NCL Kicked Us OFF Their Ship in a Foreign Country

[Petoonya]

43 minutes ago, tjbarney said:

 

That email address doesn't work 😞

 

Edit, seems to be hsommer@ncl.com

Great, so glad you found.

[Budget Queen]

2 minutes ago, tjbarney said:

 

Yes, this was their emailed response:

 

Thank you for writing in.  We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid, unprecedented and challenging times.  While we understand the basis of your request for compensation, respectfully, we are unable to comply with your request. Nevertheless, we are sorry for any discontent caused by our response. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. We appreciate your patience in the interim and we sincerely regret any concern or inconvenience you may have experienced. We do value your business and hope that you will consider a Norwegian Cruise Line sailing in the near future. Sincerely,

Joi Soles

Coordinator

Guest Relations

There is a financial manager. That a friend used.    I’d suggest submitting again.    

[disneylover89]

2 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

You have already been denied reimbursement of your submitted claim?    

I think you need to go back and read all the posts from the OP. I believe you missed a few 

[Trimone]

Remember cruisers when you book your next cruise in 2021, think about these pages and how NCL have treated passengers, from the very start with the Jade farce, how many people traveled to infected areas only to be turned away, think about the cancellation policies and the time factor before cruises are cancelled.

At any price I will never sail with NCL again.

[Waquoit]

The takeaway that is still sticking with me is the assertion from some here that poor treatment from a cruise line is just part of the "cruise life" and one needs to suck it up. If that's the case, the "cruise life" is not for me. I'm still hoping my cruise gets cancelled so I can take my money and not rebook.

[tjbarney]

Surprise, surprise.  My email to Harry Sommer was responded by Paula Ponder, Manager, Guest Relations.  Again, they can't bother responding with an actual response that speaks of my circumstances I have written about, just another canned response.

 

Thank you for your email to Harry Sommer, President & CEO.   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid, unprecedented and challenging times.  Our organization stands behind the two options listed below and no further compensation will be granted.  
 
•    All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 150% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
•    For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus, under suspended sailings.  The form was be made available beginning March 23, 2020. We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

 

For any additional out-of-pocket expenses, we recommend that you contact your travel insurance directly to file a claim.  We are unable to honor your request for a refund of any transportation or hotel expenses.    

As always, your business is important to Norwegian Cruise Line and we appreciate your trust in us. We remain dedicated to providing our guests with the best travel experiences across the globe.
 

Kind regards,

 

Paula Ponder | Manager, Guest Relations

Phone: 305 436 4686 
pponder@ncl.com

Norwegian Cruise Line ®
7665 Corporate Center Drive | Miami FL 33126

[Newleno]

4 minutes ago, tjbarney said:

Surprise, surprise.  My email to Harry Sommer was responded by Paula Ponder, Manager, Guest Relations.  Again, they can't bother responding with an actual response that speaks of my circumstances I have written about, just another canned response.

 

Thank you for your email to Harry Sommer, President & CEO.   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid, unprecedented and challenging times.  Our organization stands behind the two options listed below and no further compensation will be granted.  
 
•    All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 150% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
•    For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus, under suspended sailings.  The form was be made available beginning March 23, 2020. We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

 

For any additional out-of-pocket expenses, we recommend that you contact your travel insurance directly to file a claim.  We are unable to honor your request for a refund of any transportation or hotel expenses.    

As always, your business is important to Norwegian Cruise Line and we appreciate your trust in us. We remain dedicated to providing our guests with the best travel experiences across the globe.
 

Kind regards,

 

Paula Ponder | Manager, Guest Relations

Phone: 305 436 4686 
pponder@ncl.com

Norwegian Cruise Line ®
7665 Corporate Center Drive | Miami FL 33126

Well that is pretty generous of them to offer you your money back for a cruise that they cancelled, at least they did not make you pay extra , but of course you have to fill out a form first, otherwise no refund for you (nor soup)

Edited March 30, 2020 by Newleno

[tjbarney]

6 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Well that is pretty generous of them to offer you your money back for a cruise that they cancelled, at least they did not make you pay extra , but of course you have to fill out a form first, otherwise no refund for you (nor soup)

 

Of course you have to also wait 90 days for them to pay you back...

 

I have already said I would take the FCC because we have 6 Cruise Next certificates we purchased in January.  Just wished they would acknowledge me with a human response and at least the appearance of caring.

[PATRLR]

14 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

IMy cruise was cancelled as well...that very day, but it is complete hogwash, drama, and fake news to try to claim that we were somehow kicked off.

Who's doing the insulting now?

Regardless, comparing your cruise to the OP's B2B is apples to oranges.  NCL may treat it as 2 seperate cruises but to those that booked it, it is just one cruise that ended before it was finished.  

