Not going well on Sun cruise .

[BirdTravels]

https://globalnews.ca/news/4119087/norwegian-cruise-nightmare-bc-travellers/

 

It’s been on TV three times already tonight.

It is called media sensationalism.

[Expat Cruise]

Very simple here, and yes I have read all the posts and comment from the start of the thread. The cruise line is wrong here, but it seems to be a normal way of doing business for cruise lines. So the real question is how is this fixed to make the current passengers whole and to see it does not happen again. Several posters here are booked on a future cruise just before dry dock.

 

 

Here is what should be done by all passengers:

 

1) File a credit card dispute for the cruise with your card provider. The product provide was not what was contracted for. FYI the cruise contract means very little in a credit card dispute, it follows the credit card rules.

 

2) Remove all service fees with guest services, or dispute if already paid.

 

3) Post about this on Social Media, videos on U Tube etc.

 

4) Give 100% Negative reviews for the cruise starting the reason being the on going work destroying your cruise.

 

5) Contact your local media and try to get coverage. Send videos to national media.

 

If only a few people do this very little effect is many do it the cruise line will correct it and maybe not try to pull this again.

[Love my butler]

It is called media sensationalism.

 

It's also called the truth which should embarrass NCL very much. Disgraceful.

[Expat Cruise]

It is clear these guest did not get the trip that they wanted and paid for. I have seen many blog posting like this one:

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2018/04/articles/passenger-rights/norwegian-sun-ncls-panama-canal-fiasco-cruise/

 

 

I think NCL will be hit with many claims for this cruise. And yes the Captain and Crew share in this it is not all the Corporate Office. The Captain in the end is responsible for the safety of the passengers, clearly passengers were placed in danger.

[xlxo]

This was all over our news tonight. Not good for NCL.

Here's the video....

 

https://globalnews.ca/video/4119229/b-c-travelers-share-stories-of-hellish-cruise

[WanderBySea]

BTW....

 

$420,000 / 700 = $600 per staff member

 

$600 / 15 days = $40 per staff member per day

 

$40 / approx 10 hours per day (which some of these people work MUCH more) = $4 per hour

 

Punishing the working man for the corporation's wrong doings... Good plan! (That's sarcasm)

 

That is still over and above their regular pay. If your wages were increased by 600 every two weeks, wouldn't you consider yourself very fortunate. You also do not take into consideration the average income in their home countries. Very few, if any live in the USA.

 

You seem to think that the passengers should pay the wages of the crew and let NCL off without proper compensation to the crew. If you think that the crew are underpaid, your gripe is with NCL, not the inconvenienced passengers.

[david_sobe]

Here's the video....

 

https://globalnews.ca/video/4119229/b-c-travelers-share-stories-of-hellish-cruise

 

Thanks for posting

What a disgrace for NCL to treat its passengers like this. This was supposed to be a long luxury cruise and NCL apparently started dry dock maintenance while in the middle of a cruise. Closed pools, construction noise, dust, deck space used for construction storage, and all the paint and glue fumes. It really shows the disregard NCL has for its passengers. It used to be passenger's comfort was a priority. To pull this stunt is shameful. And to only offer a small discount on a future cruise? Its really outrageous. Its also a disgrace for anyone here to defend NCL on this one. Imagine saving up to take such a long cruise of a lifetime and have to deal with this. If I was the CEO, heads would roll on this one. But sadly I don't think NCL cares :(

The NCL corporate response actually makes it worse because its a false statement. They claim the construction is necessary and kept isolated and kept to a minimum away from passengers. LIE! Look at the photos and video. The passengers are majorly inconvenienced. When you are lied to, it makes things worse. Sometimes you tell your customers the truth and say...we messed up, we are sorry.

