Newbie HELP NEEDED.. Any Suggestions with Air Assignments?

[suev1]

I convinced my sister who never travels to take a Mediterranean cruise out of Rome with our husbands this Sept. We haven't even left for the ship yet and she already has a foul taste in her mouth from a few unfortunate incidences. - 2 of their booked excursions were cancelled by NCL  and after that, we made our final payments together over the phone with a customer rep because we had a couple of changes to make before final payment. Lo and behold, her whole reservation got automatically cancelled two days later because the rep misquoted the amount owed because of a delay in the computer updating correct amount.. She had to make another $1600 payment to rebook her shore excursions so they didn't get booked up while waiting for the refunds come through from the cancellation. Anyway...

I called today to make certain our reservations were still linked so that our flights will be booked together. I was told that they cannot guaranty that anymore., , they have done away with that ability. WHAT!?   My sister's going to go off the deep end,, I decided to reach out to some of you for suggestions. She does not travel well and I am afraid she just won't do it without me there. Oh, how I wish I never had this GRAND IDEA in the first place. 

[hallux]

1 minute ago, suev1 said:

I was told that they cannot guaranty that anymore., , they have done away with that ability. WHAT!?

In case you haven't noticed, airlines are in turmoil right now.  Depending on who you ask, you might even be told you'll be lucky to get to your embarkation port on time.  With flights being cancelled left and right, rescheduled at the last minute, etc., any plane flying is going to be packed full.  They'll get two people on one flight but trying to get four on the same flights might be a challenge, complicated even more in the event your original flight is cancelled.

5 minutes ago, suev1 said:

My sister's going to go off the deep end,, I decided to reach out to some of you for suggestions. She does not travel well and I am afraid she just won't do it without me there.

The only way to absolutely ensure that was to book you in the same cabin as her.

 

At the very least, I hope NCL refunded the fees charged for the TWG.  Others on the board received a letter or notification of some kind that their TWG was being cancelled and the money refunded.

[suev1]

Hallux, I am well aware of the airline turmoil.. I've been employed by one for the last 22 years. I was in South Africa with a group of 8 adults in April when Johannesburg shut down for a week because of a fuel shortage. I know all about clusters. But when you are booked directly with an airline, they got us all on a flight together to get back home because they care about customer service. NCL seemed to be so flippant about the situation. Quite disappointing! 

[wil e coyote]

@suev1, I am sorry to hear of the stress this is causing you and your family. I don't think there is anything that can be done by the folks on this forum - it sounds like you are very well versed in the challenges that the airlines are dealing with right now.

At this point, I think your only options are to book your own flights and seek a refund from NCL for the airfare, or to gut it out and take the flights you get from NCL. There a chance that you all could end up on the same flights. 

Cruise well, and good luck!