Passengers on Norwegian Spirit is mad about itinerary changes

[pamrose228]

I was on the Pearl TA this year. Plenty of issues with crew. But made the most out of it. 
 

Bought a cruise next 2x certificate and booked the Escape for a TA this April. Already we go notice Barcelona port was changed to Terragona. Hope that’s all the switches. I wonder if 8 ports in 9 days is too much?

[Dolebludger]

I must first say that we have cruised NCL a couple of times only. And it is far from our favorite. But I can’t blame even NCL for unexpected bad weather. That opinion changes if a cruise line knew or should have known that the weather was likely to be not navigable.

 

In 1999, we booked an RCCL cruise from Boston up to Canada. But when we got to Boston hours before scheduled departure, and Hurricane Floyd was already closing in. The departure was made subject to “rolling delays” and we were hopeful the cruise would cancel when a similar Carnival cruise was cancelled. But no, our cruise departed around midnight and headed north on the exact path of that hurricane. Of course we missed about 1/3 of the ports. 

 

Now on this is a case times when a cruise line was responsible, as they knew (or should have known) of the weather situation BEFORE it sailed.  It sounds like NCL  knew or should have known the weather wouldn’t allow the itinerary. It should have canceled, too.

[rugerdog]

15 hours ago, mianmike said:

Wow!  It's a mini mutiny on the NCL Spirit.   Never seen anything like that. 

Hey Mike & Mia!  

 

Maybe we should have considered staging a mutiny on board 😁

 

Hope all is going well.

 

Darlene

[kcwiak]

22 hours ago, billco said:

Seems there were food and sewage problems also. But, that could also be related to weather.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7551905/Cruise-ship-passengers-5-300-mystical-fjords-tour-rebel-tell-crew-want-liner.html

The man in the video should be arrested and all of the people who induced a riot should be banned from NCL. This is unacceptable behavior. I’m disgusted. And for them to add in sewage issues and stale food is just ridiculous. Did the food become stale due to not stopping at a port?!?! Stupid

[kcwiak]

15 hours ago, kiwi57 said:

No food available anywhere on the ship from 3:30 pm to 5pm on first day due to cancellation of the sail away barbecue because of winds. When asked we were told “just order room service”  (for $7.95 and a 45 minute wait). 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG There was NO FOOD for an HOUR AND A HALF?!?! Oh the humanity!

[mugtech]

15 minutes ago, pamrose228 said:

 I wonder if 8 ports in 9 days is too much?

We did 10 ports in 12 days, didn't think it was too much, but we did not care that the night time entertainment was subpar.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

It’s NCL... missing ports is what they do best.  Well after nickel and diming anyway.

[Nymich]

28 minutes ago, kcwiak said:

The man in the video should be arrested and all of the people who induced a riot should be banned from NCL. This is unacceptable behavior. I’m disgusted. And for them to add in sewage issues and stale food is just ridiculous. Did the food become stale due to not stopping at a port?!?! Stupid

Yep See Post #49.

 

Demonstrations and abuse on a Ship are unacceptable.  The rest of us are stuck there on a floating city that could escalate into an unsafe environment.

Edited October 10, 2019 by Nymich

[Love my butler]

I am not on this ship and do not have any additional information, but I get a sense the passengers are upset with the lies and deceptions that NCL has been feeding them about the missed ports.  People understand weather causes missed ports but they do not understand when a company blatantly lies to them about such things.  That's my take.  Not facts but my best guess about why so many passengers are upset.

[Nymich]

23 minutes ago, Love my butler said:

I am not on this ship and do not have any additional information, but I get a sense the passengers are upset with the lies and deceptions that NCL has been feeding them about the missed ports.  People understand weather causes missed ports but they do not understand when a company blatantly lies to them about such things.  That's my take.  Not facts but my best guess about why so many passengers are upset.

Then just approach the Front desk and voice your complaint.

[SakeDad]

On 10/8/2019 at 5:50 AM, blcruising said:

Sucks for the passengers onboard, but safety first. Sounds like they're getting 25% plus port charge refunds. I could understand being disappointed, but not angry.

They are lucky NCL hasn't banned the protesters for life for inciting riots onboard! People are ridiculous. And I am sure 90% of these protesters say Global Warming/Climate Change isn't real...which is directly causing so much record bad weather across the globe! Folks better get used to MORE bad weather/itinerary changes, not less.

[mapsmith]

On 10/8/2019 at 6:16 AM, MJSailors said:

   Two words

Entitlement attitudes.

Things happen. It is a vacation, go with the flow.

I hope some of these passengers never face a terminal illness, loss of job, house fire etc,etc,etc.

Probably add two more words.  Based on timing.

 

Hurricane Dorian.   The weather affecting the European coast is timed right to be the leftovers of Hurricane Dorian.   No wonder the cruise was rough.   NCL should have rerouted before the cruise and let people cancel with no penalty.  Of course, they probably had many Thomas Cook Passengers on board, so cancellation would not really have been an option.

 

[smplybcause]

1 minute ago, mapsmith said:

Probably add two more words.  Based on timing.

 

Hurricane Dorian.   The weather affecting the European coast is timed right to be the leftovers of Hurricane Dorian.   No wonder the cruise was rough.   NCL should have rerouted before the cruise and let people cancel with no penalty.  Of course, they probably had many Thomas Cook Passengers on board, so cancellation would not really have been an option.

