green....so they do have coverage of the area.

 

If I'm coming in the night before, then it wouldn't have been a problem.

 

 

 

Where I lose my compassion is the whole "the directions were on their letterhead", suggesting that you could leave home allowing exactly the estimated amount of time with no regard to whether you might need a rest stop (potential delay), get a flat tire (potential delay), etc.

 

The OP completely abdicated responsibility for their own situation, and by posting here seems to be suggesting a systemic problem, whereas the problem is their own.

 

 

As others have said, they should see if they can get flights to the first stop, and rejoin their cruise.

 

 

And sections 10 & 14 in the contract, to which attention is explicitly drawn during the registration phase, state that mediation (not arbitration) is to be used, and that it will be conducted in Miami.

 

No lawsuits allowed.

 

 

.

[che5904]

I definitely agree about the TA dropping the ball. He/she should have warned this poster! 3rd time I'm saying it - I wouldn't have known it was mardi gras unless someone told me. I'm not at all into that sort of thing, and it wouldn't have even crossed my mind!!

 

Well I can't say that I would have known exactly when Mardi Gras was but I do know it is sometime in February and I live in Canada. No I probably wouldn't thnk of marathons in NY or whatever is not big national and international news like Mardi Gras. But I have 2 choices for booking travel use a competent TA or do my own thorough research. If I choose the latter and don't do enough the only finger pointing should be looking into a mirror.

 

I feel bad for the OP and I don't blame the OP in this case for not doing the research. But if there is blame to lay it is on the OP's TA. I can't believe there is a TA that does not know about Mardi Gras. It looks like the OP didn't do enough research on the TA they used and make sure this TA was working for them. Too many people use a TA for a couple of bucks of saving.

 

But as I said above the blame if anyone was to point a finger it would be the TA who is suppose to be organizing your trip in it's entirety.

[johnmpcny]

I cannot wait for when they get their bill and see the DSC on it<G>

 

I think in this case 99% will agree it is right to remove the DSC, even if a large number of families of the cruise workers welfare will be adversely impacted for something they could not control.

[sparks1093]

I cannot wait for when they get their bill and see the DSC on it<G>

 

I think in this case 99% will agree it is right to remove the DSC, even if a large number of families of the cruise workers welfare will be adversely impacted for something they could not control.

 

They will not be charged the DSC and if they prepaid it they would get it back. I believe they are entitled to a refund of taxes and port fees, also. Nice try, though;).

[2Cruise4Ever]

We all know that according to the cheerleaders on this board, NCL can do no wrong. Everything NCL does is ok by them. The food is the best, accomodations are the greatest, and there is never a service problem. Nothing is ever NCL's fault. You won't see much sympathy here.

 

Richie ~ there are cheerleaders on EVERY board... not just here. I am a self-proclaimed NCL cheerleader. However, if something went terribly wrong, I'd definitely let everyone here know about it. In this case, it's not NCL's fault. It's up to us to do our own research and get to the ship... end of story.

[che5904]

Richie ~ there are cheerleaders on EVERY board... not just here. I am a self-proclaimed NCL cheerleader. However, if something went terribly wrong, I'd definitely let everyone here know about it. In this case, it's not NCL's fault. It's up to us to do our own research and get to the ship... end of story.

 

It's amazing how many people like to throw that "cheerleaders" word around if anyone dares to see logic against something a negative poster has wrote.

[ZoneHPH]

Richie ~ there are cheerleaders on EVERY board... not just here. I am a self-proclaimed NCL cheerleader. However, if something went terribly wrong, I'd definitely let everyone here know about it. In this case, it's not NCL's fault. It's up to us to do our own research and get to the ship... end of story.

 

Did someone say cheerleaders?

[shelly11]

In the OP’s defense, Mississippi is several continents away from New Orleans, Louisiana and Mardi Gras is some new fangled event they just came up with for New Orleans this year. Who could have possibly known?

 

 

LOL!! That cracked me up,.......Alabama celebrates Mardi Gras in Mobile too....another continent away.

 

 

Like many others have said I would be trying to get to the next port or hope you got trip insurance.

[Davechipp74]

i can only hope that the OP has taken a flight to the next port to catch the ship, as i think thats the only move they can make. perhaps thats why they havent posted again.

[mailbroad]

I hope you made it to the next port!

[PreciousCruiser]

OP, I am so sorry this happened to you. I'm sure you wish you would have known and planned differently. Being only about one hour from N.O. and living in the area almost all my life, I know about all the traffic/delay issues with all the Mardi Gras areas, especially how bad it can be in N.O.

 

One reason I did not book that cruise was due to problems with traffic, etc. I've been in some nightmare situations with that in the past! I found out (thanks to reading lots of posts), that there will be a Marathon run on 3/4/12 (the date we leave), but I'm aware of possible problems. Forgive me if this is considered hijacking this thread, but I want to post the map and road closures for the run, so if anyone reading this thread is cruising on The Spirit out of N.O. on 3/4/12, they will be informed. From the road closure list, it looks like all roads around the port will open up around 9-10:30 am, so all should be OK. Might be some traffic issues though:

 

Road closures: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/files/2011/03/no12_roadclosuregrid.pdf

Course map: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/files/2011/03/Course-Map-Feb-7.pdf

[ZoneHPH]

Forgive me if this is considered hijacking this thread, but I want to post the map and road closures for the run, so if anyone reading this thread is cruising on The Spirit out of N.O. on 3/4/12, they will be informed. From the road closure list, it looks like all roads around the port will open up around 9-10 am, so all should be OK. Might be some traffic issues though:

 

Road closures: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/files/2011/03/no12_roadclosuregrid.pdf

Course map: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/files/2011/03/Course-Map-Feb-7.pdf

Not a hijack at all...IMO. in fact, this is exactly the type of helpful information that brought me to CC years ago!

[itmom]

I'm so sorry for the OP too,but I do live in another continent and I know what Mardi Gras is and when it is...I see no way you can have your money back,it's not Ncl's fault ...

[tjc78]

The OP never mentioned how far from the port they were. In today's age of technology I find it simply hard to believe they couldn't have found a way to make it there. GPS??? set it to detour the route your on and it should find a way around most things.

[jpcdds6]

know matter how people have responded to your post, the fact is that it's a lousy situation to find yourself in, after months and months of anticipation. the problem is that it is not ncl's reponsibility. i'm sailing out of nola next jan. 6th, and have already made our hotel reservations. whether it be a not yet scheduled saints playoff game, or a convention of 40,000 shriners in town that day, i want to be prepared. i'm not being mean when i say, you should have been also.

[danimalct]

I looked up the parade routes on the mardi gras website and looked up the directions to the port on ncl's website. It seems that if you follow the directions on the site you should be nowhere near the parade routes.

 

FROM OFF I-10: take the Business 90 Expressway towards the Westbank. Before

crossing bridge, exit at Tchoupitoulas/S. Peters. Continue straight until red light at

Convention Center Blvd. Make right, go to stop sign (Hendersen St.), make left,

proceed to Port Road (just over railroad tracks). Drive about half a mile until you

see Julia Street Terminal on the right hand side.

 

Looking at these on mapquest, and comparing them to the parade routes .... shouldn't be a problem unless the highways are stopped. I'm not calling bs here, but something smells. They did say they followed ncl directions....

 

I'm also defending "cheerleaders" because its usually the op's thread name that causes the beating. "Disgusting"? That would lead me to believe that something hygenic was the cause of this thread. Travel issue to port during mardi gras would be a more appropriate name. When the op starts off with a name, then posters do tend to beat them. When they state an issue and give facts, they get more sympathy and understanding.