Encore Feb 19 Itinerary and Entertainment changes

[Cruisemommy87]

We received notification from NCL that our day at Great Stirrup Cay was removed and swapped with Nassau. We were very disappointed, as this was one of the main reasons we chose this specific cruise, compared to other options that week.  They made this change roughly a week after the paid in full date, knowing (we believe) hundreds of people would probably cancel if they were aware of this change ahead of time.  We called NCL and were encouraged, by a resolutions specialist, to contact guest experiences to get a case number and would hear back.  It has been over a month, with other phone calls asking on progress, and today when we called we were told that nothing would be done and we never should’ve contacted guest experiences - by the resolutions department.  
 

We were searching online for some information and also just noticed that Kinky Boots is no longer booked for our cruise either. Anyone else experiencing all of these changes from NCL and feeling helpless in having any sort of compensation for the vacation we thought we paid for vs what we are getting in reality?
 

We are well aware the fine print says they have the right to make itinerary changes but IMO it should be for a legitimate reason and not because their fleet having more than one ship booked for GSC.  When you are paying thousands of dollars for a vacation and they take away the best port without any reason (other than what seems to be a scheduling error on their part) it seems like false advertising on the cruise we thought we were purchasing.  We were really looking forward to having a beach day with our kids and now to do that in Nassau we have to shell out $700 for an excursion to do the same as what GSC had to offer. 

[BirdTravels]

FWIW, we are 0 for 3 in getting to GSC post-restart. Each time sailing to the island and turning away for a sea day. 
 

FWIW, we have sailed on the Encore twice post-restart and both times Kinky Boots was cancelled week of cruise. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by BirdTravels

[Cruisemommy87]

Thanks for the reply, seems like we are completely in the hands of NCL and they can take away whatever they want when they want.  Just a huge bummer because we did so much research to choose a cruise and now some of the bigger selling points have been changed/canceled. 

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

 

FWIW, we have sailed on the Encore twice post-restart and both times Kinky Boots was cancelled week of cruise. 

And what was it replaced with?

We're on the 1/8/23 sailing, have also had GSC replaced with Nassau and would hate to miss one of the two shows as well.

[Stelkp]

Hi all! We have a group of 23 people on the same Feb 19 sailing. Also extremely disappointed with the GSC cancellation. This was our main focus as well. I don’t plan on even getting off the ship for Nassau. 
Not to add flame to the fire-but I hear Puerto Plata is famously turned into a sea day as well frequently due to porting issues. Let’s see what happens to our sailing. 
How did you find out about Kinky Boots? That’s a real bummer too! This is my first NCL cruise and I hope it’s worth it. So far I’ve been let down with changes. 😞

 

[Vegasgreg19]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

And what was it replaced with?

We're on the 1/8/23 sailing, have also had GSC replaced with Nassau and would hate to miss one of the two shows as well.

We are on the 1-15-23 sailing and I read in another post that Kinky Boots contract with the performers ends 1-5-23 and it was not renewed so as of now, nothing is replacing it. In the app for entertainment on our sailing, it just lists Choir of Man and the comedy club as well as the Cavern Club. 

[Niffernay]

1 hour ago, Vegasgreg19 said:

We are on the 1-15-23 sailing

@Vegasgreg19 - we are on that sailing as well. You haven't heard anything about replacing GSC with Nassau have you?  This will be our fourth time that GSC has been on our itinerary and we haven't made it the first three (due to rough seas).  I'd like to actually visit the island 😆

Edited December 28, 2022 by Niffernay

[CB_Jackson]

My wife and I will be on the Feb 19th Encore sailing with 4 other couples from our neighborhood.  After seeing your post I just had to comment!  We had very similar thoughts and feelings in our conversations with our friends/neighbors.  Frankly, what they did should be against the law!  This is classic bait and switch, no doubt about it.  What do you see on all of the NCL advertisements on TV, online, and in the mail??  You see images of Great Stirrup Cay!!  What was the biggest selling point of this particular sailing?  Great Stirrup Cay!   Everyone in our group is EXTREMELY disappointed and we are all trying to cancel without penalties.  It’s such a dirty rotten trick Norwegian made this change only a couple days after the cancellation deadline!!  Like you said, if it was a weather related issue or mechanical issue etc., it would be understandable.  This change devalues the cruise and all 10 of us have the drink package so it devalues the money we are spending on the drink package as well.  When in port at Nassau we will all be required to pay taxes on each and every alcoholic beverage we order that day.  To be clear, this is only an insult to the injury that is not having the private island experience for the day.  Needless to say this has left a very sour taste in our mouths going into the cruise and unless they change it back or offer some compensation I’m certain there will be a ship full of miserable people.  The sad irony is everyone is just trying to have a good time and relieve some stress on their vacations!  Norwegian cruise line is actually causing stress!!  So what can we do?  Contact the attorney general’s office?  Call the 1-800 number?  Both a waste of time.  The bottom line is the fine print allows them to do whatever they want to us little people.  The #1 reason why I felt so compelled to comment on your post is this:  The only thing we as consumers CAN do is communicate with one another as well as future cruise consumers, we have to document these shenanigans and hold them accountable.  If you’re reading this and this and you’ve been taken advantage of by NCL like us - sound off!!  When speaking with a supervisor on the 1-800 number, the representative had the gall to say “nobody else seems to be complaining about the GSC change to Nassau.”  If Norwegian keeps doing this to people, eventually it WILL catch up to them and people will choose another cruise line.  Right now they’re profiting off these tricks and getting away with it.  If NCL gets a reputation for doing this they won’t be profiting in the future.  My wife and I will never book with Norwegian ever again.  Some of our neighbors have said the same.

