WHY CAN'T NCL BE HONEST ABOUT SCHEDULED ITINERARIES

[winemaker1]

I was on the Gem on the November 28th sailing which listed Puerto Plata and Grand Turks ports. It didn't happen. They added Antigua and a sea day. I am scheduled to be on the Gem again, doing B2B on January 9th and 19th. Puerto Plata and Grand Turks are on the itinerary. There are no excursions available for Grand Turks on either cruise which means they already know they are not stopping there but are obviously keeping it a secret. We are not scheduled to be in either port on the local port website, which means we are not stopping in Puerto Plata or Grand Turks.  NCL has to know what ports they are NOT stopping in. YET both ports are still listed on their advertised itineraries and on my NCL summary. I feel this is all false advertisement and extremely misleading. If we are willing to sail in these difficult times at least they should be honest about where they are taking us. I am about to become a platinum plus member, I can't deal with falsehoods and when my paid cruises are over so am I with NCL.

[MichiganBound]

I agree with the OP here.  NCL needs to be much more forthcoming on the itinerary that will be sailed.  If some of it is up in the air in terms of the ports that will ultimately be visited, they should at least indicate that such and such port may or may not be visited due to (give reason) so the itinerary is subject to change.  Transparency is what is missing here.

[bonvoyagie]

With the current state of affairs things can change either way in as little as 24hrs it would be almost impossible, or at least a full time job keeping the website up to date. In the past NCL has been ok about getting schedule changes out to ticketed pax via e-mail.

[Cruisercl]

18 minutes ago, winemaker1 said:

I was on the Gem on the November 28th sailing which listed Puerto Plata and Grand Turks ports. It didn't happen. They added Antigua and a sea day. I am scheduled to be on the Gem again, doing B2B on January 9th and 19th. Puerto Plata and Grand Turks are on the itinerary. There are no excursions available for Grand Turks on either cruise which means they already know they are not stopping there but are obviously keeping it a secret. We are not scheduled to be in either port on the local port website, which means we are not stopping in Puerto Plata or Grand Turks.  NCL has to know what ports they are NOT stopping in. YET both ports are still listed on their advertised itineraries and on my NCL summary. I feel this is all false advertisement and extremely misleading. If we are willing to sail in these difficult times at least they should be honest about where they are taking us. I am about to become a platinum plus member, I can't deal with falsehoods and when my paid cruises are over so am I with NCL.

If you are about to become Plat+ you should know, somewhat, how cruising works.

 

When booking a cruise, you are never guaranteed ports, that is in the contract. IMHO, they advertise a cruise that they want to be able to offer but due to MANY variables it may not happen.  Again, read the contract you signed when you booked the cruise. Not false advertising at all.

Now more than ever the itineraries are moving target because of the Pandemic. Usually, the changes are not the fault of the CruiseLine but of the port itself or sometimes weather. I am surprised if you have cruised as much as you have you did not know this, but OK.

Very often changes are made the day of the ship's arrival to the port.

 

The onus is on you, really, to know what you are signed up for, just like any other contract you sign.

I recommend you do your homework, and you will be happier about what to expect when booking a cruise.

Happy sailing!

 

[Old & Retired]

One word answer, revenue.

[Pirateskigirl]

Grand Turk is currently only allowing one cruise ship in port a day.  

[ECCruise]

Having just come off 28 days on the Getaway with numerous changes and NCL was proactive on some of the changes and horrible on some of the others.  We were supposed to go to 2 ports in Israel.  As we got closer to the sailing we knew that Israel was not going to happen and when it was cancelled, NCL sent an email with the changes (Overnight in Istanbul was substituted) and we were fine with that.  

However, when Italy said they would not allow any ship that had been in Turkey to dock in Italy (where we had 3 ports), 2 ports in Turkey (as well as one in Valletta, Malta) were cancelled.  Guests were NOT informed of these major changes until they boarded the ship, even though the changes had been finalized a week or more before (those on B2B were given a letter informing them of the changes at that time, but no embarking passengers knew).

To add insult to injury, the Captain and the GM, at the Q and A session in the theater, when questioned why passengers were not informed, said, "oh, those changes only occurred 24 hours before you boarded," which was NOT the case.

[Cruisercl]

1 minute ago, ECCruise said:

Having just come off 28 days on the Getaway with numerous changes and NCL was proactive on some of the changes and horrible on some of the others.  We were supposed to go to 2 ports in Israel.  As we got closer to the sailing we knew that Israel was not going to happen and when it was cancelled, NCL sent an email with the changes (Overnight in Istanbul was substituted) and we were fine with that.  

However, when Italy said they would not allow any ship that had been in Turkey to dock in Italy (where we had 3 ports), 2 ports in Turkey (as well as one in Valletta, Malta) were cancelled.  Guests were NOT informed of these major changes until they boarded the ship, even though the changes had been finalized a week or more before (those on B2B were given a letter informing them of the changes at that time, but no embarking passengers knew).

