First NCL cruise will be my last NCL cruise - Bliss

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I am with you on that one. No smoked salmon at the buffet for breakfast was a huge disappointment for me. Did I demand OBC? Nope.

 

Right before I booked the Getaway, the Ultimate Arcade card was very reasonably priced. Both DH and DS were really looking forward to playing games together. I booked the cruise, went to purchase the card and was shocked to see the $56 per person per day price. What did my DH and DS say - it's ok, we are sure there will be plenty of other fun stuff to do.

Should have I requested OBC because I was very disappointed that NCL raised the price stealthily?

Changing a price is not the same as removing an attraction. As i said before i have no complaints about the multiple price increases. In fact i was hoping they would double it again, thin out the herd.

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Changing a policy is not a screw up.

It would have been a bigger screw up if a young kid got hurt while go karting due to being too short to fit properly.

Changing the policy isnt the screw up. Setting it wrong in the first place was. Failing to tell anyone that they changed it was. The reason i will never sail NCL again is the way they handled it after the fact. Non returned calls and rude customer service that didnt know what they were talking about. 

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

4 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

OP - I understand your disappointment and frustration!

 

We booked Bliss before it was even built and my kids (7 and 11) were most excited about the go karts over everything. We cruised last September and had a blast! My daughter met the 55" height requirement and rode on her own - honestly, those karts are really designed for adults. She had such a hard time controlling and turning and they go pretty fast. On her second lap she was hit from behind and it really scared her so she ended her turn at that point. My son wasn't quite at 55" but was allowed to ride a tandem as a passenger. Unfortunately, the tandem passengers have no controls at all so he really just went on a "ride"...I drove and have to admit to finding the kart really "clunky" (not sure how smooth the singles are). We are going back on Bliss this September and neither child has any interest in doing the Go Karts again - maybe yours will be the same?

Thanks for the feed back! It is likely that he will enjoy the ride after the disappointment of not driving wears off. We shall see. The good news is after several very poorly trained customer service agents swore up and down that he would not be able to even ride the tandem a supervisor finally returned my call and contacted he ship to confirm that he would be allowed. A small consolation prize 

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

46 minutes ago, Joeghartman said:

 

 

I reakly couldn’t care less about go carts in a cruise ship. We are sailing Bliss in August and really would prefer a ropes course.

such a strange post to decide to comment on if you dont care about go carts...

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

17 minutes ago, chillinwithabeer said:

This kids family thought he could ride this ride when he was too small. 

And yes, the staff let him. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/27/a-boy-was-decapitated-on-a-waterslide-now-the-rides-visionary-creator-faces-a-murder-charge/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.63aec93f80ce

 

Consider the fact that rules exist for a reason.  I regularly deal with parents who don't like rules for their little ones.  I'm no NCL cheerleader, more so a cheerleader for just agreeing to rules not trying to get around them.  Trust me that companies have reasons.  They may not tell you the true reasons tho.

This is possibly the most ridiculous post on this Topic, although there is some stiff competition. 

 

Not one time did I state that i wanted them to risk anyone's safety. Not once did I ask for an exception to the rules. What i did ask for was 

 

1. Honest communication of the change.

2. Knowledgeable people answering the phone. Thanks to the few good replies i got here i was the one that told NCL that their policy allowed for him to ride tandem. Two agents argued with me right up until the supervisor emailed the ship and found out that he did in fact meet tandem requirements. Cruise Critic is 100 times more accurate than NCL phone center.

3. Professional people who return calls when they say they will. 

 

And yes, when they advertise one thing and then change it, regardless of the reason, i think they should pass on a token apology for the trouble. 

[Two Wheels Only]

27 minutes ago, jeffjeffjeffjeff said:

The good news is after several very poorly trained customer service agents swore up and down that he would not be able to even ride the tandem a supervisor finally returned my call and contacted he ship to confirm that he would be allowed. A small consolation prize  

 

Did the supervisor give any info as to the height requirements for a non-driving passenger?

 

Neither of my kids are even 48" so I had no plan to take them, anyway (excess weight hurts the power/weight ratio which hurts lap-times).

 

Just curious as I'm sure that this topic will come up again.

