Guest Denied boarding due to being oversold - NCL Breakaway

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

Its the same guarantee for a car rental or hotel room Lol

I suppose I have been fortunate.  I have never had the experience of being denied a rental car, hotel room, cruise berth, or airplane seat once I had a guaranteed reservation.  I have chosen to give up my car, room, berth, or seat voluntarily several times when they were overbooked and offered what I thought was justifiable compensation for the inconvenience.  I'm not sure just how incensed I would be if I got booted involuntarily and they didn't offer a heaping big compensatory offer.  Sorry, but the definition of "guarantee" in my dictionary does not jibe with what the cruise line seems to think it means.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, erisajd said:

Gotta wonder how they checked their bags with the porters without a cabin assignment?  How do the porters know where to send the bags?  

Good point. Okay...never mind my original comment.

[Laszlo]

3 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

I suppose I have been fortunate.  I have never had the experience of being denied a rental car, hotel room, cruise berth, or airplane seat once I had a guaranteed reservation.  I have chosen to give up my car, room, berth, or seat voluntarily several times when they were overbooked and offered what I thought was justifiable compensation for the inconvenience.  I'm not sure just how incensed I would be if I got booted involuntarily and they didn't offer a heaping big compensatory offer.  Sorry, but the definition of "guarantee" in my dictionary does not jibe with what the cruise line seems to think it means.

My wife and I gave up our plane seats once at the boarding get. We were flying from Frankfurt to Newark and they oversold the plane. I family of 6 would have been split up. They started asking people if they wanted to give up their seat. I stepped forward and seat if I do give up two seats what do we get. It turned out pretty good, we got $1000 to use on our next flights, and will get two business class seats on the next flight that was leaving in three hours.... I said heck yes

[erisajd]

22 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Good point. Okay...never mind my original comment.

the rest of it was ok!  

[erisajd]

18 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

My wife and I gave up our plane seats once at the boarding get. We were flying from Frankfurt to Newark and they oversold the plane. I family of 6 would have been split up. They started asking people if they wanted to give up their seat. I stepped forward and seat if I do give up two seats what do we get. It turned out pretty good, we got $1000 to use on our next flights, and will get two business class seats on the next flight that was leaving in three hours.... I said heck yes

You could have gotten a lot more under EU261 . . . 

[The Traveling Man]

11 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

My wife and I gave up our plane seats once at the boarding get. We were flying from Frankfurt to Newark and they oversold the plane. I family of 6 would have been split up. They started asking people if they wanted to give up their seat. I stepped forward and seat if I do give up two seats what do we get. It turned out pretty good, we got $1000 to use on our next flights, and will get two business class seats on the next flight that was leaving in three hours.... I said heck yes

It seems that the offers for accepting a voluntary bump were much larger in previous years than they have been recently.  Perhaps the airlines' formulas for predicting no-shows has improved.  I remember many times in the 80s, 90s, and aughts when the offers went above $1000 per person for taking a guaranteed seat on a flight just three or four hours later.  My wife and I combined have received over $10,000 total in future flight credits over the years.  Not so much recently.

 

The trouble with trying to compare the apples and oranges here is that if a cruise ship gives you the boot, there isn't another ship on the same itinerary leaving just a few hours later.  There isn't another hotel in the same chain just down the street or across town.

[Laszlo]

9 minutes ago, erisajd said:

You could have gotten a lot more under EU261 . . . 

Maybe... didn't even know about EU261 in 2018. The business / first class seats made up for it

[graphicguy]

When I traveled for work, mostly Delta, the most I was ever offered for a bump was $1,300.

 

This story seems a bit “hinky”.  The letter posted seemed a little questionable, just in its wording.  Now, everything has been deleted.  I don’t think any entity can force you to delete anything on a public forum of what was posted was true!  
 

They can force you to take it down if it’s untrue, though!

 

No matter, it’s gone now!

[julig22]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

Sorry, but the definition of "guarantee" in my dictionary does not jibe with what the cruise line seems to think it means.

Since this doesn't seem to be a common occurrence on NCL, I don't think it's a matter of what the cruise line seems to think it means. Lots of speculation that the ship was intentionally oversold instead of a last minute issue that reduced the number of available rooms - which makes more sense.

[roddy good boy]

57 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

It seems that the offers for accepting a voluntary bump were much larger in previous years than they have been recently.  Perhaps the airlines' formulas for predicting no-shows has improved.  I remember many times in the 80s, 90s, and aughts when the offers went above $1000 per person for taking a guaranteed seat on a flight just three or four hours later.  My wife and I combined have received over $10,000 total in future flight credits over the years.  Not so much recently.

