Cancelled cruise April 12th

[Gary2015]

After a year of planning, careful budgeting and tremendous excitement we woke this morning to read Norwegian had cancelled our 16 day panama canal cruise, that we would have sailed on this Sunday.

We were devastated and it took all my efforts to say let's turn this into a positive. But no matter how hard I tried to turn it around for everyone Norwegian made it impossible with their response to this situation creating even more stress in our lives.

We have one vacation and it begins this week. The email came with a telephone number to call, a dedicated line for the problem and after many attempts to get through the office closed at 5:00. To me this is an almost an emergency with pending flights and having to reschedule and they should have stayed opened to help with information..

I then had to call through their normal web site number and all of the agents I spoke to had different information or no information and many had no idea that the cruise was cancelled.

The email said they would give us 50% off a future cruise, but it must be used for a sailing before September 6th, 6 months only. It should be at least a year so that we have the chance to use it. I don't want a cruise in the middle of summer and we have no more vacation left. When I tried to book another cruise in place of the cancelled one, all three agents that I tried to book through said the 50% coupon will take 7 to 10 days to implement and cannot be used immediately. So no one would book a cruise for us with the 50% off.

NCL will not be reimbursing us for up to two weeks so that will also limit our purchase. NCL will not honour the exchange rate that we got when we booked the cruise last April, here in Canada, and so we have lost over a thousand dollars with our original booking if we have to book again.

While all these phone calls took about 4 hours to get through I saw the only two possible cruises that we can take next week sell out with the 2500 displaced cruise clients, all grabbing at any cruise they could to fill the time slot.

I really wanted to fix this and show a brave face, but I am left feeling rather sickened, and we will spend our two week vacation at home. We are now discussing canceling next year's cruise to Italy with NCL that was already booked, and find another cruise with a bit more heart. I can deal with the disappointment, but the cavalier way that they have issued the cancelation has made it much worse for us.

By walking away from NCL, I would say that with us they have lost at present 2 cruises, valued at over 15000, and certainly the future ones into our retirement.

 

NCL needs to understand the work, time effort and dreams that go into preparing a cruise vacation, and a 6 month coupon doesn't make up for it.

Gary Laliberte

Edited April 7, 2015 by Gary2015

[Stefanosthecruiselover]

I'm so sorry :( I hope everything works out for you. Bonne chance.

[beachbumsns]

After a year of planning, careful budgeting and tremendous excitement we woke this morning to read Norwegian had cancelled our 16 day panama canal cruise, that we would have sailed on this Sunday.

We were devastated and it took all my efforts to say let's turn this into a positive. But no matter how hard I tried to turn it around for everyone Norwegian made it impossible with their response to this situation creating even more stress in our lives.

We have one vacation and it begins this week. The email came with a telephone number to call, a dedicated line for the problem and after many attempts to get through the office closed at 5:00. To me this is an almost an emergency with pending flights and having to reschedule and they should have stayed opened to help with information..

I then had to call through their normal web site number and all of the agents I spoke to had different information or no information and many had no idea that the cruise was cancelled.

The email said they would give us 50% off a future cruise, but it must be used for a sailing before September 6th, 6 months only. It should be at least a year so that we have the chance to use it. I don't want a cruise in the middle of summer and we have no more vacation left. When I tried to book another cruise in place of the cancelled one, all three agents that I tried to book through said the 50% coupon will take 7 to 10 days to implement and cannot be used immediately. So no one would book a cruise for us with the 50% off.

NCL will not be reimbursing us for up to two weeks so that will also limit our purchase. NCL will not honour the exchange rate that we got when we booked the cruise last April, here in Canada, and so we have lost over a thousand dollars with our original booking if we have to book again.

While all these phone calls took about 4 hours to get through I saw the only two possible cruises that we can take next week sell out with the 2500 displaced cruise clients, all grabbing at any cruise they could to fill the time slot.

I really wanted to fix this and show a brave face, but I am left feeling rather sickened, and we will spend our two week vacation at home. We are now discussing canceling next year's cruise to Italy with NCL that was already booked, and find another cruise with a bit more heart. I can deal with the disappointment, but the cavalier way that they have issued the cancelation has made it much worse for us.

By walking away from NCL, I would say that with us they have lost at present 2 cruises, valued at over 15000, and certainly the future ones into our retirement.

 

NCL needs to understand the work, time effort and dreams that go into preparing a cruise vacation, and a 6 month coupon doesn't make up for it.

