a funny thing happened on my prima transatlantic...

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, Sinbadssailors said:

A security detail never came to that cabin to question us though lol - seriously, that made me laugh. Just not surprising at all. Sadly.

Why would you expect a "security detail?"

[Sinbadssailors]

3 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Why would you expect a "security detail?"

No one would expect that.

 

Then again, my problem was years ago. A visit from security officers(as happened to the OP) might be a new policy haha

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, Sinbadssailors said:

No one would expect that.

 

Then again, my problem was years ago. A visit from security officers(as happened to the OP) might be a new policy haha

Thanks.  As I mentioned, I only made it about halfway through so missed the part initially about security officers.

[UKstages]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:46 AM, SyracuseOrange said:

People act like lost sleep is worth thousands upon thousands of dollars. It's simply not. If NCL started caving to everyone who demands a high level of compensation for "lost sleep" caused by one reason or another, they'd go bust. I know you had additional struggles with how things were handled and the overall communication of it, but they aren't goin to compensate you for that. If you don't like the way NCL handles customer service and related issues, go to a more upscale line.

 

since when is asking for a room to sleep "a high level of compensation?"

 

kindly go back and read this again. i think you may have missed some key points, namely that what i initially and repeatedly asked for was a room to sleep in, which is exactly what they gave me... after being subjected to this for three and a half days. 

 

and this was not a garden variety case of "lost sleep." this was NCL-endorsed, authorized and approved sleep deprivation for three and a half days... more similar to POW torture techniques than simply missing a few hours of sleep. this was not the common creaking we've all experienced in rough seas... this was not a little tossing and turning by a sleepless malcontent... this was incessant, persistent unwelcome loud noise that prevented anything from being done in the cabin. 

 

On 5/23/2023 at 9:40 AM, DCGuy64 said:

I feel for the OP, who BTW is an incredible writer!...

 

Over the years I've grown accustomed to creaking and noises, just like I'm used to the ship tossing back and forth, I don't even notice it anymore

 

thanks for your kind words. 

 

just to be clear, these were not noises to which one would become "accustomed." some in this thread have posited that this was just a little noise, like the type routinely heard in cruise cabins.

 

it was not!

 

it was all-consuming and deleterious to one's health. and several others have come along to corroborate this, with one saying he "almost went mad" and that it affected his "enjoyment, mood and attitude." it is - apparently - a serious design flaw with the prima and affects a considerable number of rooms.

 

On 5/23/2023 at 11:22 AM, DCGuy64 said:

A ship that's only been sailing for a year or less is bound to have some issues. Whether it's new, newER or newEST, a year isn't a long time. It takes time to work out the kinks.

 

the challenge here is that nothing is being done to rectify the issues. I think i said upthread that NCL's strategy - with everything - is to apply a quick fix... they almost never address the underlying issue, so the problem happens over and over again. 

 

these kinks won't magically work themselves out. NCL would have to decommission the rooms, break open the walls and fix whatever structural defects are in there. so, assuming they even want to do that, they would probably have to wait for the first dry dock opportunity.

 

On 5/23/2023 at 10:36 PM, YVRteacher said:

The cabin has creaked something fierce on every ship and in every cabin EXCEPT the inside cabin. Doesn’t matter what latitudes you are or what room you book.  Cruise ship cabins creak and rattle.

 

you know the way they say your mileage may vary? you mileage does indeed vary considerably from mine. i don't have the depth of your cruise experience, but i have quite a few under my belt. i have never experienced anything like this ever before. no creaking, popping or other noises have ever kept me from sleeping for three days and inspired me to sleep on the bathroom floor of my cabin. and while i can acknowledge that different people have different tolerance levels for unwelcome noise and inconvenience, i'm pretty darn sure that anybody who endured this would be kept awake. this was not common creaking and rattling.

 

and, again, the problem and the degree of severity was verified by NCL. that's a vital part of this story that many seem to forget. also: i had on noise canceling headphones and could still hear the noise!

 

10 hours ago, golden6911 said:

This makes me glad for my Bose Sleepbuds.  I have a loudly snoring spouse and these things are a game-changer. 

 

they are now. it didn't start out that way. talk about customer service nightmares! all the early adopters (including me) complained and complained and complained about generation one of this product. the batteries did not last through the night. bose denied the problem existed, but kept sending out replacement products when people complained. i went through six pairs before bose did a complete product recall, discontinued the product and refunded everybody's money in full. and then they reengineered the product and came out with gen two about a year later.

