Working with a rude CS at Norwegian

I was researching cruises and registered with NCL and soon got a call with one of their reps. We went over the details and I booked a cruise thru him for NCL. It is for next year in July and he said I have until Apr. to cancel with no fees. I just checked the very same cruise on another site and they are offering a $100 onboard credit and this week is bonus another $100 credit. I called up the rep to get the credit added to my account. He was very rude and finally gave me the $100 credit but not the bonus credit saying it's something the other site is offering as their promotion. I'm ok with that but just upset at how rude he was. I just booked this cruise last week and have about a year to go. If the price drops again I'm just worried that he is going to be rude again and not work with me. Has anybody ever faced reps like that ?

I was researching cruises and registered with NCL and soon got a call with one of their reps. We went over the details and I booked a cruise thru him for NCL. It is for next year in July and he said I have until Apr. to cancel with no fees. I just checked the very same cruise on another site and they are offering a $100 onboard credit and this week is bonus another $100 credit. I called up the rep to get the credit added to my account. He was very rude and finally gave me the $100 credit but not the bonus credit saying it's something the other site is offering as their promotion. I'm ok with that but just upset at how rude he was. I just booked this cruise last week and have about a year to go. If the price drops again I'm just worried that he is going to be rude again and not work with me. Has anybody ever faced reps like that ?

I haven't but you as a customer certainly have the right to call NCL, ask for a supervisor, tell them you want a different PCC and tell them why you want to change.

Never settle for sub-par service.

Why don't you just cancel and re-book with the site that had the better deal?

You essentially forced him into matching $100 off that somebody else was giving you, or he'd lose his commission.

I don't think rudeness is ever appropriate, but it's understandable how it happens sometimes.

The travel agent offered $100 out of their profit.... the PCC doesn't have that flexibility, so I'm not even sure how they pulled it off.

If you find a deal you want to take advantage of, by all means do so....but with all of the associated risks, too.

.

Why don't you just cancel and re-book with the site that had the better deal?

Agreed! No need to reward a rude CS by taking a sub par deal. Besides if they cant match the deal why should you suffer.

NCL allows cancelations and since you are following their rules no need to feel guilty about it. Also in the non cancelation period sometimes the fares go down 50% or more ... NCL doesn't come and offer you the savings ... so when you are given the opportunity to take the savings don't feel guilty!

If you find a deal you want to take advantage of, by all means do so....but with all of the associated risks, too.

There are NO risks! Place a free 24 hr hold at the other TA. Cancel at NCL and immediately rebook. Prices wont go up the same day ... specially when you are this far out.

You essentially forced him into matching $100 off that somebody else was giving you, or he'd lose his commission.

 

I don't think rudeness is ever appropriate, but it's understandable how it happens sometimes.

 

 

 

The travel agent offered $100 out of their profit.... the PCC doesn't have that flexibility, so I'm not even sure how they pulled it off.

 

If you find a deal you want to take advantage of, by all means do so....but with all of the associated risks, too.

 

 

 

.

Seriously !!! You think it was ok for him to be rude. If NCL drops it's price and I call to price match he has the right to talk to me like that ?

The reason I didn't cancel and go with the other deal is because the left side cabins are all booked. My cruise is on south bound Alaska and left side has the best views.

He is either new or doesn't deal with too many price match calls. These kind of calls are totally normal and the first day he called me he was the one who sold me the balcony saying I can always call to price match if rates drop. I usually like to give people benefit of doubt and he might just be having a bad day. If this behaviour continues though then I'll ask NCL to change my rep.

Seriously !!! You think it was ok for him to be rude. If NCL drops it's price and I call to price match he has the right to talk to me like that ?

 

The reason I didn't cancel and go with the other deal is because the left side cabins are all booked. My cruise is on south bound Alaska and left side has the best views.

