We hit something.

[jskinsd]

36 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

So, my original question still stands.  How did the final amount of FCC you received compare dollar-for-dollar with the amounts shown on your original cruise payment confirmation?  Was the FCC equal to the total amount you had paid, or just the amount originally designated as "cruise fare", or some other amount?

You seem to know a lot.  What was your compensation for your incident ✌️

[TaffyDad]

It would be nice if NCL could send out a note letting those of us booked on upcoming voyages on the Sun…if they are going.  Ours is 7/5 and that is getting very, very close to have to scramble.  No reason not to communicate with guests.  Just leaves a bad taste.

[casofilia]

@TaffyDad

 

It might be a little difficult to plan too far ahead.  It will depend on what they find when they do a full exploration when they get to Seattle.

 

But I would agree that, as your cruise is only 7 days away that they should make a decision about your cruise "yesterday"!!!   Another but, did you book directly or through a TA?   If the latter hassle them NOW!!

[The Traveling Man]

22 minutes ago, jskinsd said:

You seem to know a lot.  What was your compensation for your incident ✌️

There are a couple of occasions that stand out.  The first was a cruise on the Star in February 2017.  The ship lost all propulsion in the Tasman Sea and had to be towed back to Melbourne.  The Captain issued a letter advising that we would receive a "full refund of all monies paid" plus some FCC plus we got to stay on board, although we did miss all the remaining interim ports while repairs were performed in Melbourne.  Once the bean counters at NCL HQ in Miami got hold of things, though, the refund was reduced to just the amount designated as the cruise fare.  I disputed the amount, using the NCL "case submission" protocol.  The response I received was essentially "that's the way we always do it."  After five months of haggling with them, we finally received a second refund to our credit card which amounted to the total of the taxes, port fees, prepaid shore excursions, prepaid gratuities, etc.  So eventually we did receive a full refund, but the process was like pulling teeth.

 

On another occasion, we cancelled a cruise on the Pearl when we read on the CC roll call for the previous cruise that they had experienced a humongous Norovirus outbreak.  We were antsy about boarding a ship so soon after a major outbreak, so we cancelled at the last minute, less than 48 hours before our scheduled boarding time.  Without us having to ask for it, NCL automatically refunded our taxes, port fees, prepaid gratuities, etc.  We then had to deal with our insurance only for the amount of the cruise fare.  It has been my experience that there is a great deal of inconsistency in the way NCL handles refunds for cancellations and curtailed cruises, so I like to keep my finger on the pulse.

[The Traveling Man]

41 minutes ago, TaffyDad said:

It would be nice if NCL could send out a note letting those of us booked on upcoming voyages on the Sun…if they are going.  Ours is 7/5 and that is getting very, very close to have to scramble.  No reason not to communicate with guests.  Just leaves a bad taste.

NCL may be overly cautious about sending out info too soon as a result of an experience in 2016/2017 on the Star.  One of the Azipod propulsion units failed in December as the ship left Singapore for Hong Kong.  It limped along at about half speed for almost two weeks, missing several port stops along the way.  Passengers on that cruise received a refund of a portion of their fare plus some FCC.  The ship was still running on one screw on the return to Singapore, so more ports were missed and a slightly different rate of reimbursement was offered.  The Star laid over in Singapore for several days to repair the Azipod, then sailed toward Australia at full speed, although a couple of days behind schedule, so more ports were missed and another different rate of compensation was offered.  Sure enough, a day or two out of Singapore, the other Azipod failed, so the ship again dropped to about half-speed and even more port calls had to be cancelled.  By the time the ship limped into Sydney, NCL had already rewritten the itinerary for the cruise out of Sydney as well as the following cruise from Auckland back to Singapore.  Once again, two more different rates of compensation were offered to those who had reservations on each of those cruises.  In the wee hours of the morning on February 10, 2017, as the ship sailed from Melbourne and made its way into the Tasman Sea, yep, you guessed it, the recently repaired Azipod failed again, leaving the ship adrift.  You can imagine the hand wringing that was going on in Miami.  With another shipload of passengers scheduled to board in Auckland, some of whom had already boarded flights for New Zealand, plus another group of passengers set to board at Singapore, NCL had no idea if they would be able to complete their first "Around The World Cruise" at all, much less on schedule.  They began notifying passengers on the next several upcoming cruises of changes in the planned itinerary, offering refunds and FCC in varying amounts, and in effect throwing up their hands.  Well, the Azipods finally were repaired, the ship was able to resume a normal schedule, and about 2000 of us, including my wife and me, sailed from Auckland to Singapore free of charge PLUS we got FCC equal to 50% of the original cost of that cruise.  I can understand why NCL would now rather take a wait-and-see attitude about notifying passengers about possible cancellations or itinerary changes.  Sorry this post has been so long, but I wanted to give the full picture.

Edited June 28, 2022 by The Traveling Man

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

...

Why don't you ask someone with unlimited funding, like the US Navy, why their radars and sonars cannot filter out surface clutter any better than commercial ones.

🤣

[PATRLR]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Why don't you ask someone with unlimited funding, like the US Navy, why their radars and sonars cannot filter out surface clutter any better than commercial ones.

