NCL phone support time limit

[mein18]

Was changing dinner reservations with the assistance of NCL phone support. 14 day cruise so was a lot to do. Before we were done we got disconnected. None of the changes were saved. Called again, happened again. On 3rd try the rep said we were 3 minutes from the limit so she saved what was done. At 1 minute she did save again. We were on the last change and got disconnected. I didn't keep track of the total time I was on the phone with each of them but I can't believe such a limit would be in place.

[bonvoyagie]

Having worked in several different call centers (but not NCL or the cruise industry) I have not seen or heard of a system that automatically disconnects the caller after so many minutes. I know that the agents are incented to both keep the customer happy, and get the call done as soon as possible so as to keep their average talk time within guidelines.

 

Obviously, the last rep knew about the cutoff and was at least able to save the changes a they went.

 

IMHO this practice of cutting off the call is wrong and NCL needs to address it. If they are having problems with their agents being too long winded, they should address it with the agent.

[mein18]

The last rep was very efficient and knowledgeable. The first two kept wanting to verify our dinner reservations didn't conflict with entertainment reservations. There are no entertainment reservations on the Star. Couldn't get them to understand. That is most of what took so long. They need to be better trained. Surprisingly one of the first two said she had been with NCL over 10 years.

[mypleasure]

 

IMHO this practice of cutting off the call is wrong and NCL needs to address it. If they are having problems with their agents being too long winded, they should address it with the agent.

 

I quite agree. I run a business and I care about my customers. When they call I spend as much time as I need to with each and every one of them until they have had all their questions answered and transactions processed. I am told by my customers that they appreciate the time and care I put into them. I treat my customers how I would like to be treated and I would not be at all happy if I had to call more than once to get things done because of a time limit that agents have to adhere to on the time spent with a customer. I don't think this is an acceptable practice at all.

[PoofCat99]

When I was on the phone booking my Sky cruise, it must have been at least half an hour, probably more. The rep was great, having to change some of my parents contact info & finding a cabin near elevator with an inside across the hall. Never hinted that the call might drop even when she put me on hold to make the confirmation & link the bookings.

[rvsullivan]

Somethings wrong with this? I've had multiple calls with the call centers at NCL and have gone 45-60 minutes without issue. How long were you on the phone?

[mein18]

Somethings wrong with this? I've had multiple calls with the call centers at NCL and have gone 45-60 minutes without issue. How long were you on the phone?

 

I am estimating that 30 minutes was the cutoff each time. Maybe they turn it on and off depending on the time of day, day of week or just how busy the phones are.

[garycarla]

Suggestion:

 

1 -Do not bother to do advance reservations.

2 - If you have them, wait till you board to make changes.

 

3b - tell me how you travel with people that know what kind of food they want months in advance, and what time - LOL!

[WeBeCruisers?]

Garycarla - too funny but I would add 'why' in addition to 'how'. 😊

[mein18]

Suggestion:

 

1 -Do not bother to do advance reservations.

2 - If you have them, wait till you board to make changes.

 

3b - tell me how you travel with people that know what kind of food they want months in advance, and what time - LOL!

 

1. Did you not reserve your cruise well in advance? How did you know what type of cruise you wanted so far in advance?

2. Not wasting the hour on the ship waiting in line to make or change reservations.

3. We enjoy all types of food. We are not prejudiced.

 

In any case, your subject matter has no relevance on the timing of support calls. Could be any subject. Point is, if you take too much of their time, click.

[SeaShark]

Observations from the discussion so far.

 

 

There are two types of reps at NCL. One is the PCCs who are paid to take care of each guest's reservation. The other is the general customer service person taking random calls on the 800 line. Dealing with your TA/PCC is ALWAYS a better avenue than taking the random 800 number rep route.

 

See post #3...one person paid to take care of the reservation would not have run into the same issues as the three random people mentioned here.

 

 

 

The OP decided where and when they planned to eat for each night of the cruise. Yet, for a reson not reported here, had to make so many changes to their schedule that the system timed out. Not once, not twice, but THREE times. :eek: I can't imagine how the initial dinner schedule was so out of whack that it required this many changes.

 

I'm starting to feel like this is another of those issues where were only hearing a limited number of the available facts.

 

Honestly, it would have been faster to just cancel ALL the dinner reservations outright and then simply rebook the correct ones.

[mein18]

Observations from the discussion so far.

 

 

There are two types of reps at NCL. One is the PCCs who are paid to take care of each guest's reservation. The other is the general customer service person taking random calls on the 800 line. Dealing with your TA/PCC is ALWAYS a better avenue than taking the random 800 number rep route.

 

See post #3...one person paid to take care of the reservation would not have run into the same issues as the three random people mentioned here.

 

 

 

The OP decided where and when they planned to eat for each night of the cruise. Yet, for a reson not reported here, had to make so many changes to their schedule that the system timed out. Not once, not twice, but THREE times. :eek: I can't imagine how the initial dinner schedule was so out of whack that it required this many changes.

 

I'm starting to feel like this is another of those issues where were only hearing a limited number of the available facts.

 

Honestly, it would have been faster to just cancel ALL the dinner reservations outright and then simply rebook the correct ones.

 

Not sure what difference the details would make but here we go:

 

1. Booked dining when window opened and based times on inaccurate post of show times. Would have made zero shows with the times originally booked.

2. When accurate show times were researched, took 3 calls to get someone who was able to make the necessary changes. Each time they took so long that the call hot what I assume was a 30 minute call limit at which time call is dropped.

