POAm - Major Itinerary Change -huh?

[Eliot]

Big Itinerary change in the April 29 POAm itinerary - No Kauai at all and no sail past Mt Kilauea! :confused: (It appears that an extra day on Maui was added). This change was discovered by accident. Doesn't NCL have some sort of obligation to inform paid customers of the change? I understand changes while onboard weather etc happens but not this. Isn't this a bit like bait and switch? Ok Gurus - what is the policy on this? Is this a common occurance?

 

Thanks in advance!

[cliffd64]

Big Itinerary change in the April 29 POAm itinerary - No Kauai at all and no sail past Mt Kilauea! :confused: (It appears that an extra day on Maui was added). This change was discovered by accident. Doesn't NCL have some sort of obligation to inform paid customers of the change? I understand changes while onboard weather etc happens but not this. Isn't this a bit like bait and switch? Ok Gurus - what is the policy on this? Is this a common occurance?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Couple of questions for you...

 

1.) First of all... you mentioned you found out "by accident"... where did you find this information and have you verified it with NCL? Sometimes erroneous information is posted by people other than NCL. Always good to check when in doubt.

 

2.) Are you booked on this cruise and did you book via a travel agent (regardless of online or brick-and-mortar agent) or directly with NCL? Usually it is the booking agent who is notified. and the responsibility is for them to inform their customers. If you booked directly with NCL, then they should notify you.

 

3.) If this is a cruise for April 29th, 2006, you are under NO obligation to continue with this cruise if you so desire. You CAN cancel now ahead of the final payment date with no repercussions... so what exactly is the issue?

 

Unless you can get information as to WHY the switch was made, I'd hesitate calling it a "bait-and-switch". No cruiseline could ever hope to compete if they were routinely pulling that sort of maneuver. Cruiselines do adjust itineraries for valid reasons... perhaps this is the case here.

[Eliot]

Thanks for Speedy response Cliffd64

Couple of questions for you...

1.) First of all... you mentioned you found out "by accident"... where did you find this information and have you verified it with NCL? Sometimes erroneous information is posted by people other than NCL. Always good to check when in doubt.

NCL web site

2.) Are you booked on this cruise and did you book via a travel agent (regardless of online or brick-and-mortar agent) or directly with NCL? Usually it is the booking agent who is notified. and the responsibility is for them to inform their customers. If you booked directly with NCL, then they should notify you.

Travel agent.

3.) If this is a cruise for April 29th, 2006, you are under NO obligation to continue with this cruise if you so desire. You CAN cancel now ahead of the final payment date with no repercussions... so what exactly is the issue?

Oh sure no problem it can be cancelled but the value of the cruise changes -what was paid for is different than what is currently provided. This is an annoyance and is potentially disappointing. It certainly is an issue when a product/service is changed after it is paid for - it's an inconvenience if nothing else. Particularly becasue a notification has not occurred.

Unless you can get information as to WHY the switch was made, I'd hesitate calling it a "bait-and-switch". No cruiseline could ever hope to compete if they were routinely pulling that sort of maneuver. Cruiselines do adjust itineraries for valid reasons... perhaps this is the case here.

 

It may be vaild but it isn't the product that was paid for - the percieved value is reduced with the itinerary change.

[Host CMLA]

Oh sure no problem it can be cancelled but the value of the cruise changes -what was paid for is different than what is currently provided. This is an annoyance and is potentially disappointing. It certainly is an issue when a product/service is changed after it is paid for - it's an inconvenience if nothing else. Particularly becasue a notification has not occurred.

 

It may be vaild but it isn't the product that was paid for - the percieved value is reduced with the itinerary change.

Unless I'm mistaken, you haven't paid for anything yet. You've at most put down a deposit. Is that correct? And while it is disappointing to miss a port or have ports rearranged, it's certainly within the cruise line's contract to do so especially eight months out. And it's your TA you should be upset with for not notifying you. As the other poster said, I'd cancel if I were you. This seems to have upset you a lot and I'd hate for you to now go ahead and hold resentment for the next eight months. Or maybe you can switch to a different week?

[Retired not Expired]

Another thing worth mentioning here, most itineraries put out by cruise lines are tentative when they first offer them. They start bookings months before dock permits are issued by the various ports. Once these permits are obtained, the itinerary is locked in more permanant. That may be what happened here. Kauai may not be able to give them a berth due to other commitments for this week. You might want to see about changing weeks.

 

I have an RCI cruise for the end of January that I booked months ago for 12 days. After the dock permits were given, RCI had to change one port and eliminate another. I know when I book so early there is a chance this may happen. It's still a great itinerary.

 

I don't believe it was any bait and switch. If it happened, it was probably something beyond NCL control. Kauai may be doing some major dock work that week or other ships may have a special event going.