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

4 hours ago, Paelos said:

I'd probably go in there with the following options:

 

1 - Get whatever I can in writing and confront the reservations people on the boat with the policy change

2 - Point out that these karts are featured in the first 15 seconds of their highlight package and featured prominently in every advertising package so OF COURSE you booked based on doing these.

3 - Negotiate to try and get him in there at the least popular time, whenever that happens to be, thus lowering the safety issue.

4 - Last resort, put him in a double kart and he gets to ride with you.

I have no plans to try to let him drive. Rules are rules. Now that we finally found someone that knew what was going on at NCL ( had already been reported by a few posters here) we will ride tandem and make the best of our only NCL vacation. 

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

4 hours ago, Trimone said:

Good grief! Imagine if they changed the itinerary? Who would want too be on a cruise with him!

You would! Itinerary changes are not something that NCL controls. They do however control their advertising and how they treat their customers on the phone.

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

7 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Did the supervisor give any info as to the height requirements for a non-driving passenger?

 

Neither of my kids are even 48" so I had no plan to take them, anyway (excess weight hurts the power/weight ratio which hurts lap-times).

 

Just curious as I'm sure that this topic will come up again.

She would not give a measurement. I did press her but no dice. I imagine that they want to reserve the right to check for belt tightness? Although as many had reported here some pretty small kids have been allowed. 

 

I will ask and report back when i return. Cutting out the garbage customer service line for yall 😉

[pspercy]

8 hours ago, yankees111 said:

I am glad NCL has changed the height requirement. From the reviews I have read it seems that little kids were driving the go karts too slow in general. Plenty of other things to do on the ship that are geared toward children.

 

They should put a footnote on the info on the website where the gocart ride is described, something like " *Restrictions Apply" as a link to the footnote.

[newmexicoNita]

10 hours ago, jeffjeffjeffjeff said:

Changing the policy isnt the screw up. Setting it wrong in the first place was. Failing to tell anyone that they changed it was. The reason i will never sail NCL again is the way they handled it after the fact. Non returned calls and rude customer service that didnt know what they were talking about. 

Rude customer service is inexcusable. That I totally agree with, otherwise, because they changed the policy may not even be a screw up as you say, just a change and as mentioned you have no idea exactly when they made the change or for what reason? 

[newmexicoNita]

15 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I am with you on that one. No smoked salmon at the buffet for breakfast was a huge disappointment for me. Did I demand OBC? Nope.

 

Right before I booked the Getaway, the Ultimate Arcade card was very reasonably priced. Both DH and DS were really looking forward to playing games together. I booked the cruise, went to purchase the card and was shocked to see the $56 per person per day price. What did my DH and DS say - it's ok, we are sure there will be plenty of other fun stuff to do.

Should have I requested OBC because I was very disappointed that NCL raised the price stealthily?

I know how bad it was for so many of us when they removed the salmon. That is why we have started eating in the MDR for breakfast. I know how hard it is going to be to deal with hubby's favorite scotch being over the $15 max limit on UBP when we sail in a couple of weeks. Boy were we sad when we came over the pond on Jewel's virgin cruise and they cancelled a port because of weather. Heck the weather wasn't bad at all and the port was the one we were all looking forward to;;; yep, things do change, sometimes not the way we hope, but when someone let's one issue make a difference they are over reacting. You are making good sense. Thanks

[mjkacmom]

11 hours ago, jeffjeffjeffjeff said:

Not one time did i ask for a rule to be broken or even bent. Not once. But y'all are so keen to defend the corporation that you arent even paying attention lmao

Your exact words:

 

My plan of attack is exactly that. Play dumb. Then if that doesn't work try to talk them into it.  Try to salvage the crappy situation.

Edited January 24, 2019 by mjkacmom

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

Rude customer service is inexcusable. That I totally agree with, otherwise, because they changed the policy may not even be a screw up as you say, just a change and as mentioned you have no idea exactly when they made the change or for what reason? 

sometimes, when people don't get what they want, they call customer service rude... and worse.

