PSA: don't trust the Norwegian Cruise agent's word

[Greciangirl]

Imo, Op did not miss final payment date which was 90 days out she did however miss the 120 window in which her deposit would have been fully refundable. Two totally separate terms and conditions.

 

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[SuiteCruiser]

I have an email from her following up and telling me that I should file the insurance claim to get my deposit back.

 

The OP did have it in writing, that the rep thought this was the right way to handle the situation.

 

OP, sorry you had to deal with this and with the people piling on. It's a very good lesson for others, because my experience with trip insurance was that it was paid up front and covered you from that day forward. NCL handles theirs differently and many people may not have known it if it weren't for your thread.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Tinyturtle22]

The problem here is that the NCL Travelsafe Insurance becomes effective as of the date full payment. Full payment and final payment date are not the same thing. If you wait until after the 120 days has expired to pay in full any NCL insurance will become effective as of the day you paid and any deposit will already be in the penalty period and not covered. I'm rather sure that is why NCL made the change to 120 days.

 

Even if the OP had paid in full on the day she called to cancel the deposit was already gone. Nothing the rep said or did could have changed that.

[StaceyCT]

OP, thank you for taking the time to post this warning. I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I hope NCL does the right thing and takes responsibility for the actions of the agents that they employ.

 

It's sad that getting flamed by the "Tsk tsk this is noone's fault but your own - read the T & C!!" brigade is so predictable on this board. Just a tiresome group of blowhards eager either to gloat about how smart they are or to try to convince themselves that lousy stuff will never happen to them because they're so on top of everything...

[SuiteCruiser]

The problem here is that the NCL Travelsafe Insurance becomes effective as of the date full payment. Full payment and final payment date are not the same thing. If you wait until after the 120 days has expired to pay in full any NCL insurance will become effective as of the day you paid and any deposit will already be in the penalty period and not covered. I'm rather sure that is why NCL made the change to 120 days.

 

Even if the OP had paid in full on the day she called to cancel the deposit was already gone. Nothing the rep said or did could have changed that.

 

That makes no sense even though it may be the case. That means anyone with insurance in a suite has to pay in full before the final payment date or they lose out. That's crazy.

[fshagan]

Thanks for defending me. I suspected I was going to get beaten up for telling what happened (thus the "no flaming" request) but I truly would like for others to know that just because an employee tells you something, it doesn't mean that's the way it is. It has indeed taken almost 10 months to get through all this and the family crisis that precipitated the cancellation in the first place. I'd just like for this not to happen to someone else.

 

It's worse than that. The agent provided an email to you confirming what he said. You had a written assurance from the company's representative that you could file with the insurance they sold you to get your deposit back.

 

That is written evidence and takes the situation out of the "he said, she said" category into the less murky waters of a written communication. In contract law only a similar type of document can modify a contract, but written communication does carry weight. Especially if a company doesn't want to appear to be paralyzed by their rules into giving bad service.

 

Now, there may be more to the story we don't know, but based on the OP's story, and my experience with customer service issues, NCL should refund the full deposit as promised by the rep.

[Tinyturtle22]

That makes no sense even though it may be the case. That means anyone with insurance in a suite has to pay in full before the final payment date or they lose out. That's crazy.

 

Suites are difficult to sell after final payment because the cruise it due in full at booking.

[gwsster]

It's worse than that. The agent provided an email to you confirming what he said. You had a written assurance from the company's representative that you could file with the insurance they sold you to get your deposit back.

 

That is written evidence and takes the situation out of the "he said, she said" category into the less murky waters of a written communication. In contract law only a similar type of document can modify a contract, but written communication does carry weight. Especially if a company doesn't want to appear to be paralyzed by their rules into giving bad service.

 

Now, there may be more to the story we don't know, but based on the OP's story, and my experience with customer service issues, NCL should refund the full deposit as promised by the rep.

 

I agree and think that the OP was being informative for those that may have a similar situation come up. I learned something from his post and those that keep replying with the same "You should have known" responses are not helpful.

I think the OP had a case of detrimental reliance, based on what the PCC advised him to do verbally and in an email. NCL based on the written email from their employee should have offered a goodwill gesture of a one time move of the deposit to a future cruise which wouldn't have killed NCL.