 

The trouble with trying to compare the apples and oranges here is that if a cruise ship gives you the boot, there isn't another ship on the same itinerary leaving just a few hours later.  There isn't another hotel in the same chain just down the street or across town.

Nice! I have never received an offer when I was in a position to take it. I was either on business travel, on my way to a conference or meeting( in the days before video conferencing), on my way to a wedding or medical appointment! Sometimes we just had to get back to work. Now that I’m retired, of course I haven’t been offered anything! 😁

[julig22]

10 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

When I traveled for work, mostly Delta, the most I was ever offered for a bump was $1,300.

 

This story seems a bit “hinky”.  The letter posted seemed a little questionable, just in its wording.  Now, everything has been deleted.  I don’t think any entity can force you to delete anything on a public forum of what was posted was true!  
 

They can force you to take it down if it’s untrue, though!

 

No matter, it’s gone now!

I agree that the letter looks a little suspect - wording, layout, terminology are just a little off from other NCL communications I've gotten. Guessing this was an email?

[roddy good boy]

46 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

When I traveled for work, mostly Delta, the most I was ever offered for a bump was $1,300.

 

This story seems a bit “hinky”.  The letter posted seemed a little questionable, just in its wording.  Now, everything has been deleted.  I don’t think any entity can force you to delete anything on a public forum of what was posted was true!  
 

They can force you to take it down if it’s untrue, though!

 

No matter, it’s gone now!

No, they can’t force you if it’s true, but that’s why it could be a settlement. They offer something and you agree to the offer and terms.

 

Or, it could all be a hoax! 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

[G-DawgMN]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

When I traveled for work, mostly Delta, the most I was ever offered for a bump was $1,300.

 

This story seems a bit “hinky”.  The letter posted seemed a little questionable, just in its wording.  Now, everything has been deleted.  I don’t think any entity can force you to delete anything on a public forum of what was posted was true!  
 

They can force you to take it down if it’s untrue, though!

 

No matter, it’s gone now!

 

 I've posted online complaints about companies in the past. If they offer me compensation, I specifically ask if it's contingent on me taking down my reviews/posts. I'm happy to amend my complaint, but I would never remove it entirely.

 

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Since this doesn't seem to be a common occurrence on NCL, I don't think it's a matter of what the cruise line seems to think it means. Lots of speculation that the ship was intentionally oversold instead of a last minute issue that reduced the number of available rooms - which makes more sense.

Agreed, but still, could NCL have done more, or should have they done more, to make good on their promise of a "guaranteed" stateroom?

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, roddy good boy said:

Nice! I have never received an offer when I was in a position to take it. I was either on business travel, on my way to a conference or meeting( in the days before video conferencing), on my way to a wedding or medical appointment! Sometimes we just had to get back to work. Now that I’m retired, of course I haven’t been offered anything! 😁

We usually try to allow some extra time at the beginning of a trip for precisely this reason.  I recall one trip from DFW to London during a peak travel time, when American adds an extra flight per day, AA80 departing at 8:00 PM in addition to the regular flight AA50 departing at 5:00 PM.  We were on the early flight, which would arrive the next morning, hours before our London hotel room would be available for us.  After we were seated in AA50, the flight attendant announced that they needed six volunteers to be bumped, for $1000 in flight credit and a guaranteed seat on AA80, departing just three hours later.  I turned to my wife and without a word I could see from her expression that the answer was a solid "yes, of course."  Before we could raise our hands, the flight attendant said "thank you, we have our six volunteers."  The early bird gets the worm, I guess.

[CAKEisgood]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

This story seems a bit “hinky”.  The letter posted seemed a little questionable, just in its wording.  Now, everything has been deleted.

Your intuition might be correct. I’m looking at an NCL letter that was sent to me via USPS and the letterhead is different than the letter on a previous post; it includes my full mailing address; it’s signed “Norwegian Cruise Line.”  I have received other letters from NCL via email and postal and they are all signed by “Norwegian Cruise Line”, and nothing else. Also, and I think this what made me think it’s “hinky” is the letter doesn’t include any contact phone number or email address or URL for NCL, which all my letters include. 

 

if it was sent via email, than wouldn’t it include the To and from email address? 
 

or maybe they printed in Miami, but why would the letterhead look different? 
 

