Problems with poorly written NCL website

[beerman2]

Same issue here. Went to book 6 dining reservations yesterday 2 days into booking window. Nothing I wanted was available. Neither day or times. That darn 5 minute warning popped up before we could decide on days and times. Booked all dining reservations but hate them all. I am hoping they hold an amount of reservation to book onboard. We are platinum so will be some of the first onboard. Will head right to dinner reservation area and change to what we like. Never had this problem ever booking dining on the Dawn last 7 cruises. Frustrating!

They only take about 30% reservations pre-cruise.

[Something fun!]

As laboring as it sounds, I booked my reservations one at a time to secure them. Starting with my highest priority (Cagney's on a sea day at 5:30pm), I put it in my cart and checked out. Rinse and repeat.

[BirdTravels]

Same issue here. Went to book 6 dining reservations yesterday 2 days into booking window. Nothing I wanted was available. Neither day or times. That darn 5 minute warning popped up before we could decide on days and times. Booked all dining reservations but hate them all. I am hoping they hold an amount of reservation to book onboard. We are platinum so will be some of the first onboard. Will head right to dinner reservation area and change to what we like. Never had this problem ever booking dining on the Dawn last 7 cruises. Frustrating!

This is when you pick up a phone and talk to a live reservation agent (gasp). Yes, the vast majority of inventory is for 2-Top and 4-Top tables. Less demand for large tables. Phone agents may be able to work some magic that is not possible with self-serve.

[ElaineKeagy]

I'm with OP here. Having just finished a cruise with 29 other family members, I have to say that NCL's web site is among the worst designed I've seen. It took ages to get everyone registered and signed on to the site. At least half the group wound up calling their service to get it cleared up.

Entering your information is fussier than other cruise sites.

Once finished, finding the place to download the boarding documents and luggage tags is not clear for those of us less savvy in such things.

It could do with an overhaul.

 

 

 

Ha!! You’ve never been on HAL or P&O.

 

jmho

 

 

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[chloemonkey]

Thanks for the reply. If I ran NCL I would be sure to have someone monitor this Forum... Not looking to re-code their page, just try to get a problem fixed.

 

 

 

 

After several instances of this problem 2 weeks ago, I resorted to taking written notes of what reservations we wanted, then trying to speed through booking them all, only to have the offending message appear just as I was about to submit my payment info. Another 10 minutes of my life that I will not get back... I then had to book and submit 1 reservation at a time to appease the angry website timer gods... A truly frustrating experience. Never had to work so hard to try spending my hard earned money.

 

 

I am hoping to see if others are having similar problems, or if I am just the lucky one. Could be my browser, who knows.

 

But a "Cart" is somewhere you should store proposed purchases, not be enslaved to a timer that disrupts your work flow. And again, the timer is not the problem. There is a real need to keep people from tying up reservations in an inactive cart. If the message had a 'Keep-Alive' function allowing an extension of the timer while the user was actively working, that would be normal. Many websites that sell time sensitive bookings have handled this same issue in various satisfactory ways.

 

 

The fact that this timer message resets the user's page is the problem.

 

I "HEAR you and feel your pain! Same thing has been happening to me for years now! Ignore those who cannot relate....as I have had the issue of booking loads of things for our large family....and it does NOT allow time to complete the transaction.

[Something fun!]

Amongst all this angst and pain is a contributing factor that hasn't been mentioned. When something goes on "sale" for a large volume of internet users seeking the same items at the same time (i.e. 120 days out), the site can become overloaded causing slow speeds and errors. This can happen whether you are NCL, ESPN, the U.S. govt., or even Amazon. The problems could also be exacerbated depending on your internet provider or if you are on wifi at home.

 

If you are truly having trouble with your booking, as I have on occasion, you should call NCL and let them do it for you.

 

Even my TA had to recently on my behalf because a specific cabin appeared to be available on both the NCL and the TA website, yet it wouldn't allow the booking. It had to be cleared in the system in some manner behind the scenes. After the phone call, the problem was fixed.

 

Is it perfect? No. But it is a reasonable solution.

[Guest I am the Onion]

The only problem I ever had was, they say you can save by prepaying the thermal suite for the week online. But sometimes, that option isn’t listed. So, I have to call to prepay.

[ElaineKeagy]

I "HEAR you and feel your pain! Same thing has been happening to me for years now! Ignore those who cannot relate....as I have had the issue of booking loads of things for our large family....and it does NOT allow time to complete the transaction.

 

 

 

NCL does monitor these forums. Once in a very great while you will see an official reply from NCL. BUT I’ve only seen that on truly critical issues usually happening in real time.

 

I’ve also seen official replies from Viking and Think I remember one from HAL.