Edited April 3, 2018 by david_sobe

[Levanah]

As we have had an upcoming TA on the Star scheduled for well over a year with full payment made in January, I'm following this situation more closely now. My husband and I are laid back and determined to have a good vacation. After several years of thinking that cruising was not for us, we have sailed only on NCL with mostly great experiences and service. It is incredibly disappointing to witness this kind of practice from NCL management. If the Star is turned into a construction zone on our TA, we will be looking at discontinuing sailing with NCL. I am hoping that NCL is learning from this situation. We'll have eyes wide open and I know we're not alone.

 

Thanks for posting

What a disgrace for NCL to treat its passengers like this. This was supposed to be a long luxury cruise and NCL apparently started dry dock maintenance while in the middle of a cruise. Closed pools, construction noise, dust, deck space used for construction storage, and all the paint and glue fumes. It really shows the disregard NCL has for its passengers. It used to be passenger's comfort was a priority. To pull this stunt is shameful. And to only offer a small discount on a future cruise? Its really outrageous. Its also a disgrace for anyone here to defend NCL on this one. Imagine saving up to take such a long cruise of a lifetime and have to deal with this. If I was the CEO, heads would roll on this one. But sadly I don't think NCL cares :(

The NCL corporate response actually makes it worse because its a false statement. They claim the construction is necessary and kept isolated and kept to a minimum away from passengers. LIE! Look at the photos and video. The passengers are majorly inconvenienced. When you are lied to, it makes things worse. Sometimes you tell your customers the truth and say...we messed up, we are sorry.

 

 

 

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[WashyWashyHappyHappy95]

Hey NCL. I'm a loyal cruiser. Just made Platinum and was feeling pretty good about it....but this is is absolutely disgusting.

 

These passengers should be offered a 100% refund, and whomever approved this massive mid-cruise construction project should be fired.

[quickrate]

" Remove all service fees with guest services, or dispute if already paid."

 

I can't agree with this one, as the hard working crew had nothing to do with the scheduling of construction. I'm sure it was a miserable cruise for them as well with so many unhappy passengers. Why take away the money they still earned by taking care of a boat load of grumpy people!!

Pat

[quickrate]

That is still over and above their regular pay. If your wages were increased by 600 every two weeks, wouldn't you consider yourself very fortunate. You also do not take into consideration the average income in their home countries. Very few, if any live in the USA.

 

You seem to think that the passengers should pay the wages of the crew and let NCL off without proper compensation to the crew. If you think that the crew are underpaid, your gripe is with NCL, not the inconvenienced passengers.

But the crew had nothing to do with the situation, why punish them for a corporate decision?!

Pat

[WashyWashyHappyHappy95]

" Remove all service fees with guest services, or dispute if already paid."

 

I can't agree with this one, as the hard working crew had nothing to do with the scheduling of construction. I'm sure it was a miserable cruise for them as well with so many unhappy passengers. Why take away the money they still earned by taking care of a boat load of grumpy people!!

Pat

 

We don't actually know what % of the DSC's the crew actually receives. I've long had a suspicion that a large chunk of it goes to Miami for "administrative fees" or something along those lines.

 

When something makes a for-profit corporation look good, they make a point of telling people. When something doesn't, they avoid as much transparency as possible. There's a reason information about allocation of the DSC's is so opaque. They won't even address it during Q&A sessions on the ships.

[Shawnino]

I emailed my TA (I am in Australia they are in US) to contact ncl to see if something similar is planned for our upcoming Star cruise as has been speculated on this thread (it goes into dry dock shortly). My ta has misunderstood my email and contacted ncl about the Sun, they reported there was no major work done and it was only done in port not while cruising which is completely at odds with what has been reported here and elsewhere. So ncl happy to completely lie and misreport to those who sell their product. This is unethical and very similar to how they dealt with the azipod issues we encountered on the Star.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Erm, do you expect to hear the truth?

[Expat Cruise]

We don't actually know what % of the DSC's the crew actually receives. I've long had a suspicion that a large chunk of it goes to Miami for "administrative fees" or something along those lines.

 

When something makes a for-profit corporation look good, they make a point of telling people. When something doesn't, they avoid as much transparency as possible. There's a reason information about allocation of the DSC's is so opaque. They won't even address it during Q&A sessions on the ships.

