Norwegian Getaway September 22nd

[bearandbraxton]

We just got off the Getaway this morning. Our 5 day trip to Bermuda was rerouted to New Port, Portland, Maine and St John, New Brunswick because of the hurricane.

 

I understand that thinks change because of the weather, but what I don't understand is how a cruise is going to a sunny beach location ends up going north to Canada, a place also where vaccinations are required.  Also, we were notified Weds night at 8:42 pm by text for the Thursday departure.  It said to refer to my email for further details, an email that I did not receive.  Other people on the ship also said they did not receive an email.

 

My husband had been reading the forums and thought the ship was heading to St, John.  I actually called the St. John port authority on Tuesday afternoon and found out that the Getaway was scheduled for there already.  The only reason that I can think of as to why Norwegian withheld the information about the port changes is because they didn't want more people to cancel.  Apparently, 1500 cancelled the cruise because of either the vaccination requirement and/or the ports.

 

We had a nice time on the cruise, despite the ports.  The ports were boring and cold.  And New Brunswick was on Sunday, where everything is closed on Sundays, so not even any decent shopping.

 

The service on the ship was excellent.  We especially enjoyed our dinner at Cagney's Steakhouse.

 

We did receive our $ 40 travel authorization fee to Bermuda back (for each of us) in the form of an onboard credit.  We also received a $100 credit per stateroom for the port changes. 

 

We purchased a large balcony specifically to enjoy the weather on the balcony, which did not happen.

 

This was our 5th Norwegian cruise and because of the way this was handled, will be our last.

[BirdTravels]

So,,, "Plan B" to go north is kinda the normal place ships go if there is a hurricane south. We have been diverted to NE from Bermuda twice over the years. 

 

And, it takes a lot of work to get everything in place to execute "Plan B". Secure a dock. Arrange for local agent, terminal support, dockworker support. Clear arrival with Canadian authorities. Clear trip with US Customs and Immigrations. Arrange for tour providers. Etc. It is more than a driving trip where you pick the next available Motel 6 down the highway. While you may see a dock reservation doesn't mean that everything is arranged and approved. 

 

The cruise line always wants to run their scheduled itinerary. And their meteorology department in coordination with weather services drive the final decision to divert. In this case, was their a potential that they would be sailing into the storm. And would it be better to go south to Nassau ("Plan C"). 

[PATRLR]

1 hour ago, bearandbraxton said:

I understand that thinks change because of the weather, but what I don't understand is how a cruise is going to a sunny beach location ends up going north to Canada, a place also where vaccinations are required. 

It could have been outright cancelled instead - like the September 29 Getaway cruise was cancelled.

[JGmf]

2 hours ago, bearandbraxton said:

This was our 5th Norwegian cruise and because of the way this was handled, will be our last.

 

I was on this Sept 22 cruise, and yes, we were disappointed with the trade of Bermuda for cool weather ports. We were also very disappointed with the WAY too long port stay in (boring) St. John.  We were there for 12 hours (didn't depart until 9:30 at night).  On the ship that day/night, only one bar per deck was opened.  It really, really cut down on our fun (read: drinking).  Someone said it was due to some Canadian rule or something.  I've never seen that on a ship before.  If that's a real thing, I'm definitely not cruising to Canada ever again.

 

Regarding notice: we did receive the change in itinerary notification from NCL rather late the night prior to embarkation.  The only thing of any "work", though, was to log into Canada's ArriveCAN site and do a super easy process to get clearance to visit, attesting to vaccination, health, and uploading vax card image.  Annoying, but easy enough.

 

All-in-all I thought NCL did a pretty decent job of keeping us entertained and fed.  Our group was happy to be on vacation and the weather was not Bermuda-hot, but warm enough to tolerate the pool deck and Waterfront for most of the daytime hours.

 

Lesson learned.  I'll sail with NCL again, but not during hurricane season. No hesitation.

 

 

[dandelpino]

3 hours ago, bearandbraxton said:

This was our 5th Norwegian cruise and because of the way this was handled, will be our last.

You may as well never cruise again because pretty much all large cruise lines would have handled it in the exact same way. Cancelling would cost them a lot so they will do anything to avoid that. They must call at a foreign port and from NY Canada is the only other option for a 5 day cruise. There’s no other solution here. 
 

