NCL Jade: courtyard now open to all suites

[DMH15]

I want to thank you OP for taking the time to post this recent development. What I love about CC is the way I have become a much more informed cruiser because of sharing people like you.

 

I love NCL... Borderline cheerleader, I guess. So I wait for the next chapter.

 

I am so sorry this happened to you. I certainly hope NCL makes it up to you. Like they tell us at the M&G, give them a chance to "fix it". Just don't know what they can do since you aren't getting what you signed up (and paid) for. You have my best wishes.

[horsesrus]

Hi horsesrus,

 

I've not managed to talk to other passangers about it, I feel a bit awkward. But yes their keycards have all been activated for the 14th floor. The amount of traffic up and down the lifts is much more than it was last year.

 

Jonathan

 

I understand that, not like you want to go up and be all "so what do you think you're doing here?" :) I would start making friends and get it out of them in a 'round about way, but I'm sort of obnoxious that way. LOL

I hope you have escalated this up the chain, did you see the email address for Sheehan? That is so not right, I mean NCL can change their rules, it’s their company, but they need to make people aware so we can choose how we want to spend our dollars. They have basically pulled the rug out from under you with the CY perks as I’m sure it’s entirely too crowed to even enjoy. Bummer!

[jonbrealey]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for the replies. I have emailed the CEO just now as well.

 

I will see if I can find out some more!

 

One of things I said to the assistant hotel director was that I have spent the last year telling people how nice NCL was, great suites and nice service and then you go and do something stupid! Crazy.

 

Jonathan

[HMK8273]

Jonathan-

 

Thank you for sharing this wacky course of events as well as trying to figure out what is going on. I would start with the concierge for sure - see what he/she says. They should have a clue as to what is going on. Hotel director? Someone has got to know why they did an about face on the limited access to the Courtyard.

 

HMK8273

[d man]

Just sent my e-mail and requested a price reduction for my 21 day stay in the GV.

 

D man

[justcake]

This is outrageous. If I was villa passenger I would be shocked, ticked and completely annoyed. That makes no sense. I'm sure the suite passengers are loving every minute of it but if I had spent the money on a villa, I would certainly be asking for some type of compensation. Although I've never sailed in a villa and probably never will, I'm in complete agreement that this is outrageous and NCL has a lot of explaining to do. This is definitely a bad move on their part.:eek:

[bocamom61]

What an unfair thing to happen. I can't imagine paying the highest prices and expecting to have a virtual sanctuary in the courtyard and winding up with a crowd of people. That is so unfair! I too think it will hurt and not help the bottom line. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

[CommodoreCluck]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are on the Jade at the moment. We are in a Courtyard Villa - A3. The courtyard area has now been opened to all suites (except mini). I'm very unhappy about this, last year the courtyard was well used but you could generally get a seat and the area was quiet. Now you are very lucky to get a seat, at one point there were 8 children in the pool and 3 in the spa. If you have been in the courtyard you will know it was not built for this. The courtyard butler cannot cope with the number of people he is looking after so you have a long wait for anything you need.

 

I have met with the assistant hotel director who has basically told me there is nothing he can do but that I should complaint to head office. He apologised over and over again, I get the impression I'm not the first to complain. All of the web based NCL advertising says that the courtyard is for garden, owners and courtyard villas. The main thing I'm annoyed about is that this holiday is very expensive for us, the courtyard is a key feature for us, we have bought the holiday on the basis that it was advertised and NCL have now changed this after we have booked.

 

Did anyone else booking an A1, A2 and A3 know about this?

 

What do people think to this?

 

Jonathan

 

I am so sorry this is happening to you. I am booked in an CV in Jan. on the Pearl and I tell you that this would be be a huge problem for us. The only reason we booked the CV was because of the limited amount of people allowed in there as my MIL is elderly and can't handle crowds.

 

We have sent an email to the powers that be and not only expressed our disappointment and possible cancellation/lawsuit/major bad publicity... We also asked him if they could do anything about getting the privileges rescinded for those that didn't pay for it for the rest of your cruise so as to allow you to salvage what's left of your vacation.:mad:

 

Best wishes to you and all who paid for these perks. :)

[EileenN]

I, too, am a NCL fan for many years, but this is WRONG. It should not be allowed You paid for the use of this exclusive area and it should not be open to all suites. We have stayed in the Courtyard once as an Upsale and I would be furious if this happened to us. We often stay in an AB and still agree that it is a paid perk for the Upper suites who contracted for this advantage.

