NCL - HORRIBLE Customer Service

[rhinomike]

So I have cruised NCL once before. We did not have a problem. I am a platinum cruiser with Carnival. We have also cruised once with Royal Carribean. However we were looking to try something new but I am regretting that now...

 

Every now and then there are small issues with Carnival but they are always taken care of..... Everyone makes mistakes. Its how you deal with them that counts. Right now NCL is failing. I have never been treated this bad by any company......

 

Me and my wife sat down together a few weeks ago and booked 2 cruises. One on the Spirit in June and one on the Star in April. We explained to the agent that we wanted connecting room. Not just side by side but a door between the 2 rooms. We repeated it several times. We are cruising with our 4 kids and want connecting rooms. Normally we book inside cabins as we are perfectly happy with those. However on the Star the only connecting rooms available were OV cabins. Fine we paid the extra for the OV cabins and booked the cruise. No problems with that cruise.

 

So now the cruise on the Spirit. We had narrowed it down to NCL, Princess or Celebrity. We decided to book with NCL. So we booked the cabins. The same day we booked our airfare to Europe (nonrefundable). We got our rooms with the connecting door. Again we repeated this several times. After booking I am here on the forum doing research and on the NCL website. To make a long story short I find out the Spirit does not have inside connecting rooms. So I call NCL. They assure me I have connecting rooms. So I ask for a supervisor. She tells me I have connecting rooms. I tell her no I don't think that I do. She does more research and finds out that the Spirit does not have connecting inside rooms. It seems CC members know far more about the NCL ships than NCL reps. So she tells me not a problem they can book me into 2 balcony rooms connecting. I explain to her that I looked on the website and there are only rooms that are 3 connecting to 2. We need a rooms for 6 of us. She doesn't believe that to be true. After an hour on the phone going back and forth she finally agrees with me that there is no connecting balcony rooms that can accommodate us. The only connecting rooms that can accommodate us is a suite connecting to a balcony room. However that will double my cruise price. But she thinks they can make me a deal. She puts the cabins on hold for me. I tell her maybe we could split the increase. She has to get her managers approval. It has now been a 3 week process. I call twice a day and NEVER get a call back. Finally yesterday I catch her on the phone. It seems that NCL management talked to the rep and she denied that she said we were getting connecting rooms.... OF COURSE SHE DID. She doesn't want to get in trouble (nor do I want to get her in trouble). I asked the supervisor to get the recording of the original phone call and play it for me. I know what we said since we said it 3 times. She said something went wrong and the conversation wasn't recorded. How convenient. So she said management was willing to offer me a $100 OBC.... REALLY???? I told her to keep her OBC. I was insulted. I asked for her managers number but was refused. She said there is nothing more that I can do...... I have never had to contact an attorney in my life but I think I am going to for this issue. I don't know what else to do. I don't want to do that but I really feel I am being wronged here.

 

I don't like to slam companies or give bad reviews. I held off on this for 3 weeks but I cant hold off anymore. I am NOT an NCL or Carnival cheerleader. I just like to cruise and enjoy vacation with my wife and 4 boys. I did nothing wrong here other than try to be a customer and book a cruise. My point to this thread is to warn others. I have never been treated this bad by any company in my life. Buyer beware. I cant believe they wont even return my phone calls. It sucks. Now I am sealed into this cruise since I booked my airfare. I paid lots of money for this cruise/vacation. I did not make a mistake. I feel like NCL should own up to their mistake and work it out with me. I offered to pay an additional $5k (half the cost of the upgrade). I felt that was more than fair for a mistake that I didn't make...... Well I guess the only mistake I made was to choose NCL. Kind of wishing I chose Celebrity or Princess.

 

Please.... Loyal NCL customers don't come on here to defend them or slam me. I see how things work on here sometimes. If I did something wrong please let me know in a nice manner.... I am more than willing to admit my mistakes and learn from them.. . I love this forum and have learned lots of good stuff. I write this as an attempt to pay it forward and help warn others. Maybe this is just one bad experience...... Hopefully nobody else has to go thru this.... It has not been fun.

[cruisecritiquer]

It is just one bad experience but her behavior (the lying) was totally unacceptable and if they are going to sell a product they should well know what their product has and doesn't have. They should have been willing to work with you to find you connecting rooms since that is what they promised. :mad: If I were you I'd also be livid.

 

However, I do not think this is indicative of their customer service in general. It's possible to have a bad experience on any line.

 

NCL monitors these boards so maybe your post will attract the right person that can help you with your situation.