 

He is either new or doesn't deal with too many price match calls. These kind of calls are totally normal and the first day he called me he was the one who sold me the balcony saying I can always call to price match if rates drop. I usually like to give people benefit of doubt and he might just be having a bad day. If this behaviour continues though then I'll ask NCL to change my rep.

Yeah, gotta admit I am confused by this story, too.

Anyway, NCL will not "price match" third party sites. If the third party site is offering better, go with them.

There is absolutely no reason for the NCL employee to be rude, though. If he was really that bad, I would call the Miami office (I'll post the number if you want) and complain about him.

I had an NCL employee at the Arizona office be really rude to me over the phone, two nights before my cruise in December. I called up to ask a simply ask a question about bringing my own soda on board, got a ridiculous (and incorrect) answer, and she bit my head off when I questioned it. I then asked for her supervisor, and she left me on "endless hold" before coming back and lying to me that the supervisor agreed that her advice was correct.

I hung up, called Miami, and they were able to look into my records, determine who had spoken to me, and said they were going to discipline that employee for both giving me wrong information and mistreating me. They had a recording of the call and I was told that I was 100% in the right. I was given a free $35 birthday package for my wife as compensation.

The OBC is for NCL so I'm assuming that is something that NCL offers and not the other TA. The bonus OBC was something that the other TA offered and the rep couldn't Price match. He readily gave me the first OBC but was just a jerk about it. And at the end he asked if he could do anything else and before I could complete saying no that's it he hung up. I'm just shaken up by his behavior.

Don't get me wrong ... NCL is an awesome cruiseline. But 3rd party TA's almost invariably offer from 5% to 10% better deal that NCL's direct website. I have no idea why people still insist on booking directly.

I don't even book my CAS booking directly through CAS and use a host agency and get pretty good additional perks.

Bad shore side customer service has been my experience with NCL almost as a rule. Just say no, book with a travel agent. You will get a better rate and better perks.

Bad shore side customer service has been my experience with NCL almost as a rule. Just say no, book with a travel agent. You will get a better rate and better perks.

TA can not give a lower price on a cruise than what NCL has, it is in the contract with those Travel Agencies......The only thing a TA can give is some additional OBC which comes out of their commission.......If a travel Agent quotes a lower price than what NCL lists, then they will lose their contract with NCL.

Seriously !!! You think it was ok for him to be rude. If NCL drops it's price and I call to price match he has the right to talk to me like that ?

 

The reason I didn't cancel and go with the other deal is because the left side cabins are all booked. My cruise is on south bound Alaska and left side has the best views.

 

He is either new or doesn't deal with too many price match calls. These kind of calls are totally normal and the first day he called me he was the one who sold me the balcony saying I can always call to price match if rates drop. I usually like to give people benefit of doubt and he might just be having a bad day. If this behaviour continues though then I'll ask NCL to change my rep.

The PP did not say it was okay (he even said "I don't think rudeness is ever appropriate"), he said that he understands why it happens sometimes. Big difference.

Don't get me wrong ... NCL is an awesome cruiseline. But 3rd party TA's almost invariably offer from 5% to 10% better deal that NCL's direct website. I have no idea why people still insist on booking directly.

 

I don't even book my CAS booking directly through CAS and use a host agency and get pretty good additional perks.

Personally I don't like dealing with middlemen. If there is a problem I want to be able to go to the source to resolve it.

I always wonder at these stories about alledged rude employees of Norwegian Cruise Line. The stories always seem to be aimed at the company but there are always two people in a conversation. I wonder how many times NCL think that the customer is rude? Just because you may not get your way in asking for something extra all the time, accepting a decision of NO, does not always mean that rudeness has been shown. Just recall what you have said to the NCL employee and ask yourself "who was actually rude"?, them or me?

TA can not give a lower price on a cruise than what NCL has, it is in the contract with those Travel Agencies......The only thing a TA can give is some additional OBC which comes out of their commission.......If a travel Agent quotes a lower price than what NCL lists, then they will lose their contract with NCL.

