9/1 Breakaway Terminating in New Orleans

[logan25]

It is parked across from us at this moment.  I am a passenger on Majesty of the Seas.

[designergirl]

I don't think the Breakaway sailed "empty." 

This is from their site:

Our hearts are with those impacted by Hurricane Dorian.  On Sept. 5, Norwegian Breakaway will depart Miami with hurricane relief supplies donated by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and its employees, in addition to items collected by the City of Miami, Baptist Health South Florida, the 305 Gives Back foundation, and other Miami-based organizations, to be delivered to Nassau, Great Harbor Cay and the company’s private island Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas.   We will be relaunching Hope Starts Here, our parent company’s hurricane relief campaign in partnership with All Hands and Hearts, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has also pledged a minimum commitment of $1 million toward immediate short-term relief for those affected by Hurricane Dorian.

[shof515]

43 minutes ago, logan25 said:

The “empty” Breakaway sailed into Nassau a couple of hours ago.

it is empty of passenger but filled with supplies like food, and other things

[logan25]

9 minutes ago, shof515 said:

it is empty of passenger but filled with supplies like food, and other things

 

I refer to passengers.  That’s why I used quotation marks.

Edited September 6, 2019 by logan25

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, lizygirl3 said:

Got confirmation  e-mail from NCL that cruise was cancelled and the amount I paid for the cruise will be refunded. Just wondering if anyone has seen it on the credit card statement

NCL's standard response it that it will take 7-10 business days to process the refund (and however long it takes your bank to post it). 

[Georgia_Peaches]

On 9/4/2019 at 1:53 PM, SunsetPoint said:

Everyone's been starving???  When did Newsweek turn into the National Enquirer?

A while ago.

[Georgia_Peaches]

On 9/4/2019 at 3:04 PM, mjkacmom said:

NCL would much rather having guests on the ship spending money than dropping them off at a port and pay to fly them back to Miami. An empty ship is a money pit.

So why dump them in NOLA then?  They had to go back to MIA anyway. Why not take the money spending passengers with them?  In normal circumstances an empty ship would equal a loss of revenue. In this case though, the passengers were a liability. I still can’t see how it would be cheaper for NCL to arrange charters than to transport back to port of origination. Would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that strategy meeting. 

[cruisegus]

On 9/4/2019 at 2:04 PM, mjkacmom said:

NCL would much rather having guests on the ship spending money than dropping them off at a port and pay to fly them back to Miami. An empty ship is a money pit.

 

On 9/4/2019 at 2:14 PM, PTC DAWG said:

I seriously doubt they had enough food to keep everyone happy.  And no provisions ready in NOLA..they weren't expecting the ship...

NOLA is a normal port for NCL and the have relationships with all the vendors there, It would not have been that hard to give them 24 hour notice and get a resupply - look at how fast they are loading ship with relief supplies - not a valid excuse here

 

On 9/4/2019 at 2:26 PM, Son of a son of a ... said:

This just keeps getting worse for NCL.  When a business does not generate good will with its customers, the customers will turn on the business at any opportunity.  This can all be traced back to TCZ.  

Yes this is very bad press for NCL, it will tun a number of first time cruisers to another line that handles the situation better

 

On 9/5/2019 at 6:00 AM, newmexicoNita said:

so true. I doubt anyone realizes this hasn't been an easy time for NCL either. So many keep saying Carnival and RCI made the decisions early on, which is true, but they also took the easy way out. Made a decision, din't consider changes in the movement of the storm may result in the decision not being the right one. So though it seems they handled it better, this was a situation that had no right answers. I still say, and will continue to support the decisions the cruise lines made, we do not know what went on behind the scenes. Of course NCL wanted to do what was best for all and of course they would have preferred to keep everyone on the ship bu that was not  possible. 

Really not a situation of timing of decisions, just a case of really really bad decision making.  You can support there decisions all you want, but it is plainly obvious to all that they did not make the right decision.

 

On 9/5/2019 at 4:27 PM, hilomelko said:

I think the cherry on top was the last day the captain did not address the passengers,not in front of the ship as everyone disembarked,not over the PA system nothing..silence.....