[rhinomike]

So I have cruised NCL once before. We did not have a problem. I am a platinum cruiser with Carnival. We have also cruised once with Royal Carribean. However we were looking to try something new but I am regretting that now...

 

Every now and then there are small issues with Carnival but they are always taken care of..... Everyone makes mistakes. Its how you deal with them that counts. Right now NCL is failing. I have never been treated this bad by any company......

 

Me and my wife sat down together a few weeks ago and booked 2 cruises. One on the Spirit in June and one on the Star in April. We explained to the agent that we wanted connecting room. Not just side by side but a door between the 2 rooms. We repeated it several times. We are cruising with our 4 kids and want connecting rooms. Normally we book inside cabins as we are perfectly happy with those. However on the Star the only connecting rooms available were OV cabins. Fine we paid the extra for the OV cabins and booked the cruise. No problems with that cruise.

 

So now the cruise on the Spirit. We had narrowed it down to NCL, Princess or Celebrity. We decided to book with NCL. So we booked the cabins. The same day we booked our airfare to Europe (nonrefundable). We got our rooms with the connecting door. Again we repeated this several times. After booking I am here on the forum doing research and on the NCL website. To make a long story short I find out the Spirit does not have inside connecting rooms. So I call NCL. They assure me I have connecting rooms. So I ask for a supervisor. She tells me I have connecting rooms. I tell her no I don't think that I do. She does more research and finds out that the Spirit does not have connecting inside rooms. It seems CC members know far more about the NCL ships than NCL reps. So she tells me not a problem they can book me into 2 balcony rooms connecting. I explain to her that I looked on the website and there are only rooms that are 3 connecting to 2. We need a rooms for 6 of us. She doesn't believe that to be true. After an hour on the phone going back and forth she finally agrees with me that there is no connecting balcony rooms that can accommodate us. The only connecting rooms that can accommodate us is a suite connecting to a balcony room. However that will double my cruise price. But she thinks they can make me a deal. She puts the cabins on hold for me. I tell her maybe we could split the increase. She has to get her managers approval. It has now been a 3 week process. I call twice a day and NEVER get a call back. Finally yesterday I catch her on the phone. It seems that NCL management talked to the rep and she denied that she said we were getting connecting rooms.... OF COURSE SHE DID. She doesn't want to get in trouble (nor do I want to get her in trouble). I asked the supervisor to get the recording of the original phone call and play it for me. I know what we said since we said it 3 times. She said something went wrong and the conversation wasn't recorded. How convenient. So she said management was willing to offer me a $100 OBC.... REALLY???? I told her to keep her OBC. I was insulted. I asked for her managers number but was refused. She said there is nothing more that I can do...... I have never had to contact an attorney in my life but I think I am going to for this issue. I don't know what else to do. I don't want to do that but I really feel I am being wronged here.

 

I don't like to slam companies or give bad reviews. I held off on this for 3 weeks but I cant hold off anymore. I am NOT an NCL or Carnival cheerleader. I just like to cruise and enjoy vacation with my wife and 4 boys. I did nothing wrong here other than try to be a customer and book a cruise. My point to this thread is to warn others. I have never been treated this bad by any company in my life. Buyer beware. I cant believe they wont even return my phone calls. It sucks. Now I am sealed into this cruise since I booked my airfare. I paid lots of money for this cruise/vacation. I did not make a mistake. I feel like NCL should own up to their mistake and work it out with me. I offered to pay an additional $5k (half the cost of the upgrade). I felt that was more than fair for a mistake that I didn't make...... Well I guess the only mistake I made was to choose NCL. Kind of wishing I chose Celebrity or Princess.

 

Please.... Loyal NCL customers don't come on here to defend them or slam me. I see how things work on here sometimes. If I did something wrong please let me know in a nice manner.... I am more than willing to admit my mistakes and learn from them.. . I love this forum and have learned lots of good stuff. I write this as an attempt to pay it forward and help warn others. Maybe this is just one bad experience...... Hopefully nobody else has to go thru this.... It has not been fun.

[rhinomike]

Well I did make another mistake. I meant to post this on the NCL forum.... Sorry about that. Oh well. Others can read it here too and learn from my experience.

[rhinomike]

Oh Yeah..... I also requested that management allow me to put 3 and 3 in the connecting balcony rooms instead of a 3 and 2. I asked if my youngest son could get a trundle or even sleep on the floor. I said I would pay for the upgrade difference. They denied that request also. Not sure why they wont make an exception and let me have 3 people in the room.