This is kind of interesting point to me.  

I was an engineer for many years in the Navy's lead underwater sound lab.  Our focus was on finding and identifying big objects in deep water (e.g. Soviet boomers) a problem that they had solved but we continued to improve upon.  As the cold war ended, and smaller regional crises became the focus, the focus started to shift to finding small objects in shallow water. It was about that time that I left the lab and defense work.  That was 30 years ago.

I guess they never really solved that problem? 

[jskinsd]

49 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

There are a couple of occasions that stand out.  The first was a cruise on the Star in February 2017.  The ship lost all propulsion in the Tasman Sea and had to be towed back to Melbourne.  The Captain issued a letter advising that we would receive a "full refund of all monies paid" plus some FCC plus we got to stay on board, although we did miss all the remaining interim ports while repairs were performed in Melbourne.  Once the bean counters at NCL HQ in Miami got hold of things, though, the refund was reduced to just the amount designated as the cruise fare.  I disputed the amount, using the NCL "case submission" protocol.  The response I received was essentially "that's the way we always do it."  After five months of haggling with them, we finally received a second refund to our credit card which amounted to the total of the taxes, port fees, prepaid shore excursions, prepaid gratuities, etc.  So eventually we did receive a full refund, but the process was like pulling teeth.

 

On another occasion, we cancelled a cruise on the Pearl when we read on the CC roll call for the previous cruise that they had experienced a humongous Norovirus outbreak.  We were antsy about boarding a ship so soon after a major outbreak, so we cancelled at the last minute, less than 48 hours before our scheduled boarding time.  Without us having to ask for it, NCL automatically refunded our taxes, port fees, prepaid gratuities, etc.  We then had to deal with our insurance only for the amount of the cruise fare.  It has been my experience that there is a great deal of inconsistency in the way NCL handles refunds for cancellations and curtailed cruises, so I like to keep my finger on the pulse.

Well I am happy with the way NCL handled our situation.  One of the few times I paid rack rate and now I can parlay that into two cruises.✌️

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

So, my original question still stands.  How did the final amount of FCC you received compare dollar-for-dollar with the amounts shown on your original cruise payment confirmation?  Was the FCC equal to the total amount you had paid, or just the amount originally designated as "cruise fare", or some other amount?

It was cruise fare + non-tax/non-port fees

[Laszlo]

6 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

No, the ships don't have sonar.  And, anyway, a growler would be lost in the "surface clutter" of waves, even for the most advanced sonar out there.  Just as waves give false echoes to radar, they do the same for sonar, which is essentially the same principal.

 

What the Titanic brought about was SOLAS, with mandatory lifesaving equipment, and as far as icebergs, better watertight integrity to mitigate a strike.  Titanic did not sink because she struck an iceberg, she sank because she was not designed to survive one.

My buddies father has a Fleming 65ft, she has forward looking sonar. I never fully understood the point. I guess its great to have but with its limited forward looking range it would be very hard to bring that size of ship to a halt while moving at any cruising speed

[Shel71]

2 hours ago, jskinsd said:

Well I am happy with the way NCL handled our situation.  One of the few times I paid rack rate and now I can parlay that into two cruises.✌️

I actually kind of envy you. You got to hit my favorite ports (Sitka and Icy Strait) and then Hubbard. Sounds like you're headed back through the inside Passage? With a full refund and a 100% FCC. Plus, you get to say you were on a ship that hit an iceberg! We're on the Sun sailing on the 5th wondering if it'll get canceled and sounds like we'd only get a refund and 50% FCC and no vacation at all so I kind of wish I was on your sailing!

[fstuff1]

Link to grommet iceberg hitting ncl sun:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1541764170772844545

 

Waiting to hear what damage to the ship.

[fstuff1]

7 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Why don't you ask someone with unlimited funding, like the US Navy, why their radars and sonars cannot filter out surface clutter any better than commercial ones.

 

a few years ago, a big cargo container ship ran into a Navy destroyer and made a big dent in it's armored hull.

And 3 sailors on the destroyer died 😞

 

so apparently unlimited funding wasn't enough :o

Edited June 29, 2022 by fstuff1

[volk904]

While the next Sun cruise out of Seattle is canceled there is 3-4 cruises with cabins sailing out Seattle this weekend including a. 7 day on the NCL Bliss.  Princess has some really good prices on their cruise.  

Edited June 29, 2022 by volk904

[thebennmel]

On 6/27/2022 at 12:44 PM, jskinsd said:

And the crew are working there a#@es off.  

 

 

I was on the NCL Sun last week and loved this crew! I hope they're taken care of if the ship is ported a while. Any idea what happens to them while work is being done on the ship?

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

Link to grommet iceberg hitting ncl sun:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1541764170772844545

 

Waiting to hear what damage to the ship.

 

This is quite a video!  Thanks!

That "growler" looks larger than the dimensions that were given for a growler...

