NCL cancels Copenhagen port stop at last minute for Dawn Aug. 24, no explanation

[sverigecruiser]

3 hours ago, tetleytea said:

 Why not Gotheberg on Wednesday morning?

 

Some may dislike to loose the day at sea. It's difficult to satisfy everyone.

[Cruise Wonderland]

7 hours ago, susiesan said:

I still think NCL owes me the port taxes for Copenhagen that I paid in my ticket. Even if it is a small amount, it is dishonest of them to keep that money. I'll take OBC and buy a few cocktails with it to soothe my disappointment.

 

Cancelling a port does not always come with a port tax refund. I have experienced many times of port cancellation on NCL or other cruise lines. In most of the cases there were neither refund nor OBC.

Edited August 12, 2022 by Cruise Wonderland

[Ulsteinvik]

Here an info from the port of Amsterdam about this problem. 

https://sea.cruiseportamsterdam.com/adjusted-passage-regime-at-ijmuiden-sea-lock-affects-calls-at-cruise-port-amsterdam/

[susiesan]

My TA asked NCL about a refund of the port taxes and was told no refund as NCL is considering Amsterdam as a port stop. Except for the fact we were already going to be there on Friday 8/26 and have already paid the port tax. NCL is double dipping for Amsterdam port taxes.

[tetleytea]

18 minutes ago, susiesan said:

My TA asked NCL about a refund of the port taxes and was told no refund as NCL is considering Amsterdam as a port stop. Except for the fact we were already going to be there on Friday 8/26 and have already paid the port tax. NCL is double dipping for Amsterdam port taxes.

Thank you for letting us know on CC.

[Yesimapirate]

24 minutes ago, susiesan said:

My TA asked NCL about a refund of the port taxes and was told no refund as NCL is considering Amsterdam as a port stop. Except for the fact we were already going to be there on Friday 8/26 and have already paid the port tax. NCL is double dipping for Amsterdam port taxes.

You get to Amsterdam a day early.   That's the extra port tax.

 

You might have a more enjoyable cruise if you waited for facts before going ballistic and blaming a company for repeatedly stealing from you.  

[DCGuy64]

19 hours ago, wil e coyote said:

I tried really hard to scroll by this, but...I...just...can't...today.

This falls in the category of "big bad companies are out to get us" conspiracy theories. I guess there are people who think that companies have departments devoted to coming up with new ways to sc#@w their customers, rather than the alternate view that these companies are trying to deliver what they advertised, but stuff happens. Every time a change like this happens, I am guessing it drives call volumes and complaints, so there is actually a disincentive to change the itinerary. I'm certainly not trying to defend NCL or any specific company - I just get irked by the default assumption that something nefarious is going on. (I understand the OP did not make this assertion, but it was made by someone(s) on another board.)

 

I agree this is not the world's most informative statement, but it is true. And it saves the folks at NCL from having to re-craft their letter every time they have to send one out. I know others would prefer more details, but the details don't really change anything.

Comments like yours (which I heartily agree with) are partly why I'm sad Cruise Critic disabled the private messaging function, because I would love to reach out and chat more about this offline. By no means am I saying this is restricted to CC, but there SO many armchair quarterbacks out there who, no matter happens, insist a company "should have done this" or "should have anticipated that" or "should have done better." I often wonder what industry many of our fellow passengers are/were in that they can pontificate, criticize and second guess NCL, etc. whenever things don't go their way. I suspect if they were to actually work for a cruise line, they wouldn't be so judgmental.

[Maria63]

12 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I suspect if they were to actually work for a cruise line, they wouldn't be so judgmental.

For my part, I do agree with you up to a certain point.

 

But on the other hand, my DH & I were caught up in the "eye of the storm" when things were becoming truly chaotic in Feb 2020. We had planned to cruise around Southeast Asia & Japan with different companies and had upcoming and paid for cruises lined up, and were already in the region when the circus began. The cruise companies across the board waited to the last minute to announce cancellations, and it did become rather obvious that the game was to get the customer to cancel in order to avoid having to pay out cash refunds and be able to just give FCC instead. (I won't bore you with the details, but what I'm saying can be verified if you read the old roll-call for Celebrity Millennium Asia Feb 15, 2020).

[Maria63]

To clarify my post above, our experience was certainly that the people working on the ship itself will do their best to satisfy the customer if a crisis hits. However, unless the ship is actually underway, the bean counters at head office get to call the shots and can override a decision already made by the ship's personnel.

[Turtles06]

19 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

because I would love to reach out and chat more about this offline

You are free to post an email address at which you can be contacted, and many do.  

[MoCruiseFan]

On 8/10/2022 at 11:22 PM, susiesan said:

I will be boarding Norwegian Dawn 6 days from now in Stockholm, on Aug. 16 ending in Amsterdam Aug. 26.  NCL sent us all an email today cancelling our last port of Copenhagen on Aug. 24. They are not giving a reason and not offering a refund of port taxes in the form of OBC. I looked at the Port of Copenhagen web site, there are 3 other ships there on Aug. 24 so the port is not closed. They are making Aug. 24 a day at sea and having us arrive in Amsterdam at 4:00 on Aug. 25, leaving no time to do anything there. We will overnight and embark on schedule on Aug. 26. This cruise was to have only 1 sea day, not 2.