My email is going tonight....I would not take it to anyone on board lower than the Hotel Director. I would also expect compensation for the loss of a paid and contracted perk..

[perrys]

This is really bad. OP, please keep us updated. If this is in fact a "trial" I am so sorry it happened on your cruise. We have a villa booked on the Jade in two weeks, so this is bad news for us if it continues.

[time2cruise1]

Anyone hear back yet ? I send my emails at 12:15 yesterday and nothing. This has to be a mistake on one ship or maybe they gave the bar setup genius a new job.

[cruzinaway]

Anyone hear back yet ? I send my emails at 12:15 yesterday and nothing. This has to be a mistake on one ship or maybe they gave the bar setup genius a new job.

 

I sent an e-mail to the CEO and the supervisor at the NCL resolution desk around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. I received a "quick reply" from the woman who took care of a problem for us last year. She's out of the office until Aug 2. Mr. Sheehan has never personally answered any of my e-mails but a representative has always followed up the next day with either an e-mail or a phone call.

 

I've only had two issues with NCL up to this point - one was the missing liquor for the OS and GV and the other was a charge dispute - both were handled immediately and professionally. I'm hoping this one has a similar resolution.

 

Fingers crossed.

[DMH15]

I have heard nothing as well. I suppose this is more difficult to resolve than the bar setup issue.

 

One of the non-tangible selling points of the villa floor is exclusivity and serenity. This was surely breached by NCL. The CV and AB have identical floorplans but the AB is $1000 less per person. So, for $2000 more the only advantage is proximity to the CY???? Ridiculous.

 

The CY is ruined. NCL, please fix this!!!!!

[petesweet]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I agree with all of you. It is certainly not snobbish to expect these perks when you pay so much more for the villa. We had the pleasure of viewing the villa on our last NCL cruise since one of our cabin crawl members had booked it. It is MAGNIFICENT.

Someone said maybe NCL was using this to whet the appetite of people for future bookings. If that is the case (but still not fair to those who have booked it with a different understanding), I have a suggestion for NCL.

1. Charge for a day's use of the courtyard.

2. Allow only one couple a day (or make it half a day and allow two couples to split the time).

3. NEVER allow non-villa children. Let the adults come when the children are in the children's program.

I sincerely hope this gets worked out for you folks who have paid so much for this special experience.

Kathy

[noreddye]

We too booked a courtyard suite (on the Pearl) for the peace and quiet. We paid more this suite because of the "extra perks" of the courtyard. I would be demanding a discount if this happened (happens) to me and I would not book another CY suite again.

[DMH15]

there was another thread stating NCL charging $12.50 for Cagney's lunch. Didn't get that one clarified...

 

But it looks like NCL might lose the "best suites at Sea" reputation if they aren't prudent.

[time2cruise1]

there was another thread stating NCL charging $12.50 for Cagney's lunch. Didn't get that one clarified...

 

But it looks like NCL might lose the "best suites at Sea" reputation if they aren't prudent.

 

That is not a big issue as long as they open the main part of the restaurant for other passengers and retain the Star Bar and back dining room for penthouse passengers.

[DMH15]

Thanks, time2...

 

Didn't realize that was the case.

[smahk]

This is awful news and quite honestly completely unacceptable.

 

I booked NCL ONLY because of the Courtyard access. I certainly would have selected another ship for the large premium I am paying had I not had exclusive access to Courtyard.

 

NCL is launching the EPic with an even larger courtyard and more CV and GV. What would be the benefit of booking thoses significantly more expensive rooms over just another cheaper suite elsewhere if I can get the same ameneities. It doesn't make sense.

 

I have emailed today. My sailing is just 2 weeks away, so I hope there is some clarification before we sail, else I might just have to corner the poor soul assigned to our M&G and give them an earful.

[njhorseman]

While it is certainly is the absolutey wrong thing for NCL to do, I don't think anyone should be apoplectic about it just yet.