 

So... was someone just holding a camera in case an iceberg hit that side of the ship? 😉

 

GC

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, Laszlo said:

My buddies father has a Fleming 65ft, she has forward looking sonar. I never fully understood the point. I guess its great to have but with its limited forward looking range it would be very hard to bring that size of ship to a halt while moving at any cruising speed

Even forward looking sonar would be downward pointing, looking for the bottom coming up to meet the boat.  Surface clutter would likely not even show up.  But when a piece of ice, which has a similar reflective effect to the surrounding sea water, is not significantly higher than the water level, or the wave tops (each wave creates a new target), it becomes virtually impossible to detect.  Radars and sonars have clutter adjustments to remove unwanted reflections, but that doesn't discriminate against objects of the same size, even if they are of different materials.

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Even forward looking sonar would be downward pointing, looking for the bottom coming up to meet the boat.  Surface clutter would likely not even show up.  But when a piece of ice, which has a similar reflective effect to the surrounding sea water, is not significantly higher than the water level, or the wave tops (each wave creates a new target), it becomes virtually impossible to detect.  Radars and sonars have clutter adjustments to remove unwanted reflections, but that doesn't discriminate against objects of the same size, even if they are of different materials.

The newer sonar and radar are pretty amazing. I had a 4KW radar on my boat, I could tune it to see birds. Some of the 3D side scanning sonar is pretty impressive

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

There are a couple of occasions that stand out.  The first was a cruise on the Star in February 2017.  The ship lost all propulsion in the Tasman Sea and had to be towed back to Melbourne.  The Captain issued a letter advising that we would receive a "full refund of all monies paid" plus some FCC plus we got to stay on board, although we did miss all the remaining interim ports while repairs were performed in Melbourne.  Once the bean counters at NCL HQ in Miami got hold of things, though, the refund was reduced to just the amount designated as the cruise fare.  I disputed the amount, using the NCL "case submission" protocol.  The response I received was essentially "that's the way we always do it."  After five months of haggling with them, we finally received a second refund to our credit card which amounted to the total of the taxes, port fees, prepaid shore excursions, prepaid gratuities, etc.  So eventually we did receive a full refund, but the process was like pulling teeth.

 

On another occasion, we cancelled a cruise on the Pearl when we read on the CC roll call for the previous cruise that they had experienced a humongous Norovirus outbreak.  We were antsy about boarding a ship so soon after a major outbreak, so we cancelled at the last minute, less than 48 hours before our scheduled boarding time.  Without us having to ask for it, NCL automatically refunded our taxes, port fees, prepaid gratuities, etc.  We then had to deal with our insurance only for the amount of the cruise fare.  It has been my experience that there is a great deal of inconsistency in the way NCL handles refunds for cancellations and curtailed cruises, so I like to keep my finger on the pulse.

Having been through this, the credit will not match any documents you have.  It will be lowest of any number you can figure.  This was for a curtailed cruise.

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

The newer sonar and radar are pretty amazing. I had a 4KW radar on my boat, I could tune it to see birds. Some of the 3D side scanning sonar is pretty impressive

While I agree with this, a bird is a solid object in air.  Radar cannot see below the water, nor can sonar see above the water.  The water surface is essentially a solid surface to those waves, so objects in the zone of the surface cannot be discriminated from the surface.

[Laszlo]

47 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

While I agree with this, a bird is a solid object in air.  Radar cannot see below the water, nor can sonar see above the water.  The water surface is essentially a solid surface to those waves, so objects in the zone of the surface cannot be discriminated from the surface.

Sorry, I wasn't really trying to compare the two. Just saying that radar and sonar for the small boater like me has come leaps and bounds in the last 25 years. Just looking back at the fish finders of 25 years ago to now its unreal. And radar is actually affordable to small boat owners

[fstuff1]

10 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Sorry, I wasn't really trying to compare the two. Just saying that radar and sonar for the small boater like me has come leaps and bounds in the last 25 years. Just looking back at the fish finders of 25 years ago to now its unreal. And radar is actually affordable to small boat owners

Lidar or go home 

(i actually have no idea what it is. Just heard about because Tesla self-driving, or lack thereof)

Edited June 29, 2022 by fstuff1

[Laszlo]

3 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

Lidar or go home 

(i actually have no idea what it is. Just heard about because Tesla self-driving, or lack thereof)

You have Lidar on your iPhone if its one of the newer ones

[jskinsd]

11 hours ago, Shel71 said:

I actually kind of envy you. You got to hit my favorite ports (Sitka and Icy Strait) and then Hubbard. Sounds like you're headed back through the inside Passage? With a full refund and a 100% FCC. Plus, you get to say you were on a ship that hit an iceberg! We're on the Sun sailing on the 5th wondering if it'll get canceled and sounds like we'd only get a refund and 50% FCC and no vacation at all so I kind of wish I was on your sailing!

I was wrong about Canada's inside passage.  I guess the damage wasn't severe enough to go through so we went by way of the Pacific ocean.  2 1/2 sea days.  Just like returning to LA from Puerto Vallarta.  Oh well.  I have had a wonderful cruise.  And the weather was spectacular. Looking forward for my next free NCL cruise.✌️

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by jskinsd

[GonzoWCS]

Oh geez.  Following!

 

Cheers