NCL is just ok and I cruise with them because they have the most variety from my home port (NY). So I’m kinda stuck with them. But I can tell you that in this case it wasn’t just NCL doing things the NCL way, it pretty much the industry standard way of handing bad weather. 

[Zippeedee]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

 

I was on this Sept 22 cruise, and yes, we were disappointed with the trade of Bermuda for cool weather ports. We were also very disappointed with the WAY too long port stay in (boring) St. John.  We were there for 12 hours (didn't depart until 9:30 at night).  On the ship that day/night, only one bar per deck was opened.  It really, really cut down on our fun (read: drinking).  Someone said it was due to some Canadian rule or something.  I've never seen that on a ship before.  If that's a real thing, I'm definitely not cruising to Canada ever again.

 

By any chance was your port day in New Brunswick the day the hurricane was raging through Nova Scotia? Waiting at the pier is much better than trying to sail through high seas and heavy rain.

 

 

 

[luckyinpa]

4 hours ago, bearandbraxton said:

We just got off the Getaway this morning. Our 5 day trip to Bermuda was rerouted to New Port, Portland, Maine and St John, New Brunswick because of the hurricane.

 

I understand that thinks change because of the weather, but what I don't understand is how a cruise is going to a sunny beach location ends up going north to Canada, a place also where vaccinations are required.  Also, we were notified Weds night at 8:42 pm by text for the Thursday departure.  It said to refer to my email for further details, an email that I did not receive.  Other people on the ship also said they did not receive an email.

 

My husband had been reading the forums and thought the ship was heading to St, John.  I actually called the St. John port authority on Tuesday afternoon and found out that the Getaway was scheduled for there already.  The only reason that I can think of as to why Norwegian withheld the information about the port changes is because they didn't want more people to cancel.  Apparently, 1500 cancelled the cruise because of either the vaccination requirement and/or the ports.

 

We had a nice time on the cruise, despite the ports.  The ports were boring and cold.  And New Brunswick was on Sunday, where everything is closed on Sundays, so not even any decent shopping.

 

The service on the ship was excellent.  We especially enjoyed our dinner at Cagney's Steakhouse.

 

We did receive our $ 40 travel authorization fee to Bermuda back (for each of us) in the form of an onboard credit.  We also received a $100 credit per stateroom for the port changes. 

 

We purchased a large balcony specifically to enjoy the weather on the balcony, which did not happen.

 

This was our 5th Norwegian cruise and because of the way this was handled, will be our last.

 

last week on enchanted princess they canceled bar harbor and newport because of high winds then the captain said they tried to get portland but there was no room. they said we were gonna try to get to st john a day early then announced 8pm we would arrive there which is great. we thought we'd go out to dinner. later in that day i just happened to look at the ships position on my app. it was going away from st john. then i called and they said wont get there till tomorrow as planned. so things change minute by minute. we made st john on time then that nite they announced because of fiona we had to skip halifax even though we literally were within sight of the port. talk about disappointing

 

we got 35% fcc and 100 bucks OBC non refundable so i was forced to buy booze because they were out of ship models.

 

but going from bermuda to canada is a downgrade for sure. more expensive cruise/port fees with bermuda. and this cruise was more expensive because it was port intensive so i guess we were lucky to get the 35%

 

i do wonder if any ships get routed from canada to bermuda 🙂

[Sand and Seas]

I'm sorry your cruise was changed so drastically from what was planned.  We too have had September surprises due to hurricane re-routing.   

 

About Canada and the one bar per deck rule, I decided to try and find something about that.  (We found it strange on our Alaska cruise😒)    Here is the link I found:

 

https://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/cscp-pdnc-eng.html

 

Liquor Outlets and Bars

Liquor outlets and bars must be closed while in port. Under no circumstances should liquor be given or sold to visiting Canadian residents, shore personnel, or stevedoring personnel while the ship is in port.

While in port, one bar per 1,000 passengers, or one bar per deck that provides hospitality services (whichever is greater), may be allowed to remain open. For example, if there are four decks providing hospitality services, four bars may be allowed to remain open.

