NCL Cruises to Australia/New Zealand

[unclegrandpa]

I booked a cruise to Australia/New Zealand with NCL. I chose them because they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines. I noticed today that some ports offer no shore excursions. I also learned that the December 23 cruise had several ports removed. I started worrying that they offer no excursions because they will be removing some ports. I have never been on a cruise where no excursions were being offered weeks before the cruise.

 

My question is have they ever stopped in as many ports as they showed when you were buying a cruise to Australia/New Zealand or do they always do it to make people think they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines?

 

I talked to their customer service, and they told me they could remove ports without providing any reason and do not have to reimburse anyone.

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, unclegrandpa said:

I booked a cruise to Australia/New Zealand with NCL. I chose them because they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines. I noticed today that some ports offer no shore excursions. I also learned that the December 23 cruise had several ports removed. I started worrying that they offer no excursions because they will be removing some ports. I have never been on a cruise where no excursions were being offered weeks before the cruise.

 

My question is have they ever stopped in as many ports as they showed when you were buying a cruise to Australia/New Zealand or do they always do it to make people think they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines?

 

I talked to their customer service, and they told me they could remove ports without providing any reason and do not have to reimburse anyone.

How far off is the departure?

They may not show excursions or show partials if you are more than a few months away.

 

Personally, I doubt they pump up the port list expecting to intentionally drop some later.

[unclegrandpa]

3 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

How far off is the departure?

They may not show excursions or show partials if you are more than a few months away.

 

Personally, I doubt they pump up the port list expecting to intentionally drop some later.

January 16.

 

I just never saw them to not offer anything. That is why it seems weird.

[cruiser2015]

5 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

January 16.

 

I just never saw them to not offer anything. That is why it seems weird.

Wow, that does seem weird.

You called about port changes. Did you call and ask about excursions?

They have a department for that (I've spoken to them).

Also, NCL's site seems to be buggy at times. Could be a temporary glitch.

Call and if trips are available, I believe they can book them for you.

[unclegrandpa]

6 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

Wow, that does seem weird.

You called about port changes. Did you call and ask about excursions?

They have a department for that (I've spoken to them).

Also, NCL's site seems to be buggy at times. Could be a temporary glitch.

Call and if trips are available, I believe they can book them for you.

I did call them. They just say they are sold out. In case of other cruises they would just keep adding more excursions, more buses. The local authorities may limit traffic or something. But because I never experienced this before and they cancelled ports for the same cruise on a different date, I am concerned.

 

Besides if you buy from them you get 50 dollars off on excursions as part of the fare and 10 percent off after a few cruises with them. So you end up losing that benefit if you cannot book anything even if you do end up in that port.

[cruiser2015]

9 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I did call them. They just say they are sold out. In case of other cruises they would just keep adding more excursions, more buses. The local authorities may limit traffic or something. But because I never experienced this before and they cancelled ports for the same cruise on a different date, I am concerned.

 

Besides if you buy from them you get 50 dollars off on excursions as part of the fare and 10 percent off after a few cruises with them. So you end up losing that benefit if you cannot book anything even if you do end up in that port.

I'm on a cruise 4 days before yours.

One excursion I wanted was sold out (was available shortly before I went to book). But they did open it again weeks later.

I saw others disappearing with time.

All - for every port - sounds crazy.

Perhaps you need to quickly check out some outside tours. There may be enough savings to offset the credits NCL offers (off of their usually inflated pricing).

[unclegrandpa]

7 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

I'm on a cruise 4 days before yours.

One excursion I wanted was sold out (was available shortly before I went to book). But they did open it again weeks later.

I saw others disappearing with time.

All - for every port - sounds crazy.

Perhaps you need to quickly check out some outside tours. There may be enough savings to offset the credits NCL offers (off of their usually inflated pricing).

I was not saying all. There were like 11 left total. Some ports have nothing. The ones that are left are mostly just a couple hours.

 

Of course I don't have to have an excursion in each port and I don't have to buy from them. If you book outside tours and they cancel ports you may not be able to get the excursion money left after a certain time.

 

It's normal for them to go back on sale because some people cancel.

[cruiser2015]

25 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I was not saying all. There were like 11 left total. Some ports have nothing. The ones that are left are mostly just a couple hours.

 

Of course I don't have to have an excursion in each port and I don't have to buy from them. If you book outside tours and they cancel ports you may not be able to get the excursion money left after a certain time.

 

It's normal for them to go back on sale because some people cancel.

Al true.

Good luck.

[Karaboudjan]

8 hours ago, unclegrandpa said:

I booked a cruise to Australia/New Zealand with NCL. I chose them because they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines. I noticed today that some ports offer no shore excursions. I also learned that the December 23 cruise had several ports removed. I started worrying that they offer no excursions because they will be removing some ports. I have never been on a cruise where no excursions were being offered weeks before the cruise.