This is the a good example of a Captain that was embarrassed by the decision of his upper management.

 

 

Finally this was a very poor showing by NCL and I wish them the best of luck figuring out what all they did wrong and in implementing procedures to rectify the problem in the future.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2019 by cruisegus

[Heronymous]

44 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

 

NOLA is a normal port for NCL and the have relationships with all the vendors there, It would not have been that hard to give them 24 hour notice and get a resupply - look at how fast they are loading ship with relief supplies - not a valid excuse here

 

Yes this is very bad press for NCL, it will tun a number of first time cruisers to another line that handles the situation better

 

Really not a situation of timing of decisions, just a case of really really bad decision making.  You can support there decisions all you want, but it is plainly obvious to all that they did not make the right decision.

 

This is the a good example of a Captain that was embarrassed by the decision of his upper management.

 

 

Finally this was a very poor showing by NCL and I wish them the best of luck figuring out what all they did wrong and in implementing procedures to rectify the problem in the future.

 

 

They've already released their own press releases about their trip to the Bahamas for humanitarian aid. While I commend them for their actions because the Bahamas sure needs it, I can't help but feel the motivation behind it was purely PR and to bury the bad press beneath the new press. I don't blame them for changing ports or cancelling the subsequent cruise, but I do blame them for how they handled it, the lack of communication, the time, money, and resources they wasted by announcing decisions and then changing them hours later after people scrambled to change flights, hotels, and travel plans, and the lack of support they provided people despite claiming they provided it to everyone. No one offered us support or assistance, and we kept asking for it. I had an amazing experience on that cruise, aside from my wedding on another ship, it was the best cruise we ever had.. The staff was amazing, went above and beyond offering Haven-like service, then they ruined it all by a series of poor decisions. I was sticking up for them at first in my posts, but I can't defend them after how they handled things.

 

And for all the NCL cheerleaders out there, don't confuse our dissatisfaction of how NCL screwed this up as a lack of compassion for the people injured, killed, or alive left with nothing in the Bahamas. We are allowed to be furious with what we had to deal with. That doesn't mean we don't have compassion for those who have it way worse. Being kept safe on their ship doesn't grant them free license to screw with people's lives and abandon them at a random port and take off. I am beyond sorry that I purchased more cruise next after this stunt because I have only ever cruised NCL before, but now I am compelled to try their competitors.

[newmexicoNita]

13 hours ago, designergirl said:

I don't think the Breakaway sailed "empty." 

This is from their site:

Our hearts are with those impacted by Hurricane Dorian.  On Sept. 5, Norwegian Breakaway will depart Miami with hurricane relief supplies donated by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and its employees, in addition to items collected by the City of Miami, Baptist Health South Florida, the 305 Gives Back foundation, and other Miami-based organizations, to be delivered to Nassau, Great Harbor Cay and the company’s private island Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas.   We will be relaunching Hope Starts Here, our parent company’s hurricane relief campaign in partnership with All Hands and Hearts, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has also pledged a minimum commitment of $1 million toward immediate short-term relief for those affected by Hurricane Dorian.

Thanks for posting this:  I had just mentioned the million dollar donation on another thread. I do have to wonder who many people were aware of what NCL is doing for the Bahamas?

[graphicguy]

11 hours ago, Heronymous said:

They've already released their own press releases about their trip to the Bahamas for humanitarian aid. While I commend them for their actions because the Bahamas sure needs it, I can't help but feel the motivation behind it was purely PR and to bury the bad press beneath the new press. I don't blame them for changing ports or cancelling the subsequent cruise, but I do blame them for how they handled it, the lack of communication, the time, money, and resources they wasted by announcing decisions and then changing them hours later after people scrambled to change flights, hotels, and travel plans, and the lack of support they provided people despite claiming they provided it to everyone. No one offered us support or assistance, and we kept asking for it. I had an amazing experience on that cruise, aside from my wedding on another ship, it was the best cruise we ever had.. The staff was amazing, went above and beyond offering Haven-like service, then they ruined it all by a series of poor decisions. I was sticking up for them at first in my posts, but I can't defend them after how they handled things.