Gary Laliberte

If it wasn't for you Gary, posting on our Panama Canal cruise thread this morning, we would not have found out the cruise was cancelled until 6 pm tonight when we got a phone call followed up by an email. That 50% off is absolutely no good to us at all. NCL thinks that they are offering something, but its worthless to most passengers. We too booked last year, and we were told that we would be reimbursed at today's exchange rate for the Canadian dollar. We are so disappointed, our first sail with NCL and not able to book another cruise right away. Glad we found out that they had problems before we got on the cruise as don't want to be stranded at sea, just disappointed overall about our trip being cancelled and not finding a good fix to replace it like you. Not being able to use the certificate today while there were some cruise with open bookings and also today was conveniently the last day of the extras like drink packages included or tips paid or onboard credit. Anyway, I'm sure that NCL has lots of loyal followers, but right now, we are not one of them. The hardest part is the $150 to change airfares. That won't come close to what our airline is charging as we also have to pay the difference in the fare. Oh well, we were not meant to go on this cruise for some reason. We will suck it up and find something else to do. Best of luck in finding another trip, Gary.

[lambchoplady]

What a disappointment! I don't blame you for being upset. Have you tried posting something on their Facebook page?

Edited April 7, 2015 by lambchoplady

[Sotermarler]

Geez, that is awful. I would be devastated to lose that much cash, waste a week off of work And not be able to cruise. Sorry to hear this happened to you.

[Rileyz]

With just 6 days notice they should be reimbursing all flights and giving 12-18 mths for rebooking. I would be beyond pi$$ed over this. I just booked a 10k cabin for July 2016 to Alaska. Seriously rethinking my choice.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Rileyz

[Kingofwylietx]

That would be sickening.

I wish you the best luck in finding a replacement vacation.

[dlynn0366]

I'm so sorry !!! I'd be beyond mad :mad:

[MsTabbyKats]

May I ask why it was cancelled?

[triptolemus]

That is really crappy. But seems to be completely in line with NCL's newest communications strategies. No joke.

 

Re the 50% off credit... the 6 month bit OR the 7 days to use it bit SEPARATELY, one or the other, would be terrible but perhaps manageable. Both conditions together are virtually unworkable by someone with limited vacation time (any working person, pretty much).

Edited April 7, 2015 by triptolemus

[triptolemus]

May I ask why it was cancelled?

 

Mechanical issues with one of the ship's Azipods.

[Kingofwylietx]

With just 6 days notice they should be reimbursing all flights and giving 12-18 mths for rebooking. I would be beyond pi$$ed over this. I just booked a 10k cabin for July 2016 to Alaska. Seriously rethinking my choice.

 

I'm not defending NCL, but this is an example where insurance would be useful. We have it on one of our upcoming cruises, but not on another one.

 

I do think the future booking discount should be valid for a full 14-18 months. Anything less is not useful for enough people. Obviously, people choose a certain time of the year because it is when they like to vacation or are able to vacation. The certificate should be valid the next cycle that time of year comes back around.

[Rancher Dave]

For the Canadians, did you pay with a Credit Card? If so I'd call the credit card company and get them involved over the exchange rate differences. Doesn't seem like NCL should be able to make a profit on the exchange rate at your expense when no product was ever delivered.

 

I'd also send a note to Andy Stuart explaining your disbelief that they are taking the exchange rate to their favor in refunds to those who were cancelled today.

 

Sorry your vacations are all screwed up...never fun when that happens, and sadly nothing can make up for all the time invested preparing for the trip.

[crkdad]

My heart goes out to all those that were booked on this cruise. It does not sound like NCL is being fair with compensation. I am curious, does the 50% cruise have to be booked within 6 months or does the cruise have to be taken in 6 months?

[earlbird]

NCL certainly is receiving many complaints lately. I truly hope that they are taking note of so many customer concerns, and start addressing them.

We experienced an NCL last minute cancellation many years ago, and it took us a long time to come back to this company.

[sed610]

Wow this is not okay! I would keep calling, emailing, posting to social media, etc. until you get the answer you want! This should not be allowed! I understand in a way, if the ship needs repairs then OK - but they need to make things right above and beyond to keep you as a customer. This is crazy.

[amarvel]

This makes me so sad for all of you :(

[zqvol]

For the Canadians, did you pay with a Credit Card? If so I'd call the credit card company and get them involved over the exchange rate differences. Doesn't seem like NCL should be able to make a profit on the exchange rate at your expense when no product was ever delivered.

 

I'd also send a note to Andy Stuart explaining your disbelief that they are taking the exchange rate to their favor in refunds to those who were cancelled today.

 

Sorry your vacations are all screwed up...never fun when that happens, and sadly nothing can make up for all the time invested preparing for the trip.

 

 

NCL is not making a profit on the exchange rate. NCL was paid in US dollars. The problem is that it costs more Canadian dollars to buy US dollars then, than it does now. This really stinks for the passenger, but NCL because NCL handles all bookings in USD, and the banks do the conversions, it is impossible to give refunds back in CD. As an example NCL got $1500 USD for the cruise it cost the Canadian passenger $2000 CD. Now, NCL give back the $1500 USD that they received but the bank only gives the passenger $1750 back. Kinda stinks but NCL gave back all they got, and you can't really expect more than they received.

