Having your docs in hand

[rccampbell]

This is such a sad story, but reiterates the need to keep your documentation in your carry on.

Too bad NCL doesn't have more compassion for their customers.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/27/left-dock-and-looking-for-refund-and-some-compassion-from-cruise-line/mszHE2cq2Po5k9ZY9EnPvL/story.html

[NMLady]

This is such a sad story, but reiterates the need to keep your documentation in your carry on.

Too bad NCL doesn't have more compassion for their customers.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/27/left-dock-and-looking-for-refund-and-some-compassion-from-cruise-line/mszHE2cq2Po5k9ZY9EnPvL/story.html

 

This would have been the same result on any of the cruise lines not just Norwegian. And even if they'd had insurance there would have been no refund for lack of documents. sad story but having correct documents is up to passengers.

 

And drivers license would have also needed birth certificate for closed loop cruise.

[rccampbell]

I just think there must have or should have been someway to get their passports/luggage before the ship sailed.

[Markanddonna]

While I feel sorry for the elderly couple, it appears that this type of situation happens when you misjudge that last trip before you get too old. It seems they needed some wise/younger person who could have helped them through the process.

 

The granddaughter was at fault with putting the passports in luggage. Grandma's purse or Grandpa's jacket pocket would have been a better choice. The basics like keeping your meds and doc with you should have been drilled into them.

 

The longshoremen who are the porters just want to move that luggage to the ship and aren't NCL employees. They also are well paid but keep their hands out for a tip.

 

NCL could have made a more valiant effort to find their luggage, and I sure wish they would have.

 

BTW- the LA port is pretty awful in my experience. I lost a device on an NCL ship in LA, filed a report that day, but it took three months before it showed up at my front door. The only report I ever received was that it was being held at port and then in transit. I called every two weeks for an update.

[Keith1010]

I feel very bad for them but they made a mistake and the cruise line should not have to refund any money. Again I feel bad.

 

Too bad they couldn't locate the luggage in time. That is something that would have been nice if they could have.

 

Very sad though.

 

Keith

[navybankerteacher]

I just think there must have or should have been someway to get their passports/luggage before the ship sailed.

 

With a couple of thousand suitcases being trundled onto the ship and then delivered to individual cabins - without any tracking system other than tags with cabin numbers, quickly intercepting a specific bag would be difficult. Of course, it would have been helpful - but having a protocol for a highly unlikely contingency is a lot to ask.

[Flatbush Flyer]

This is such a sad story, but reiterates the need to keep your documentation in your carry on.

 

Too bad NCL doesn't have more compassion for their customers.

 

 

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/27/left-dock-and-looking-for-refund-and-some-compassion-from-cruise-line/mszHE2cq2Po5k9ZY9EnPvL/story.html

 

 

 

At first glance, sad.

 

Nonetheless, being a "geezer" (like me) is no excuse for being "stupid," which the old fellow was first to admit (having cruised previously on that same line).

 

Perhaps he will pursue his quest for a refund. A smart next move would be to connect with syndicated travel writer/ombudsman, Christopher Elliott who often takes on such issues and gets results (or at least provides personal contact info for senior execs at various travel related companies).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bevv]

In Galveston the porter who takes the luggage asks if we have our paperwork and passport before he takes the suitcases. Helps prevent some of these type of problems.

[sloopsailor]

With a couple of thousand suitcases being trundled onto the ship and then delivered to individual cabins - without any tracking system other than tags with cabin numbers, quickly intercepting a specific bag would be difficult. Of course, it would have been helpful - but having a protocol for a highly unlikely contingency is a lot to ask.

 

I have always had my luggage delivered to my stateroom well before sail away. Why the cruise line couldn't find it at their cabin is a mystery to me. Still, the mistake was the passenger's. The cruise line can only be blamed for not trying hard enough to find the luggage, not for the unavailability of the passports.

[cb at sea]

Sometimes, our luggage beats us to the cabin...but sometimes, it is almost dinner time....if your bag is on the bottom of the pile, it takes longer!