 

And for all the NCL cheerleaders out there, don't confuse our dissatisfaction of how NCL screwed this up as a lack of compassion for the people injured, killed, or alive left with nothing in the Bahamas. We are allowed to be furious with what we had to deal with. That doesn't mean we don't have compassion for those who have it way worse. Being kept safe on their ship doesn't grant them free license to screw with people's lives and abandon them at a random port and take off. I am beyond sorry that I purchased more cruise next after this stunt because I have only ever cruised NCL before, but now I am compelled to try their competitors.

Yeah....I feel similarly.  Happy they’re doing some humanitarian aid.  But, not sure how they could have screwed up their handling of the Late August/early Sept sailings.  It was almost like they were bound and determined to sail and preserve revenue, regardless of how perilous those trips would have been.

 

And, as you say, that doesn’t begin to address their poor/lack of communications and decision making.

 

That said, they did follow through and refunded my cruise fare yesterday.  But, having had to change my flights 4X based on their communications issues, I’m still out a substantial amount of money.  The airlines were willing to change the flights once.  But, after that, it was on my dime.

 

I too am looking at other cruise lines right now.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, newmexicoNita said:

Thanks for posting this:  I had just mentioned the million dollar donation on another thread. I do have to wonder who many people were aware of what NCL is doing for the Bahamas?

Lol if not for CC, I’d have no idea about the impact of this hurricane on any cruise ships. 99.9% of people don’t care, and will book cruises based on advertising and itineraries.

 

 

[richandkathynaplesfl]

 I received the cancellation notice from NCL, but have not received any funds from them.

Has anyone else received their full refund yet?

[NLH Arizona]

12 hours ago, Heronymous said:

 I am beyond sorry that I purchased more cruise next after this stunt because I have only ever cruised NCL before, but now I am compelled to try their competitors.

Not to worry, you can either sell them on here or on ebay.

[Georgia_Peaches]

41 minutes ago, richandkathynaplesfl said:

 I received the cancellation notice from NCL, but have not received any funds from them.

Has anyone else received their full refund yet?

I believe Graphicguy said he has received his refund on the 9-1 sailing... but opposite from you, he didn’t receive cancellation notification. 

[ducklite]

On 9/4/2019 at 12:09 PM, CharmCity2000 said:

 

Appreciate the thought.  ADHD meds however only stay in your system for 4-12 hours depending upon the dosage.  As it is, my son has to take a booster pill around 3pm every day.  There is no half life build up in his system from meds.

 

At least those aren't life or death type meds.  Yes, it will be "fun times" until you can get home, but it's not like someone missing a dialysis appointment or running out of nitroglycerin or insulin.

[CharmCity2000]

2 minutes ago, ducklite said:

 

At least those aren't life or death type meds.  Yes, it will be "fun times" until you can get home, but it's not like someone missing a dialysis appointment or running out of nitroglycerin or insulin.

 100%!  I'm fond of saying that him missing his meds really has no medical effect on him.  On me however, that's another story 🙂

[robnmo]

On 9/6/2019 at 8:31 PM, cruisegus said:

On 9/4/2019 at 3:26 PM, Son of a son of a ... said:

This just keeps getting worse for NCL.  When a business does not generate good will with its customers, the customers will turn on the business at any opportunity.  This can all be traced back to TCZ.  

Yes this is very bad press for NCL, it will tun a number of first time cruisers to another line that handles the situation better

I agree. I was on the Breakaway, and feel that NCL handled this extremely poorly. The whole disembarkation process was a mess.

For me the biggest negative is communication.

It was almost non existent. NCL needs to empower their front line associates.

It was my first cruise (I plan on writing a review later this week, had to catch up on life), and while I may cruise again, I will definitely look at other cruise lines. This is solely based off the actions, or lack of actions of NCL.

 

 

[hilomelko]

How about the 300$ per passenger air fare credit??????filled out online form with all requested info/email. The day after we got home...where’s the 600$ ncl....maybe they will send it for Christmas!