 

 

It's the leftovers of Lorenzo. Dorian was over a month ago - doesn't take systems that long to cross the Atlantic. And Dorian remnants went more north than east. 

 

Lorenzo had also been on that predicted path for over a week - if cruisers weren't aware there would be bad weather that's their own ignorance. 

[SakeDad]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

I hope NCL does not give in to the demands for refunds.  It would only encourage this type of behavior.  

 

...and the “poor, poor” people who had NO place to find food between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on one day. (Rolling my eyes big time at that comment) 🤦‍♀️

And I'll bet the same people saying there was no food are the same classless families that LOAD UP plates full of food to take out of the buffets or to the pools despite being told it's not allowed.

[NLH Arizona]

2 hours ago, kathy49 said:

what a nightmare....I say with global warming it is clear...winds and storms are stronger these days and the North Sea is notorious for storms and winds....why pick this itinerary and at this time of the year? I don't blame the Captain...sounds to me like to whole cruise should have been cancelled. The smart ones got off rather than riot on board.

And if it were cancelled, there would be just as much of an outcry from the passengers.  This situation was a no win for NCL.

[FLAHAM]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/10/09/certain-point-you-just-lose-it-passengers-revolt-riot-aboard-norwegian-spirit-cruise-ship/

[kathy49]

absolutely...after that Viking experience up in the same area...I would have gotten off at first chance...but that is just me.

 

[hallux]

Not exactly news in here - 

 

[kathy49]

33 minutes ago, mapsmith said:

Probably add two more words.  Based on timing.

 

Hurricane Dorian.   The weather affecting the European coast is timed right to be the leftovers of Hurricane Dorian.   No wonder the cruise was rough.   NCL should have rerouted before the cruise and let people cancel with no penalty.  Of course, they probably had many Thomas Cook Passengers on board, so cancellation would not really have been an option.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but even with predicted awful seas if the ship goes you need to be on.  Not like the airlines that will extend a weather waiver if they know bad weather will be impacting a destination.

[ABoatNerd]

September and October have always been volatile weather periods for travel in North American and Europe. In November it can be the nor easters causing havoc. These typical, and very normal, weather events have been recorded since modern weather records of about 150 years, and have been happening well before that (scientific analysis for trend analysis requires a time period well beyond a few decades).

 

What is not normal is humans placing themselves more and more often in the path of these routine weather events. 

 

NCL had the option to alter the cruise path at the start of the voyage and provide a VERY detailed written assessment to each passenger explaining this normal early October weather system. It does not seem they did this. Stopping the internet so that passengers can not report their feelings about the situation does not assist their situation.

 

With the weather approaching NCL would have been better off cancelling the voyage or going south. A no win but............

 

All cruise lines who establish and sell voyages during predictable and routine volatile weather periods are accountable for the debacle that will follow. This is no different than cruising in the Caribbean during hurricane season. 

 

Consumers are accountable to research and be aware of the context for the voyage they are choosing. 

 

This is yet another typical, normal, volatile, post tropical depression affecting a cruise.

 

[Mrs. H.]

I was on an NCL Bahama cruise a few years back in which we didn't go to Nassau
since we left NYC a day late.  I would have preferred skipping their useless private island I/o Nassau,

but it wasn't up to me.  It was our Bahama cruise... minus the Bahamas.
We didn't say anything.  We didn't *****.  We didn't cry.  We didn't ask for a refund.
We enjoyed the ship.  We enjoyed the food.  We enjoyed the shows.
We made the best of it.  We were not offered 25% on a future cruise.
I cruise NCL every time I cruise.  
 

[kathy49]

2 minutes ago, Mrs. H. said:

I was on an NCL Bahama cruise a few years back in which we didn't go to Nassau
since we left NYC a day late.  I would have preferred skipping their useless private island I/o Nassau,

but it wasn't up to me.  It was our Bahama cruise... minus the Bahamas.
We didn't say anything.  We didn't *****.  We didn't cry.  We didn't ask for a refund.
We enjoyed the ship.  We enjoyed the food.  We enjoyed the shows.
We made the best of it.  We were not offered 25% on a future cruise.
I cruise NCL every time I cruise.  
 

are you reading the full reports that have been posted about the conditions on the ship due to the seas?  I don't think many were enjoying food or shows or anything. The ship's contract with passengers provides for missing ports etc. but I have to say this most recent voyage on the Spirit demands some compensation.

[Nymich]

5 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

are you reading the full reports that have been posted about the conditions on the ship due to the seas?  I don't think many were enjoying food or shows or anything. The ship's contract with passengers provides for missing ports etc. but I have to say this most recent voyage on the Spirit demands some compensation.

They got 25% off a future cruise so I guess that would be "some compensation."

[Dolebludger]

All:

 

We have  better weather forecasting now than before. Am I wrong to say that a ship shouldn’t depart in non-navigable winds that are forecasted to exist along the planned itinerary?  I think they should cancel, put arriving passengers up, and bought them airline tickets to get home. Then the cruise line should refund their entire fare. Nobody would be happy, but they would be more happy than with a cruise under these conditions. More and more, we cruisers are needing to book our cruises rather early to get the accommodations we want. We need to book long before there is any weather forecast for our itinerary. But the cruise lines get these forecasts hourly or less. They should act in regard to these. 

[constable145]

What a bunch of crybabies. Seriously. Shut the hell up. The Captain is keeping you safe.

 

I have no tolerance for stupid people.