 

On 5/24/2023 at 11:24 AM, ontheweb said:

you said there would be more. Hope it will show up soon.

 

thanks. i plan to write something up a few days after returning home... not a trip report per se, but a bunch of miscellaneous observations, some to do with the prima, some to do with generic NCL stuff. it's not all bad! there are some wonderful stories and anecdotes about great service, great food, great comedians and many people going the extra mile to make my vacation memorable. and then there was the cruise next fellow who began his conversation with me by saying "look, sir, i don't want to get into an argument with you."

 

4 hours ago, Sinbadssailors said:

Things happen. It's how they're handled that really matters.

 

THIS.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by UKstages

[Goldenknight]

The simplest comment here needs to be reiterated:

 

"Things happen.  It's how they're handled that really matters."

 

My first NCL cruise ever, back in 2019, we were sleep-deprived for a completely different reason:  another passenger on our deck decided that his phone reception was stellar if he sat outside our cabin door every night, sitting on the floor.  He talked LOUDLY, on + on. By night three, both the GM of the ship AND ship security handled that situation gracefully, and we never saw that passenger again.  We asked for nothing, just happy to get sleep, but received thermal spa passes for the remaining days of our cruise.  

 

I sympathize with your situation, sorry it happened.  

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Goldenknight

[NJGeorge]

Your writing style and descriptions of this unfortunate event are superb. Reminds me of a poster way back named Sailor Jack and his adventures on a South American cruise when his NCL cruise ship was stuck in a bay for a number of days. This was due to another ship carrying cars in front of them lost a few of them and clogged the channel.

Hopefully this won't happen to the Prima on your cruise! 

With all the cruise lines trying to lure customers to their brand with race cars, thrill rides etc,  in the end it's the way customer service treats its passengers that people remember.

 

 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

I empathize; I sure would be livid if I couldn't sleep in what is essentially a floating hotel, because of a problem known to them. The Kafkaesque saga you endured is so frustrating. And then to have it all topped off with the "gang of six" stormtroopers?!! Lordy, lordy! 

I really do hope you get to enjoy the rest of your cruise, now that you have "sleeping quarters"!

 

 

 

 

[UKstages]

2 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

I really do hope you get to enjoy the rest of your cruise, now that you have "sleeping quarters"!

 

thanks. i was already scheduled to change rooms for the second half of the back to back. i'm in a mid-ship "family balcony" on this leg, which looks a lot like a regular balcony room to me. the rooms on the prima, and i have unfortunately seen several, tend to be larger and quite comfortable, with larger bathrooms and spacious showers.  i have no way of knowing how quiet my new room is, however, despite it being the second day of the cruise. and that's because there have been several deviations to the itinerary caused by weather conditions. (the same conditions which presumably caused all that creaking and popping... sever wind and very high waves).

 

on the prior cruise, we skipped the icelandic port of isafjörður and - as reported by others upthread - we called on reykjavik a day late. we were supposed to have overnighted in reykjavik at the end of the cruise and had a full port day, with the cruise ending the next morning. instead, we pulled into reykjavik at 3 AM, with the cruise ending a few hours later. communication of the changes was poorly handled. but they did offer 25% FCC on a future cruise and 50% should you choose a european holiday. 

 

on the current cruise, they once again have canceled the call into isafjörður, but also canceled akureyri, which we did manage to visit last week. so, this cruise began with an overnight in reykjavik and a departure time of 10 PM on the second day of the cruise. this did afford back to back cruisers (there are nearly 400) the opportunity to go on a tour or explore the city. communication of the itinerary change was good for those coming on board, but very poor for the back to back cruisers.

 

anyway, the point here being that i have no way of knowing whether the room is good for sleeping, as we haven't started moving yet. given it's mid ship location on a higher deck, i'm going to say that it'll be just fine.

 

i should mention that when i spoke to the assistant GM a few days ago, she indicated to me that she and the GM would make time for a drink or a meal with me on this second cruise. they are interested in hearing my perspective on all things prima. i would welcome the opportunity, but intend to do absolutely nothing to bring that about. she wants to talk to me... she certainly knows how to find me.

[dexddd]

Not sure of current staff on Prima but Officers on our TA non existence.  First time we had asst gm come to room on embarkation while jetlagged, mentioned one issue, never fixed.  Had asst CS Mgr yell at us.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Thanks.  As I mentioned, I only made it about halfway through so missed the part initially about security officers.