 

As of now we have one report of this happening, on one cruise, on one ship. Perhaps there are special circumstances on this cruise that caused the situation (something the OP alluded to in one of his posts). Perhaps it's just a "trial balloon" floated with the intent of gathering the reactions of the passengers.

[EileenN]

This will not keep me from sailing on NCL but I do not intend to invest in costly accomadations for perks that are given to less costly cabins. That would be crazy.

I am hoping to hear from NCL regading this and hearing perhaps it was some miscommunication.

[Spoiled Suite Brats]

While it is certainly is the absolutey wrong thing for NCL to do, I don't think anyone should be apoplectic about it just yet.

 

As of now we have one report of this happening, on one cruise, on one ship. Perhaps there are special circumstances on this cruise that caused the situation (something the OP alluded to in one of his posts). Perhaps it's just a "trial balloon" floated with the intent of gathering the reactions of the passengers.

 

I disagree I think this is horrible that the people who paid to have the Courtyard are completely being screwed out of what they thought there vacation was to be. I also believe that this should be addressed immediately so that this doesn't happen to any others in the future who have already booked. If NCL decides that they want to do this they should only start with a cruise that nobody has booked any of these cabins. I have been in an AE cabin and of course would have loved to have this perk but I don't know if I would take advantage of it if I knew that others had paid so dearly for it to be exclusive. I also think that if all the suites were allowed to do this it would be so crowded that I may as well go ahead and be with all of the others at the main pool areas. I am booked for a CV in January and if this ends up happening I will definately cancel my trip as it would be spoiled IMO.

[no port @ dfw]

As we examine this problem we need to make sure everyone is using the same terminology. Here is what NCL has said about the courtyard access:

 

"You’ve never seen anything quite like this before. Like a ship-within-a-ship, the Courtyard Area* is on a secluded deck, open only to our guests in the Garden Villas, Courtyard Villas, Deluxe Owner’s Suites and Owner’s Suites."

 

My understanding from the Pearl (similar to Jade, but I have not been on the Jade) is that only leaves the Penthouses and Romance Suites causing the concern. I cannot tell from the OP and others on the thread exactly WHICH categories are invading the courtyard (perhaps it was stated and I missed it). Until I see specifically that an AB, AC, AD or AE had courtyard access, I will remain calm and consider that this may all be a nomenclature issue, much like calling the AF category "mini-suites" when they are really deluxe balcony without any suite privileges. With the exception of the AD "romance suites", it may well be a correct statement for a staff member to say all suites have access if they consider AB, AC and AE to be "penthouse" cabins as opposed to "suite" cabins. I could also see how since the AD and AE are similar enough, other than balcony size, that the same staff member could reasonably consider the AD to also be a "penthouse" and not a "suite". I have heard people in an AF insist they are in a suite while at the same time when we were in an AE and were asked if we were in a "suite" we responded "no" as we were in a penthouse.

 

With any luck, it is something that simple and on the particular cruise at issue, the courtyard was just unusually overrun with folks from the other non AB-AE "suites" or someone from those suites with access allowing many other family members from non-access cabins to join them?

[goldmom]

I would be extremely annoyed about this too. We had an AE, which we booked to get the suite perks. After the cocktail party in the Courtyard, DH said that next time he wanted to say there and have CY access. That was enough to get us hooked and I'm sure it is also enough to hook others. I see no need to give CY access to all suites if they are trying to get more people to book a CY Villa.

 

If this is the case, why would any one book anything less than the cheapest suite as you'd get all the same perks. It really doesn't make sense as a marketing ploy. The CY Villas and above Suites are much more expensive because they are supposed to have exclusive access to the CY. This really makes no sense to me at all.

 

Hopefully, it's a situation as stated above where there is some confusion on the terminology or a case of CY passengers bringing in guests. If I were the OP, I would ask to have the difference in price for a regular suite as compared to a CY Villa be credited to me. Hopefully we will get some more info on this. I haven't booked my next cruise yet, but this would certainly influence my decision of which category I would book. Why pay more for the same perks.

[Smellytoes]

there was another thread stating NCL charging $12.50 for Cagney's lunch. Didn't get that one clarified...

 

But it looks like NCL might lose the "best suites at Sea" reputation if they aren't prudent.

 

That was on the Spirit. It didn't seem to impact the penthouse passengers at all. Never a wait. Service was spectacular.