 

How can I find out why NCL would do this at the last minute? Is it likely there will be some compensation for missing one of the best ports with no explanation?

 

No explanation needed.  Ports can and do change at any time for any reason.  You MIGHT be able to find out why by simply asking the Captain.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, MoCruiseFan said:

No explanation needed.  Ports can and do change at any time for any reason.

 

Regarding the specific, pre-cruise, short-notice change of which the OP has posted, I disagree, for the reasons I've already explained above.  It's foolish for a business to fail to explain unwelcome news, particularly when, as here, there are circumstances beyond the business's control.   NCL could readily have informed guests of the lock situation outside Amsterdam (as did RCI, see comment 18 above).

 

[tetleytea]

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Regarding the specific, pre-cruise, short-notice change of which the OP has posted, I disagree, for the reasons I've already explained above.  It's foolish for a business to fail to explain unwelcome news, particularly when, as here, there are circumstances beyond the business's control.   NCL could readily have informed guests of the lock situation outside Amsterdam (as did RCI, see comment 18 above).

 

I agree too--I'm sorry, but an explanation IS required.  The cruise lines are making decisions on behalf of paying customers.

 

And, this is Cruise Critic.  All rights are reserved to second guess, judge, or speculate about the cruise line at all times.  Or praise--it goes both ways.

 

[Maria63]

15 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

No explanation needed.  Ports can and do change at any time for any reason.  You MIGHT be able to find out why by simply asking the Captain.

 

You are quite right that explanations aren't mandatory per se. But it's often unwise not to give one when at all possible, as it results in unhappy and confused customers then ringing up TAs and reps, and/or queing up at guest relations in a negative mood with lots of questions. And this is an unnecessary stress factor for the lower level staff who have to bear the brunt of customer dissatisfaction. Simple but good communication can work wonders towards keeping everybody happy, relaxed and free from stress.

[DAVLIB007]

thats terrible thats one of my favorite stops

[complawyer]

dont feel left out. we're booked on the star from southampton to copenhagen sept 16th thru 26th. one of the ports was berlin (which i was interested in seeing) and like your copenhagen port, this was cancelled with no explanation. to add insult to injury, i only found out about this when i went to book a shore excursion and saw it was no longer there.

 

i dont knock ncl (although i'm not crazy about some of the chicken s**t they pull) but they could have at least notified us of the change 

[em-sk]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:53 AM, susiesan said:

My TA asked NCL about a refund of the port taxes and was told no refund as NCL is considering Amsterdam as a port stop. Except for the fact we were already going to be there on Friday 8/26 and have already paid the port tax. NCL is double dipping for Amsterdam port taxes.

 

Most ports charge fess based the number of hours the ship is docked and in port.  Going from 8 hours in port to an entire day will likely cost them more. 

[KeithJenner]

I have sometimes received a refund onboard for any ports that have been missed once you have sailed, but not always.

 

I’ve never received anything back for any changes made before sailing (except once when the cruise was shortened by a day and we got a pro rata refund for that day).

[cameronp12]

16 hours ago, complawyer said:

dont feel left out. we're booked on the star from southampton to copenhagen sept 16th thru 26th. one of the ports was berlin (which i was interested in seeing) and like your copenhagen port, this was cancelled with no explanation. to add insult to injury, i only found out about this when i went to book a shore excursion and saw it was no longer there.

 

i dont knock ncl (although i'm not crazy about some of the chicken s**t they pull) but they could have at least notified us of the change 

We are on the sailing after yours on the Star - 9/26-10/6 starting in Copenhagen. When did you find out Warnemunde is cancelled? I just looked on the cruise planner and ours still shows it will be going there. We already have an excursion booked there as well. Weird they would cancel it for one of the cruises but not the other…

[Ulsteinvik]

4 minutes ago, cameronp12 said:

We are on the sailing after yours on the Star - 9/26-10/6 starting in Copenhagen. When did you find out Warnemunde is cancelled? I just looked on the cruise planner and ours still shows it will be going there. We already have an excursion booked there as well. Weird they would cancel it for one of the cruises but not the other…

Warnemunde is fully booked on 24 Sep 22 that's why they had to cancel it.

Construction work is currently taking place on the 3rd large berth in Warnemunde where NCL Star should dock. It doesn't affect your cruise.

[cameronp12]

33 minutes ago, Ulsteinvik said:

Warnemunde is fully booked on 24 Sep 22 that's why they had to cancel it.

Construction work is currently taking place on the 3rd large berth in Warnemunde where NCL Star should dock. It doesn't affect your cruise.

Interesting. Good call. Just checked the port schedule and looks like we are the only ship in on 9/27 so that’s great news!

[complawyer]

cameronp12. we were never (and still havent been) notified of the cancelation. i only discovered it when i was checking out the shore excursions and found that port was no longer on the itinerary. on he other hand, we are booked for a cruise next july, and have already been notified of ports cancelation. actually due to this, im canceling that sailing