[michelle1836]

Well I did make another mistake. I meant to post this on the NCL forum.... Sorry about that. Oh well. Others can read it here too and learn from my experience.

 

that's what I thought! :)

[rhinomike]

Oh Yeah..... I also requested that management allow me to put 3 and 3 in the connecting balcony rooms instead of a 3 and 2. I asked if my youngest son could get a trundle or even sleep on the floor. I said I would pay for the upgrade difference. They denied that request also. Not sure why they wont make an exception and let me have 3 people in the room.

[vols_159]

They cant add another person to the room because of life boats numbers..

 

I hope you issue is resolved quick

[rhinomike]

They cant add another person to the room because of life boats numbers..

 

I hope you issue is resolved quick

 

Oh. That makes sense. Maybe they could then take a cabin that holds 3 but only allow 2. Maybe not.

[kcwingwalker]

OP has also posted started this same thread on the Carnival board, but did indicate that it was a mistake. Thread was first posted on Carnival and then posted here at NCL.

 

If you ask, the moderator will remove the Carnival thread.

 

Sorry you are having so many problems.

[rhinomike]

that's what I thought! :)

 

Yeah. Sorry about that. But I copied it right now and posted it over there too. It's good that its over here too. Maybe it can help someone in the future that's is thinking bout trying NCL.

[B6ConMe]

So I have cruised NCL once before. We did not have a problem. I am a platinum cruiser with Carnival. We have also cruised once with Royal Carribean. However we were looking to try something new but I am regretting that now...

 

Every now and then there are small issues with Carnival but they are always taken care of..... Everyone makes mistakes. Its how you deal with them that counts. Right now NCL is failing. I have never been treated this bad by any company......

 

Me and my wife sat down together a few weeks ago and booked 2 cruises. One on the Spirit in June and one on the Star in April. We explained to the agent that we wanted connecting room. Not just side by side but a door between the 2 rooms. We repeated it several times. We are cruising with our 4 kids and want connecting rooms. Normally we book inside cabins as we are perfectly happy with those. However on the Star the only connecting rooms available were OV cabins. Fine we paid the extra for the OV cabins and booked the cruise. No problems with that cruise.

 

Please.... Loyal NCL customers don't come on here to defend them or slam me. I see how things work on here sometimes. If I did something wrong please let me know in a nice manner.... I am more than willing to admit my mistakes and learn from them.. . I love this forum and have learned lots of good stuff. I write this as an attempt to pay it forward and help warn others. Maybe this is just one bad experience...... Hopefully nobody else has to go thru this.... It has not been fun.

 

Wow, it sounds as though you've done things very carefully. I understand that this would be very upsetting for you but what we have to do now is figure out what will work out the best for you and your family. There seems to be a bit of breakdown in communications here so I'd suggest you take this right to the TOP. Kevin Sheehan is very approachable and will, I can almost guarantee, make it right as much as he can.

 

Let me try to find his email address.

 

PS: try this, Kevin Sheehan

Chief Executive Officer

ksheehan@ncl.com

Direct phone number: Dial (305) 436-4000, press 9, then dial last name.

[rhinomike]

Wow, it sounds as though you've done things very carefully. I understand that this would be very upsetting for you but what we have to do now is figure out what will work out the best for you and your family. There seems to be a bit of breakdown in communications here so I'd suggest you take this right to the TOP. Kevin Sheehan is very approachable and will, I can almost guarantee, make it right as much as he can.

 

Let me try to find his email address.

 

PS: try this, Kevin Sheehan

Chief Executive Officer

ksheehan@ncl.com

Direct phone number: Dial (305) 436-4000, press 9, then dial last name.

 

 

Great. Thank you so much. I thought i was out of options. That is why I love this board. I will give that a try. I will keep this thread updated if anything changes.

[NYGirl1002]

Good luck to you. Please keep us updated.

[halos]

The fact that this is taking so long to resolve is unacceptable. I'm glad someone posted contact info for you. If and when things DO get resolved, I hope you let us know. NCL usually seems to be good at resolving issues that's why I am surprised this has become such an ongoing mess for you.

Good luck. :)

 

Also, I know there are a lot of people that love booking through the cruise lines but I swear it seems no matter which line, the vacation planners that work for the cruise lines know NOTHING.

I highly recommend doing your own research on cabins and booking through an on line travel agency. The rates are always the same and some on line agencies offer great OBC on top of whatever promotions NCL is offering at the time.