A letter requesting permission to open bars must be submitted to the FPOA inbox at the beginning of the season. This letter must include the bar location, the time it will be open, and, once suitably endorsed by the CBSA, will act as standing authority to open these bars, while in port, for the entire season. For any amendments to the original request, or if special circumstances exist that require additional bars to be open, another letter must be submitted to the CBSA.

The CBSA will conduct spot checks to ensure compliance and this privilege will be revoked if any bar is open without permission or if any Canadian resident visitor, shore personnel, or stevedoring personnel is served in a bar. In addition, monetary penalties may be assessed to the cruise line.

[Karaboudjan]

3 hours ago, PATRLR said:

It could have been outright cancelled instead - like the September 29 Getaway cruise was cancelled.

 

That is a different situation.  Even if the ship could make it to Port Canaveral for the 29th in a tropical storm it's unlikely that most passengers could get to the ship safely.  

Edited September 28, 2022 by Karaboudjan

[JGmf]

12 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

While in port, one bar per 1,000 passengers, or one bar per deck that provides hospitality services (whichever is greater), may be allowed to remain open. For example, if there are four decks providing hospitality services, four bars may be allowed to remain open.

 

Thanks for researching that! 

 

Yep, one bar per deck on our stay in Canadian port.  Not sure what the genesis of this rule, but I'm assuming it's either grounded in some moral code and/or to push people off the ship to go to Canadian pubs and bars.

 

 

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, bearandbraxton said:

We just got off the Getaway this morning. Our 5 day trip to Bermuda was rerouted to New Port, Portland, Maine and St John, New Brunswick because of the hurricane.

 

This was our 5th Norwegian cruise and because of the way this was handled, will be our last.

There was really no other way to handle it. All cruise lines are making those decisions based on the latest information available and their ability to arrange alternate ports of call. The decision to change itineraries is not taken lightly. And the safest itinerary is totally based on mother nature. Unfortunately, that placed the storm between you and Bermuda. A hurricane stretches out hundreds of miles. It is not the eye of the storm... it is all of the outer bands that affect the ability to safely and comfortably operate a cruise.

[PATRLR]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

There was really no other way to handle it. 

Well, there was one other way to handle it:  Cancel the cruise.   While cancelling might have made OP happier, my guess is there was far more people who managed to enjoy the cruise north than didn't enjoy it.  

[PATRLR]

7 hours ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

That is a different situation.  Even if the ship could make it to Port Canaveral for the 29th in a tropical storm it's unlikely that most passengers could get to the ship safely.  

Of course it was a different situation.  "Why" they cancelled it wasn't the point.  The fact that  NCL could have cancelled it was the point.  In hindsight that might have made OP happier, but without the benefit of hindsight my guess is OP would have been as disappointed if not more so had they cancelled. 

 

[smillerholmes]

17 hours ago, bearandbraxton said:

We did receive our $ 40 travel authorization fee to Bermuda back (for each of us) in the form of an onboard credit.  We also received a $100 credit per stateroom for the port changes. 

So, can you give a little more detail on the refund of the Bermuda travel authorization fee?  NCL refunded this fee?  Bermuda was missed on the 09/03 cruise due to the hurricane and never heard another word about it.  

[mjkacmom]

15 hours ago, PATRLR said:

It could have been outright cancelled instead - like the September 29 Getaway cruise was cancelled.

It is VERY rare for a cruise to cancel due to weather, they will try their best to reroute. Hurricane season means cruises heading to NE instead of south. I do t think they really care if folks cancel, since they aren’t due a refund from the cruise lines for this situation.

[JGmf]

7 hours ago, smillerholmes said:

So, can you give a little more detail on the refund of the Bermuda travel authorization fee?  NCL refunded this fee?  Bermuda was missed on the 09/03 cruise due to the hurricane and never heard another word about it.  

 

I was on that cruise.  NCL provided the $40/pp credit to cruisers.   Whether Bermuda reimbursed NCL, I have no idea.  The description on our itemized invoice didn't provide any clues.  I'm guessing not, though, as I can't see a gov't bureaucracy giving back money due to weather as it would, um, open the flood gates for other non-cruise applicants to seek the same refund.