[navybankerteacher]

I have always had my luggage delivered to my stateroom well before sail away. Why the cruise line couldn't find it at their cabin is a mystery to me. Still, the mistake was the passenger's. The cruise line can only be blamed for not trying hard enough to find the luggage, not for the unavailability of the passports.

 

OP was trying to sail NCL - HAL generally has rooms available when you board, but the bags only trickle in in mid-to-late afternoon. With a couple thousand bags in constant flow from the terminal to the lower deck handling area and then to elevators to the passenger decks, it would take a fair sized search team to locate the bags and bring them back to the terminal -- without an unpredictable stroke of luck.

[VMax1700]

With journalism like that, the Boston Globe can say goodbye to any advertising from Nowegian.

[ldubs]

I agree that technically NCL cannot be faulted to denying boarding. However, if what I read was factual, the treatment of the elderly couple was kind of cruel and without any compassion. I don't know, I think this is enough to add NCL to the list of companies that I will avoid.

[puppycanducruise]

A very sad situation.

But a reminder for the rest of us, to have the required documentation at hand, not in a suitcase.

[navybankerteacher]

I agree that technically NCL cannot be faulted to denying boarding. However, if what I read was factual, the treatment of the elderly couple was kind of cruel and without any compassion. I don't know, I think this is enough to add NCL to the list of companies that I will avoid.

 

Compassion is good, but NCL could not board passengers without proper documentation.

 

Given the facts of the situation - inability to find the loaded luggage in time to retrieve the documentation - NCL was not able to board the passengers.

 

The couple had booked the cabin- meaning that NCL could not get other revenue from that cabin.

 

Because the cabin sailed empty, NCL was denied on board spending revenue - so they lost out as well.

 

If NCL refunded the fare, they would have been out the fare as well as on board spending revenue.

 

By missing the cruise, the couple were out the fare.

 

Should NCL take the hit, or should the couple take the hit?

[sloopsailor]

I agree that technically NCL cannot be faulted to denying boarding. However, if what I read was factual, the treatment of the elderly couple was kind of cruel and without any compassion. I don't know, I think this is enough to add NCL to the list of companies that I will avoid.

 

As in most cases, the article is most likely a one sided description of the incident, all in favor of that one side - the couple in question. Unless we hear NCL's side of the story, there is no way to judge how accurate and unbiased the article is. To put so much faith in a one sided article to want to make decisions like yours is a bit premature.

[sparks1093]

This would have been the same result on any of the cruise lines not just Norwegian. And even if they'd had insurance there would have been no refund for lack of documents. sad story but having correct documents is up to passengers.

 

And drivers license would have also needed birth certificate for closed loop cruise.

 

Perhaps another cruise line would have found the passports in the three hour interval or possibly even suggested trying to get copies of the birth certificates while that search took place.

[mjkacmom]

Perhaps another cruise line would have found the passports in the three hour interval or possibly even suggested trying to get copies of the birth certificates while that search took place.

Remember that all passengers need to be on the ship 1 1/2 hours before sail time, so if they were sailing at 4, the suitcases need to be found and the passports given to them by 2 1/2. We are a family of 7, our luggage seems to straggle into our cabins between 1:30, when cabins are usually available, until after sailaway. I don’t know how they’d get birth certificates from across the country in a couple of hours.

[ldubs]

As in most cases, the article is most likely a one sided description of the incident, all in favor of that one side - the couple in question. Unless we hear NCL's side of the story, there is no way to judge how accurate and unbiased the article is. To put so much faith in a one sided article to want to make decisions like yours is a bit premature.

 

NCL has ample opportunity to respond. I would be happy to read what they have to say and revise my thinking if facts were represented unfairly. As it stands, I don't like the way the elderly couple was treated.

[navybankerteacher]

NCL has ample opportunity to respond. I would be happy to read what they have to say and revise my thinking if facts were represented unfairly. As it stands, I don't like the way the elderly couple was treated.

 

So, if you were the king of the world, you would make NCL (and presumably all other cruise lines) pay for the losses arising from the mistakes of passengers?