[michigancruiser0715]

I wish you the best of luck with this. I'd agree with the previous poster and say this is most likely not a reflection on their customer service as a whole, but rather this one individual. It seems she never had the intention to call you back or follow up to what she was checking in to. Whether the issue is big or small, that's not okay.

 

I certainly wouldn't let this issue die. I'm not quite sure you have enough for court, but if a lawyer thinks you do - I suppose it's worth a shot. Like you, I don't like to escalate things to that extreme. Hopefully they can satisfy you on a more personal level.

 

Good luck, man. :-)

[puddles99]

It certainly sounds like NCL's reps made a mistake. It would be easy to say that you should have done your homework, but while that may have saved you some frustration, that doesn't forgive the bad information you received. I also don't understand why the customer service rep refused to transfer you to her supervisor.

 

I'm not sure what a reasonable resolution would be at this point, but I might consider consulting with a reputable TA and see if they had any ideas for you. Good luck & please let us know how the story ends.

[triptolemus]

To make a long story short I find out the Spirit does not have inside connecting rooms. So I call NCL. They assure me I have connecting rooms. So I ask for a supervisor. She tells me I have connecting rooms. I tell her no I don't think that I do. She does more research and finds out that the Spirit does not have connecting inside rooms.

 

Two minutes on NCL's website would have told you that the Spirit doesn't have inside connecting rooms. A cursory view of Deck 10 shows me that there are no connecting "Holds 3" balconies either.

 

I have never had to contact an attorney in my life but I think I am going to for this issue. I don't know what else to do. I don't want to do that but I really feel I am being wronged here.

 

Am I missing something? So, the ship didn't have the accommodations you desired. Okay. You are unwilling or unable to compromise. Okay, fine. And you didn't find any of this out until after you booked the non-refundable airfare? You're saying you booked the airfare during that "3 week" period where you were waiting for a call back? Why? Instead of waiting for the unresolved details of your booking to be resolved, you went ahead and booked the airfare? Do I have this right?

 

Why didn't you just research the ship yourself and cancel the cruise before you booked the airfare? I understand the NCL rep misrepresented the ship but still, you KNEW those cabins didn't connect...

 

I find out the Spirit does not have inside connecting rooms. So I call NCL. They assure me I have connecting rooms. So I ask for a supervisor. She tells me I have connecting rooms. I tell her no I don't think that I do.

 

Again, knowing this, why book the airfare?

 

This isn't a case of "defend NCL" - its a case of wondering why you went ahead with airfare when your booking wasn't completed to your satisfaction. Cruise line doesn't matter here.

[B6ConMe]

Great. Thank you so much. I thought i was out of options. That is why I love this board. I will give that a try. I will keep this thread updated if anything changes.

 

As far as keeping it updated, I sure hope so b/c otherwise the nice CC members here will be after you, LOL. J/K :p I wish you luck and hope things work out for the best for you and your family.

 

Please do keep us informed. ;)

[cabincop]

I asked the supervisor to get the recording of the original phone call and play it for me. I know what we said since we said it 3 times. She said something went wrong and the conversation wasn't recorded. How convenient.

 

I hope you figure this out, but really this isn't a homicide. How many calls do you think NCL gets in a day.

[ferfoodle]

I know this does not help with your current situation OP, but for future reference: CruiseDeckPlans dot com. I recommend looking at deck plans while on the phone with the booking agent. Ask that they give you stateroom numbers that are available for your party size. If they don't work for you, ask for additional stateroom numbers until an acceptable cabin(s) is given as an option. If none are acceptable, time to go to plan B.

 

In worst case, is it possible to place you in one room with 2 boys and your wife in another with the other 2? Not desirable by any means, but an option none the less.

 

edit to add: on the web site I listed, one can use the "drag deck" option to see all decks at once.

[BIG_Steve]

Why do you want to contact a lawyer? You're not out any money. I'm confused :confused:

[Midnight Blue]

For what it's worth, you're not the only one having customer service problems with NCL. There are a number of folks who booked cruises on Pride of America who are also having problems and who can't get NCL to respond. (If you're interested in the backstory, there are several threads on this forum.)

[NYcruzzer]

Sorry you had such a bad experiance with NCL. Perhaps the moderators can delete this post sice it really has nothing to do with Carnival.

[GreytRacer]

What a mess! Is it possible for you to cancel with NCL and rebook with another cruise line? Is there another line that's cruising from the same port on the same day (or the day after)?