[njkate]

It's the risk you take sailing to Bermuda or the Caribbean during hurricane season, especially mid August through mid October. All the cruise lines do 

this not just NCL

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by njkate

[dcipjr]

On 9/28/2022 at 4:21 PM, JGmf said:

 

I was on that cruise.  NCL provided the $40/pp credit to cruisers.   Whether Bermuda reimbursed NCL, I have no idea.  The description on our itemized invoice didn't provide any clues.  I'm guessing not, though, as I can't see a gov't bureaucracy giving back money due to weather as it would, um, open the flood gates for other non-cruise applicants to seek the same refund.

 

I was on the September 3rd sailing that missed Bermuda. I haven’t gotten any refund thus far. I checked my final invoice and it wasn’t on there.

 

NCL said that it would be refunded, but I figure if they have to go through the Bermudian government, that it may take a while. I’m not holding my breath.

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 9/27/2022 at 6:16 PM, Sand and Seas said:

I'm sorry your cruise was changed so drastically from what was planned.  We too have had September surprises due to hurricane re-routing.   

 

About Canada and the one bar per deck rule, I decided to try and find something about that.  (We found it strange on our Alaska cruise😒)    Here is the link I found:

 

https://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/cscp-pdnc-eng.html

 

Liquor Outlets and Bars

Liquor outlets and bars must be closed while in port. Under no circumstances should liquor be given or sold to visiting Canadian residents, shore personnel, or stevedoring personnel while the ship is in port.

While in port, one bar per 1,000 passengers, or one bar per deck that provides hospitality services (whichever is greater), may be allowed to remain open. For example, if there are four decks providing hospitality services, four bars may be allowed to remain open.

A letter requesting permission to open bars must be submitted to the FPOA inbox at the beginning of the season. This letter must include the bar location, the time it will be open, and, once suitably endorsed by the CBSA, will act as standing authority to open these bars, while in port, for the entire season. For any amendments to the original request, or if special circumstances exist that require additional bars to be open, another letter must be submitted to the CBSA.

The CBSA will conduct spot checks to ensure compliance and this privilege will be revoked if any bar is open without permission or if any Canadian resident visitor, shore personnel, or stevedoring personnel is served in a bar. In addition, monetary penalties may be assessed to the cruise line.

What a stupid rule.  Just send all your bartenders and servers on deck 8 (or wherever) to the biggest bar?  Is Canada still struggling to escape prohibition?

[cruiseny4life]

14 hours ago, dcipjr said:

 

I was on the September 3rd sailing that missed Bermuda. I haven’t gotten any refund thus far. I checked my final invoice and it wasn’t on there.

 

NCL said that it would be refunded, but I figure if they have to go through the Bermudian government, that it may take a while. I’m not holding my breath.

Please tell me you're not still waiting. I knew as soon as NCL said that, it'd be a ripe day in the land down under before we got that $40 back. Oh well...it'll go to support Bermuda, so I'm happy about that!

[dcipjr]

On 9/30/2022 at 8:31 AM, cruiseny4life said:

Please tell me you're not still waiting. I knew as soon as NCL said that, it'd be a ripe day in the land down under before we got that $40 back. Oh well...it'll go to support Bermuda, so I'm happy about that!

 

Still waiting. Did you get a refund?

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, dcipjr said:

 

Still waiting. Did you get a refund?

Nada!

[julig22]

On 9/29/2022 at 7:03 AM, njkate said:

It's the risk you take sailing to Bermuda or the Caribbean during hurricane season, especially mid August through mid October. All the cruise lines do 

this not just NCL

 

 

 

Or Mexico... A few years ago I was on a San Diego-Florida reposition cruise in October.  Got notified in the terminal that we'd bypass Mexico and go around the storm, since going north really wasn't an option. The other cruise ship in port that day rerouted away from Mexico and went to San Francisco.

[andychris]

The $40 went back on our on board accounts. It appeared maybe day 2 of the cruise. 

[BirdTravels]

On 9/28/2022 at 5:09 AM, PATRLR said:

Well, there was one other way to handle it:  Cancel the cruise.   While cancelling might have made OP happier, my guess is there was far more people who managed to enjoy the cruise north than didn't enjoy it.  

So, lets talk reality. NCL never cancels a cruise unless the embarkation port is closed for multiple days in a row around embarkation (e.g., Getaway). I can't remember very many cancellations in recent history. They have a contract with each passenger which allows them to operate a cruise to any port. Yup, people can cancel, but NCL has their money!