Beware of NCL

[kbemje]

WARNING!!!! today on 5/11/21 NCL canceled my 8/15/21 Greek Island cruise because they chartered the whole ship to a CORPORATION. It has zero to do with Covid. I had my flights and other arrangements made to visit others in Europe. They only offered 10% future cruise credit, a ridiculous $50 future shipboard credit and up to $300 if lose money on flight reservations. Why would anyone want to book with NCL when they pulled this out from regular customers? You could be next.

Edited May 12, 2021 by kbemje

[YankeesFan4Life]

That's TERRIBLE!  I had the original sailing on the Dawn that got canceled a few months ago and re-booked the Gem to Eastern Caribbean.  If I re-booked that sailing, I'd be PISSED too!  Come join us on the Gem!

[Trimone]

That’s terrible, hopefully it hasn’t effected too many customers 

[Trimone]

Thinking about it, I didn’t think NCL were resuming cruising until 05/09/2021 in the Mediterranean?

[Jobeth66]

30 minutes ago, kbemje said:

WARNING!!!! today on 5/11/21 NCL canceled my 8/15/21 Greek Island cruise because they chartered the whole ship to a CORPORATION. It has zero to do with Covid. I had my flights and other arrangements made to visit others in Europe. They only offered 10% future cruise credit, a ridiculous $50 future shipboard credit and up to $300 if lose money on flight reservations. Why would anyone want to book with NCL when they pulled this out from regular customers? You could be next.

 

All cruise lines do this.  If they get a charter, they'll cancel the original sailing - charters pay rack rate with no discounts and few perks, so they will take that business any day.

[1025cruise]

Happens all the time. Everyone does it. Sucks, but not much you can do. Though usually there is more than 90 day notice.

[KeithJenner]

19 minutes ago, Trimone said:

Thinking about it, I didn’t think NCL were resuming cruising until 05/09/2021 in the Mediterranean?

Jade restarts 1st Aug, and the 15th is missing, so I assume this is the one that the OP is referring to.

 

I must say, whilst these things do happen (it has happened to me), this is rather close to the date for them to cancel it. I'd be annoyed if I settled on one of these restart cruises just for it to get cancelled a few weeks later.

[SeaHunt]

1 hour ago, kbemje said:

WARNING!!!! today on 5/11/21 NCL canceled my 8/15/21 Greek Island cruise because they chartered the whole ship to a CORPORATION. 

 

So sorry that happened to you, especially with all arrangements already made. 😞

 

By googling the date and ship plus the word "charter", it looks like it's an Atlantis charter. In their ad they say "Yes, you can travel this summer! Head to the islands with a brand new all-gay cruise from Athens to the best of the Greek Isles!"  I wonder if they had other cruises cancelled and put this together quickly, and that's why the short notice?:

 

https://atlantisevents.com/greek-isles-cruise

 

 

[wdrl]

1 hour ago, Jobeth66 said:

 

All cruise lines do this.  If they get a charter, they'll cancel the original sailing - charters pay rack rate with no discounts and few perks, so they will take that business any day.

I agree.  I think this happened to us for B2B cruises on Celebrity.  It was a real pain.  I pretty sure we dumped Celebrity for those two cruises and switched to another cruise line as we had other plans that conflicted with the other dates Celebrity was offering.  

 

I just wish they would not book these charters within 9 months of the cruise date.

[CarrieAP]

I'm so sorry; that really stinks. At this late stage those of us booking the "new" cruises did so with the confidence that they are highly likely to sail. That would feel like someone pulling the rug out from under me. Yes, in ordinary times they did charter cruises, but typically with very extended lead times, well before international air and other travel arrangements were made. I am booked in October and can't imagine my reaction if this would happen to us. 

[Diver2014]

Beware of NCL????   No, all cruise lines do this.  Yeah, bad news for the people on that particular cruise but that's no reason to 'beware' of NCL.  Over reaction.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, kbemje said:

WARNING!!!! today on 5/11/21 NCL canceled my 8/15/21 Greek Island cruise because they chartered the whole ship to a CORPORATION. It has zero to do with Covid. I had my flights and other arrangements made to visit others in Europe. 

Sorry your cruise got cancelled. There is no WARNING needed. All cruise lines will cancel cruises if they get a charter booking. That is good business. But, it is unfortunate for those affected. 

 

[Trimone]

I think the OPs frustration is totally justified, there’s a big word in business called loyalty, there may be demand for cruises now, but wait until it drys up, these 2-3000 people will be going elsewhere 

[roger001]

I happens.  I've had two cruises cancelled when the ship (Pearl) got chartered for music cruises.  