 

Would this include reimbursing them for losses in shipboard casinos?

[ldubs]

Compassion is good, but NCL could not board passengers without proper documentation.

 

Given the facts of the situation - inability to find the loaded luggage in time to retrieve the documentation - NCL was not able to board the passengers.

 

The couple had booked the cabin- meaning that NCL could not get other revenue from that cabin.

 

Because the cabin sailed empty, NCL was denied on board spending revenue - so they lost out as well.

 

If NCL refunded the fare, they would have been out the fare as well as on board spending revenue.

 

By missing the cruise, the couple were out the fare.

 

Should NCL take the hit, or should the couple take the hit?

 

I agree NCL could not board the passengers and is not obligated to refund the fare. The problem I have is how the 87 year old couple was treated. Not exactly how a quality company operates.

[BlueRiband]

This is such a sad story, but reiterates the need to keep your documentation in your carry on.

Too bad NCL doesn't have more compassion for their customers.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/27/left-dock-and-looking-for-refund-and-some-compassion-from-cruise-line/mszHE2cq2Po5k9ZY9EnPvL/story.html

 

What did NCL do wrong? It is a passenger's responsibility to have the required documentation. We're only hearing the couple's side of the story. Would they give a refund to somebody who had left their passports on the kitchen table instead?

[Slugsta]

From just the one side of the story, it does sound as if little/no effort was made to ensure that the couple were OK and understood what was happening. If they were just handed a letter telling them they couldn't board, without any face to face discussion or human interaction, that was appalling customer service.

[sparks1093]

Remember that all passengers need to be on the ship 1 1/2 hours before sail time, so if they were sailing at 4, the suitcases need to be found and the passports given to them by 2 1/2. We are a family of 7, our luggage seems to straggle into our cabins between 1:30, when cabins are usually available, until after sailaway. I don’t know how they’d get birth certificates from across the country in a couple of hours.

 

I believe it's all passengers need to be checked in by that time, but in any event there was ample time to find the bags. They are sorted by deck and location very early in the process.

[mjkacmom]

I believe it's all passengers need to be checked in by that time, but in any event there was ample time to find the bags. They are sorted by deck and location very early in the process.

There are still bags getting on the ship at 3, I can’t imagine it would be easy finding a bag. Copied and pasted:

This situation was made an IMPOSSIBLE mess !

So the Passports were in their checked luggage -

 

Follow along as to what happens after the luggage

is given to a porter at the Pier.

 

All baggage is taken to an assembly point and

loaded into fork loaded containers

 

It may be loaded by color code or other deck

defining methods but there anywhere from 40

to 50 bags in each container and 50-100

containers boarded on a ship

 

How soon the containers are loaded onto the

ship is a matter of how much luggage is being

checked in

 

Once on the ship the luggage is held in an

area for the ships crew to sort through it and

direct the delivery to the customers stateroom

 

Most of our readers here have found the checked

baggage delivered to their stateroom from about

3-4 hours after boarding - some are delivered

around dinner time and yet others wind up in

lost in found with tags missing ripped torn

 

OK their luggage is somewhere in this system

For those folks claiming luggage on disembark

you have no doubt seen the piles and rows

upon rows of luggage waiting claiming enough

to fill 10 747 jets - picture the scene on board

the ship for luggage waiting to be delivered

to the customers stateroom

 

At this point stop the world and find locate

the luggage and return it to the customer !

 

How is it possible to intercept the luggage

to return to customers to get their documents

out to get on the ship (timely before sailing) ?

 

AND the worse part is the ship sails away

with the customers luggage and identification !

 

This would be no different than like trying to

get on an airplane flight but you would not be

able to check your luggage without ID and ticket.

There in is the solution to this BUT for the

rest of the cruise customers 99.99 to the nth

power this does not happen.

NCL should not be expected to change the

existing system

The system works - sadly these customers

set themselves up to fail by not knowing what

to do.

 

Regarding a refund of the cruise fare - they

most certainly are due the Port Taxes and

any Government Fees as to the cruise fare

itself it would be in the best customer

relations to refund that also.