Just a little weird 

Edited May 28 by CAKEisgood

[graphicguy]

3 minutes ago, CAKEisgood said:

Your intuition might be correct. I’m looking at an NCL letter that was sent to me via USPS and the letterhead is different than the letter on a previous post; it includes my full mailing address; it’s signed “Norwegian Cruise Line.”  I have received other letters from NCL via email and postal and they are all signed by “Norwegian Cruise Line”

 

if it was sent via email, than wouldn’t it include the To and from email address? 
 

or maybe they printed in Miami, but why would the letterhead look different? 
 

Just a little weird 

Yeah...it's just weird all the way around.  

 

Personally, I don't think any cruise line OVERSELLs their cabins.  I think they sell what they have and then they're done.  I also feel they probably have some wiggle room with cabins holding some back in case a cabin has some plumbing or electrical issues.

 

Then, as you point out, the letter was wonky.

 

But oversold?  And the REDIT poster pulled everything off the site?  Just not very believable from my perspective.

[julig22]

22 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Agreed, but still, could NCL have done more, or should have they done more, to make good on their promise of a "guaranteed" stateroom?

You mean clear out a broom closet, put the passenger in a room that has issues, ask a couple of solo travelers if they'd be willing to bunk together?

From what I've gathered, this was a sold-out cruise but suddenly an inside room was available for booking 6 days in advance, at a bargain rate. So no extra rooms - and if they discover at the end of the previous cruise that there are issues with one or more cabins that can't be remedied prior to sailing, what do you suggest?

[The Traveling Man]

6 minutes ago, julig22 said:

You mean clear out a broom closet, put the passenger in a room that has issues, ask a couple of solo travelers if they'd be willing to bunk together?

From what I've gathered, this was a sold-out cruise but suddenly an inside room was available for booking 6 days in advance, at a bargain rate. So no extra rooms - and if they discover at the end of the previous cruise that there are issues with one or more cabins that can't be remedied prior to sailing, what do you suggest?

No, but I do think that what several others have suggested, that it would be a reasonable idea for NCL to call for volunteers to accept some agreeable amount of compensation to forego their cruise.  There probably were a few folks booked on that cruise who live in or near the port of departure.  If just one family agreed to travel on a different date, a cabin would have been available for those passengers who had flown into town to board their ship.

[Destaw71835]

Wow. I recently decided to stop booking Gtys. This affirms it.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

No, but I do think that what several others have suggested, that it would be a reasonable idea for NCL to call for volunteers to accept some agreeable amount of compensation to forego their cruise.  There probably were a few folks booked on that cruise who live in or near the port of departure.  If just one family agreed to travel on a different date, a cabin would have been available for those passengers who had flown into town to board their ship.

When would NCL call for volunteers? 

The compensation was a full-refund and an equivalent FCC.

How would NCL match those volunteers with the rates paid by the passenger denied boarding?

[roddy good boy]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

When would NCL call for volunteers? 

The compensation was a full-refund and an equivalent FCC.

How would NCL match those volunteers with the rates paid by the passenger denied boarding?

Since the error was on NCL, they could offer it to passengers with the same category of cabin, or even a few categories up. And, the solicitation would be shortly before boarding. As passengers are checking in, seek volunteers. Not unlike how it’s done by airlines.

[astera]

38 minutes ago, roddy good boy said:

Since the error was on NCL, they could offer it to passengers with the same category of cabin, or even a few categories up. And, the solicitation would be shortly before boarding. As passengers are checking in, seek volunteers. Not unlike how it’s done by airlines.

 

Wouldn't it depend on when NCL knew for sure that that some cabin(s) would not be available at boarding time? The earlier they can notify passengers and offer a "deal" the higher the chance of their proposition being accepted. 

[erisajd]

7 hours ago, graphicguy said:

When I traveled for work, mostly Delta, the most I was ever offered for a bump was $1,300.

 

This story seems a bit “hinky”.  The letter posted seemed a little questionable, just in its wording.  Now, everything has been deleted.  I don’t think any entity can force you to delete anything on a public forum of what was posted was true!  
 

They can force you to take it down if it’s untrue, though!

 

No matter, it’s gone now!

I bet that NCL insisted he take it down in exchange for the freebies - 

[julig22]

2 minutes ago, erisajd said:

I bet that NCL insisted he take it down in exchange for the freebies - 

You are assuming that it really happened - I have my doubts. But, yes, his Reddit and his original post on the book site have been removed.  But he's still making comments about it on other posts.