[LMaxwell]

Don't trust the rep.

 

Pretty much goes for every company out there these days.

 

Thanks for the heads up about paying in full in order to use your insurance versus losing the deposit. Mistakes happen. Not everyone knows every single word of every contract. We rely on company representatives for accurate information, which seems perfectly normal, but as a consumer it really is up to us to be our own advocate and this is a good reminder. Sorry you had to go through that.

 

Bet you wish you had never posted here:(

[sprint180]

Because the OP purchased travel insurance through NCL and because of this if they had made final payment and then cancelled even a week before the cruise they would be covered 100%.

 

OP was not just trying to cancel late and get their refund back, they had insurance that would cover this.

 

The error made was due to the NCL rep telling them to cancel and get their money back, rep should have said pay the balance and then file. NCL's insurance payments are made with final payment, so technically the insurance though booked, wasn't paid for.

 

Thank you for answering and not being rude because I didn't understand.

[SuiteCruiser]

Thank you for answering and not being rude because I didn't understand.

 

No problem :) Thank you for your reponse, very nice :)

[rvsullivan]

OK, one last try to help the OP. None of us can see any of the paper trail nor did we hear the conversations. What I do know so far, OP did not have a PCC, s/he booked online themselves. According to the OP, the phone rep instructed him/her on how to do this. From first hand experience I know they record all the calls and can and will pull them up if needed. Secondly, OP received in writing instructions from the phone rep on how to proceed. If these two things are true, OP can and should get help from an executive at NCL. Start with the facts on NCL's facebook page and offer to provide the date and time of the phone call and further offer to provide the written instructions from the phone rep. If this is done, I believe NCL will make it right.

OP is not going to get any insurance help since they were not insured.

[travelqueen555]

[quote name=curiouser123;47976872 I would have been better off charging the rest of the cruise on my credit card THEN filing the claim with the Norwegian travel insurance agency.

 

I wouldn't want anyone else to have to go through this' date=' so I'm sharing what happened in case it can help someone else. Try not to flame me too much![/quote]

 

 

I just have to jump in here. I am not at all trying to flame the OP, but in her above quote, she is advising others what she should have done. In my opinion, if OP had paid the final payment - including insurance - she may not have been covered for that amount either.

 

The insurance plan says "Cancel for any Reason", but has this exclusion regarding actually getting your money refunded.

"BookSafe provides reimbursement for the prepaid, non-refundable, unused portion of your vacation should you need to cancel or interrupt your vacation due to unexpected illness, injury, job termination and other covered reasons as listed in the plan. The plan also covers additional out-of-pocket expenses for meals and accommodation, as well as for travel expenses to catch up to the vacation due to covered travel delays. Best of all, if your reason for cancellation is not covered for reimbursement under the plan, we provide you with a credit for a future cruise."

 

The OP has not stated what her reason for cancellation was, but even if it was covered reason, the claim still could have been denied for "pre-existing conditions". If she had paid her final payment, plus the cost of insurance (as she is stating she should have done), and then cancelled, if the cancel reason was not covered, she would not have gotten a full refund, but either 75% or 90% (depending on coverage chosen) toward a future cruise. She still would have lost a portion of the monies she had paid.

 

"Norwegian Cruise Line will provide guests who are denied due to a non-covered reason with a future cruise credit equal to 75% of the non-refundable cancellation charge to use on your next cruise with us. For guests who upgrade to BookSafe Platinum Protection, this credit is increased to 90% of the non-refundable cancellation charge. Important note: Cruise credits cannot be applied to government taxes and fees, port expenses, air add-ons, land packages, travel protection, Shore Excursions, gratuities, incidentals, or any purchases of a personal nature. They are non-transferrable and may not be combined with other cruise credit certificates or fare reduction coupons."

 

The point that the NCL rep gave her incorrect information is a point of frustration and I do not want to take away from that. I only wanted to say her advice to others . . to pay the full amount plus insurance, then later file a claim, still may not have gotten her her full amount refunded and would have been another cause of frustration.

Edited October 12, 2015 by travelqueen555