Why is this allowed to happen?

[pseudoware]

Maybe already discussed here, but 1st I've heard of it:

 

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

 

Heartbreaking. How does something like this happen? PAX mistakes notwithstanding, why is there not a process in place to ensure an elderly couple who has saved and waited for their trip of a lifetime is not left stranded in a cruise terminal? And I get policy, and I know this has happened to others by other cruise lines, but can anyone cruise NCL again after hearing of a story like this?

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[fishywood]

Already one thread this morning on that story which quickly turned nasty and was deleted. And the tone you chose to take pretty much guarantees the same. "How can anyone cruise NCL again" is unworthy of any rational response.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[sparks1093]

Heartbreaking indeed. Yes, NCL certainly could have done more. It's hard to believe that they could not have located the luggage in three hours. Of course the couple did make a mistake by carrying their passports instead of having them in the luggage, but they aren't to be blamed for this. I hope eventually NCL does refund their money.

[mjkacmom]

Heartbreaking indeed. Yes, NCL certainly could have done more. It's hard to believe that they could not have located the luggage in three hours. Of course the couple did make a mistake by carrying their passports instead of having them in the luggage, but they aren't to be blamed for this. I hope eventually NCL does refund their money.

NCL did nothing wrong, there are laws, and you can’t make a bag magically appear out of thousands. Of course it is the couple’s fault, you don’t get a refund because you don’t have proper documentation, even travel insurance wouldn’t have reimbursed them in this situation.

[navybankerteacher]

Maybe already discussed here, but 1st I've heard of it:

 

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

 

Heartbreaking. How does something like this happen? PAX mistakes notwithstanding, why is there not a process in place to ensure an elderly couple who has saved and waited for their trip of a lifetime is not left stranded in a cruise terminal? And I get policy, and I know this has happened to others by other cruise lines, but can anyone cruise NCL again after hearing of a story like this?

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

Would you apply the same mandate for charitable treatment for a couple in their thirties - or a couple of 22 year old spring-breakers?

[BlueRiband]

The reporter pretty much editorialized by describing NCL as "stingy, unfeeling, and inflexible." It is a passenger's respsonsiblility to have proper travel documentation. If somebody does not have the knowledge and/or cognative capacity to have this in order they probably should not be traveling without someone who does.

[myfuzzy]

The reporter pretty much editorialized by describing NCL as "stingy, unfeeling, and inflexible." It is a passenger's respsonsiblility to have proper travel documentation. If somebody does not have the knowledge and/or cognative capacity to have this in order they probably should not be traveling without someone who does.

 

This is kind of what I was thinking. I have seen porters literally grab bags as you are exiting your transportation. There is so much going on when exiting the vehicle, I even have to take a breath to make sure I have all my items, and tell porters to wait until I take care of the fare. Then I tell them what bags to take. Did they tip the porter? bags to them are money, more bags more money, the quicker they move the more money they make. Yeah, its a shame that happened, but the daughter they stayed with the night before, should have handed them their documents instead of putting them in the pocket of the bag.....BUT, bags are loaded on ship, delivered to stateroom, no passengers, didn't someone on board contact passenger services, to find out where the couple was, so they could contact the couple? The bags rode the whole cruise without being returned....I also can't see why they couldn't have been found before sailing...in that case, someone did drop the ball.

[sparks1093]

NCL did nothing wrong, there are laws, and you can’t make a bag magically appear out of thousands. Of course it is the couple’s fault, you don’t get a refund because you don’t have proper documentation, even travel insurance wouldn’t have reimbursed them in this situation.

 

They didn't do much right either. The bags are very quickly sorted into those going to each deck at which point the couple's bags would have been much easier to find. The cruise line also didn't tell the couple that alternatives were available in the event the bags couldn't be located in time, such as having copies of their birth certificates faxed to the port. Yes, the couple did mess up. The mess up shouldn't have cost them their vacation.

[sparks1093]

Would you apply the same mandate for charitable treatment for a couple in their thirties - or a couple of 22 year old spring-breakers?

 

A very good question and I think that from a customer service stand point yes, NCL should try to find the bags and/or propose an alternative such as having the couple try to get copies of their birth certificates. (Although I must say that my level of sympathy probably wouldn't be as high for a younger couple.)

[CruiserBruce]

The other thread wasn't deleted, the OP didn't look. It is right here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591683

 

It is always the big bad company's fault. The customer never has any responsibility. NEVER.

[pseudoware]

I think we can all agree that there's something wrong with the process when this type of situation occurs regardless of pax age - although the story behind this couple makes it all the more heartbreaking.

 

If the article is correct, the couple was told that their passport could be retrieved and they can just wait while that happens. What else are they supposed to do at that point?