When he finally got them to assign him a sleeping cabin, he ended up having a security detail visit as they had not been notified that the front desk had given him permission and a key to the cabin.

[The Traveling Man]

19 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Why would you expect a "security detail?"

 

19 hours ago, Sinbadssailors said:

No one would expect that.

 

Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise....

[Maggienc6009]

I am disappointed and sad about the Iceland Cruise.  There are, as you pointed out, work and improvements that need to be done.   We chose the destination and really didn’t see Iceland. We saw Acurfjordur/Northern Iceland.  The rest I saw from the bus going to the airport. 
 

I do not understand how NCL didn’t know ahead of time that Isofjordur was not able to accommodate arrangements/commitments made for the ship to dock there. What is the real story?  Did NCL chose not to inform us ahead of time?  Something is very wrong!  
 

If anyone has any different information, I would love to know OR correct me.  
 

 

[insidecabin]

NCL have a lot of ship time in the very north this year, attractive ports on the itinerary but risky weather all season.

 

Can sea a lot more missed ports.

[insidecabin]

Back to the OP

 

A tactic used by some cruisers when then the cabin is uninhabitable is to pick up the duvet and sleep in reception.

Probably works better for 2+ than a solo.

 

[BrianLo]

8 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

but they did offer 25% FCC on a future cruise and 50% should you choose a european holiday. 

 

on the current cruise, they once again have canceled the call into isafjörður, but also canceled akureyri, which we did manage to visit last week.

That’s nice they gave some compensation. Have you heard about the same on this voyage? I was not expecting anything, but I wonder what causes the differentiation? 
 

I guess this voyage has one cancelled and one subbed, unlike two cancelled on the inbound.

[mjkacmom]

A family balcony just means it’s close to the kids clubs (which isn’t a problem).

[UKstages]

2 hours ago, Maggienc6009 said:

What is the real story?  Did NCL chose not to inform us ahead of time?  Something is very wrong!  

 

standard practice - on all cruise lines - is not to inform ahead of time. in the first place, weather could change and we could get back on track. but there is also a lot that has to be done on a ship to turn things around and plan for an additional sea day or an overnight in another port. ... there is staff scheduling, increased activities and entertainment, additional food and beverages to be consumed, alterations to drills, cleaning and maintenance, excursions to be canceled or possibly rescheduled for the next day... all of that takes time to schedule and plan.

 

but NCL really takes that to an extreme, to the point of deception and subterfuge.

 

one example: i was in the casino at 8 pm or so the other night and one of the staff said, "ok, i'll see you tomorrow night." and i said, "gosh, i don't think so. we'll be in port... in reykjavik. are you open in port? i thought only in bermuda are you guys open while in port." and the staff member said, "oh, no, we'll be open."

 

that conversation took place at 8 PM, the day before we were to dock in reykjavik at 6 AM. so, the decision had already been made, but we weren't told till mid-afternoon the next day. and when you asked for information around the ship, everybody lied. they all knew our arrival had been delayed to the next day, but they would not give you accurate information, so you could plan. those with excursions were told to meet at the scheduled time, in my case 7:30m am, even though we were making circles in the ocean, many hours away from reykjavik. we didn't dock until 3 am the next day.

 

that day, as new guests were coming onboard, i spoke to a cruise next rep who was very coy and wouldn't say what she knew until i revealed i already knew that we were remaining in reykjavik for a day and that the next port had been canceled.

 

4 minutes ago, BrianLo said:

That’s nice they gave some compensation. Have you heard about the same on this voyage? I was not expecting anything, but I wonder what causes the differentiation? 
 

I guess this voyage has one cancelled and one subbed, unlike two cancelled on the inbound.

 

no mention of comp on the current itinerary.

 

bear in mind, NCL is not required to provide compensation for either situation; they do so as a measure of good will, although it's ironic that they make you consume more of the failed product in order to get any benefit.

 

i think the differentiating factors were the weather and the excessive number of sea days and the fact that the ship was tossed about for three or four days straight, causing discomfort and the cancellation of key shows and events. again, NCL was not required to provide anything, but did so because - on balance - it wasn't much of a cruise... it wasn't what people signed up for.

 

[Fanatico1981]

The information about the arrival time at reykjavik was given at around 10:30am, but yes it could have been more clearly at the night before, that „delay“ does not just mean 2 or 3 hours.

