Help Needed - NCL Booking Issue

[Pajay1962]

On Saturday, I booked a balcony room on NCL leaving on March 4 out of New York for 7 nights. I spoke with a NCL agent, explained to her that I was booking for 2 people at the moment, said I would be calling back on Monday to add a 3rd person to our room once we confirmed that my wife could take off of work. The agent assured me that would be no problem, just call back, give them my reservation number, and they would add her to the reservation. I called back Monday night (2 days after booking) to add her to the reservation, and the NCL representative told me that we couldn't add her, as there was no lifeboat availability for another person on that section of the ship. She offered me a suite for an additional $4000 and said that was the only option. When pressed, she said she could get a single room on another area of the ship for $1400 for one person! I asked her about any lower grade cabin that would accomodate us - inside cabin, oceanview cabin, etc. and was told nothing was available.

 

I'm extremely annoyed that I was given incorrect information and now am facing the possibility of my wife not joining us after confirming her time off.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on who to call - any direct line to someone higher in customer service or a certain customer service area that resolves problems like this instead of a booking agent at NCL?

 

Thanks

Joe

[biker@sea]

Executive Resolution desk 1-800-327-9020 ext. 7599

[tef43]

Which ship, which cabin?

[shof515]

what happens if you cancel and rebook with the 4 names on the new booking?

[Pajay1962]

Thanks - calling now. Booked on Norwegian Breakaway for March 4th.

 

I asked if other agencies held rooms and she said yes they do. I asked what would happen if I cancelled and rebooked with another agency and I was told that if I cancelled, I'd forfeit $1500 (paid $1900 for 2 of us so that is out of the question).

[Pajay1962]

That Extension number didn't work.

[biker@sea]

That Extension number didn't work.

 

Still sleeping?

I think they work like 11am to 7 pm.

[Pajay1962]

I went through the operator and was connected. I am on hold now

[mjkacmom]

If there is no lifeboat availability, you are out of luck. Call center employees sometimes give wrong information. You can’t canvel without penalty at this point. If you had asked this question here, about adding her late, you would’ve been told about the lifeboats.

[Two Wheels Only]

I know that it doesn't help at the moment but in the future, you should book with all three names in the beginning. If the 3rd person can't go, it is easy to remove the 3rd person.

 

By booking only the 2 then trying to add the 3rd, the danger is that the 3rd person cannot be added for the exact reason that you stated.

 

With the cruise leaving so soon, there probably isn't an identical stateroom in another location that would be able to hold all 3 of you.

[Pajay1962]

Confirmed - cannot move us, only availability is for a cabin that costs $4000 more. When I spoke with the NCL representative and explained about booking for 2 people but knowing a 3rd would most likely be added, I wish she would have told me that there could be a problem doing it that way and that it would have been easy to remove the 3rd person.

 

I have to say, I'm not happy with the way this was "resolved". I've booked on other cruise lines in the past without having any issues. Granted, this was a BIG issue, but not even flexing the slightest bit on price of a single in a room or the cabin upgrade put a sour taste in my mouth for NCL. Funny how I can "bid" on an upgraded room for $800 for the cabin, but if I want to put all 3 people in that same upgraded cabin, I'm being charged an additional $4000! Funky math

[Emmacat]

I would try again, I just checked and there is availability in Category BA for 3 passengers

[myra711]

Sorry that this happened to you. When I booked my balcony cabin for two and asked about adding a third later, I was definitely told that it depended on lifeboat capacity, and the sooner I added the third passenger the better the odds. I hope that you can make this happen in some way so that your wife can enjoy the cruise with you.

[Pajay1962]

Thanks EmmaCat - that is absolutely ridiculous! I just went to their website and see that they have balconies available for 3 people. I called them at noon and they told me that the only option was for booking another single inside room at $1400 for the one person and keeping 2 people in the existing room. Looks like another call tonight. I'm losing faith in this company.

[Two Wheels Only]

See if they can switch rooms then add the 3rd person if the new room is in a different lifeboat location.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Two Wheels Only

[mjkacmom]

Thanks EmmaCat - that is absolutely ridiculous! I just went to their website and see that they have balconies available for 3 people. I called them at noon and they told me that the only option was for booking another single inside room at $1400 for the one person and keeping 2 people in the existing room. Looks like another call tonight. I'm losing faith in this company.