[Formula280SS]

13 hours ago, jeffjeffjeffjeff said:

Thanks for the feed back! It is likely that he will enjoy the ride after the disappointment of not driving wears off. We shall see. The good news is after several very poorly trained customer service agents swore up and down that he would not be able to even ride the tandem a supervisor finally returned my call and contacted he ship to confirm that he would be allowed. A small consolation prize 

 

Nice.  Congratulations.

 

Remember the times for the tandem carts and to check out after first couple of days.  On our 2nd week there were 6 or less carts; they let them re-ride several times without entering pit (I don't know if they had week passes or not).  Point, there was no line.

 

Also, watch or try a couple of the single rides.  Take note of the speed and risks taken by "other drivers."

 

Again, nice.

[newmexicoNita]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

sometimes, when people don't get what they want, they call customer service rude... and worse.

and what do you think happened in this case: What do you want to bet OP didn't handle his complaint the way he should have. I can remember the days when I was a manger, prior to retiring. Some of the way customers reacted to disappointments or even mistakes our company made, gave me reason to understand why the agent lost it. NO, still not right for customer service person to act but certainly understandable. 

Wouldn't it be nice if OP would come back from his cruise and tell us how great it was, but I doubt this will happen. 

[phillyguy31]

My biggest problem with the OP was what did he expect from customer service? Did he expect OBC for something that didn't happen yet. Would he have returned the money if his son was allowed to drive...probably not. Just his statement of his "plan of attack" tells me allot. I can just see customer service saying "he booked this specifically for the go carts?". He knew the height requirement was questionable by his insistence on double and triple checking with them. He booked I believe right around the time the Bliss was launched, my guess is the original requirements were the builders and after being in use that saw the need to modify them. Regardless, if he was that concerned he should have checked one more time before making final payment.

Disney closed a major ride when I was there, was I bummed, yep, did I ask for something from them because of it, nope.

[schmoopie17]

Not going on a Go Cart will ruin the cruise? Seriously??

 

Try this on for size. We booked a Bliss cruise for March. One of the highlights of this cruise was the fact that we were going to Puerto Vallarta. However, after final payment NCL informs us that the itinerary has been changed from Puerto Vallarta to Acapulco.

 

Not only did this require us to cancel excursions in Puerto Vallarta (there are six of us traveling together, so multiple cancelations)...but we are now going to the city rated third in the world in murders. 

 

But I can see how Go Carts are more important...

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, phillyguy31 said:

 I can just see customer service saying "he booked this specifically for the go carts?".

I don't actually see this as being too far a stretch. I had never (and never considered) sailing with NCL prior to my first cruise on Bliss last year. The ONLY reason my family's interest was sparked was the hype about the go karts and, subsequently, the waterslides. My kids were just fascinated by the prospect of go karts at sea and begged to go on this ship. So we DID book specifically for that reason. As I commented earlier, it turned out that my youngest wasn't tall enough to ride alone and my oldest didn't enjoy the ride/found it really hard, but we still had an amazing cruise and have booked to go back on Bliss. I think NCL should take a little of the blame in marketing these karts as "family" attractions - as I mentioned earlier, these really aren't geared to kids at all and I did see a fair number of disappointed kids and parents onboard when they found this out. The simple solution, as many have mentioned, is to just set aside time when ONLY kids/families can ride - either that or make it clear from the outset that these karts are not suitable for kids (have a height AND age restriction to make it even more clear)!

[Two Wheels Only]

I don't believe that age should be a factor. Some younger kids have more experience (and skill) than some adults. World Champion Nicky Hayden (RIP) started riding a motorcycle at age 3 and was racing by age 5. World Champion Lewis Hamilton started racing karts at age 8.

 

Much like trackdays, people should be put into groups (beginner, intermediate, expert) and each session has 1 group on the track. If needed, people can be moved up or down based on their skill or lack thereof. Slower drivers won't feel intimidated. Faster drivers won't get frustrated.

 

The height requirements would still be there so some wouldn't be able to drive but the dual-seat karts should be adjusted to allow smaller non-drivers.

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

On 1/23/2019 at 8:40 PM, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Did the supervisor give any info as to the height requirements for a non-driving passenger?

 

Neither of my kids are even 48" so I had no plan to take them, anyway (excess weight hurts the power/weight ratio which hurts lap-times).

 

Just curious as I'm sure that this topic will come up again.

