NCL Chat Line- Beware

[NW Pacific]

Used chat line tonight to ask about a 10% discount in my account.  Gave chat person the ID number of it and my latitude number. My question was about the date the coupon could be used, yes, to me it looked like only a September date for an Alaska Cruise, but wanted to make sure it could not be used for another.  She asked when would you like to sail, I replied" possibly July".  confirmed it was for only for the specific date in September.  I replied thank you for your time and information.  Within 5 minutes I received an email with a courtesy hold for a cruise in July and then a confirmation of same cruise within 2 minutes.  At first, I had a little panic attack, but gave no credit card info and know I could dispute it and did call NCL and was told , "it will go away within 24 hours".  Well fine and dandy I guess, but I think this kind of "marketing" or whatever is very wrong.  Hope NCL see this, lol.  Anyway just wanting to pass along my experience.

[NW Pacific]

to add, the courtesy confirm and second email confirmation did have cabin # and price for a balcony cabin.  Never did I discuss what accommodations I was interested in.

[hallux]

They probably did a mock booking in your name to see if the coupon could be applied.  That's what you saw.  They had to do it in your name as the coupon was in your account.

 

By the way - that's the Latitudes cruise this year.  Yes, that coupon is listed as only valid for that sail date so it couldn't have been used elsewhere.  I'm not sure why someone would think a coupon named as pictured would be applicable to some other cruise, the sailing date is right there.

7 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

but I think this kind of "marketing" or whatever is very wrong

I don't see this as 'marketing', it was simply something the agent needed to do in order to satisfy your (unnecessary, IMO) inquiry.

[graphicguy]

Haven't checked that Latitudes cruise fares lately, but even with the discount, it really wasn't a good deal.

 

Great ship and great itinerary, though.  Fares are a bit surprising given it's the end of season for Alaska.  I would have thought they'd be way less.

[zqvol]

8 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Used chat line tonight to ask about a 10% discount in my account.  Gave chat person the ID number of it and my latitude number. My question was about the date the coupon could be used, yes, to me it looked like only a September date for an Alaska Cruise, but wanted to make sure it could not be used for another.  She asked when would you like to sail, I replied" possibly July".  confirmed it was for only for the specific date in September.  I replied thank you for your time and information.  Within 5 minutes I received an email with a courtesy hold for a cruise in July and then a confirmation of same cruise within 2 minutes.  At first, I had a little panic attack, but gave no credit card info and know I could dispute it and did call NCL and was told , "it will go away within 24 hours".  Well fine and dandy I guess, but I think this kind of "marketing" or whatever is very wrong.  Hope NCL see this, lol.  Anyway just wanting to pass along my experience.

AI at its finest. You don’t think there was a person on the other end do you? I can assure you that there was not. 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

It does the same thing if you do mock bookings online while logged in to your account.

[MoCruiseFan]

I just love these "beware" posts that almost always (as in this case) are a misunderstanding of the situation on the part of he person making the post.  As someone pointed out, most likely the NCL rep was doimg what was necessary to see if your coupon could be used on a July cruise.  In doing so he had to pick some cabin type and chose balcony.  Doing that automatically generated the email you received.  Nothing at all dastardly or nefarious going on, and certainly nothng to 'beware' of.  Thanks anyway!

[schmoopie17]

I avoid the NCL chat like the plague. I can't count the number of times I've been given incorrect information using that thing.

 

NCL should just due away with the chat, like other things they've gotten rid of that use the initials:

 

C  Cookies

H  Hashbrowns

A   Animals made from

T  Towels

 

Edited April 16 by schmoopie17

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Used chat line tonight to ask about a 10% discount in my account.  Gave chat person the ID number of it and my latitude number. My question was about the date the coupon could be used, yes, to me it looked like only a September date for an Alaska Cruise, but wanted to make sure it could not be used for another.  She asked when would you like to sail, I replied" possibly July".  confirmed it was for only for the specific date in September.  I replied thank you for your time and information.  Within 5 minutes I received an email with a courtesy hold for a cruise in July and then a confirmation of same cruise within 2 minutes.  At first, I had a little panic attack, but gave no credit card info and know I could dispute it and did call NCL and was told , "it will go away within 24 hours".  Well fine and dandy I guess, but I think this kind of "marketing" or whatever is very wrong.  Hope NCL see this, lol.  Anyway just wanting to pass along my experience.

It was a courtesy hold. Take it. Leave it. 

[Ellis1138]

Sorry that it gave you a panic. The chat rep should have explained the mock booking hold. I had to have that done when the rep couldn't figure out why I couldn't use two CruiseNexts. Only when the payment part comes up, does the rep get to see the error message. 

 

But yeah, you get bombarded for a day with the emails.