 

[ziggyuk]

51 minutes ago, tjbarney said:

Surprise, surprise.  My email to Harry Sommer was responded by Paula Ponder, Manager, Guest Relations.  Again, they can't bother responding with an actual response that speaks of my circumstances I have written about, just another canned response.

 

Thank you for your email to Harry Sommer, President & CEO.   We greatly appreciate the understanding of our valued guests during these fluid, unprecedented and challenging times.  Our organization stands behind the two options listed below and no further compensation will be granted.  
 
•    For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 150% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of completing the request form at www.ncl.com/travel-alert/coronavirus, under suspended sailings.  The form was be made available beginning March 23, 2020. We ask guests to wait to contact us regarding any refund until after March 23, 2020 as our reservation system will allow us to accommodate their requests at that time.

 

 

Not only a canned response, they did not even proof check the one word they changed, it clearly used to say:

"The form will be made available beginning March 23, 2020"

[tjbarney]

2 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Not only a canned response, they did not even proof check the one word they changed, it clearly used to say:

"The form will be made available beginning March 23, 2020"

 

Yes, noticed that right away too!

[wvacations]

On 3/28/2020 at 4:10 PM, BirdTravels said:

Yes. The OP was properly disembarked when their cruise was cancelled. Unless the OP was totally oblivious to world events, they should have been aware that their cruise was at high risk. And the cancellation should not have been a surprise. It certainly would not have taken me more than an hour to pack my belongings and spend another hour rebooking flights. The cruise line would have zero idea where people wanted to fly to, so they could not do that unilaterally. 

 

Just wondering how you think you could have booked your flights home?  We were at sea and the internet was unusable. It was slow and unreliable  before everyone tried to get online at the same time. At the point the cruise was cancelled the internet would not connect to any site. Also most flights were already sold out by the time I could get a text to go through to someone back home asking them to book us a flight. It was not like we just signed in to an airline and spent thousands of dollars on international flights for the next day. Since you apparently were not on the ship, you should refrain from making statements like above because they are false.

 

Your statement " spend another hour rebooking flights." is not something that could happen on the Star at the time they notified some people of the cancellation. We were never notified and we were in our room the entire day.

[wvacations]

On 3/29/2020 at 10:26 AM, Budget Queen said:

You have already been denied reimbursement of your submitted claim?    

I have been denied reimbursement  for my cost by NCL. I was told by by several NCL Officers that I should save receipts and would be reimbursed. All lies by NCL 

[FitchburgWIFamily]

Hey, OP...I am glad you are home safe.  

 

I think about the passengers on ships that didn't cancel.  There is a Celebrity Eclipse that was supposed to disembark in Santiago that wasn't allowed to on the 15th march and might still be at sea.

 

I know the ship seems like it would have been the safest place to be, but just because you didn't see any passengers coughing doesn't mean there weren't asymptomatic people spreading the virus on board.  There is a Holland America ship that has a few deaths reported and a number of sick people that is also, I believe, still at sea.

 

I am sorry the act of cancelling the cruise was so stressful: both to you and to your pocket book.  I can't imagine how much it costs to get last minute international flights and how frantic it felt to wonder how you were going to make an unplanned trip home.

 

When unexpected things happen in traveling, there are a lot of logistics to worry about.  After ships have been redirected for hurricanes, people have cars in ports they can't get back to and no cars in ports they are taken to.   

 

I am 100% with you that NCL could do a better job with some small things that would have made this a better experience.   

 

They probably couldn't have left you on the ship too much longer because even though there wasn't a next cruise, they did still need to leave the port on a schedule.  The port workers etc. are there for luggage and loading only at certain times.   They could at least have staggered the departures as much as possible so the latest flights were the last to leave.  They could have possibly contracted with some port staff to make the room where passengers wait to board available to disembarking passengers to wait for shuttles.

 

The definitely could have provided the shuttles for free to any of the back to back cruisers.

 

I don't know if I agree they should be responding with personalized correspondence.  If that were a requirement with the volume of correspondence, it would be years before you heard anything.

 

I don't know if I agree, as hard as a pill this is to swallow, that they should compensate you for your airfare home.  If the cruise had ended mid cruise, I would think differently, but this cruise was cancelled, and not for a reason that was within NCL's control.  When there is a weather related cancellation, I don't think they compensate everyone for their travel to or from the port.   

 

I am not trying to be a NCL cheer leader, and I really do have empathy for you.   Buying two last minute international flights would put a severe dent in my pocket book, and I would have to dip into savings to make that work.   

 

I just hope that you can take a little time to reflect on all the things that are good about what happened:  You are home, safe, not trapped on a ship at sea with no idea of where or when it will land;  the ship had no known cases of covid19 when it landed, and no one on board died from covid19; and you were able to find flights home and are not stranded in a foreign country.