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[fishywood]

The other thread wasn't deleted, the OP didn't look. It is right here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591683

 

It is always the big bad company's fault. The customer never has any responsibility. NEVER.

 

I thought I had looked for it before commenting that it was deleted. My mistake. Though not as big a mistake as the subject of the thread.

 

The article linked is absolutely shameful. Not in subject but in form and tone. Admittedly a travel columnist (who is not an objective journalist to begin with) has some editorial leeway but this is offensive in its self-righteousness. To those commenting (on this thread or the other) about NCL's silence my opinion is that the next statement they issue should be a demand for a retraction from the Boston Globe.

 

And the couple is owed a refund: not from NCL but from their granddaughter who put their passports in the checked bag. If she is old enough to worry about safeguarding the passports until arriving at the port she certainly should realize that putting them in the pocket of a suitcase even if theoretically only for a moment is a disaster just asking to happen.

[perditax]

There's an important lesson here--the company doesn't love you back.

 

People would do well to remember this when they're defending their cruise line of choice to the death. You're not engaging with some jolly, fun-loving company that thinks of you as family; you're engaging with a machine. And you could be the one who makes a simple mistake next time, and the machine's rules don't care.

 

NCL's "rules" once left me sick and stranded in my (solo) cabin with no food or drink. I got noro or something worse, so I was put on quarantine and my shipboard account was deactivated. No free room service, of course, but I got 48 hours of free toast and water. Unfortunately, at the end of the 48 hours I was still too sick to walk or leave the room, but I was required to go to guest services to re-enable my account. Traveling alone. See the problem?

 

They literally wouldn't bring me a pitcher of water and some toast until I broke down crying on the phone with room service.

 

The machine does not care, so enter at your own risk.

[BlueRiband]

There's an important lesson here--the company doesn't love you back.

 

People would do well to remember this when they're defending their cruise line of choice to the death. You're not engaging with some jolly, fun-loving company that thinks of you as family; you're engaging with a machine. And you could be the one who makes a simple mistake next time, and the machine's rules don't care.

 

Fair enough. It is a business and not a charity. It's not the first time we had a story were the passenger tells their side to the press and it's presented as the evil, greedy cruise line having no compassion. What's the passenger capacity on that ship and didn't everyone else have their documents?

[ldubs]

The other thread wasn't deleted, the OP didn't look. It is right here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591683

 

It is always the big bad company's fault. The customer never has any responsibility. NEVER.

 

Well, I think the customer in this case was certainly at fault. As I said on the other thread, I just didn't like the way the 87 year old couple was treated (as reported of course).

[perditax]

Fair enough. It is a business and not a charity. It's not the first time we had a story were the passenger tells their side to the press and it's presented as the evil, greedy cruise line having no compassion. What's the passenger capacity on that ship and didn't everyone else have their documents?

 

Believe it or not, some companies and industries leave room for human error. I know many here have never made a mistake in their lives, even on their very first cruise, and thus empathy is difficult.

 

(And of course there is nothing so satisfying as calling out someone online who has clearly broken the written rules. They're right there in print, after all!)

[leaveitallbehind]

You have to also realize that the cruise line has nothing to do with the luggage until it is on board the ship. Longshoreman porters - working in part for tips - are paid to verify that the proper stateroom tags are attached and then place the luggage onto rather large carts. With 2,500 passengers there would be at least 5,000 suitcases they are handling in a relatively short period of time - a few hours at best. They would not likely be too willing to depart from that effort to try to search through the 50 or 60 pieces of luggage on dozens of carts to try to locate a single suitcase. And even if they did, it would be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

 

Once on board, a similar situation would occur where the crew is handling that same 5,000 pieces of luggage, and while they are likely sorting it to general ship locations and ultimately specific decks, finding that one piece of luggage would be difficult in that same limited period of time. Especially when there is no way of knowing when it came on board - maybe one of the first, or maybe one of the last.

 

In other words not knowing the location of the luggage at the time and with the difficulties in finding a single piece among 5,000 others, it may not have been possible to locate the passport and get it to the passengers in time to facilitate their boarding. This would not in any way be the responsibility - or not likely within the control - of the cruise line.

 

Additionally, the couple involved apparently have cruised before and were aware of the need for proper documentation to board. Not sure why their passports were in a suitcase to begin with and not with them. As to having a drivers license, that is of no value without a birth certificate, so that would be moot.

 

It also is not the cruise line that makes the policy as to boarding documents, but the government. They would not have allowed them to board with a drivers license to then show the passport later after their luggage arrived. While this is a very sad situation and they are a very sympathetic couple, they alone were responsible for their situation and I'm not sure what the cruise line could have - or should have - done to resolve their problem. I also don't think they were under any obligation to refund their money for the fact they were denied boarding. If they did that for them, then they would be subject to having to do it for all.