 

My question is have they ever stopped in as many ports as they showed when you were buying a cruise to Australia/New Zealand or do they always do it to make people think they have fewer days at sea than other cruise lines?

 

I talked to their customer service, and they told me they could remove ports without providing any reason and do not have to reimburse anyone.

 

I am on an Australia-New Zealand cruise in February.  All of the ports had excursions at one time, but over time the number available has gradually dropped and some ports no longer have any.  I think that selling out is the simple explanation for what you are seeing.

 

I have been following all Aus-NZ threads closely for over a year and I have not seen anything about systematic dropping of ports.  The only thing I have read about recently is some swapping of Lyttleton for Timaru.  I see that the changes for the Dec 23 cruise were made back in May so that seems like a one-off and of course was done well before the final payment date.

[European_CruiseGirl]

Which ports are you not seeing any excursions? New Zealand has many places where the ship doesn’t really stop but where the ship just sails (gourgeous views so no problem with that but it might be confusing for some). 
 

I know this next one doesnt apply to you op but it might apply to others who have answered you. Once you book a shore excursion through NCL all other excursions for that same port disappear from your app if there is a conflict in time. So those other shore excursions most likely are not sold out -  you simply do not see them anymore once you have booked yours. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[desherry]

I am booked on the Jan 4 cruise. Other than swapping Timaru for Lyttleton and earlier Akaroa for Lyttleton, we have not seen any port cancellations. We have had excursions canceled after booking in Melbourne, and have had to book another.

It took a long time before anything was offered for Timaru, and some excursions sold out for other ports that we procrastinated on booking. With that said, all the ports had about 6 excursions available with some having more.

[unclegrandpa]

I understand that the December 23 cruise had more stops originally. I am aware of the places where the ship isn't docked and it's just another day at sea. 

 

It's strange to me that they don't just add more excursions like they did on all the other cruises I was on. We will see what happens to the January 4 cruise. If they don't have any more port cancellations that would look better. 

[mbtmbt]

46 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I understand that the December 23 cruise had more stops originally. I am aware of the places where the ship isn't docked and it's just another day at sea. 

 

It's strange to me that they don't just add more excursions like they did on all the other cruises I was on. We will see what happens to the January 4 cruise. If they don't have any more port cancellations that would look better. 

Have you considered that it's Christmas / New Years and lots of people are on holiday? Meaning, not as many tour guides are available to add tours...

[itsnotjustme]

This does look odd. I don't know if ports were dropped, or never planned (perhaps due to Christmas).

 

23 Dec cruise "12 days 8 ports".  (no Eden, no Burnie)

 

9 Feb cruise "12 days 10 ports"

Edited December 23, 2023 by itsnotjustme

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@itsnotjustme

 

Eden & Burnie were dropped earlier this year (May?).   It was also changed so that the ship was to remain in Sydney overnight after embarkation day for the whole next day.

 

There are two cruises in January that had Akaroa changed to Lyttleton and then changed to Timaru during the year too.

 

It is interesting, and annoying, that the 9th February cruise is the only cruise that is going to Akaroa. 

[cruiser2015]

18 hours ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

Which ports are you not seeing any excursions? New Zealand has many places where the ship doesn’t really stop but where the ship just sails (gourgeous views so no problem with that but it might be confusing for some). 
 

I know this next one doesnt apply to you op but it might apply to others who have answered you. Once you book a shore excursion through NCL all other excursions for that same port disappear from your app if there is a conflict in time. So those other shore excursions most likely are not sold out -  you simply do not see them anymore once you have booked yours. 

FYI on your second comment - sometimes yes, sometimes no.

For my cruise next month, a few of the ports left all shorex options listed. The others were as you stated.

NCL tech strikes again.

[misslab]

We are on the January 16 cruise as well.  We upgraded to FAS plus so get 2 $50 credits per port, but we only booked 1 NCL excursion for the whole cruise.  Either there were none available for a port, or they were way to expensive (some $300 - $400 per person!!).  So looks like we will mostly be venturing out on our own.

[itsnotjustme]

11 hours ago, misslab said:

Either there were none available for a port, or they were way to expensive (some $300 - $400 per person!!).  So looks like we will mostly be venturing out on our own.

 

I agree some excursions are quite expensive.  We are Sapphire now and get 15% off which helps, and we will have the free at sea $50 for 1 person.

 

We plan ship excursions in 5 ports, and to go it on our own in Melbourne, Wellington, and Napier.

 

[Philandjulie]

Which ports have they removed?  Eastern Australia is coping dreadful weather in the last few weeks.  We've had cyclones, torrential flooding, tornadoes (which are rare here) and other things happening. It basically hasn't stopped raining for over 2 weeks.   Maybe it's due to weather and the conditions of the ports that are causing changes.