To add insult to injury, the Captain and the GM, at the Q and A session in the theater, when questioned why passengers were not informed, said, "oh, those changes only occurred 24 hours before you boarded," which was NOT the case.

There is an old adage with seasoned cruisers that says, 'never cruise for a specific port because there is a good chance you won't go there'. This is true more than people realize. Lol.

[ECCruise]

6 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

There is an old adage with seasoned cruisers that says, 'never cruise for a specific port because there is a good chance you won't go there'. This is true more than people realize. Lol.

We are pretty seasoned (around 1200 days on ships) but that is not the point.  The point is that the changes were hidden from embarking pax until they were on the ship, even though the changes were made many days before that. Many had tours planned in the cancelled ports and had nothing planned for the replacement ports.  Giving those pax the notice that NCL already had would have given them an opportunity to make adjustments before leaving. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by ECCruise

[Cruisercl]

9 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

We are pretty seasoned (around 1200 days on ships) but that is not the point.  The point is that the changes were hidden from embarking pax until they were on the ship, even though the changes were made many days before that. Many had tours planned in the cancelled ports and had nothing planned for the replacement ports.  Giving those pax the notice that NCL already had would have given them an opportunity to make adjustments before leaving. 

It really is the point. If you cruise a lot, you should be educated about this.

 

It does seem you still expect things that the CruiseLine never guarantees in the contract.

Not sure why, if you knew it was changing, why you did not take care of the tour's reservations before you boarded. Otherwise, how did you know they changed it 'many days before'?

 

If the tours were not CruiseLine bought, the CruiseLine is very transparent about that and not guaranteeing anything regarding time and plans. No obligation from the CruiseLine. How would they know and really it is never about a small group of people?

It is about the group as a whole. It is well known that ALL cruise lines do this.

 

 

 

[ECCruise]

8 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

It really is the point. If you cruise a lot, you should be educated about this.

 

It does seem you still expect things that the CruiseLine never guarantees in the contract.

Not sure why, if you knew it was changing, why you did not take care of the tour's reservations before you boarded. Otherwise, how did you know they changed it 'many days before'?

 

If the tours were not CruiseLine bought, the CruiseLine is very transparent about that and not guaranteeing anything regarding time and plans. No obligation from the CruiseLine. How would they know and really it is never about a small group of people?

It is about the group as a whole. It is well known that ALL cruise lines do this.

 

 

 

Nope.  You really do NOT get the point.  At all.  Do me a favor and spend 20 seconds or so reading what I wrote. 

The point, which is glaringly obvious to everyone but some, obviously, is NOT that the changes were made, but that the changes were made and finalized and purposely hidden from pax until after they boarded the vessel. 

 

We knew about the changes because a B2B cruiser posted the changes here on CC.  NCL knew about the changes.  We made adjustments.  Hundreds and hundreds of pax, who are NOT on CC, knew nothing about them. 

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by ECCruise

[BermudaBound2014]

17 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

It really is the point. If you cruise a lot, you should be educated about this.

 

 

No, it really isn't the point. Maybe you should go back and reread the post from ECC. Regardless what the contract says, disseminating information is part of NCL's responsibility. And then to actually LIE about it is, well, absurd. 

[Cruisercl]

11 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Nope.  You really do NOT get the point.  At all.  Do me a favor and spend 20 seconds or so reading what I wrote. 

The point, which is glaringly obvious to everyone but some, obviously, is NOT that the changes were made, but that the changes were made and finalized and purposely hidden from pax until after they boarded the vessel. 

 

We knew about the changes because a B2B cruiser posted the changes here on CC.  NCL knew about the changes.  We made adjustments.  Hundreds and hundreds of pax, who are NOT on CC, knew nothing about them. 

 

Nope. 

I read what you wrote, and it appeared to be self-serving and not about what you signed up for when you signed the contract, but OK.

You need to read my points too, the CruiseLine is not obligated to tell people about changes, at all.

How do you know things were 'purposely hidden from pax until after they boarded the vessel.'?

Cruise critic is a cruise blog with lots of personal opinions and not necessarily facts.  This has been proven many times and a lot of what social media/the internet is.

Also, any non-cruiseline quality external shore excursion adapts or will cancel without penalty if the ship alters its itinerary; I have done this, it has happened and it was not a problem. 

 

[Cruisercl]

13 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

No, it really isn't the point. Maybe you should go back and reread the post from ECC. Regardless what the contract says, disseminating information is part of NCL's responsibility. And then to actually LIE about it is, well, absurd. 

Not sure where you get that, the contract is what it is all about. This is surely a personal opinion on your expectations though they are misguided.

There are no lies. Educating yourself about what you bought is pretty important.

[winemaker1]

2 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

Nope. 

I read what you wrote, and it appeared to be self-serving and not about what you signed up for when you signed the contract, but OK.

You need to read my points too, the CruiseLine is not obligated to tell people about changes, at all.