Anyway I get up at 6am and checked the map on tv. In this moment it was clear, that we will not arrive in the next hours.

 

The way to Reykjavík was really rough, but we had to do it, because there was no room left to arrive even later.

[AtSeaAlways]

6 hours ago, UKstages said:

 they make you consume more of the failed product in order to get any benefit.

 

So if there is storm, is that a failed product?   I remember a lawsuit from passengers afraid due to waves during a cruise in hurricane season.  There was a discussion on another thread on a conspiracy theory over failed stops to Bermuda due to weather- the channel is very narrow and has rocks/reefs on both sides. 

 

The cruise line gets maybe $250,000 a day in shore excursion revenue when they make a port stop - why would they lie?   What is the incentive to skip ports except if the port is closed or the channel is too dangerous?  If the ship goes aground there would be damage,  future cruises cancelled, angry passengers and the stock price is impacted as it is worldwide news.   The other danger- if you safely dock, and the weather turns unsafe, the ship has to leave and you strand 35 bus loads of passengers with no hotels, meds etc - how is that going to work? 

 

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, AtSeaAlways said:

So if there is storm, is that a failed product?   I remember a lawsuit from passengers afraid due to waves during a cruise in hurricane season.  There was a discussion on another thread on a conspiracy theory over failed stops to Bermuda due to weather- the channel is very narrow and has rocks/reefs on both sides. 

 

The cruise line gets maybe $250,000 a day in shore excursion revenue when they make a port stop - why would they lie?   What is the incentive to skip ports except if the port is closed or the channel is too dangerous?  If the ship goes aground there would be damage,  future cruises cancelled, angry passengers and the stock price is impacted as it is worldwide news.   The other danger- if you safely dock, and the weather turns unsafe, the ship has to leave and you strand 35 bus loads of passengers with no hotels, meds etc - how is that going to work? 

 

I think the point was any compensation refund would be a FCC.

 

For UK bookings there are 2 elements when things go wrong covered by the package travel regulations.

A refund for the failure to deliver part of product even if Force Majeure.

Compensation not required when out of the control of the cruise line.

 

IME most lines are very poor at giving updates to the point of being devious.

 

Had a P&O where at check in they gave you a piece of paper and said read this when you have time.

it itemized the change in itinerary which they new about ut would not tell anyone before the cruise as they would have had the option to cancel for full refund with no way to resell the cabins.

 

A recent MSC we knew the ship was going to Amsterdam with the return to Southampton(change over day) delayed by a few hours well before the announcement as both ports had updated their schedules.   
 

[mountbiker]

On 5/22/2023 at 10:17 PM, UKstages said:

much later that evening, about six or seven hours after i lodged my first complaint, i received a voicemail from somebody who described herself as the “GM’s assistant.” she wanted me to call so we could get the matter resolved. and so i did. and she then introduced herself once again and said she was the manager of guest services. OK, whatever. I thought she was the GM’s assistant, which i should take great pains to point out is very different than being “assistant GM.” i suppose that anybody who works in a managerial capacity in furtherance of the GM’s goals is a GM’s assistant, much like mickey mouse, who wasn’t really a sorcerer, but a sorcerer’s apprentice. so yeah, it’s a bit of a stretch, but sure. the GM’s assistant. let’s work with that.

 

i just needed a place to sleep. could she help?

 

turns out, she could!

 

at least i thought so, but then i wasn’t so sure. she admitted noisy cabins due to structural flaws were a big problem onboard the prima from day 1. just to clarify, this really is related to high seas. in stormy weather, in high seas, when the ship is rocking, these cabins have an internal structural flaw that makes the internal walls and support structure creak in the most annoying way. (that’s my layman’s explanation. if an engineer were actually sent to my room, he or she might have a different explanation.)  you might go on the prima and be placed in one of these rooms and never have a problem. you might be hard of hearing or have a high tolerance for pain inflicted on your ear drums. so you might never complain. indeed, that seems to be NCL’s revenue-based strategy behind the sale of these rooms… some people won’t mind and for those that do, we’ll sort it out later.

 

she apologized for the inconvenience, but she did say that my room had not been previously identified as being problematic in this regard. please note: she didn’t apologize for NCL booking me into the room, she didn’t apologize that the problem wasn’t resolved and she didn’t apologize for the seven-hour delay in getting back to me. she apologized for “the inconvenience” and that they had no comparable room to offer me.