 

Agreed Also since these fees is one of the few things we have control over they should be in play. Why do people believe the cruise lines fight so hard to have these fees and will not give information about them? Because these fees are a major part of the income on a ship. Anyone who believes that these fees go to the hard working crew is mistaking. Want to by a bridge I have several for sale? After corporate accounting gets through your service people would get more if you left your loose change. (In my opinion)

[fshagan]

https://globalnews.ca/news/4119087/norwegian-cruise-nightmare-bc-travellers/

 

It’s been on TV three times already tonight.

 

I hope this gets distribution here in the US also, and gets NCL's attention. Passengers should contact their local news agencies for the "local angle" that Global News has with the BC travelers. That's going to be more effective than lawsuits or posts here on CC (although I wouldn't minimize the impact of posts here either).

[NLH Arizona]

1) File a credit card dispute for the cruise with your card provider. The product provide was not what was contracted for. FYI the cruise contract means very little in a credit card dispute, it follows the credit card rules.

 

Many on the Breakaway tried this and their credit card companies did not refund their money, because they were on the cruise the entire time. BTW, the cruise contract offers the passengers transportation and normal cruise food.

 

Here is just one of the comments from the Breakaway passenger, with regard to disputing the credit card company.

 

On my credit card dispute they showed them we received everything the cruise had to offer. No refund to my credit card.

[NLH Arizona]

Not all credit card disputes work. But it does work many times. And the more people filing disputes the better the odds it will work. I have filed these disputes before and refund was issued in full. I am 100% sure it can and has worked.

Have you filed it on a cruise that you have taken? If you took the cruise from point A to point B and used dining, had drinks, etc., they will not refund your credit card. BTW, look at the Breakaway FB page, many, many of them tried and they were all turned down.

[Sam Ting]

When anyone treated this way it is wrong. You need to use any and all weapons you have to fight for what is right. Removing service charges is a very powerful weapon that the cruise lines are very scared of. I'm sorry many people on this cruise will never cruise again, many even with a discount cannot afford to cruise again, many saved for years for this cruise. And in this case it seems clear NCL did not care about passengers.

 

How about the same chemicals and level of work is done in the NCL CEO home do you think he would be happy with his families health and safety in danger? We have all seen the pictures life boat stations blocked off, safety routes closed. NCL is lucky this thread could be about people dying if a emergency had happen.

 

 

 

Not all credit card disputes work. But it does work many times. And the more people filing disputes the better the odds it will work. I have filed these disputes before and refund was issued in full. I am 100% sure it can and has worked.

 

Even if you lose, I believe the merchant has to pay a fee to the cc company. Not only that, there is a labor cost associated with responding to the hundreds or thousands of chargebacks. You got nothing to lose at this point.

[mking8288]

Following this - give NCL credit and kudo's when it is due, and NOT giving them cheers at all when they appeared to mess up, BIGLY, it seemed on this Sun sailing.

 

Sadly, the crew - perhaps, the senior officers & ship captain aside, have virtually zero control over management & operations and timing. But, they are the ones tasked with facing upset, angry and disappointed passengers for the duration. Reducing the DSC is one of the few options, not a nuclear one - at the passengers' disposal ... I am not on the ship and sailing, but I am not going to second guess what they feel and how they choose to exercise their limited "tools" to send NCL corporate a message. This isn't about sailing the ship behind a massive storm and this is within NCL's "control." Even if the work crews were on decks, they could be instructed to cease by issuing an emergency stop work order out of Miami.

 

NCL social media team, WE know you are reading and following along quietly - best to relay the message to upper / senior management to respond and DEAL with this, A.S.A.P.

 

One of our seasoned cruising nieces sailing later this month on a TA (not sure if NCL is planning to start doing their pre-dry docking work en route) but she's getting a heads up from us, her group sailing RCL & Princess as well, and in multiple cabins - and, I know they will be following the news & give us the heads-up en route ... they will have satellite WiFi access onboard for semi/live updates as needed.