 

NCL - Norwegian Cancels Leisure!

[MrElvis]

We agree with the comments above .  If you check the same date the Prima is at GSC. Apparently NCL cannot or will not have two ships on their island. Prima trumps Encore. 

[mjkacmom]

• 40 minutes ago, CB_Jackson said:

  My wife and I will be on the Feb 19th Encore sailing with 4 other couples from our neighborhood.  After seeing your post I just had to comment!  We had very similar thoughts and feelings in our conversations with our friends/neighbors.  Frankly, what they did should be against the law!  This is classic bait and switch, no doubt about it.  What do you see on all of the NCL advertisements on TV, online, and in the mail??  You see images of Great Stirrup Cay!!  What was the biggest selling point of this particular sailing?  Great Stirrup Cay!   Everyone in our group is EXTREMELY disappointed and we are all trying to cancel without penalties.  It’s such a dirty rotten trick Norwegian made this change only a couple days after the cancellation deadline!!  Like you said, if it was a weather related issue or mechanical issue etc., it would be understandable.  This change devalues the cruise and all 10 of us have the drink package so it devalues the money we are spending on the drink package as well.  When in port at Nassau we will all be required to pay taxes on each and every alcoholic beverage we order that day.  To be clear, this is only an insult to the injury that is not having the private island experience for the day.  Needless to say this has left a very sour taste in our mouths going into the cruise and unless they change it back or offer some compensation I’m certain there will be a ship full of miserable people.  The sad irony is everyone is just trying to have a good time and relieve some stress on their vacations!  Norwegian cruise line is actually causing stress!!  So what can we do?  Contact the attorney general’s office?  Call the 1-800 number?  Both a waste of time.  The bottom line is the fine print allows them to do whatever they want to us little people.  The #1 reason why I felt so compelled to comment on your post is this:  The only thing we as consumers CAN do is communicate with one another as well as future cruise consumers, we have to document these shenanigans and hold them accountable.  If you’re reading this and this and you’ve been taken advantage of by NCL like us - sound off!!  When speaking with a supervisor on the 1-800 number, the representative had the gall to say “nobody else seems to be complaining about the GSC change to Nassau.”  If Norwegian keeps doing this to people, eventually it WILL catch up to them and people will choose another cruise line.  Right now they’re profiting off these tricks and getting away with it.  If NCL gets a reputation for doing this they won’t be profiting in the future.  My wife and I will never book with Norwegian ever again.  Some of our neighbors have said the same.

   

  NCL - Norwegian Cancels Leisure!

  You will not be paying taxes on drinks in Nassau. Booking a cruise for GSC is crazy, that tender port gets skipped all of the time fo to weather. Walk over to Junkanoo beach and rent some chairs. Cruise lines can legally cancel ever port of call and offer zero compensation. NCL wants folks on their private island spending money.

[hallux]

17 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Cruise lines can legally cancel ever port of call and offer zero compensation

As far as compensation - yes.  There ARE other legal ramifications to cancelling every port on a cruise, at least on cruises from the US.

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

NCL wants folks on their private island spending money.

Just curious.  What do you spend money on when on GSC?  I got free food and free drinks and just lounged around the beach.😎  That's why I love GSC so much!

[mjkacmom]

53 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just curious.  What do you spend money on when on GSC?  I got free food and free drinks and just lounged around the beach.😎  That's why I love GSC so much!

Last time jet skiing for 7, the previous cruise we rented a cabana but GSC was skipped.

[CB_Jackson]

8 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

• You will not be paying taxes on drinks in Nassau. Booking a cruise for GSC is crazy, that tender port gets skipped all of the time fo to weather. Walk over to Junkanoo beach and rent some chairs. Cruise lines can legally cancel ever port of call and offer zero compensation. NCL wants folks on their private island spending money.