 

My guess is Corporate com all cruise has someone assigned to lurk on these boards.

 

 

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[Shevys]

Thanks for the reply. If I ran NCL I would be sure to have someone monitor this Forum... Not looking to re-code their page, just try to get a problem fixed.

 

 

 

 

After several instances of this problem 2 weeks ago, I resorted to taking written notes of what reservations we wanted, then trying to speed through booking them all, only to have the offending message appear just as I was about to submit my payment info. Another 10 minutes of my life that I will not get back... I then had to book and submit 1 reservation at a time to appease the angry website timer gods... A truly frustrating experience. Never had to work so hard to try spending my hard earned money.

 

 

I am hoping to see if others are having similar problems, or if I am just the lucky one. Could be my browser, who knows.

 

But a "Cart" is somewhere you should store proposed purchases, not be enslaved to a timer that disrupts your work flow. And again, the timer is not the problem. There is a real need to keep people from tying up reservations in an inactive cart. If the message had a 'Keep-Alive' function allowing an extension of the timer while the user was actively working, that would be normal. Many websites that sell time sensitive bookings have handled this same issue in various satisfactory ways.

 

 

The fact that this timer message resets the user's page is the problem.

 

Nope, you're not the only one. I've experienced that on my iPad as well as my browser. It's quite annoying.

 

I also agree that NCL should have someone monitoring these forums, if they don't already. Fix this, NCL.

[sprint180]

I had this problem I finally had to call

 

 

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[LaCalypso]

I've had major issues with the website too, though I hesitate to mention it after reading some of these comments. In my case it's certainly not user error. Although it might have something to do with my browser? I use Chrome.

 

My issue is trying to just see what's out there. I don't want to call and book a trip when I'm still figuring out where I want to go, knowing I'd still need to run it by a few out-of-state family members anyway.

 

But every single time I try to use the filters to narrow down choices (departure port, or destination, etc.) it takes me to a page saying basically not found. Sometimes the error message says the site is down. Sometimes it says the page has been permanently moved (with no link or redirect). And sometimes it says that part of the site is under maintenance (it's not).

 

For those who say they've never had problems, I'm shocked. This website is as glitchy and temperamental as some of the most slap-dash govt sites I've come across and that's saying a lot. I do know my way around a website; I design and build them for a living, and this one frankly blows.

[zitsky]

It works for me most of the time, but I agree, it's not a great website. I sometimes forget how/where to find things because it is not obvious.

 

Oh, btw, it doesn't blow, it sucks.

[Maniacal Cruiser]

I am furious from trying to interact with NCL's poorly written website.

 

We are trying to book reservations for excursions, dining, entertainment, etc..

 

The NCL Website is extremely frustrating to use. If you place anything in your "Cart" it times out after 5 minutes. When that timeout occurs, a pop-up message appears and no matter how you interact with that message, the page on which you were currently working re-sets and all of your work (payment info, current informational page, etc.) gets cleared, leaving you with no choice but to start all over again. It is extremely annoying to be discussing plans and options with a cruise companion while constantly under the gun of this arbitrary time wasting 5 minute clock.

 

I understand the need to keep the cart fresh and not tie up reservations. A message that prompts the user to refresh their cart is necessary, but it should NOT refresh or change the user's current page.

 

If this is merely a poorly written page, it should be an easy fix.

 

 

However, if my experience with this "Feature" of the page is out of the ordinary, I am willing to help them troubleshoot.

 

Tim

 

Don't put it in your cart until you are ready to by. Problem solved. Discuss the options before putting it in your cart. No issue! There is your easy fix.

[Maniacal Cruiser]

I am furious from trying to interact with NCL's poorly written website.

 

We are trying to book reservations for excursions, dining, entertainment, etc..

 

The NCL Website is extremely frustrating to use. If you place anything in your "Cart" it times out after 5 minutes. When that timeout occurs, a pop-up message appears and no matter how you interact with that message, the page on which you were currently working re-sets and all of your work (payment info, current informational page, etc.) gets cleared, leaving you with no choice but to start all over again. It is extremely annoying to be discussing plans and options with a cruise companion while constantly under the gun of this arbitrary time wasting 5 minute clock.

 

I understand the need to keep the cart fresh and not tie up reservations. A message that prompts the user to refresh their cart is necessary, but it should NOT refresh or change the user's current page.

 

If this is merely a poorly written page, it should be an easy fix.

 

 

However, if my experience with this "Feature" of the page is out of the ordinary, I am willing to help them troubleshoot.

 

Tim

 

It is properly coded. Anyone who codes would agree that they are doing this correctly. If a cart is abandoned, ALL data should be purged. It is a security issue and by convention is the correct way to process an abandoned page.

