Getaway 4/27/19 Transatlantic Shortened by Two Days

[Zippeedee]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Even assuming this meets a policy's definition of "trip interruption," it would still have to be for a covered reason (e.g., passenger was injured and had to interrupt their trip to fly home early).  But this was a voluntary act by the cruise line.  Not to get too off topic, but it would be interesting to know what policies (with whom) folks have that will cover the cruise line voluntarily changing the itinerary (that is, not weather-related or some other Act of God).   (I'm not saying they don't exist.)

 

 

Nationwide Luxury cruise plan covers cancellation of ports announced before the cruise begins. Waiting to hear about the "fine print".

[MaisonRose]

3 hours ago, Anet01 said:

Could you take the Chunnel or fly easyjet and still go see Normandy with the extra days? 

 

Not sure but it seems that there could be a ferry to Cherbourg. I’m gonna check. Taking the Chunnel: it doesn’t stop in France until Paris & then its an annoying trip back to Caen.

Ah, Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Brittany Ferries. Portsmouth is just east of Southampton.

[peacefulOR]

3 hours ago, shof515 said:

 

it could of been worse. Norwegian modified the Encore transatlantic crossing and it is now a 9 day cruise with no port stops

 

It's interesting how NCL is the leader in dropping the more expensive ports and shortening cruises. Cruisers have long memories, like elephants, when they feel that they are being abused.

[CarrieAP]

Yikes- this stinks and I’d be devastated and furious if I were in your shoes. The months of planning that go into these TA cruises causes me angst to think that this could happen to any of us. Best wishes for a good outcome to all affected. 

[sverigecruiser]

5 hours ago, amf508 said:

 Also, now with this huge influx of people having two days to mull around London the hotels will go up in price (supply and demand) and airfare with go through the roof due to short notice and limited seats. 

 

A few cruisers will not make any difference for hotel prices in a huge city like London.

 

I agree about airfare if already booked tickets can't be used but they can since the cruise arrive early, not late. Noone will miss a booked flight because of this.

[mianmike]

13 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

A few cruisers will not make any difference for hotel prices in a huge city like London.

 

 

4000 cruisers descending on a large city would not make much of a difference unless occupancy rates were near capacity.  Then all bets are off.  While the hotel prices for us are considerably higher than our current booking which begins two days later, I assume it has more to do with booking last minute.  Thanks NCL. 

[Casino Comp Chick]

7 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

Nationwide Luxury cruise plan covers cancellation of ports announced before the cruise begins. Waiting to hear about the "fine print".

Not valid for NY residents.

[luv2kroooz]

I am so sorry for everyone on this cruise. I couldn't even imagine. For years, it has been perfectly clear to me that upper level management couldn't care less about the passengers. See NCL Sun Panama Canal cruise. This is just the latest. They do it because they know they can and are covered by their anti-consumer cruise contract. I wish everyone in this ridiculous situation, the best of luck.

[Alaskawhovian]

I just sent this story to Fox News tip line.   I mentioned this feed, if they do decide to follow it.  Maybe as an example of corporate greed in the cruise industry and lack of concern for loyal customers.

[lanceholt]

Trip interruption, reimbursement for expenses incurred regarding the change.  I know it is hard to have this trip shortened but I thought the Chunnel suggestion was a great one....that sounded glass half full.  We have had many cruises in Europe and one thing we discuss ahead of time is the fact that some ports can end up skipped cut short for whatever reason.  IF a city/region is a must do for that trip perhaps the risk of cruising is not for you.  

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Just cancelled my 11 night Greek Isles Getaway cruise for June 2020.  Not willing to risk the expense just to have something similar happen to us.  We are not on a TA but so what?  There's nothing to stop NCL from doing the same type of thing at a moment's notice.  It's a $15,000+ loss (aft facing Haven) for NCL...but it doesn't seem to phase them much. So disappointed for all those impacted by the circumstances.  

[Alaskawhovian]

Port changes are fine, cutting two days off the cruise with 7 days notice is not fine.   We also have been on cruises (over 10) to Europe and have been in multiple countries.  Although I appreciate the suggestions of what to do, I am aware of that.  It is not ignorance that is the issue.  I don’t need cruise contracts quoted at me or well meant ideas of what to do for 2 days.    I know all that, as I would imagine any seasoned cruiser would.  The issue at hand is that the cruise line has put many people in a fix financially and otherwise over something voluntary on the part of the cruise line for the cruise line’s convenience.   They have given 7 days notice.  I am perfectly fine with port changes- been there many times and have never complained.  Also weather disruptions, no complaints.  Even a military coup in Egypt.   No complaints.  This is completely different.   And it is something we are simply stuck with.   We can’t cancel the cruise at 7 days without losing everything, and the paltry 25 percent plus fraction of the air refunded does not even allow us to break even unless we decide to sleep on the floor in Gatwick for two nights with two little kids.   