I was told by NCL customer service that there were taxes on alcohol  when in Nassau.  Thank you for the clarification, and thank you for the suggestion on Junkanoo Beach.  We have been before several times and prefer beaches and loungers around pools at Atlantis.  Unfortunately As “cruisemommie87” pointed out it will cost about $200 per person to get in.  As I mentioned in my post, the liquor tax while in port is a minor issue compared to cancelling  GSC for no reason.  My wife and I have been cruising since the 80’s and this is unacceptable in our humble opinions.  As far as calling us crazy to book a cruise based on its’ ports, go ahead and call me crazy as I thought most of planet earth selects their cruise based on ship and ports!  Apparently this is a bigger issue than I realized and we are all fools for thinking NCL actually sailed to Great Stirrup Cay?!  Minimizing the issue and calling me crazy….do you work for NCL?  Your comment about NCL wanting people on GSC to spend money.  Ponder the amount of money it costs them to tender all guest to the island, pay bohemian workers and ferry them to the island for the day, pay for all food and drink for guests, waste and sanitation, water desalination, etc, etc.  Several people in this thread have asked you, what what are people spending money on at GSC??  Zip lines and cabanas?  Still doesn’t offset their other costs.  The reality of the situation is it saves them money to cancel and that’s the bottom line!  Now think of all the ways a cruise line such as NCL makes money in Nassau.  They make at least 75% on all excursions.  They’re making money if someone buys jewelry at DI, they’re making money and getting a cut of EVERYTHING sold in port.  If you don’t realize that, you don’t know the cruise industry.  As another person commented, “Prima trumped Encore.”  The way I look at it is, if they wanted to get the Encore to GSC that week or any other week, they would make it work!!  Case in point, they’re not.

[European_CruiseGirl]

I am so sorry this happened to you op. And of course to others on this cruise. While ship happens and due to weather related reasons you sometimes cannot get to a tender port it is always a sad situation when a cruiseline cancels a port in advance. Particularly if the reason would be bad scheduling of the cruiseline.
 

It will be interesting to see what happens for cruises around very late Feb/early March. It looks like this now for 3/4 for GSC (see pic below) 

 

https://cruisedig.com/ports/great-stirrup-cay-bahamas/arrivals

 

More ”Due to unforseen reasons” emails coming? Can CSG really handle 3 ships… if not… NCL - there is nothing unforseen in a situation where you yourself schedule 3 (or even 2) of your ships to your own private island for the same day and then realize you have gone over the max capacity that your own island can handle. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by European_CruiseGirl

[hallux]

24 minutes ago, CB_Jackson said:

The reality of the situation is it saves them money to cancel and that’s the bottom line!  

In this case it seems it's NOT saving them money as there's still a ship scheduled at GSC that day, just not the one the OP is on...

[Stelkp]

31 minutes ago, CB_Jackson said:

I was told by NCL customer service that there were taxes on alcohol  when in Nassau.  Thank you for the clarification, and thank you for the suggestion on Junkanoo Beach.  We have been before several times and prefer beaches and loungers around pools at Atlantis.  Unfortunately As “cruisemommie87” pointed out it will cost about $200 per person to get in.  As I mentioned in my post, the liquor tax while in port is a minor issue compared to cancelling  GSC for no reason.  My wife and I have been cruising since the 80’s and this is unacceptable in our humble opinions.  As far as calling us crazy to book a cruise based on its’ ports, go ahead and call me crazy as I thought most of planet earth selects their cruise based on ship and ports!  Apparently this is a bigger issue than I realized and we are all fools for thinking NCL actually sailed to Great Stirrup Cay?!  Minimizing the issue and calling me crazy….do you work for NCL?  Your comment about NCL wanting people on GSC to spend money.  Ponder the amount of money it costs them to tender all guest to the island, pay bohemian workers and ferry them to the island for the day, pay for all food and drink for guests, waste and sanitation, water desalination, etc, etc.  Several people in this thread have asked you, what what are people spending money on at GSC??  Zip lines and cabanas?  Still doesn’t offset their other costs.  The reality of the situation is it saves them money to cancel and that’s the bottom line!  Now think of all the ways a cruise line such as NCL makes money in Nassau.  They make at least 75% on all excursions.  They’re making money if someone buys jewelry at DI, they’re making money and getting a cut of EVERYTHING sold in port.  If you don’t realize that, you don’t know the cruise industry.  As another person commented, “Prima trumped Encore.”  The way I look at it is, if they wanted to get the Encore to GSC that week or any other week, they would make it work!!  Case in point, they’re not.

Yup they just don’t care. 23 of us will stay on board at Nassau and drink and eat NCL food and beverage lol!!!

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

And what was it replaced with?

We're on the 1/8/23 sailing, have also had GSC replaced with Nassau and would hate to miss one of the two shows as well.

GSC was replaced with a sea day

 

Kinky was replaced with random lounge acts in main theater. 
 