 

While I was waiting for our turn on the double carts I had a nice discussion with the guy working. He stated that the determining factor for passengers on the double carts is if they can get a helmet to fit. There were no height or age requirements for the passenger on the double carts. As others have noted really small kids can be seen riding the double carts. Not something to help you plan, but that is what they use. I probed around the subject a little more but no better info was coming. Hope that helps.

[Bootman4U]

I wasn't aware that this change "affected a small number of people" and that is an assumption.

 

And no, I would not "play dumb" because you'd be lying and the kid will know it, too.

 

Why haven't you posted this complaint on social media or have you?  Believe me, that could make a huge difference provided you detail exactly what happened and exactly what the company's non-response was.  Good luck but do stay honest please.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Bootman4U

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

20 minutes ago, Bootman4U said:

I wasn't aware that this change "affected a small number of people" and that is an assumption.

 

And no, I would not "play dumb" because you'd be lying and the kid will know it, too.

 

Why haven't you posted this complaint on social media or have you?  Believe me, that could make a huge difference provided you detail exactly what happened and exactly what the company's non-response was.  Good luck but do stay honest please.

I am a dinosaur I don't have social media 🙂 .

 

The largest issue with the ride itself was addressed right before I left once the NCL supervisor got back to me with accurate info ( that passengers in the double carts could be smaller than 55"). Still disappointed that driving was no longer an option but at least he wasn't totally excluded. 

 

The larger issue of NCL honesty and customer service remains but the route to fixing that for me is just to spend my money elsewhere. As an example. I was making small talk with a worker at check in. The safety video was playing on loop in the back ground. The screen shows "riders must be 48" tall". So I ask, "When did this change to 55" happen? It seems recent". His reply in full cover up mode "It has always been 55" sir, from the very first day". This is while standing in front of a video screen that says 48" lol.

 

They made a mistake and got the required height wrong from the start, they corrected their mistake and changed it to 55". The cover up of pretending that they didn't get it wrong is worse than just acknowledging that they got it wrong, at least in my eyes 😉 

 

 

[Newleno]

On 1/23/2019 at 11:07 AM, jeffjeffjeffjeff said:

I know that all of the cheerleaders will point to the fact that NCL is well within their rights to make this change. However, the fact that they CAN do it does not mean that they SHOULD do it. Please save your electrons if you are going to quote me cruise contracts. 

 

Last April when I was looking to book my family's vacation my son saw a commercial about the Bliss and go karts at sea. Before we booked I made several calls to NCL to confirm that he would be allowed to ride them, BEFORE booking. Even still I had my doubts so I held off until they put it in writing on their website. Once the 48" minimum height showed up on the website I went ahead and booked. Where my son goes, His grandparents follow. All in total we have booked three cabins on the bliss.

 

Now, well after final payment. once we are locked into airfare and hotels NCL changes the minimum height. So I will be on a cruise with a child that has spent 10 months being excited about go karts at sea and I'm going to have to tell him he can't ride them. Calls to NCL have resulted in rude employees that don't know anything other than reading the exact text from the website.  A request for a supervisor required a 72 hour wait for a call back. It has been well over 72 hours and no call back. When I call in they tell me that it will be another 72 hours. It seems like they are just trying to kick the can down the road so they don't have to speak to me. 

 

I realize at this point that my relationship with NCL is over before it starts. The main reason I am even taking the time to write this post is so that parents who might have kids under 55" can see it and cancel before final payment is due. I sure wish I had seen something about it. Instead NCL just quietly slid it into the website with no notice to currently booked customers.

 

If you are under 55" you will not be allowed to ride the go karts (as a driver or a passanger) per Tervor at extension 22201. 

Ask NCL for a refund, tell them if not granted a refund you will contest with credit card company, then follow thru.  This day in age companys/people will not admit mistakes (sad).  You deserve a full refund

[happy cruzer]

Everyone has their issue or

their ox that gets gored.

 

The go karts is yours.

 

So we each must manage what is important in our view.  I hope it all works out. and everyone should understand that this is your issue that is important.

 

Also companies can not admit a fault, their lawyers won't let them.  They can make good will offers.  Be reasonable.

 

We all have to adjust to the world we live in.