 

 

 

 

[CruiseMH]

I am a bit shocked to hear how NCL behaved in this specific situation. It is in general understandable that they wanted to have all passengers off the ship. But if you booked the cruise till Florida and they send you off in a different port ,they should art least assist you in getting flights back home. And 60 minutes of internet is NOT what i would call assistance.

Also for all the additional charges you had because of having to book a oneway flight from chile to the US they should at least give you a reimbursement.

I don`t know anything about the US laws in such a case, but in Europe you could make a  sue in court to get these additional charges back and you would have really good chances.

 

And even if there was a risk that no port in FLorida would allow the ship to enter they could at least have tried it. I know from some german cruise line that has also cancelled two of their cruises(around asia/australia) and they offered their guest to either fly back from Sydney or to stay on boards the ship and then the ship would sail all the way back to germany.

 

So, NCL could have sailed back to Florida and try to get all the passengers off the ship over there.

[emm126]

8 minutes ago, FitchburgWIFamily said:

Hey, OP...I am glad you are home safe.  

 

I think about the passengers on ships that didn't cancel.  There is a Celebrity Eclipse that was supposed to disembark in Santiago that wasn't allowed to on the 15th march and might still be at sea.

 

I know the ship seems like it would have been the safest place to be, but just because you didn't see any passengers coughing doesn't mean there weren't asymptomatic people spreading the virus on board.  There is a Holland America ship that has a few deaths reported and a number of sick people that is also, I believe, still at sea.

 

I am sorry the act of cancelling the cruise was so stressful: both to you and to your pocket book.  I can't imagine how much it costs to get last minute international flights and how frantic it felt to wonder how you were going to make an unplanned trip home.

 

When unexpected things happen in traveling, there are a lot of logistics to worry about.  After ships have been redirected for hurricanes, people have cars in ports they can't get back to and no cars in ports they are taken to.   

 

I am 100% with you that NCL could do a better job with some small things that would have made this a better experience.   

 

They probably couldn't have left you on the ship too much longer because even though there wasn't a next cruise, they did still need to leave the port on a schedule.  The port workers etc. are there for luggage and loading only at certain times.   They could at least have staggered the departures as much as possible so the latest flights were the last to leave.  They could have possibly contracted with some port staff to make the room where passengers wait to board available to disembarking passengers to wait for shuttles.

 

The definitely could have provided the shuttles for free to any of the back to back cruisers.

 

I don't know if I agree they should be responding with personalized correspondence.  If that were a requirement with the volume of correspondence, it would be years before you heard anything.

 

I don't know if I agree, as hard as a pill this is to swallow, that they should compensate you for your airfare home.  If the cruise had ended mid cruise, I would think differently, but this cruise was cancelled, and not for a reason that was within NCL's control.  When there is a weather related cancellation, I don't think they compensate everyone for their travel to or from the port.   

 

I am not trying to be a NCL cheer leader, and I really do have empathy for you.   Buying two last minute international flights would put a severe dent in my pocket book, and I would have to dip into savings to make that work.   

 

I just hope that you can take a little time to reflect on all the things that are good about what happened:  You are home, safe, not trapped on a ship at sea with no idea of where or when it will land;  the ship had no known cases of covid19 when it landed, and no one on board died from covid19; and you were able to find flights home and are not stranded in a foreign country.

 

 

 

 

It's funny you mention the Celebrity Eclipse as I have been following the story as I know people onboard. I will tell you after getting denied from several countries/ports, Celebrity made the decision to sail an additional 2 weeks to San Diego, where they supposedly docked this morning. Celebrity is providing transfers to the airport (free) and air home for all US citizens onboard. (also free). They have also provided free internet the last 2 weeks. This issue was not Celebrity's "fault" either, but IMO that is how you treat your customers. 

 

And another thing I would like to add, If the officers on board, the most senior representatives of the company on board, state you will get reimbursed for you travel expenses, you should be reimbursed. For those stating, oh they said it, to not start riots is ridiculous. If any of my employees gave out incorrect information, I would stand behind it. I would love to hear NCL's reasoning behind that but I guess it is doesn't fit on their form letter.

 

To TJBarney- I hope you keep fighting for your money back, you deserve to receive a refund for your additional expenses. 

[wvacations]

Case Action????

[Budget Queen]

2 hours ago, wvacations said:

 

Just wondering how you think you could have booked your flights home?  We were at sea and the internet was unusable. It was slow and unreliable  before everyone tried to get online at the same time. At the point the cruise was cancelled the internet would not connect to any site. Also most flights were already sold out by the time I could get a text to go through to someone back home asking them to book us a flight. It was not like we just signed in to an airline and spent thousands of dollars on international flights for the next day. Since you apparently were not on the ship, you should refrain from making statements like above because they are false.

 

Your statement " spend another hour rebooking flights." is not something that could happen on the Star at the time they notified some people of the cancellation. We were never notified and we were in our room the entire day.