This happens on all cruise lines. Royal tends to cancel theater show if the seas are rough. NCL seems to better adapt. 

[BirdTravels]

35 minutes ago, CB_Jackson said:

 The reality of the situation is it saves them money to cancel and that’s the bottom line! 

1000% wrong. The thought process to come to this conclusion is completely off base. 

[Laszlo]

9 hours ago, CB_Jackson said:

My wife and I will be on the Feb 19th Encore sailing with 4 other couples from our neighborhood.  After seeing your post I just had to comment!  We had very similar thoughts and feelings in our conversations with our friends/neighbors.  Frankly, what they did should be against the law!  This is classic bait and switch, no doubt about it.  What do you see on all of the NCL advertisements on TV, online, and in the mail??  You see images of Great Stirrup Cay!!  What was the biggest selling point of this particular sailing?  Great Stirrup Cay!   Everyone in our group is EXTREMELY disappointed and we are all trying to cancel without penalties.  It’s such a dirty rotten trick Norwegian made this change only a couple days after the cancellation deadline!!  Like you said, if it was a weather related issue or mechanical issue etc., it would be understandable.  This change devalues the cruise and all 10 of us have the drink package so it devalues the money we are spending on the drink package as well.  When in port at Nassau we will all be required to pay taxes on each and every alcoholic beverage we order that day.  To be clear, this is only an insult to the injury that is not having the private island experience for the day.  Needless to say this has left a very sour taste in our mouths going into the cruise and unless they change it back or offer some compensation I’m certain there will be a ship full of miserable people.  The sad irony is everyone is just trying to have a good time and relieve some stress on their vacations!  Norwegian cruise line is actually causing stress!!  So what can we do?  Contact the attorney general’s office?  Call the 1-800 number?  Both a waste of time.  The bottom line is the fine print allows them to do whatever they want to us little people.  The #1 reason why I felt so compelled to comment on your post is this:  The only thing we as consumers CAN do is communicate with one another as well as future cruise consumers, we have to document these shenanigans and hold them accountable.  If you’re reading this and this and you’ve been taken advantage of by NCL like us - sound off!!  When speaking with a supervisor on the 1-800 number, the representative had the gall to say “nobody else seems to be complaining about the GSC change to Nassau.”  If Norwegian keeps doing this to people, eventually it WILL catch up to them and people will choose another cruise line.  Right now they’re profiting off these tricks and getting away with it.  If NCL gets a reputation for doing this they won’t be profiting in the future.  My wife and I will never book with Norwegian ever again.  Some of our neighbors have said the same.

 

NCL - Norwegian Cancels Leisure!

You really need to read your cruise contract. They can change, miss ports, add sea days or basically sail around in circles. FYI...... This happens to all cruise lines for various reasons

[CB_Jackson]

11 minutes ago, hallux said:

In this case it seems it's NOT saving them money as there's still a ship scheduled at GSC that day, just not the one the OP is on...

They wouldn’t cancel GSC for the Prima or the Diva, they both trump Encore.  1 ship is less than 2 ships.

[CB_Jackson]

7 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

1000% wrong. The thought process to come to this conclusion is completely off base. 

How is it “off base” I would like to know how I’m “1000% wrong”….

[CB_Jackson]

Can you explain please explain Bird?

[hallux]

1 minute ago, CB_Jackson said:

They wouldn’t cancel GSC for the Prima or the Diva, they both trump Encore.  1 ship is less than 2 ships.

I'm not sure GSC can handle two of NCL's largest ships.  My point is that if they're going to choose between a new ship or an older ship to get the private island they're going to pick the new ship. 

 

Royal can dock two ships next door at CoCo Cay, but that island is now much more developed than GSC is and people can be more spread out.  Back when it was a tender destination and basically a beach day I'm not sure if they had more than one ship there at a time.

[CB_Jackson]

51 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

You really need to read your cruise contract. They can change, miss ports, add sea days or basically sail around in circles. FYI...... This happens to all cruise lines for various reasons

Thanks for your comment Lazlo.  If you read the comments above this has already been said by me and many others.  We are at their mercy.  Various reasons are understandable.  The issue here is that NCL has sold cruises to thousands with GSC on the trip, only to cancel GSC for no reason.  Again, we all know they can do this according to the fine print.  The best guess as to why they’re doing it is to prioritized for their newer ship booked on GSC for the same day.  I don’t know how true this is, it’s just something others have brought up?  I raised the question, couldn’t they reschedule the date for GSC so we weren’t there on the same day?  Of course it is more complex than it seems, as there are other ships from other cruise lines moving throughout the various ports and logistically it doesn’t always work out.  The think I find interesting is it seems like all sailings have had GSC simply cancelled for no reason and none of them have been rescheduled to a different day.