3. You cannot cancel dinner reservations online otherwise would have done myself.

4. Due to the 90 minute meal window rule you have to cancel the current reservation before you can book a new one.

5. After 2 reps that had no idea how to do this accomplished nothing prior to the call being dropped, the 3rd rep got it done and as she was getting near the end warned me that in 3 minutes we will be cut off due to the call limit. She updated the warning at 1 minute. Just as she was wrapping up we got disconnected. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to than her.

 

Any other details you need to assess the issue?

Edited December 29, 2014 by mein18

[mein18]

Spell check strikes again. Assess

[SeaShark]

Not sure what difference the details would make but here we go:

 

1. Booked dining when window opened and based times on inaccurate post of show times. Would have made zero shows with the times originally booked.

2. When accurate show times were researched, took 3 calls to get someone who was able to make the necessary changes. Each time they took so long that the call hot what I assume was a 30 minute call limit at which time call is dropped.

3. You cannot cancel dinner reservations online otherwise would have done myself.

4. Due to the 90 minute meal window rule you have to cancel the current reservation before you can book a new one.

5. After 2 reps that had no idea how to do this accomplished nothing prior to the call being dropped, the 3rd rep got it done and as she was getting near the end warned me that in 3 minutes we will be cut off due to the call limit. She updated the warning at 1 minute. Just as she was wrapping up we got disconnected. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to than her.

 

Any other details you need to assess the issue?

 

Nope, no other details needed. FWIW, I didn't even need the details you provided. I don't have an issue to resolve here, do I?

 

Thanks for the dining/show information...even though much of it isn't accurate.

 

Hopefully, by the time all is said and done you will be better prepared to handle this type of situation in the future. Its bound to happen again.

[mein18]

Nope, no other details needed. FWIW, I didn't even need the details you provided. I don't have an issue to resolve here, do I?

 

Thanks for the dining/show information...even though much of it isn't accurate.

 

Hopefully, by the time all is said and done you will be better prepared to handle this type of situation in the future. Its bound to happen again.

 

What is "inaccurate" about the dining/show information? I did not provide any show information. For our cruise they are at 7 and 9 each night. I have a feeling that you, just like the first 2 NCL reps are imcorrectly basing info and actions on the larger ship's timing and the need for show reservations on those ships. Are you an NCL rep?

The little dining info I provided is perfectly accurate.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Suggestion:

 

1 -Do not bother to do advance reservations.

2 - If you have them, wait till you board to make changes.

 

3b - tell me how you travel with people that know what kind of food they want months in advance, and what time - LOL!

 

I don't always know what I want to eat today----nevermind months from now. We never make shipboard dinner reservations until we are onboard. Usually, we just go to the MDR

 

What's for supper tonight? I dunno---maybe chicken.

[mein18]

I don't always know what I want to eat today----nevermind months from now. We never make shipboard dinner reservations until we are onboard. Usually, we just go to the MDR

 

What's for supper tonight? I dunno---maybe chicken.

 

To each his own. MDR averages sub-par food and less options. Selections are so vast in most of the specialty restaurants, we decide what we want when we are seated.

In any case, you are diverting from the purpose of this thread which is the NCL phone support time limit. The purpose of any given call to them is irrelevant.

[SeaShark]

To each his own. MDR averages sub-par food and less options. Selections are so vast in most of the specialty restaurants, we decide what we want when we are seated.

In any case, you are diverting from the purpose of this thread which is the NCL phone support time limit. The purpose of any given call to them is irrelevant.

 

Perhaps the discussion would have stayed on topic if someone would not have provided the irrelevant information on the purpose of the call in the first place...

[triptolemus]

So are we really ready to believe NCL call centers have an automatic caller dump button? Seriously?

 

Perhaps that function is reserved for callers who apparently require excessive attention...

[mein18]

So are we really ready to believe NCL call centers have an automatic caller dump button? Seriously?

 

Perhaps that function is reserved for callers who apparently require excessive attention...

 

Not a button. Just a timer. Made very clear by the last support rep. Earlier went back and checked all 3 calls. All ended within 30 seconds of 30 minutes.

First time I have ever had to call customer support. I do everything online except those items which you cannot do which is cancel dinner, show or excursions.

[PoofCat99]

I can see a call center having a goal of resolving an issue in a certain amount of time. This is common business practice & often written into service contracts as a percentage. I know I have had calls go longer, though. Perhaps you got new reps who didn't understand that they could go over or under pressure from a supervisor for some reason. I hope your case is the exception rather than the norm.

[jackson bernard]

So are we really ready to believe NCL call centers have an automatic caller dump button? Seriously?

 

Perhaps that function is reserved for callers who apparently require excessive attention...

 

Glad they have a dump button. Good for them what could possibly take more than a few minutes to resolve. Some people must be really chatty and imposssible to get off the phone.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Forums mobile app

[mein18]

Glad they have a dump button. Good for them what could possibly take more than a few minutes to resolve. Some people must be really chatty and imposssible to get off the phone.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Forums mobile app

 

See a couple earlier posts where some were on phone over an hour. When the rep doesn't know what they are doing, a simple task can take forever.

[maywell]

Wait a minute, if the cutoff time is 30 minutes for a general NCL customer rep - How many dinner / restaurant reservations were you changing that it took longer than 30 minutes? I would think that 1 dining change would take about less than 5 minutes and if there was anything special like wine or birthday maybe 10 minutes tops.

[triptolemus]

Wait a minute, if the cutoff time is 30 minutes for a general NCL customer rep - How many dinner / restaurant reservations were you changing that it took longer than 30 minutes? I would think that 1 dining change would take about less than 5 minutes and if there was anything special like wine or birthday maybe 10 minutes tops.

 

Well...when you're asking the rep to read you the menus (again), describe the seating chart, and debate any available gluten free options, things can run long.