NCL Dream itinerary

[20glove]

Hello everyone, let me first start out by saying I know being on a ship in the ocean is better than any other day in the office.

 

But, I just found out after checking week after week with NCL, that the cruise on 1/7/2006 departing houston will not visit Cancun. I understand after doing my research that they only hit that port, due to the swells about 60-70 percent of the time but to take it off the intenary and not be honest about it is not fair.

 

The NCL representative that I talked to tonight said that we are not even being refunded the port charge. I cruise once or twice a year and have been on 5 cruises in 4 years and when I was on the HAL Veendam we could not go into Grand Cayman, due to swells, and they refunded us port charge. Does anyone know why NCL would not? Does anyone know if this is even fair?

 

I have been calling up since late October week after week and they assured me the port would be open, literally I called every week since the hurricane. When Cancun was hit by the hurricane I asked NCL if we could switch to the SUN which leaves out of Houston and they said we could not be switched. At that time, the Sun was hardly booked. Now we are stuck on a small ship with 3 days at sea instead of two, why could they not go to another port, there are several along the Yuctan Pin.

 

Does anyone out there know if I can do anything... like switch to the Sun or cancel the cruise all together? Or am I up a creek because it has to do with a weather related closure?

 

Ok sorry to complain but just asking...

[kannruss]

Hi there - yes it is very disappointing but I'm not sure where you really got your info from...Cancun has been off the itinerary since Rita hit the ports. Cozumel was off too but we were lucky enough to get them back. Cancun was hit harder and that is why we aren't going and I have never heard the cruise line say anything different. NCL is not the only one - no cruises are going there.

 

If you have been paying attention to these boards most folks have reported that they were refunded port charges - but I wouldn't expect much because this usually amounts to about 25 dollars per couple.

 

Sorry you are disappointed but this has been reported since September...

 

You will lose everything if you cancel now and likely the Sun is full already too.

[cruiser-dude]

...I just found out after checking week after week with NCL, that the cruise on 1/7/2006 departing Houston will not visit Cancun... ...I have been calling up since late October week after week and they assured me the port would be open, literally I called every week since the hurricane...

 

We were on the Dream Thanksgiving week, shortly after hurricane damage. Cancun had been off the itinerary for some time, and was not expected to be added for quite a while. I did see, however, at that time that 2006 itineraries did not drop this port!?. I could see NCL optimistically thinking that Cancun would be back by 2006, but did they really just recently tell you that Cancun would be open? That's bad if they did that. I would think that everyone at NCL knows and has known for quite a while that they were not going there. From my experience, I would've guessed that it was off the map. Sounds like you were really hoping it would come through for you.

 

...to take it off the intinerary and not be honest about it is not fair...

 

True. But when did they take it off?

I can tell you this: We sailed to Cozumel on the Thanksgiving cruise and there were literally no decent shore excursions to do, nothing pretty to see, etc. Of course there was some shopping and things in and around the square, but nothing that we would've missed by not stopping. As such, we were not worried at all about missing Cancun, knowing that even less would be available and all would be real ugly from the storm.

 

...The NCL representative that I talked to tonight said that we are not even being refunded the port charge.

 

We were definitely refunded the port fee of $28.50 pp as OBC. If they are not refunding you, it may be because you were not charged if they knew they were not sailing there. This just doesn't sound right, though. Bet you get the $28.50 OBC...

 

...When Cancun was hit by the hurricane I asked NCL if we could switch to the SUN which leaves out of Houston and they said we could not be switched. At that time, the Sun was hardly booked. Now we are stuck on a small ship with 3 days at sea instead of two, why could they not go to another port, there are several along the Yuctan Pin.

 

Don't know why you could not have cancelled way back in Oct., when the hurricane hit... then you could have re-booked the Sun. Of course, the Sun is a more expensive cruise and it will still not get you to Cancun. As for substituting other ports, that's an NCL call and I agree that they probably could - even if they tendered back at Cozumel again.

 

Does anyone out there know if I can do anything... like switch to the Sun or cancel the cruise all together? Or am I up a creek because it has to do with a weather related closure?

 

You can't do anything now. Ports do matter, but stopping at a horribly hurricane messed-up port with little to do or see is not worth it anyhow. The ship and everything is lovely. Big deal if it is not a new ship. It's great. Enjoy yourself! (You will.) Here's our Thanksgiving review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=260444

[calmac]

If I remember correctly it was hoped that Cancun would re-open mid December. Obviously this has not happened.