I don’t think this is an NCL issue, most lines have the same policies, not being able to add someone if there is no room in the lifeboat, and any changes after final payment is a cancel and rebook, unless upgrading. Misinformation from the call centers seems also to be a mass market cruise problem.

[BirdTravels]

Confirmed - cannot move us, only availability is for a cabin that costs $4000 more. When I spoke with the NCL representative and explained about booking for 2 people but knowing a 3rd would most likely be added, I wish she would have told me that there could be a problem doing it that way and that it would have been easy to remove the 3rd person.

 

 

 

I have to say, I'm not happy with the way this was "resolved". I've booked on other cruise lines in the past without having any issues. Granted, this was a BIG issue, but not even flexing the slightest bit on price of a single in a room or the cabin upgrade put a sour taste in my mouth for NCL. Funny how I can "bid" on an upgraded room for $800 for the cabin, but if I want to put all 3 people in that same upgraded cabin, I'm being charged an additional $4000! Funky math

 

 

 

You can remove the third person. It’s called a cancellation of the third person with forfeiture of their fare (or whatever penalty you are in 3 weeks to cruise).

 

The phone agent has no way of “counting belly buttons” on the lifeboat. They can tell you that 3 people are ok when you call. They don’t have a crystal ball to say when the ship section will fill. Do you expect them to have a crystal ball? Or hold a space “just in case”’you decide you want it?

 

 

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[Pajay1962]

Birdtravels:

I don't know what you get out of making snarky remarks about me expecting them to have a "crystal ball", or "counting bellybuttons"? Seriously whoever you are, you may want to interact with people a little more in person because you certainly are condescending when writing. Are you working in Customer Service?

 

I flat out stated to the booking agent that we would probably be adding another person, and she said that would not be a problem. The ISSUE that I stated was that I believe that it should be brought to the attention of the person booking the cruise that there MAY NOT be lifeboat availability and therefore another person cannot be added. If I was told that, I wouldn't be on this site.

[xriva]

Thanks EmmaCat - that is absolutely ridiculous! I just went to their website and see that they have balconies available for 3 people. I called them at noon and they told me that the only option was for booking another single inside room at $1400 for the one person and keeping 2 people in the existing room. Looks like another call tonight. I'm losing faith in this company.

 

 

 

I think your only hope is to get moved to another room, without it being a cancel/rebook. You’re past final payment (as others mentioned), so the usual cancel/rebook method won’t work due to penalties involved.

 

There are a couple of issues - one is that sometimes, a “move” is actually a “cancel/rebook” under the covers, and if you’re outside penalty dates, it doesn’t matter. Mostly. We learned this when we changed rooms and lost our double Latitudes points because we were beyond the 9-month limit (or whatever it was.)

 

The other is lifeboat capacity which is fixed. We were told by our PCC to always book everyone that could possibly be in the room immediately because of that issue. I’m sorry yours didn’t know that.

 

I would call and ask to be moved to another cabin with more lifeboat capacity without penalty, and see if they will do that.

 

 

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[Pajay1962]

EmmaCat - thank you again for your help. I called NCL last night and spoke with a representative. I explained that I had been booked into 2 separate rooms due to no availability, and she confirmed that was correct. I then said that I am looking at the NCL site and see balcony rooms open for people in the BA category. She said I would have to cancel my reservation, costing me the entire cruise fee, then rebook the other room. I explained that the reason I had 2 separate rooms was because NCL said that there were no other rooms available to fit all of us and wanted to speak with a supervisor. Long story short - supervisor rebooked us all into one room in the BA category and waived the cancellation fees.

 

Thank you again

[Two Wheels Only]

Long story short - supervisor rebooked us all into one room in the BA category and waived the cancellation fees.

 

Thank you again

That is excellent.

Have a great cruise.

[biker@sea]

:) Welcome to Cruise Critic :D

[thistimeplease]

OP so glad to hear it worked out.

[Emmacat]

So glad it worked out! Have a great time on your cruise

[BaWBarmy]

I'm quite shocked at this. Surely if a section has say 50 staterooms and each of those staterooms can hold 3 people then the lifeboat capacity for that section should be 150 not 149 or 140. If a stateroom with a capacity of 3 can't have a third person added because it would be over the lifeboat capacity then something is very wrong with the safe working of that ship.

 

Or have I got it completely wrong.