[luv2kroooz]

43 minutes ago, lanceholt said:

We have had many cruises in Europe and one thing we discuss ahead of time is the fact that some ports can end up skipped cut short for whatever reason.  IF a city/region is a must do for that trip perhaps the risk of cruising is not for you.  

 

 

Weather? Disappointed, but fair. NCL can't control the weather.

Taxi Union Strike? Disappointed, but fair. NCL can't control the taxi union.

Safety of passengers Disappointed, but fair. NCL can't control the safety in the ports it visitis.

 

To get to drydock earlier and one half of your port calls eliminated, cruise shortened by 2 days, announced 7-days prior to sailing on a Friday afternoon before a religious holiday? - Disappointed and Unfair.  NCL has absolute control over the amount of time it schedules to refurbish the ship. If someone screwed the scheduling up, oh well. That is on NCL. Why transfer that "screw-up" to the paying customer? Oh, because the contract says we can and that is the method that impacts our bottom line in the least negative fashion. Right, I got it.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by blcruising

[pantherpaw]

7 minutes ago, Alaskawhovian said:

Port changes are fine, cutting two days off the cruise with 7 days notice is not fine... The issue at hand is that the cruise line has put many people in a fix financially and otherwise over something voluntary on the part of the cruise line for the cruise line’s convenience.   They have given 7 days notice... We can’t cancel the cruise at 7 days without losing everything, and the paltry 25 percent plus fraction of the air refunded does not even allow us to break even...

 

This is the part that ticks me off the most. We know from crew members currently onboard the Getaway that NCL knew of this change earlier in the week, well before the email was sent to notify passengers. (And yet the change was denied when some of us called NCL to get more info earlier in the week and as late as Friday morning) Then they sent an email informing pax of the change late Friday afternoon, after the executive offices closed for a 3 day holiday weekend. (I was informed that they would not be back in their offices until Tuesday) 

 

I asked about cancelling and was told that wasn't an option, I would lose the entire amount. I asked about transferring my booking to the Pearl, which leaves a day later on a TA, and was told that was not an option, I would lose the entire amount on my Getaway booking and have to start with a new booking on the Pearl. I asked about subbing the airfare change credit for a credit on 2 additional hotel nights and was denied. I asked about being credited on the port charges for the 2 missed ports and being credited for 2 days gratuities on the drink package and was told that wasn't mentioned in the information they were given so she couldn't say if that would be done or not.

 

The airfare change amount will not cover what it will cost me to change my flights. The 25% cruise credit will not cover the amount it will cost me for 2 nights hotel, transportation and meals for the additional 2 days in London. Yes, I have trip insurance but my initial contact with them indicates they will not cover this because it wasn't an act of God or an accident, etc... it's just the cruise line decided to make a change. (Note: policies vary widely, and many are state specific so while this is my experience others may have a different experience with their insurance)

 

This is my 3rd cruise on NCL. The first, an Alaskan cruise in 2014, was fantastic. The 2nd, a Western Caribbean in 2017, was just ok. While I plan to get the most out of this cruise and make the best of it, I doubt I'll be sailing NCL again simply because of the poor customer service I have received over the last few months in planning and now this fiasco.

[shout19661966]

I would save every bill you get because of this change and when you get back submit to travel insurance and NCL. This is terrible of them to do this so late. Also I see they took the cruise off the website totally.

[Turtles06]

I think it’s important that people who are NOT on this cruise also contact NCL.

 

I will be emailing them, as an NCL customer and shareholder, to tell them that I am disgusted by the unconscionable manner in which they have handled this.  First, the very significant change itself — wholly voluntary by NCL from the info given out so far. Also, the last minute notice about this, not to mention giving that notice late on a Friday of a (religious) holiday weekend.  And, of course, the wholly insufficient remedial compensation, as well as not letting people cancel without penalty. 

 

NCL obviously does not understand anything about business goodwill. We have enjoyed our NCL cruises, but we are not wedded to any specific cruise line, and how NCL handles this will be an important factor in our future cruising decisions.  

[dexddd]

14 hours ago, Granny DI said:

We had something similar happen several years ago but our outcome was much better. The POA was coming out of drydock in San Francisco sailing to HNL via the Hawaiian Islands.  I received a phone call from our TA as we were boarding our plane to SF. She said the cruise is delayed because the drydock is not completed. We were at the point of no return as we were in the boarding process. I called my TA upon landing in SF. This was the deal.....NCL would pick up our hotel and meals until we boarded. The problem was our hotel had no reservations past our original reservation. TA found a hotel across the street from our hotel. We proceeded to have a wonderful mini vacation in SF. When we boarded the ship the spa etc were closed to finish the renovations. I was disappointed but knew I had just saved a bunch of money. The ship was kind of a mess but we were going to Hawaii. Our cruise was cut short, but didn’t miss a single port and we got 50% off our next cruise.   We also got some other monetary goodies. The check arrived within 60 days.

This is the pits.....try to make some lemonade out of these lemons.

And wasn't that also on a friday later in the day?