 

One of my friends has just been on a Disney cruise which was scheduled to visit Cozumel and Cancun. When I spoke to her in late November / early December she was not aware that there was a possibility that both of these ports would not be open (Cozumel did re-open prior to her cruise). I haven't spoken to her since her cruise but it will be interesting to find out how Disney dealt with missing Cancun - obviously not by prior notification to passengers!

[Don Haynes]

As I have posted many times...... Until Cozumel's docks are rebuilt don't expect any ship to call into Cancun. All of Cancun's tenders have been moved to handle the tender needs of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen.

 

When we sailed past Cancun on the Sun in the middle of December, a few weeks ago, Cancun is still a mess and looked bleaker than Cozumel. As a previous poster has mentioned, Cozumel isn't totally cleaned up either, but at least the tourist shopping areas is cleaned up and in the process of rebuilding with many of its shops are open.

 

On the Dec. 11th cruise on the Sun NCL reinstated some of the shore excursions on the mainland using the ferry, the Tutum Ruins being one. However, none of the shore excurisons involved going to Cancun.

 

NCL gave us a $24 on board credit. I don't think you'll get more. I suggest making the most of Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan.

 

There have been others that wished NCL would find a fourth port of call. Princess did find another third port of call, but its ships are tendering with their own boats into the Caymen Islands are having to yield the tender pier to Caymen's Island tenders serving other cruise lines which have a priority. Princess' passengers are complaining about VERY long tender times at the too full Caymen Islands. Maybe NCL is wise enough not to switch another ship there, as the Dream and the Sun would have had to do the same, yielding access to the tender pier too.

 

These ports are not the United States of America, they have only so many tenders, and so many docks. Unfortunately with Cozumel's docks demise, there aren't enough docks and tenders to go around.

[ute_fan]

Personally, I'd rather have an extra sea day than stop at Cancun anyway. We were there twice when the Sea was doing this itinerary, before the hurricanes, and it was by far my least favorite of the 4 ports. Cancun may be a wonderful place if you're there for a week-long land vacation, but we were unable to find anything good about it as a cruise port.

 

While NCL hasn't normally done a very good job of communicating information to their passengers regarding port changes, they really may not have known what the status would be in Cancun until closer to the sailing date. I know they've been trying to get it reopened from reading some other non-cruise related travel boards, but it's been a very slow process. Having said that, if port charges for Cancun were included in your fare, you definintely deserve a refund. We've know 2 different couples who are going later in January, on 2 different sailings, and they're still uncertain as to what the status of Cancun will be when they go, but are just assuming they'll be spending the day at sea.

[hotspur]

I can smell another "NIGHTMARE/BEWARE" thread coming up in a couple of weeks.

[cruiser-dude]

I can smell another "NIGHTMARE/BEWARE" thread coming up in a couple of weeks.

 

That's a nice thought.:eek:

[Ginamarie]

If I remember correctly it was hoped that Cancun would re-open mid December. Obviously this has not happened.

 

One of my friends has just been on a Disney cruise which was scheduled to visit Cozumel and Cancun. When I spoke to her in late November / early December she was not aware that there was a possibility that both of these ports would not be open (Cozumel did re-open prior to her cruise). I haven't spoken to her since her cruise but it will be interesting to find out how Disney dealt with missing Cancun - obviously not by prior notification to passengers!

 

Disney does not stop in Cancun. They do stops in Cozumel and in Costa Maya, but never in Cancun as part of their itinerary.

 

 

 

As for missing Cancun on NCL, I can't imagine that they wouldn't refund port charges. We missed a port on our summer NCL cruise, and were refunded the port charge of $12 or so per person plus our shore excursion fees.

 

Is the OP sure that he was charged for the Cancun port fees already, because I don't think a cruiseline can charge for port fees when they know ahead of time they're no longer going to that port.

[butlercat]

We returned from the Dream on 12/24. Each person was refunded $12 and change for missing Cancun. We got the letter upon arrival on Saturday that Cancun would be missed and then it was Monday before we got notification that we would be credited the money. Cozumel was not in great shape on that cruise.

[kannruss]

Well I for one will not be the one posting any "beware" threads. I haven't heard the thread starter return with any further comments. I for one - could care less if there was 4 ports or none - we will make the most of each day. There is much to do on board, whether the cruise line plans out the days or not.

 

I'm happy to be away from life and just have some fun!!!:D