 

BTW, totally unrelated & off-topic, what's going on lately with NCLH stocks, it continued to slide - as part of the overall market corrections, perhaps, but, other mass lines are doing better & recovering. Negative news like this is NOT going to help with the stock's performance.

Edited April 3, 2018 by mking8288

[newmexicoNita]

When anyone treated this way it is wrong. You need to use any and all weapons you have to fight for what is right. Removing service charges is a very powerful weapon that the cruise lines are very scared of. I'm sorry many people on this cruise will never cruise again, many even with a discount cannot afford to cruise again, many saved for years for this cruise. And in this case it seems clear NCL did not care about passengers.

 

How about the same chemicals and level of work is done in the NCL CEO home do you think he would be happy with his families health and safety in danger? We have all seen the pictures life boat stations blocked off, safety routes closed. NCL is lucky this thread could be about people dying if a emergency had happen.

 

 

 

Not all credit card disputes work. But it does work many times. And the more people filing disputes the better the odds it will work. I have filed these disputes before and refund was issued in full. I am 100% sure it can and has worked.

Removing the DSC sucks. Why punish the hard working crew when they were doing their job. Don't you think it was HELL for them as well? Removing the charges just hurts them, it doesn't nothing to hurt corporate

[Expat Cruise]

Removing the DSC sucks. Why punish the hard working crew when they were doing their job. Don't you think it was HELL for them as well? Removing the charges just hurts them, it doesn't nothing to hurt corporate

 

In any battle you use the weapons you have to get to the require goal. Do you really think NCL cares about its workers? If they did they would not treat them like slave labor, it is not the job of the guest to fix the wrongs to the crew from Corporate.

 

And the really sad part is even if every single member of the crew quit tomorrow, NCL would have 20 people to fill every opening as fast as the visas and travel permits could be cleared.

 

 

Even if you lose, I believe the merchant has to pay a fee to the cc company. Not only that, there is a labor cost associated with responding to the hundreds or thousands of chargebacks. You got nothing to lose at this point.

 

Yes the merchant does pay fees, and has cost involved. Can also result in changes to reserves and higher fees. Again does it always work no, has it work yes, is it a good start yes, if hundreds of passengers file claims vs. one or two will the credit card processing services look different at it yes.

 

I have credit card merchant accounts I know exactly how how the system works. I have had false claims filed and I won but they still hurt my merchant account. Why? Because the processing services do not even care who wins they look at it this way. If the customer had to file a claim the merchant is not doing everything they should. Guarantee you if a high percent of people file disputes Corporate would stand up and take notice.

[Shawnino]

Have you filed it on a cruise that you have taken? If you took the cruise from point A to point B and used dining, had drinks, etc., they will not refund your credit card. BTW, look at the Breakaway FB page, many, many of them tried and they were all turned down.

 

It costs nothing to try.

At best you win.

At worst, you send a message that this is unacceptable.

[WanderBySea]

That is still over and above their regular pay. If your wages were increased by 600 every two weeks, wouldn't you consider yourself very fortunate. You also do not take into consideration the average income in their home countries. Very few, if any live in the USA.

 

You seem to think that the passengers should pay the wages of the crew and let NCL off without proper compensation to the crew. If you think that the crew are underpaid, your gripe is with NCL, not the inconvenienced passengers.

ps. By the way, the average annual income in the Phillipines is apx $5200 usd and in Indonesia is apx $7000 usd. The cost of a decent living there is not the same as the USA or Canada.

[GateGuardian]

...on the Breakaway TA in a couple of weeks.... hopefully, it's not as bad as this. I'm expecting some work to go on, but just not having half the ship closed and chemical smells every where.

[NLH Arizona]

It costs nothing to try.

At best you win.

At worst, you send a message that this is unacceptable.

Sending a message to the credit card company does nothing. The CEO and others at the top would never hear about this and that is who the message should be sent to. A well written letter, without drama, to the CEO will do a whole lot more than disputing your credit card charge.