 

I realize this sounds harsh, but it is not intended to be. It is intended only as an objective view of the situation.

Edited January 28, 2018 by leaveitallbehind

[mjkacmom]

Believe it or not, some companies and industries leave room for human error. I know many here have never made a mistake in their lives, even on their very first cruise, and thus empathy is difficult.

 

(And of course there is nothing so satisfying as calling out someone online who has clearly broken the written rules. They're right there in print, after all!)

Cruise lines deal with human error all of the time, how many passengers miss the ship,because they didn’t fly in the day before and missed the ship, or had car trouble, or had an illness which caused them to miss the cruise and didn’t get insurance... I’ve heard sadder stories than this one. Is there a certain level,of sadness that would cause full refunds? Child diagnosed with cancer? Death of a husband? Home burned to the ground? Passport stolen by a mugger? Most of the time, passengers who don’t get on the ship, and aren’t refunded, all have sad stories.

 

What about previous passengers who showed up at the port missing documents, or those who didn’t bother showing up, because they couldn’t find proper documents, too late? Who gets a refund, who loses everything?

[sanger727]

I would agree with the statement that under the circumstances there was nothing they could do. They can’t allow someone to board without documentation, so if they couldn’t locate the bags there’s not much more that could be done.

 

BUT I do think it’s fair to question the luggage process in general, with or without this situation. I’m trying to compare this to an airline. If you were to say do curbside check in and then get to security or the check in counter and have ur ID in your checked bag. I think it would have worked out differently in that situation. Airlines keep track of baggage much differently than cruise ships and they know if the bags are loaded into the plane without the passengers onboard. They won’t take off without all passengers with bags being onboard. The day may come when someone disguises an explosive device in a way that isn’t detected through security and loads it onto the board via the porters and then walks away. And then the way they process luggage will change.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[dsrdsrdsr]

NCL did nothing wrong, there are laws, and you can’t make a bag magically appear out of thousands. Of course it is the couple’s fault, you don’t get a refund because you don’t have proper documentation, even travel insurance wouldn’t have reimbursed them in this situation.

Not much of a defence, in my view. If you see an old person looking in need of help, which you could easily provide, and you choose to walk on by and leave them in distress - then you have done nothing wrong. But it's not much of a motto to guide your life, is it. NCL didn't have to just do nothing wrong - they could have tried actively to do something right.

 

I doubt the ship sailed with 5,000 pieces of luggage in one enormous hold waiting for sorting. I'd have thought it was already sorted by deck, and by front-middle-back of ship, and much of it would have already been delivered, and it would all be clearly labelled (presumably colour-coded).

 

[Edit - I'm not advocating different treatment for young and old, incidentally. If someone of any age needs help, and it can be easily provided, then it should be provided. Especially for a trading organisation - there are benefits to providing good customer service even when it doesn't immediately bring cash into the company.]

[myfuzzy]

This is for my own information.....don't cruise lines have liaisons in the terminal to help people that do perhaps loose, misplace documentation, or help get transportation or lodging is by chance they can't make the ship?

[LondonTowner]

The unfortunate thing in this case is the couple are very elderly.

 

However, it does also state that their granddaughter had played some part in placing their passports and medication in their suitcases.

 

The passengers are at fault here, not the cruise line. Nobody packs their passport and medicines in their suitcase when travelling to a foreign country.

 

If they had been flying, then they wouldn't have boarded the aircraft without a passport and if their cases had gone astray they would have been left without their medication.

 

In this day no age if I am travelling abroad I always ensure I have my passport in my handbag, especially with heightened security.

 

At the end of the day, total responsibility of passenger and nothing to do with cruise line.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[leaveitallbehind]

This is for my own information.....don't cruise lines have liaisons in the terminal to help people that do perhaps loose, misplace documentation, or help get transportation or lodging is by chance they can't make the ship?

 

The agents at the pier, BTW, are not cruise line employees, but contracted representatives. The check in agents will, with assistance from other staff members and cruise line reps, work with passengers who may forget ID, etc., to try to get it faxed to them, as example. But I am not familiar with liaisons as you reference who are there to assist in transportation to the pier, or transportation and lodging if they miss the ship, or help in finding lost ID, etc. It is the passengers responsibility to get there on time and to have the proper documentation with them. And if they fail to do so they would be on their own.

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

 

(Although I must say that my level of sympathy probably wouldn't be as high for a younger couple.)

 

Another ageist heard from.

[Capt_BJ]

departing for my last cruise from Canaveral in November

 

a porter came and b4 he touched my bags asked

 

do you have all your documents with you ... not in the bags but with you

how about medications ... anything you need???

You may not see these bags until after dinner time, if you need anything from them get it NOW

 

I guess ports are different .... and I saw many of my fellow pass' annoyed that the porter was slowing them down with all the "dumb questions"