We were in a 2 bedroom Haven on deck 14. And it was the noisiest room we have ever stayed in.  Creaking and a constant noise like tapping. Could even hear chairs being moved around from the have restaurant 2 decks up.. 

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

In regards to your compensation you did much better than we did on the April 20th Dawn cruise from New York City to Southampton. We were supposed to stop in St John's Newfoundland and St Pierre-Miquelon, the two ports I was really looking forward to & they were canceled and all the compensation we got was $50 on board credit per cabin. I would have thought we should at least get the port fees back but I've been emailing Norwegian and they're not budging.

[uneamie]

On 5/22/2023 at 10:01 PM, UKstages said:

 

not haha funny, but funny in the sense of interesting and unexpected. you might find it interesting, too. (If not, there’s nothing to see here! please move along.)

 

first let me say that EVERYTHING that people have said about the prima is true. it is a sensational ship with much to recommend. it also has serious design flaws, and in many cases, these are “bad ideas gone wrong” that have poor execution and delivery on top of ill conception.

 

and, as on any NCL ship, there are crew members who provide best in class top notch customer service. and there are also low lights who are completely clueless indeed, the prima excels at simultaneously offering excellent service and utter incompetence, ingeniousness design juxtaposed against spectacular stupidity.

 

i fully plan to write another post that details miscellaneous observations of my 21 days at sea on this back-to-back adventure because i still believe NCL is trying very hard and wants nothing more than to have a world class ship and deliver memorable vacation experiences to its customers. but before i get into the nitty gritty of all that, permit me to share a notable incident that occurred a few days in on my TA from new york to reykjavik.

 

grab some popcorn. this might take a while.

 

i intend to break the story up into many bite sized posts, for easier consumption.

 

please, hold your applause - or your brickbats - till the end.

I realize you are being very sincere....but this is putting me to sleep. So I will just let you know that I fully believe you because on our May7th cruise we were in cabin 10150 port side and I heard that creaking all night long as well. I had ear plugs and a fan on so I was able to ignore it for the most part. Sorry you could not! That had to be a very miserable experience. 

[Heartfelttraveler]

We were in the Owner's Suite on the Spirit in July 2019.  The shaking and noise was so bad whenever the ship exceeded 16 knots it was crazy.  We left Southampton about 10 hours late and the ship was doing 19-21 knots for several days.  I emailed our NCL cruise consultant with a few iphone videos.  Within a few hours we had a manager in our suite profusely apologizing.  Our friends in a veranda had the same problem.  We were both given a percentage of our cruise fare in future cruise credits.  

We felt this was very fair of NCL.

PS - I broke my foot in Southampton the night before the cruise.  I had a prescription painkiller and I slept like a baby.

[Jonesy333]

On 5/23/2023 at 11:11 AM, UKstages said:

oh, geez. i see i have an email from corporate that came in today. i took a quick glance. it appears to be very much a pro forma canned response. they kind of lost me when they referred to me as a “shareholder.” i am not. and they seem to have got other key details wrong. sheesh.

 

i’m still a bit loopy. i’ve been sleeping well in the new room, but i had such a deficit that i’m still not fully recovered. in fact, i fell asleep on a tour bus yesterday. i didn’t have the most engaging tour guide, but that had very little to do with it.

 

so, i’m going to go enjoy the rest of my cruise(s) now.

 

you kids behave yourselves.

 

i’m sure the usual suspects will be along soon to tell me what a nutter i am and also how brilliant i am. i’m sure there will be those who will demand to know why i let this go on so long and others who will wonder how NCL could let this go on so long. i think marc spijkerboer is likely to see increased traffic to his linkedin profile. and i’m sure it won’t be long before cruise critic runs a feature article on how to make your ship’s bathroom floor the most comfortable it can be. they will reveal shocking details on which lines have the most spacious floors and which have oversized toilets that obstruct the footprint and pose an obstacle to a good night’s sleep.

 

and some forum folks, i’m sure, will want to know how much i tipped the security officers who stormed the new room and interrogated me.

 

i adore you all.

 

(except for the ones i have on ignore... them, not so much.)

I’m in a very noisy creaky , popping cabin too and it’s so hard to fall asleep . I’ll go and report noisy cabin at CS this morning but Don t expect anything to be resolved as it’s construction issues but a warning to others there are cabins to avoid .