 

The whole situation is really very sad for people who don't have flexible schedules.

 

I can assure you that NCL didn't want to cancel the cruise, but with propulsion issues they really didn't have a choice. They would much rather have the ship sailing than sitting in drydock, which is what has to happen to fix an azipod. From the copies of the messages that I have seen it looks like NCL is trying to make everyone whole, including taking care of air fare, refunding the cost of the cruise, and giving 50% off a future cruise. I really can't see what more they can do.

 

None of this makes anyone happy, but this one is hard to blame on NCL.

Edited April 7, 2015 by zqvol

[Gary2015]

Thanks ZKVOL,

 

I appreciate your post and all the other posts. My other difficulty is our flight reimbursement. NCL will only pay a 150.00 xchange per flight ticket. Since this is a repositioning, we had to buy 4 one way tickets, If I cant use them, because we cant book another cruise in 3 days, NCL will pay me 600.00 from the original 1200.00. They will not refund the ticket only a change of flight penalty up to 150.00. So it is a big loss just with the flights.

 

To the other post who asked about the 50% off next cruise. We must book and sail by September 6th. I really don't want to be cruising during our summer.

 

Any way I will continue to work on this tomorrow. Good night everyone!

Gary

[Levanah]

I agree that it is hard to blame these mechanical problems on NCL. That said, it is the poor communication and the cavalier manner from NCL that is particularly disappointing and disturbing.

 

This is painful to witness for customers like Gary2015, his family, and other customers who have been saving and planning for a long time. It is also painful to watch these management missteps and their impact on customer trust.

[bonvoyagie]

I feel sorry for you, I do know how much goes into any vacation but especially a cruise. Azipods are nothing to mess with, and if you were on either the Pearl or Jewel they were being relocated to AK for the summer - there are limited places to work on the pods on the west coast. So they are probably trying to fix it while it is here on the east coast.

 

You may have been leaving on the 12th, but the earliest Panama Cannel cruise leaves on the 16th - so you got 10 days notice.

 

If you were on one of these two ships (or the Sun) They would have to do the repo cruise anyway - perhaps they are offering this instead - hence the special number - just a guess here. That could also explain the lower amount of time on the FCC credits. They will be offering Panama Cannel cruises in Sept - the other direction.

[fshagan]

The 50% credit on a future cruise is in addition to a full refund of the current fare and reimbursement of any air fare, etc. according to the post at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46179257&postcount=3

 

Dear Valued Guests & Travel Partners:

 

Norwegian Cruise Line has important information for you regarding Norwegian Star's 15-Day Panama Canal sailing from Los Angeles scheduled to depart on April 12, 2015. Travel partners are asked to forward this information to their guests.Because of a technical issue with Norwegian Star's ABB-manufactured azipod propulsion system this sailing has been cancelled. The ship will be out of service from April 12 to 26 to repair the azipod. Norwegian Cruise Line sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this cancellation and would like to thank you for your understanding.

 

All guests who are currently booked will receive a full refund of the cruise, as well as a 50% future cruise credit. Norwegian will also cover air and hotel change fees associated with this cancellation. A dedicated support line is available to provide assistance with questions and arrangements. Please call (877) 461-1160 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm ET Monday through Friday. We thank you for choosing Norwegian Cruise Line and we look forward to welcoming you and your guests aboard on a future cruise.

 

Sincerely,

 

Vivian Ewart

Vice President

Passenger Services

[maja651]

I would be really upset about this too! My husband has to book his vacation a year out, and there are no options for changing it, so the 6 months would not work for us either. Then, to not let you use it right away makes it even harder, since you can't rebook something else for the same time period. I truly feel for you guys and hope something works out for you!

[bonvoyagie]

Sorry, I forgot about the Star :mad:- she was just in dry dock - hope they fix her under warranty.:) That could mean that they are going to divert her back to Portland OR. Again, the cruise through the cannel will happen - just not on the 12th.

 

The Panama Cannel is on my cruise bucket list too - again I hope you are all able to extract your deserved pound of flesh from NCL.

 

I also agree that you need to contact your Credit Card co and work with them on the conversion rates.

[Kmcspoon]

NCL never contacted my travel agent or me. I found out on Cruise Critic (thank you, Roll Call)

 

I worried needlessly this week about the possible room service charges. What a difference a day makes.

 

My family is devastated. We are now wondering if the Miami transatlantic portion is canceled as well.

 

We put too many eggs in one basket on this cruise, I'm sad to say. We took a chance with NCL, but perhaps it is for the best.