This is generally true, however it is sometimes possible to get a lower base cruise fare with a TA, along with the other perks they offer. I had this experience with our warehouse store TA department once. Perhaps because they have bought a group of cabins at a discount and pass the savings along to you just like they do with TVs, tires, etc. it obviously does not violate their contract with NCL.

TA can not give a lower price on a cruise than what NCL has, it is in the contract with those Travel Agencies......The only thing a TA can give is some additional OBC which comes out of their commission.......If a travel Agent quotes a lower price than what NCL lists, then they will lose their contract with NCL.

This is definitely not true. Two of the biggest online TA's fares are always $50 to $200 cheaper than NCL's website fares. They additionally provide incentives and perks valued from 10% (OBC's to 20%(airmiles).

TA can not give a lower price on a cruise than what NCL has, it is in the contract with those Travel Agencies......The only thing a TA can give is some additional OBC which comes out of their commission.......If a travel Agent quotes a lower price than what NCL lists, then they will lose their contract with NCL.

Not true. The larger online TA's book/buy lots of cabins in lot of categories and form "groups" then sell at discounted rates. Our last booking was $1300 less than the cruise line. When all the space in their group was sold their rates were the same as Celebrity, Travelocity, Expedia and the like. When we asked about another category were told they could TRY to get more space from the line but would probably be at the going rate. Like lots of things in life the more you buy the less cost is usually the result. We get a token OBC which comes out of the rep's commission.

There are NO risks! Place a free 24 hr hold at the other TA. Cancel at NCL and immediately rebook. Prices wont go up the same day ... specially when you are this far out.

Wow, you sure have a lot of bad information to share.

1. There's definately risk. TAs go out of business regularly, and you can find yourself holding the bag. Here's a fun thread: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1994-10-17/business/9410140009_1_cruise-ship-cruise-agency-world-wide-cruises and there are several others.

2. NCL has a no discounting rule with its TAs http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4000 The TAs can give OBC, but not discounts.

Seriously !!! You think it was ok for him to be rude. If NCL drops it's price and I call to price match he has the right to talk to me like that ?

 

The reason I didn't cancel and go with the other deal is because the left side cabins are all booked. My cruise is on south bound Alaska and left side has the best views.

 

He is either new or doesn't deal with too many price match calls. These kind of calls are totally normal and the first day he called me he was the one who sold me the balcony saying I can always call to price match if rates drop. I usually like to give people benefit of doubt and he might just be having a bad day. If this behaviour continues though then I'll ask NCL to change my rep.

1. I specifically said it was NOT okay for him to be rude, but I empathized with him due to what I interpreted to be your likely approach (confirmed by your response here).

2. OBC offers come & go. If there was no OBC offer when you booked, but there was one when you went to the TA, then the NCL rep probably had to jump through hoops to get it applied to your existing booking.

3. If your cabin in on southbound Alaska, frankly I'd have said the starboard side would have the best views (of the islands rather than the mainland). You'll be stopping at the mainland, but just passing by the islands.

4. Chances are that OBC was a TA offer to begin with... $100 usual, and $100 bonus.

5. NCL doesn't allow their reps to Price Match. They are not in competition with their own TA partners. It's called "channel management", and typically manufacturers are very strict about how they price for direct sale. TAs are welcome to compete amongst each other, but if the manufacturer started competing with them, the TAs would all go under because the manufacturer controls the price TO the TA.

I hung up, called Miami, and they were able to look into my records, determine who had spoken to me, and said they were going to discipline that employee for both giving me wrong information and mistreating me. They had a recording of the call and I was told that I was 100% in the right. I was given a free $35 birthday package for my wife as compensation.

Wow, good story and good for you.

Question - how did you get in touch with Miami? Can you share the phone number you used?

We just booked our first NCL cruise, as my parents decided to take the whole family on a cruise. So my husband and I went online to set up our accounts and that evening got a call from NCL wanting to sell us a cruise.

