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An exceptional NCL customer service experience


Mama2littleman
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I know how easy it is to complain about less than stellar experiences with customer service, but I want to take this opportunity to thank a customer service representative that went above and beyond ...

 

I books a cruise for me and the kidlet to celebrate our respective birthdays at the end of May out of New York. I got an obscenely fair price for a balcony room, given the current UBP promotion.

 

My old Army roommate expressed an interest in joining us for the trip. I called NCL directly and the customer service representative went above an beyond and made sure that the added person got the "sail free" offer for the 3rd person in the room, not only that, but she shuffled the people in the room so my friend got the UBP and my son (a minor) got the soda package, all for no additional charge.

 

I got placed on hold for about 10 minutes, but it was completely worth it, since that time was spent getting my party the best possible deal. AND she apologized for my having to wait, even though the computer wanted to initially charge us a higher rate, and the time was spent making sure we received the best value for our dollar.

 

So ... share your awesome Customer Service Experiences. If this is any indication, I will sail Norwegian again.

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Very nice to hear. Most times it's just complaints of holding on to long, or you booked a GTY cabin and its NCL fault because the location stinks, or you have bed bugs, etc.

 

 

Geri

 

Let's not get crazy ... I'd scream bloody murder about bed bugs ;-)

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I love reading the positive experiences online! You're so right that people will very quickly share their bad experiences, but for whatever reason we don't share the good ones. I don't have anything to add, but only because I CAN say that last year on my first cruise the experience was AMAZING, including every single second of service we received from the staff on-board the Breakaway.

 

So great customer service from the get-go meant not having complaints, which meant not needing to contact them by phone or email. I'd say that's pretty awesome. Can't wait to cruise with them again this year, as a result.

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We've been very happy with our calls to our PCC, and even when he's not there we've been very happy with whoever is backing him up.

 

In the past 15 days we have rebooked two cruises and, between my wife and I, have saved about $4,000 on already booked cruises. Each time the rep has worked with us to rebook the same suite at the lower price. There isn't a hint of frustration for what must be a commission free (or lowering) experience for them.

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Last year I capled NCL when I noticed the 2 ex room suite price had dropped to what I paid for an aft penthouse. The rep confirmed I could upgrade but was not showing any cabins available. I had seen one open 10 minutes earlier but when I chacked again online it showed none available as well. I thanked the rep for checking and chalked it up as a timing loss. 20 minutes later I got a call back from the rep to let me know she kept checking and now a cabin had become available. She confirmed I still wanted to upgrade and made the change once I confirmed. She was also able to keep all my original booking perks.

 

I would never have expected a rep to keep checking on a cabin after the call was over. This rep truly was our vacation hero. :D

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OP, it's nice to hear that everything went smoothly and you are excited about your upcoming cruise, sounds great!

 

Unfortunately I fail to see anything exceptional with that and to be honest, I'm appalled that out general expections of NCL's customer service level can fall this low. :)

 

IMO the rep provided the exact service they should as all the changes are completely normal and reasonable given your changed circumstances and any professional person in customer service should do those proactively in that situation. Anything below that I would have considered poor service and in my mind there should be at least something between exceptional and poor - but as said, this is just my personal opinion. :)

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Last year I capled NCL when I noticed the 2 ex room suite price had dropped to what I paid for an aft penthouse. The rep confirmed I could upgrade but was not showing any cabins available. I had seen one open 10 minutes earlier but when I chacked again online it showed none available as well. I thanked the rep for checking and chalked it up as a timing loss. 20 minutes later I got a call back from the rep to let me know she kept checking and now a cabin had become available. She confirmed I still wanted to upgrade and made the change once I confirmed. She was also able to keep all my original booking perks.

 

 

 

I would never have expected a rep to keep checking on a cabin after the call was over. This rep truly was our vacation hero. :D

 

 

Now this is an example of an exceptional rep, they didn't have to keep checking and call back to the customer after the call ended, nobody would have reasonably expected that to happen - a really nice story. :)

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Very nice to hear. Most times it's just complaints of holding on to long, or you booked a GTY cabin and its NCL fault because the location stinks, or you have bed bugs, etc.

 

 

Geri

 

However it is ncls fault if they can't fix any bed bug problem they have

 

And yes I know bed bugs come from many sources so no need to point that out

 

But just like with a Noro situation Ncl is responsible for eliminating the threat

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Last year I capled NCL when I noticed the 2 ex room suite price had dropped to what I paid for an aft penthouse. The rep confirmed I could upgrade but was not showing any cabins available. I had seen one open 10 minutes earlier but when I chacked again online it showed none available as well. I thanked the rep for checking and chalked it up as a timing loss. 20 minutes later I got a call back from the rep to let me know she kept checking and now a cabin had become available. She confirmed I still wanted to upgrade and made the change once I confirmed. She was also able to keep all my original booking perks.

 

I would never have expected a rep to keep checking on a cabin after the call was over. This rep truly was our vacation hero. :D

 

The reason it was available one minute and not the next was probably due to 30 minute online holds and shadow bookings

 

Btw the Ncl rep got to claim you by calling you back and adjusting your booking regardless of lowering your total price......your booking now counts under their name either fully or partially and that is good for the rep

 

Sounds like a motivated rep to me and while they may or may not earn big commissions they are evaluated on how much time they spend on the phone with a customer and if anything came out if it

 

So in your case by calling you back and being able to do something for you the reps time was used in a useful way

 

As opposed to a 20 minute call that produced nothing for the rep

 

As I said it doesn't matter your overall cost was lowered what matters is the rep has something to show for your call

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by luvtheships
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OP, it's nice to hear that everything went smoothly and you are excited about your upcoming cruise, sounds great!