[Jobeth66]

8 minutes ago, Trimone said:

I think the OPs frustration is totally justified, there’s a big word in business called loyalty, there may be demand for cruises now, but wait until it drys up, these 2-3000 people will be going elsewhere 

 

I don't think anyone said he wasn't justified being frustrated, though - but just that it's part of the risk you take when you book a cruise.  If the cruise line gets an offer to charter a ship they're going to take it - loyalty really doesn't come into play here.  I say that as someone who has taken several chartered cruises that were already open for booking before the charter company took it over.  People were understandably angry and frustrated, but that's not going to change the stance of the cruise lines - they can fill the ship with customers who get discounts and perks, or with customers who pay rack rates and no perks - which do you think they're going to take?

 

It's business.

[ericfromri]

NCL is a terrible cruise line anyways.

[winemama]

4 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

 

So sorry that happened to you, especially with all arrangements already made. 😞

 

By googling the date and ship plus the word "charter", it looks like it's an Atlantis charter. In their ad they say "Yes, you can travel this summer! Head to the islands with a brand new all-gay cruise from Athens to the best of the Greek Isles!"  I wonder if they had other cruises cancelled and put this together quickly, and that's why the short notice?:

 

https://atlantisevents.com/greek-isles-cruise

 

 

and lets face it, these all gay cruises charge top dollar, and fill up quickly, and everyone parties and spends big money

[All-ready2cruise]

59 minutes ago, ericfromri said:

NCL is a terrible cruise line anyways.

And yet, you're here because..... why?

 

 I love NCL, however, this does seem a bit of a  "money grab", an attempt to gain a bit more cash back.  Anyone can book the cruise though... if you want to pay the full price... in more ways than one.  The cruise lines, all of them, need to make money. I fully expect this to happen more often than normally occurs.  

 

Op, sorry this has happened to you. I hope you find another cruise to enjoy.  

[Seany527]

That’s really unfortunate. To think you will finally be on a cruise and to have this happen. 
 

It comes down to who is paying the most money. They may be losing you and others as customers but NCL is prob thinking how many potential customers they can gain. The corporation that booked it is probably super grateful due to such short notice and may continue to use NCL year after year. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, ericfromri said:

NCL is a terrible cruise line anyways.

Yet, you are over on the Royal board defending NCL?

[SeaHunt]

2 minutes ago, winemama said:

and lets face it, these all gay cruises charge top dollar, and fill up quickly, and everyone parties and spends big money

 

ITA I've read before that Atlantis sells out every event they offer. There are so many different charters offered for so many different groups now is has to be very $$$ advantageous to both parties. I've also heard all the various music charters are really popular with many attendees going year after year - people love them!

 

I know cancellations for charters happen a lot to all lines, but usually you get a little more heads up. But if I remember correctly a few years ago people posted on CC about getting kicked off last minute on their Navigator of the Seas cruise for a Zumba cruise charter!

 

I do really hate that the OP says she might be out $300 in flight changes through no fault of her own.

 

2 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

 The corporation that booked it is probably super grateful due to such short notice and may continue to use NCL year after year. 

 

They will - the same company (Atlantis) already has the Bliss fully chartered for the October 31 sailing. Here's a partial list of various full ship charters on all lines:

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

 

 

[BirdTravels]

3 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

I do really hate that the OP says she might be out $300 in flight changes through no fault of her own.

The OP said that was the offer was $300. 

 

We have been cancelled many times over the years. What we found is that if you treat the cruise line with respect and make reasonable requests, they are willing to "help you out". If you go in flaming, yelling, and condemning the cruise line, they will give you exactly what is in the cancellation offer, not a penny more. They don't have to deal with nasty people. 

 

IF there are airline change fees, then $300 pp should cover that. Many airlines are still waiving change fees. 

 

In one case, we had a "short notice" change from NCL and ended up paying the $300 change fee plus additional fare difference for a new flight. NCL offered the same $300 reimbursement. We requested them to cover the difference in fare price and we got a check in the mail,,, many weeks later. We have been reimbursed for costs above and beyond the offer several times... airfare... hotel nights... change fees...

 

 

[SeaHunt]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The OP said that was the offer was $300. 

 Oops sorry I read that wrong! Thanks for pointing it out I feel better about that 😊

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, Seany527 said:

That’s really unfortunate. To think you will finally be on a cruise and to have this happen. 
 

It comes down to who is paying the most money. They may be losing you and others as customers but NCL is prob thinking how many potential customers they can gain. The corporation that booked it is probably super grateful due to such short notice and may continue to use NCL year after year. 

Plus for every customer they lose, they will probably pick one up when another cruise line cancels for a charter and some of their customers say never again to them.

[Trimone]

In reflection and doing fake bookings, it appears NCL isn’t having the take up in cruises across the Mediterranean, talking to a few established U.K. cruise customers last night, the consensus was nobody has booked anything and are waiting until 2022.