[MoCruiseFan]

Really?  Do you expect the person taking your order at McDonald's to explain to you how your hamburger is cooked, dressed, and wrapped as well as the temp the fries are cooked and how long?  The NCL rep just did the job required to get the OP the info requested.  Email has a delete key for a reason. 

[NW Pacific]

thanks for replies.  Emails stopped coming 5 in all, an a apology from NCL, all good

[RocketMan275]

Before I engage with my TA, I do  a mock booking.

I've learned to use a different cabin number (same category) than the one I actually want.

I mock booking generates a 24 hour hold on the cabin you select.

Therefore, I use a cabin close to the one I want.

Then I contact my TA with the cabin number I actually want.

[NW Pacific]

good for you!   Have booked at least 35 cruises with NCL.  I wasn't looking to book, just a question.  

[Menocchio]

On 4/16/2024 at 9:14 AM, zqvol said:

AI at its finest. You don’t think there was a person on the other end do you? I can assure you that there was not. 

There are times when chat isn't available, so I assume they have actual employees on there. Frankly, even with the problems what the OP did would be pretty dang impressive for an AI.

 

Just to drop in another anecdote, I've used the NCL chat to modify my reservation several times without issue. I think it's pretty handy if what you want is simple and direct (ie "cancel my vibe pass") but isn't something that a user can do simply by themselves. If I had a more complicated question, request, or problem, I think I'd make a phone call. 

[mistertomatoe]

I’m surprised at the responses. I would panic. Does this happen when you call? It hasn’t for me. I would think if they were trained properly they would know how to check prices, availability, etc. without a courtesy hold. 

Edited April 18 by mistertomatoe

[hallux]

3 minutes ago, mistertomatoe said:

I would think if they were trained properly they would know how to check prices, availability, etc. without a courtesy hold. 

This wasn't simply checking price and availability - the OP was asking about applying a coupon in their account to the cruise, they needed to put a courtesy hold to also try applying the coupon.  However - they didn't need to even do that at the coupon name (as I put in the screenshot) indicates exactly which cruise it applies to.

[NW Pacific]

OK, if the coupon limit was so obvious, why then did the online chat have to put a courtesy hold to check it out??    Your saying I did not need to check "the coupon" so should have not called.  But why then, if it was so cut and dry did the on line chat need to do a mock booking to find that out.   The on line chat "representative" was an eager beaver to get a booking hopefully. 

Misatertomatotoe, I was getting annoyed and a little what the heck is going on with all the emails for a booking I did not make, thanks for your response

[NW Pacific]

Online chat had my latitudes number, could see what "coupon" I had, but for some reason choose to explore it further,  ??

[hallux]

9 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

but for some reason choose to explore it further,  ??

because you asked them to?

9 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

if the coupon limit was so obvious

It was, the coupon name was literally "10% off coupon - Latitudes cruise, Norwegian Bliss, September 28, 2024". I can tell by that name that the coupon is for the designated Latitudes cruise on the Bliss on September 28, 2024, I don't need to call to ask if I can use it for a different cruise as it's specifically for that one cruise.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, hallux said:

because you asked them to?

It was, the coupon name was literally "10% off coupon - Latitudes cruise, Norwegian Bliss, September 28, 2024". I can tell by that name that the coupon is for the designated Latitudes cruise on the Bliss on September 28, 2024, I don't need to call to ask if I can use it for a different cruise as it's specifically for that one cruise.

Yup, it should be obvious including being understood by the person initiating the chat. But possibly for the employee at the other end of the chat, it was not something on their script.

[BirdTravels]

On 4/18/2024 at 1:19 PM, mistertomatoe said:

I’m surprised at the responses. I would panic. Does this happen when you call? It hasn’t for me. I would think if they were trained properly they would know how to check prices, availability, etc. without a courtesy hold. 

This is business. They are trained to make a sale. By placing a courtesy hold, they create a sense of urgency... which is Marketing 101.

 

I had a courtesy hold resulting from an inquiry last week. I paid my deposit and booked the cruise resulting from the courtesy hold. 

[MoCruiseFan]

7 hours ago, hallux said:

because you asked them to?

It was, the coupon name was literally "10% off coupon - Latitudes cruise, Norwegian Bliss, September 28, 2024". I can tell by that name that the coupon is for the designated Latitudes cruise on the Bliss on September 28, 2024, I don't need to call to ask if I can use it for a different cruise as it's specifically for that one cruise.

 

Literally??? WOW!

[MoCruiseFan]

So much ado about noting at all.  The OP simply called in to ask a question,  In order to ensure tha the correct answer was given the rep tested to see if she coudl use the coupon elswhre,  Nothing at all to BEWARE about.  The email was simply an auto matic follow up to the rep doing his job fully.  If you get email that you do not want all you have to do is click delete and move on.