How do you know things were 'purposely hidden from pax until after they boarded the vessel.'?

Cruise critic is a cruise blog with lots of personal opinions and not necessarily facts.  This has been proven many times and a lot of what social media/the internet is.

Also, any non-cruiseline quality external shore excursion adapts or will cancel without penalty if the ship alters its itinerary; I have done this, it has happened and it was not a problem. 

 

The point is, the cruise line is advertising that it is stopping in ports that it is not stopping in. Soooo how do people make plans in ports when they don't know where they are going but are told they are going to ports that they are not going.????  Do you work for NCL ???

[ECCruise]

3 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

Nope. 

I read what you wrote, and it appeared to be self-serving and not about what you signed up for when you signed the contract, but OK.

You need to read my points too, the CruiseLine is not obligated to tell people about changes, at all.

How do you know things were 'purposely hidden from pax until after they boarded the vessel.'?

Cruise critic is a cruise blog with lots of personal opinions and not necessarily facts.  This has been proven many times and a lot of what social media/the internet is.

Also, any non-cruiseline quality external shore excursion adapts or will cancel without penalty if the ship alters its itinerary; I have done this, it has happened and it was not a problem. 

 

On and on about the "what you signed and the contract."

 

Yep.  This sure looks like personal opinions, and not facts.  Obviously a prescient cruiser who knew what the changes were going to be, a week before the sailing.

 

CYA.  Don't have time for school tonite.

 

[winemaker1]

Furthermore, as someone already stated, the cruise line is lying and advertising falsely by staing that it is stopping in ports that it KNOWS it is not stopping in. What kind of "contract" is that????

[BermudaBound2014]

2 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

Not sure where you get that, the contract is what it is all about. This is surely a personal opinion on your expectations though they are misguided.

There are no lies. Educating yourself about what you bought is pretty important.

 

It is true I have no first hand knowledge of a lie, but a lie was reported in this thread. 

1) BTB Passengers found out about itinerary changes in advance (in writing no less)

2) NCL failed to tell those boarding.

3) The "Captain and the GM, at the Q and A session in the theater, when questioned why passengers were not informed, said, "oh, those changes only occurred 24 hours before you boarded," which was NOT the case."

 

It's a he/said~she/said and in this case I believe the passenger.  I've personally witnessed equally shady behavior at sea. It's as if there can be a level of arrogance to ship officers (not all of course).

 

I don't have access to a contract. Can you please cut and paste the part in the contract that says that NCL is "not obligated to tell people about changes, at all."? If you can't find it in the contract no big deal, I'll run this by my brother in law who is a lawyer tomorrow. I suspect you are wrong. I believe NCL does hold responsibility to inform guests of changes in a timely fashion.

 

Furthermore, and probably most important, even if there is some ridiculous clause in the contract where NCL, in fact, "not obligated to tell people about changes, at all."....... it's simply wrong to withhold information of this nature. 

[Cruisercl]

Ok, if you can't have a discussion about what really happens with cruising that is ok.

Live and learn.

The CruiseLine will always default to the contract even if you don't like it.

I only was stating what actually happens when cruising, no opinions, only facts.

The photo that you included made my point.

Your complaints are not new with people who cruise and are not happy that they cannot get their own way or can't control the CruiseLine.

Safe sailing! 😊

 

 

[vpearlkc]

I learned long ago that cruise lines can not only change ports of call, but also change port of departure. It is all somewhere in the fine print that I never bother to read. 

[ECCruise]

Just now, vpearlkc said:

I learned long ago that cruise lines can not only change ports of call, but also change port of departure. It is all somewhere in the fine print that I never bother to read. 

Please read the thread.

This has absolutely nothing to do with changing ports of call.  Everyone is quite aware of that.  The point, which continues to elude, is the cruise line changing ports and then hiding that information from the pax. It literally is the title of the thread.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, vpearlkc said:

I learned long ago that cruise lines can not only change ports of call, but also change port of departure. It is all somewhere in the fine print that I never bother to read. 

 

They absolutely can. And do. Anyone who cruises must acknowledge this.

 

But that's not what we are chatting about. This discussion isn't about whether or not Cruise Lines have a right to change the itinerary, this conversation is about the responsibilities a cruise line holds IF a change is made. ECC seems to believe that cruise lines are "not obligated to tell people about changes, at all."?.... I disagree. I believe that disseminating information about itinerary changes in a timely fashion is a responsibility of a cruise line.

[ECCruise]

2 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

ECC seems to believe that cruise lines are "not obligated to tell people about changes, at all."?.... I disagree. I believe that disseminating information about itinerary changes in a timely fashion is a responsibility of a cruise line.

Not me....I believe the exact opposite. 

[BermudaBound2014]

7 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Not me....I believe the exact opposite. 

YIKES... I knew that. Sorry 😞 😞 😞 

[ECCruise]

Just now, BermudaBound2014 said:

YIKES... I knew that. Sorry 😞 😞 😞 

No worries. 😉