 

Unfortunately I fail to see anything exceptional with that and to be honest, I'm appalled that out general expections of NCL's customer service level can fall this low. :)

 

IMO the rep provided the exact service they should as all the changes are completely normal and reasonable given your changed circumstances and any professional person in customer service should do those proactively in that situation. Anything below that I would have considered poor service and in my mind there should be at least something between exceptional and poor - but as said, this is just my personal opinion. :)

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The OP received this as exceptional customer service, period. No need for anyone else to qualify whether it is exceptional. :rolleyes:

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However it is ncls fault if they can't fix any bed bug problem they have

 

And yes I know bed bugs come from many sources so no need to point that out

 

But just like with a Noro situation Ncl is responsible for eliminating the threat

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Sheesh I was just using that as an example with all the bad things people post.

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The reason it was available one minute and not the next was probably due to 30 minute online holds and shadow bookings

 

Btw the Ncl rep got to claim you by calling you back and adjusting your booking regardless of lowering your total price......your booking now counts under their name either fully or partially and that is good for the rep

 

Sounds like a motivated rep to me and while they may or may not earn big commissions they are evaluated on how much time they spend on the phone with a customer and if anything came out if it

 

So in your case by calling you back and being able to do something for you the reps time was used in a useful way

 

As opposed to a 20 minute call that produced nothing for the rep

 

As I said it doesn't matter your overall cost was lowered what matters is the rep has something to show for your call

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Not so sure about the rep being able to claim the booking. The booking was through CAS and I was only dealing with a regular rep since it was a weekend.

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Unfortunately I fail to see anything exceptional with that and to be honest, I'm appalled that out general expections of NCL's customer service level can fall this low. :)

 

IMO the rep provided the exact service they should as all the changes are completely normal and reasonable given your changed circumstances and any professional person in customer service should do those proactively in that situation.

 

IMO, it's exceptional in that the 3rd person free promo was added to a reservation that was past final payment and I'm assuming no penalty was charged and it wasn't a cancel and rebook. This wasn't a "new booking only". This surprises me. But if I was the OP I certainly wouldn't be complaining.

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The people here never cease to amaze me. Someone posts something they're happy with and someone has to come along and rain on the parade. Something similar happened to me when I posted about an onboard experience and what I considered to be exemplary service.

 

OP - THANK YOU!! I am glad your happy and hope this doesn't discourage from further "happy" posts.

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The reason it was available one minute and not the next was probably due to 30 minute online holds and shadow bookings

 

Btw the Ncl rep got to claim you by calling you back and adjusting your booking regardless of lowering your total price......your booking now counts under their name either fully or partially and that is good for the rep

 

Sounds like a motivated rep to me and while they may or may not earn big commissions they are evaluated on how much time they spend on the phone with a customer and if anything came out if it

 

So in your case by calling you back and being able to do something for you the reps time was used in a useful way

 

As opposed to a 20 minute call that produced nothing for the rep

 

As I said it doesn't matter your overall cost was lowered what matters is the rep has something to show for your call

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Wow what a "cruise" critic! Do you always look at a postive thing in a negative light?

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Every time that i had to call ncl about a reservation i always had a very swift and really professional approach..same happened with emailing them..on the other hand rcl customer service is awful.all the times i tried reaching them a lot of delays and representatives very bored bad mood..the last month i have lost a lot of my love to ncl because of all the changes made but their customer service has always been great for me

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The OP received this as exceptional customer service, period. No need for anyone else to qualify whether it is exceptional. :rolleyes:

 

I'd be more interested if OP wasn't a first time poster and came across as less of a shill.

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I'd be more interested if OP wasn't a first time poster and came across as less of a shill.

 

I guess that's what happens when a poster fails to take YOUR degree of interest into account before posting. :rolleyes:

 

 

You were interested enough to be on the NCL Boards.

 

You were interested enough to read the post.

 

You were interested enough to post a response.

 

 

Simply to say you weren't very interested? :confused:

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I guess that's what happens when a poster fails to take YOUR degree of interest into account before posting. :rolleyes:

 

 

You were interested enough to be on the NCL Boards.

 

You were interested enough to read the post.

 

You were interested enough to post a response.

 

 

Simply to say you weren't very interested? :confused:

 

Sorry, Son. I chose the word "interested" because I thought it'd be less confrontational. I could have been much more aggressive.

 

Not that you'd know anything about confrontation or being aggressive...

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Sorry, Son. I chose the word "interested" because I thought it'd be less confrontational. I could have been much more aggressive.

 

Not that you'd know anything about confrontation or being aggressive...

 

So...you're here in a place that has no interest for you and your criteria for choosing your type of reply is "less or more confrontational"? IOW, with you its always confrontation, the only decision is how much?

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I'd be more interested if OP wasn't a first time poster and came across as less of a shill.

 

The OP is on our roll call and introduced themselves a few weeks ago. Not sure why you think they are shill.

 

Great deal Mama2, very happy for ya :D

Edited by P&Lcruising
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