[lanceholt]

Wonder if "cancel for any reason" insurance would cover this.  Life is so short, I hope you can deal with this emotionally and manage to enjoy your cruise anyway.  The level of anger I see here on this thread is not healthy for anyone....if you are upset about any trip purveyor, then it is best to change what company you deal with be it airline, hotel, car rental, tour company, and yes cruise lines.  

[dexddd]

Sorry for you or family impacted by this and having to adjust so late.  We were on trip with grannidi and were already enroute when we saw notice 18 hours before boarding from CC that we were delayed one day.  So for excitement of going on trip becomes logistics mode.

 

From past experience, NCL will refund the two days and up credit to 50% of base fare to be used on future cruise in 12 months with some leeway.

 

That will make about 85% of the folks happy and quiet down.  The cheerleaders will say they didn't have to do anything.  And the insurance people will say you should have insurance.  

 

Bottom line, not right.  Something must indicate they need the extra time and they had to cut this trip or one after.

 

ETA - our trip I could see some of it being due to weather and cut some slack but they were actively working on outside areas for most of the 10 days we were on. Even the spa wasn't open for weeks after our sailing.

Edited April 20, 2019 by dexddd

[luv2kroooz]

58 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I think it’s important that people who are NOT on this cruise also contact NCL.

 

I will be emailing them, as an NCL customer and shareholder, to tell them that I am disgusted by the unconscionable manner in which they have handled this.  First, the very significant change itself — wholly voluntary by NCL from the info given out so far. Also, the last minute notice about this, not to mention giving that notice late on a Friday of a (religious) holiday weekend.  And, of course, the wholly insufficient remedial compensation, as well as not letting people cancel without penalty. 

 

NCL obviously does not understand anything about business goodwill. We have enjoyed our NCL cruises, but we are not wedded to any specific cruise line, and how NCL handles this will be an important factor in our future cruising decisions.  

Good idea and done, I sent my email to a laundry list of executives and board of directors. 

[Turtles06]

7 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Good idea and done, I sent my email to a laundry list of executives and board of directors. 

 

Thanks.  I'm putting the finishing touches on mine. From the folks on the Roll Call, I just have the email address of Andy Stuart and Vivian Ewart (below).  Do you mind posting the other email addresses you have?  If folks here have them handy, it may encourage more people to write.  Thanks!

 

Vivian Ewart
Vice President, Passenger Services
7665 Corporate Center Dr.
Miami, FL 33126
(305) 436-4011
vewart@ncl.com

Chief Executive
Andy Stuart
President and Chief Operating Officer
7665 Corporate Center Dr.
Miami, FL 33126
(305) 436-4000
astuart@ncl.com

 

[Big Jim 99]

Below is the NCL leadership team:

Notice Andrew Stuart has a twitter account,

I do not use twitter so those of you that do light this guys twitter account up or contact these people.

 

 

NCL Leadership Team

 

Frank J. Del Rio

President and Chief Executive Officer

 

•  

Andrew Stuart

President and Chief Executive Officer, Norwegian Cruise Line, He is an active participant on social media and can be found @nclandy on Twitter.

 

 

•  

Jason M. Montague

President and Chief Executive Officer, Regent Seven Seas Cruises

 

Robert J. Binder has served as Chief Executive Officer

 

Robin Lindsay is the Executive Vice President,

 

Mark A. Kempa is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

 

Harry Sommer is President International for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Ltd.  

 

Daniel S. Farkas is the Executive Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd

 

Faye L. Ashby has served as Senior Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer 

 

 

[luv2kroooz]

11 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks.  I'm putting the finishing touches on mine. From the folks on the Roll Call, I just have the email address of Andy Stuart and Vivian Ewart (below).  Do you mind posting the other email addresses you have?  If folks here have them handy, it may encourage more people to write.  Thanks!

 

Vivian Ewart
Vice President, Passenger Services
7665 Corporate Center Dr.
Miami, FL 33126
(305) 436-4011
vewart@ncl.com

Chief Executive
Andy Stuart
President and Chief Operating Officer
7665 Corporate Center Dr.
Miami, FL 33126
(305) 436-4000
astuart@ncl.com

 

Carmen Rencurrell, Resolutions Specialist, crencurrell@ncl.com

Camille Olivere, SVP Sales, colivere@ncl.com

Alicia Suarez, Executive Assistant to the CEO and President, asuarez@ncl.com

Lots more available on linkedin.com

[Turtles06]

25 minutes ago, Big Jim 99 said:

Below is the NCL leadership team:

Notice Andrew Stuart has a twitter account,

I do not use twitter so those of you that do light this guys twitter account up or contact these people.

 

Great idea, thanks!  I've now tweeted as well as emailed.  

[mainelycruising]

12 hours ago, MaisonRose said:

 

Not sure but it seems that there could be a ferry to Cherbourg. I’m gonna check. Taking the Chunnel: it doesn’t stop in France until Paris & then its an annoying trip back to Caen.

Ah, Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Brittany Ferries. Portsmouth is just east of Southampton.

Ferries to Cherbourg are from Poole, which can be reached in an hour via National Coach.