I was on the ship and had no  problem checking flights.    I decided to stay overnight and also had no problem getting my preferred hotel booked.     I left Sunday night on a flight with over 150  open seats.    

[wvacations]

3 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

I was on the ship and had NO problem checking flights.    I decided to stay overnight and also had no problem getting my preferred hotel booked.     I left Sunday night on a flight with over 150  open seats.    

 

 

Glad it worked out for you. We were not so fortunate. Hope you enjoy your future NCL cruises. 

 

[uncleah]

Although I wasn't on this cruise NCLs actions really incensed me and wrote the following email.  I was on RC Explorer for one of the norovirus cruises.  We missed ports and the cruise was cut short.  The captain had a meeting in the theater where we were offered a pittance for compensation.  He nearly had a passenger revolt.  He said he would go back and talk to corporate.  He later came back with a compensation plan that was very fair and we left happy.  That certainly wasn't the case here.  The following was sent to Ponder at NCL.

 

I have seen copies of some of your emails regarding the NCL Star on Cruise Critic.  They so incensed me that I am writing this in response even though I was fortunate enough not to be on the cruise.

 

I saw that you are the manager of Guest Relations.  My first thought was why do you have a guest relations department when you clearly do not have any idea of what guest relations should be.   You fall far short of treating passengers fairly.  In fact your treatment of passengers is reprehensible.  If you had guest services that were comparable to a travel company like Tauck, you would have been praised by your guests, not ridiculed.

 

I have cruised and toured extensively, but never with NCL.  It appears that I have been a more astute traveler than I thought I was.  I am extremely happy that I have never had to depend on your poor excuse for guest relations or perhaps better stated, the the lack thereof.  

 

My wife and I had been considering  sailing one of your Panama Canal itineraries.  Your response to this problem has convinced us that we will never sail with you.  Your corporate policy will never endear you to your customers.  Corporate has a lot to learn about treating customers well.

 

Edward Carway

[Budget Queen]

26 minutes ago, wvacations said:

 

 

Glad it worked out for you. We were not so fortunate. Hope you enjoy your future NCL cruises. 

 

Yes I certainly will,   but I just had 2 cruises canceled officially,   a few minutes ago.   🙂    

[Budget Queen]

8 minutes ago, uncleah said:

Although I wasn't on this cruise NCLs actions really incensed me and wrote the following email.  I was on RC Explorer for one of the norovirus cruises.  We missed ports and the cruise was cut short.  The captain had a meeting in the theater where we were offered a pittance for compensation.  He nearly had a passenger revolt.  He said he would go back and talk to corporate.  He later came back with a compensation plan that was very fair and we left happy.  That certainly wasn't the case here.  The following was sent to Ponder at NCL.

 

I have seen copies of some of your emails regarding the NCL Star on Cruise Critic.  They so incensed me that I am writing this in response even though I was fortunate enough not to be on the cruise.

 

I saw that you are the manager of Guest Relations.  My first thought was why do you have a guest relations department when you clearly do not have any idea of what guest relations should be.   You fall far short of treating passengers fairly.  In fact your treatment of passengers is reprehensible.  If you had guest services that were comparable to a travel company like Tauck, you would have been praised by your guests, not ridiculed.

 

I have cruised and toured extensively, but never with NCL.  It appears that I have been a more astute traveler than I thought I was.  I am extremely happy that I have never had to depend on your poor excuse for guest relations or perhaps better stated, the the lack thereof.  

 

My wife and I had been considering  sailing one of your Panama Canal itineraries.  Your response to this problem has convinced us that we will never sail with you.  Your corporate policy will never endear you to your customers.  Corporate has a lot to learn about treating customers well.

 

Edward Carway

You've   never sailed NCL  and have no intentions doing so.     Why are you butting into a one sided claim?   That is far more effective coming directly from the source.      Do you think NCL is going to bother with you. 

 

   Interesting you are wandering over to the NCL board.   Especially with your proclamation  of NEVER sailing with them.     

[tjbarney]

1 hour ago, Budget Queen said:

I was on the ship and had no  problem checking flights.    I decided to stay overnight and also had no problem getting my preferred hotel booked.     I left Sunday night on a flight with over 150  open seats.    

 

Out of curiosity, if you were on our ship, why didn't you join the roll call?  Or perhaps you did and I just didn't realize to have met you.

Edited March 30, 2020 by tjbarney

[Budget Queen]

5 hours ago, tjbarney said:

 

Out of curiosity, if you were on our ship, why didn't you join the roll call?  Or perhaps you did and I just didn't realize to have met you.

 

Yes I was on the cruise.   I only booked the cruise the day prior - right after I got off the Jewel.      I was at the M&G. 

[Waquoit]

15 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

 Especially with your proclamation  of NEVER sailing with them.     

 

I think they are just confirming to themselves that's the right decision. Which it clearly is.