[LaCalypso]

For me the "mystery" has been solved. For the first time in forever I was able to navigate the NCL website without running into countless error pages and mishandled redirects.

 

All I had to do was switch browsers. I realize this is generally a recommended fix for temporary problems --- but come on: this seems to be only a problem with Google Chrome and has been happening for years.

 

The site is clearly not optimized for Chrome, which is shocking to me as it's preferred by so many. It's frustrating having to revert to IE for the NCL website only, but I don't seem to have a choice.

[Maniacal Cruiser]

I’ve had similar issues with the shopping cart timing out too quickly or with not being able to book a restaurant for 2 people (only allowed to book one). I use Safari as my browser.

 

 

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That is a function of the available reservations at the time you are booking.

[Maniacal Cruiser]

never had an issue with ncl.com

 

I thought it was very easy to use and navigate.

 

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I concur fully. It is by FAR the easiest, and most intuitive cruise web site I have ever used.

[Maniacal Cruiser]

I will try revisiting my cart every few minutes, that may just be the step I've been missing.

 

 

 

 

The whole point of my frustration is the popup '5 minute warning', And this may well be a browser issue, but no matter which way I tried to interact with that warning popup (The X in the upper right corner, or the "Continue" button in the middle), I suffered having my page reset. Leaving me to navigate through several pages to find where I was before the popup.

 

I use Firefox, but I will try Chrome and Opera when I get back to NCL again.

 

I use FF and have zero issue.. Chrome is a horrid browser with an utterly horrid UI and it is is not 100% compliant.

[Maniacal Cruiser]

I'm with OP here. Having just finished a cruise with 29 other family members, I have to say that NCL's web site is among the worst designed I've seen. It took ages to get everyone registered and signed on to the site. At least half the group wound up calling their service to get it cleared up.

Entering your information is fussier than other cruise sites.

Once finished, finding the place to download the boarding documents and luggage tags is not clear for those of us less savvy in such things.

It could do with an overhaul.

 

You mean a like that says "download e-docs" is not clear?

[Maniacal Cruiser]

For me the "mystery" has been solved. For the first time in forever I was able to navigate the NCL website without running into countless error pages and mishandled redirects.

 

All I had to do was switch browsers. I realize this is generally a recommended fix for temporary problems --- but come on: this seems to be only a problem with Google Chrome and has been happening for years.

 

The site is clearly not optimized for Chrome, which is shocking to me as it's preferred by so many. It's frustrating having to revert to IE for the NCL website only, but I don't seem to have a choice.

 

Chrome is a non-compliant browser. Programmers will and should not code for a browser that does not follow convention.

[fshagan]

For me the "mystery" has been solved. For the first time in forever I was able to navigate the NCL website without running into countless error pages and mishandled redirects.

 

All I had to do was switch browsers. I realize this is generally a recommended fix for temporary problems --- but come on: this seems to be only a problem with Google Chrome and has been happening for years.

 

The site is clearly not optimized for Chrome, which is shocking to me as it's preferred by so many. It's frustrating having to revert to IE for the NCL website only, but I don't seem to have a choice.

 

Chrome, as time goes on, gets cranky. It's not that the websites have to be "optimized for Chrome" (whatever that means) as much as it is the longer you use Chrome for a website, more and more "stuff" gets stored in Chrome's cache, application cache and cookies. Chrome does a bad job of clearing this out.

 

If you like Chrome, try clearing the cache or cookies for the site following these instructions: https://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Cache-and-Cookies#Using_Google_Chrome_sub

[Maniacal Cruiser]

Chrome, as time goes on, gets cranky. It's not that the websites have to be "optimized for Chrome" (whatever that means) as much as it is the longer you use Chrome for a website, more and more "stuff" gets stored in Chrome's cache, application cache and cookies. Chrome does a bad job of clearing this out.

 

If you like Chrome, try clearing the cache or cookies for the site following these instructions: https://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Cache-and-Cookies#Using_Google_Chrome_sub

 

It also does not comply with all of the CSS and W3C standards for rendering pages.

[dwpigg]

For me the "mystery" has been solved. For the first time in forever I was able to navigate the NCL website without running into countless error pages and mishandled redirects.

 

All I had to do was switch browsers. I realize this is generally a recommended fix for temporary problems --- but come on: this seems to be only a problem with Google Chrome and has been happening for years.

 

The site is clearly not optimized for Chrome, which is shocking to me as it's preferred by so many. It's frustrating having to revert to IE for the NCL website only, but I don't seem to have a choice.

 

 

 

I use Firefox, much better than IE.

 

 

 

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[Kiran]

I use Chrome and the website wouldn't work for me even after turning off AdBlock. Switched to ie and limped through online checkin with only two "Website not responding" messages.