Need advice regarding customer service issue....

[Goldryder]

Cecelia..

 

I booked Jan 7th 2006 for the 20 night cruise/stay from Santiago to Philadelphia on NCL Crown.

 

Two weeks ago I was contacted by an Australian CC member that they had been booked as part of a private charter of NCL Crown from Miami on the 21st April 2007.

 

I questioned when this charter had been booked/confirmed and was told December 2005.

 

My original end date was 24th April 2007 at Philadelphia. His was start date 21st April 2007 in Miami.

 

The ship could not be doing two things at one go. I checked on the NCL system and it still showed end date of 24th April, I contacted NCL Miami to ask for clarification, they did not answer but the following day my end date changed to 21st April 2007 on their system. But I still did not get anything in writing til Saturday.

 

I had written confirmation a week before I was told of the charter, telling me that my end date was 24th April 2007 and a day room at the Hyatt in Philadelphia had been reserved and flights were being arranged.

 

Which means that NCL KNEW about the charter and had confirmed it and taken deposits for it BEFORE accepting my booking for the 20 night cruise/stay ending in Philadelphia. They continued to take deposits for the original 20 night cruise/stay right up until this past Saturday.

 

A letter was sent from Miami on Saturday, this last weekend, saying a charter had been booked thus the cruise would be cut short.

 

This was sent two weeks after I asked the question asking them to confirm a charter had infact been booked.

 

They had simply forgotten to tell anyone, including their own staff on the ship and worldwide offices about the charter and that the cruise was now a 16 night cruise stay losing 3 days on board, 1 port and a change of destination.

[seahorse]

Goldryder,

 

My 2 cents........I really feel your disappointment. No matter what anyone says......."It happens all the time"....blah, blah, blah.....the disappointment is still there. It has led to frustration and now anger at NCL. I do not blame you one bit.

 

I think that the best of your cruise is still there even tho you are losing sea days and I believe one stop?? I didn`t go back and see.

 

I shouldn`t be dis-loyal but I would rather Miami be my last stop then Philadelphia:o

 

No cruise line has a chain of communication unfortunately, and I have dealt with them all. It seems that one department is clueless about another.

 

My worse case was with Costa......I had a large group of all suite passengers sailing the Med. Costa canceled out on the entire ship 3 weeks prior to sailing:eek: All my pax did their own air.

 

The reason?? They chartered the ship to a Plumber`s Union:rolleyes:

[mrleo33]

Goldendryer, I understand completely what you're saying and you're 100% correct. You should expect to be informed of an itinerary change as soon as it occurs and not find out about it by chance from another cruiser. You are entitled to a reduction in fare since you will be taking a 17 day cruise as opposed to the 20 day cruise you originally booked. I also think that if they accepted your booking for the 20 day itinerary after they had already chartered the ship for the other party resulting in a shortened cruise for you, that would be a very unsavory business practice in my book.

I do not understand it when people insist that you settle for this kind of treatment. Its like they think that as long as it doesn't cost you anything and you don't suffer financial damages, companies are entitled to treat their customers like crap. I am sick and tired of seeing companies get away with this type of shoddy service. They are doing it, because we've allowed it to go on. We've accepted it.

I applaud your decision to take your business elsewhere.

I am fighting my own customer service issues with NCL right now too. My issues are not earth shattering, no one will live or die based on the outcome. I am giving them an opportunity to put things right and provide decent customer service, but you are justified in your frustrations. Lets send a clear message to these companies, if they want our business then earn it. Earn our business and our loyalty.

[jaxon41]

jaxon, this situation is nothing like the Dream problems. Like it or not and most of do not the almighty $$ does talk. That being said, I really don't think Goldryder has much to be so upset about. The disappointment factor is there, I wouldn't be very happy either, but there's stil time to change to another ship, another line or another type of vacation. As for investigating business practices I really don't think that will happen in the near future. This is why I am always reluctant to book clients too far in advance and why the published itineraries quite often do not come out til about a year ahead. I have clients right now that are ready to book next sping (late spring) or early summer for transatlantic or Europe. Very few itineraries are available. BTW this does not mean I don't feel for those who have these things happen, I just know it isn't going to change soon. NMnita

 

While it is not on all 4's with the Dream situation, I agree, the similarity is in the line's continuing to book passengers on a trip/itinerary that it knew it could not deliver. That IS where the fraud exists, btw. Gold...'s problem is slightly different in that s/he booked prior to the private chartering, I believe, so the line could have delivered the itinerary at that point. I do think changes will come in the industry when you have conscientous AG's who take up the call -- I guess how soon it will happen would take a debate on "soon," but I would tend to agree with you -- nothing happens soon enough.

[cruiser-dude]

(I hope this is not annoying - I just love this guy...)

 

{cruiser-dude emerges from the onboard telephone booth..}

 

Greetings, fellow citizens! It is Captain Obvious, bringing justice to the clueless!

 

We have discussed at length the need for proper communication. It appears that, as far as Goldryder's situation, NCL has notified of the changes, offered the option of a full refund or meaningful credit, and done this so far in advance that even my "faster than a speeding bullet" flying would not have taken me that far into the future. I must applaud NCL on this one. Job well done.

 

Goldryder, I must be off to save those who are truly in danger of the evil cruise lines. Are you really my evil nemesis, or just disguised as such?

 

[sjbdtz]

(I hope this is not annoying - I just love this guy...)

 

{cruiser-dude emerges from the onboard telephone booth..}

 

Greetings, fellow citizens! It is Captain Obvious, bringing justice to the clueless!