My husband told them that we are currently booked and not quite ready to book an excursion. The rep on the phone HUNG UP ON HIM when he said that. No "just let us know when you are ready" or anything like that, simply hung up on him. It is leaving a bad NCL impression on us already :(

We just booked our first NCL cruise, as my parents decided to take the whole family on a cruise. So my husband and I went online to set up our accounts and that evening got a call from NCL wanting to sell us a cruise.

 

My husband told them that we are currently booked and not quite ready to book an excursion. The rep on the phone HUNG UP ON HIM when he said that. No "just let us know when you are ready" or anything like that, simply hung up on him. It is leaving a bad NCL impression on us already :(

Hanging up on customers seems to be a trend they seem to be following. This incident has upset me too. One more time the rep acts like a jerk and I'm canceling my booking. If I don't get the cabin I want at that point, then I'll just postpone my trip and boycott NCL for life.

Wow, you sure have a lot of bad information to share.

 

1. There's definately risk. TAs go out of business regularly, and you can find yourself holding the bag. Here's a fun thread: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1994-10-17/business/9410140009_1_cruise-ship-cruise-agency-world-wide-cruises and there are several others.

 

2. NCL has a no discounting rule with its TAs http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4000 The TAs can give OBC, but not discounts.

You are linking threads and other peoples opinion and stating them as facts and claiming I am giving bad info! There are clearly no risks even if TA goes out of business. Just so you know .... CC charge shows up as NCL as supplier of booking even if you go through a TA ... anyone who used a TA will vouch for that. So if TA goes out of business NCL needs to provide service on TA's behalf. Pls read Master, Visa and American Express merchant agreement for clarification ... both statements above are facts.

I can for a fact show you 2 of the biggest online TA websites (PLS PLS Moderator .... Grant me permission to list the website here) where fares are $50 to $200 cheaper pp than NCL website on each and every cabin and each and every sailing .... not just rooms booked in bulk as alluded by some people here. NCL sales agents might be spreading myths because otherwise why would anyone buy from them ... and gulliable people write them up as facts but that doesn't mean its true! AGAIN: You are not entitled to your own set of facts!

plus these TA's provide additional OBC's valued at upto 10% of the booking or airmiles valued at 20% to 70% of the ticket price, if you are smart about it. I just booked 4 cabins for my relatives on an online TA's websites individually .... the straight up prices were cheaper by $50 pp ... plus the TA offered $75 OBC + NCL offered $50 OBC = $125 OBC per cabin.

The 4 cabins cost appox $8,000 - $600 OBC = $7400

I got 12,500 airmiles per cabin = 50,000 airmiles .... which buys 80% of a one way business class ticket to Singapore (where I am going in Nov) ... that round trip was worth $4800 .... so 80% of 50% of $4800 = $2000 additional value by TA.

=7400 - 2000 = $5400 my price for 4 balconies for 8 ppl

NCL's price: 8000+ 75*4- 50*4 =$8100

The 4 cabins cost appox $8,000 - $600 OBC = $7400

 

I got 12,500 airmiles per cabin = 50,000 airmiles .... which buys 80% of a one way business class ticket to Singapore (where I am going in Nov) ... that round trip was worth $4800 .... so 80% of 50% of $4800 = $2000 additional value by TA.

 

=7400 - 2000 = $5400 my price for 4 balconies for 8 ppl

 

NCL's price: 8000+ 75*4- 50*4 =$8100

Your accounting is fuzzy. $600 OBC is not the same as cash. You can't subtract it from $8,000 and say the cabins cost $7,400.

How do you get 50k airmiles on an $8,000 purchase? And you are valuing the 50k airmiles at the very high rate of 4 cents/mile. You can only do that IF you would have spent cash for the business class ticket anyway and IF they have reward seat availability on the same itinerary you would have spent cash for. Personally I use 1 cent/mile as a conservative estimate of miles value. And to claim the business class seat you have to shell out cash for the other leg of the trip.