 

We have discussed at length the need for proper communication. It appears that, as far as Goldryder's situation, NCL has notified of the changes, offered the option of a full refund or meaningful credit, and done this so far in advance that even my "faster than a speeding bullet" flying would not have taken me that far into the future. I must applaud NCL on this one. Job well done.

 

Goldryder, I must be off to save those who are truly in danger of the evil cruise lines. Are you really my evil nemesis, or just disguised as such?

 

 

 

Cruiser-Dude, I agree with you 100% but am afraid that your post comes dangerously close to a personal attack, and that's probably unwarranted.

 

Goldryder is definately over-reacting, but doesn't deserve the type of insult insinuated herein. :(

 

Stephen

[cruiser-dude]

There's no personal attack. Just my opinion, and I'm trying to make us giggle a little and have fun instead of fight with each other unrelentlessly. Actually, there now exists an argument that you are stepping in toe to toe with me... And I still feel NCL is really doing well on this, communicating the changes and even the reason for changes hugely in advance. This is something that is really pleasant to see, in light of the goofy way they have handled a lot of recent things.

 

By the way, I could certainly start naming names of those who come in to these boards every day and fire cannons at everyone with no recourse. That would not be me, fellow citizen.

 

Anyway, I kinda appreciate your concern. I was just spouting superhero baloney - Goldryder is not anyone's nemesis, just disgruntled a little. Note my foot-shaped mouth below...

 

[Goldryder]

So pleased that you think a cruise line is in the right to accept a booking and a deposit on an advertised cruise AFTER they have already booked/confirmed/been paid for another cruise on that same ship that clashes with the advertised one and don't bother to alert anyone for 3 months that the original itinerary would not be as advertised and only alerting people AFTER their error had been picked up and enquired about.

 

My cruise on the original 20 night cruise/stay was confirmed in writing including hotels in Santiago and Philadelphia 3 weeks ago (in mid February 2006), I booked it in January 2006. The private charter was booked and confirmed in writing at the end of December 2005.

 

All I am saying is that they should have withdrawn the cruise from advertisements the minute that the charter was accepted and that anyone booking should have been advised that the itinerary was changed. Its called common courtesy.

[Goldryder]

As a footnote to the above..

 

Just found out from the booking confirmation system that 2 ports of call have now been dropped, instead of just one.

 

The ship sails direct non-stop from Salaverry to Miami via the Canal and misses the the stop that would normally allow a visit to Panama City and Puerto Limon.

 

2 ports and 3 days dropped.

[newmexicoNita]

I think we are all fighting a losing battle here: Goldryder has a mind set on what he/she thinks is right; we could go on all day and into next year and not change her/his mind. I am one that will not bother anymore, but will find other threads to respond to; subjects where we can help each other and where we listen to each other, like the one on Celebrity versus NCl; everyone put in thier 2 cents worth and helped the OP make a decision. That is what I like about these boards. NMnita

[Host CMLA]

As a footnote to the above..

 

Just found out from the booking confirmation system that 2 ports of call have now been dropped, instead of just one.

 

The ship sails direct non-stop from Salaverry to Miami via the Canal and misses the the stop that would normally allow a visit to Panama City and Puerto Limon.

 

2 ports and 3 days dropped.

Sooooo...are you going to cancel your cruise? Accept the new itinerary and make the best of it? Or continue to talk about it here until final payment is due at which time a decision will have to be made? I don't get a feeling either way about what you want to do. Have you decided?

[Goldryder]

Cancelled and booked with another company.

 

My TA is furious about the way the episode was handled by NCL and he has withdrawn the now butchered cruise from his list.

 

My confidence was good with NCL, but after they booked two cruises on the same ship that overlapped and the fact they didn't have the courtesy to advise anyone, that confidence is shattered.

 

I shall be sailing on the 19000 tonne Braemar for a superb Transatlantic cruise with first class flights for less outlay and more days instead next year, from Jamaica to Dover, via Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda and Azores.

 

I love the Norwegian Crown and her crew, as I do Norwegian Jewel too, but after the way I was treated by NCL as a whole, that has sullied my experiences completely.

[sunandsea4me]

The common thread in the problems I've read about regarding NCL (including my situation and Goldryder's) is a breakdown in communication. The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing and as a result, when a problem happens, not being able to acutally talk with anyone who can do anything about it gets incredibly frustrating. I have learned to keep a detailed record of the agents I've spoke with, including dates, times, and ext. which has been helpful in the past and I hope will be in this matter as well.

 

I followed shoreguy's suggestion and emailed Andy Stuart earlier this week and still haven't heard back from him. I'm sure he is extremely busy, but who isn't these days..at the very least, a brief response acknowledging my message and the matter is being reviewed would have been nice. How long should I wait for a response before persuing the problem further?

 

Thanks!

[seahorse]

The common thread in the problems I've read about regarding NCL (including my situation and Goldryder's) is a breakdown in communication. The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing and as a result, when a problem happens, not being able to acutally talk with anyone who can do anything about it gets incredibly frustrating. I have learned to keep a detailed record of the agents I've spoke with, including dates, times, and ext. which has been helpful in the past and I hope will be in this matter as well.

 

I followed shoreguy's suggestion and emailed Andy Stuart earlier this week and still haven't heard back from him. I'm sure he is extremely busy, but who isn't these days..at the very least, a brief response acknowledging my message and the matter is being reviewed would have been nice. How long should I wait for a response before persuing the problem further?

 

Thanks!

 

Your e-mail will go to the customer service department and you should get a call from them that they are working on it. Just be patient:)