Terrible experience with NCL so far!!!

I figured I would share my experience as I have used this forum many times to help make decisions regarding our vacations. I'll start by saying 1. this is probably going to be a long post. 2. No one is forcing you to read this, if you are going to be insulted and hurt that someone is very disappointed with there experience with you favorite cruise line, you have every right to stop reading now. However I have read many posts here and fully expect some ignorant, blaming and angry comments telling me why I am wrong for expecting some integrity when dealing with this cruise line and I look forward to hearing from you select few that just can't help yourselves.

About a month ago, my wife and I decided that we better plan our winter vacation. We usually would already have it booked but we have been crazy busy. The 5 of us ( 4yr old daughter, 9 and 10 yr old sons) have sailed with Royal and Carnival in the past many times, we were late booking this year and couldn't get on the cruise we wanted. My wife really wanted to try something new and found a 14 day on the breakaway, she was super excited, I'm not good at saying no, I got excited too and found rooms online through a TA. I was working 5am-7-8pm so asked that she contact them and book it. She agreed to do this.

The next day she called the TA to book the 2 connecting interior rooms, they told her that they had to make sure they were available and contacted NCL. She was told that the rooms were no longer available and the only options we had were getting a single ocean view or 2 connecting rooms that would be thousands more. She called me and I told her we should book so that this cruise didn't sell out on us, she booked the ocean view.

When I got home we looked online and could see that the 2 connecting interior rooms were showing as available and $600 less than the single room that we booked. It was late so I asked her to call back the next day and ask them about it. When she called back the next day, the same thing happened, the TA showed that it was available as well as NCL website but NCL told us the only connecting cabins we could get were thousands more. She told me this and I figured at least we got a room on this one.

Last week I decided to check again and noticed that numerous connecting interior rooms were shown as still available to book, we wrote down all of the info on all of these rooms and called the next morning, this was Tuesday. The TA verified that the rooms were shown as available and called NCL, this is where the trouble started.

On the first conversation, NCL told us that the rooms were available but we would have to pay a $1500 cancellation fee on the room we already booked to change. I have changed rooms on cruises in the past and never got charged a cancellation for a room change? I asked why it was considered a cancellation, the TA told us that she didn't think this was right and we spent 4 hours on the phone. At the end they told the TA that the room could be changed for a cancelation fee of $1000, this would mean that I would be paying $1000 more for the rooms I originally asked for. I let the TA know that I did not understand why a room change was a cancellation, she couldn't answer and attempted to get the NCL agent on a conference call with me. After another hour on hold we were told that a supervisor would contact us shortly. The whole day spent on the phone I was at work pouring concrete and my wife was sitting in her car beeping and calling me over when someone would come back on the line. I was very agrivated that they didn't just give us the connecting interior rooms in the first place. Later that night I missed a call from the customer service supervisor at NCL and she left me a message with her extension. The next day I left her 5 messages and did not receive a call back, on Thursday she did call and I let her know that I was very disappointed that we were not given the option of booking these rooms when we booked and they wanted to charge us a cancellation fee to book them now. She told me that we were given the option and we chose the single room instead. We were getting no where and she was not acknowledging that I had a concern or offering to help in any way.

She then mentioned that I agreed to the cancellation policy that included room changes when I booked anyway. I asked her to show me where it states this and after being put on hold for 40 minutes she told me to check my email. I recieved an email with something highlighted referring to name or date changes being considered cancellations? I spent the next hour trying to explain that I was not changing the name or date and she kept telling me that it's there policy. Then she told me that she would have the TA call me to go over the policy and I was very assertive in stating that the TA couldn't figure out where this policy was and that is why they gave me her number. We both knew that the TA couldn't help me and she was pushing me back off on them. This isn't how I am used to being dealt with, a total lack of respect and integrity. She knew the TA couldn't help me and wanted me off the phone. I asked her if there was someone higher up that I could talk to and she told me that she would research the policy with the legal department and get back to me within 24 hours. This satisfied me as I really didn't believe that a room change was a cancellation.

Around 7pm that evening I recieved another voicemail stating that she had good news and we could book an inside room and have our room moved inside for $600 more than what we had already paid? Still confused because it should be $600 less. The following day I left 3 messages throughout the day. I left her messages asking why we were being charged more and why this was a cancellation? No call backs.

Yesterday I got a call from her, now we could get the inside rooms for the same price we already paid. I told her that I still didn't agree that this was right as the 2 rooms would normally be $600 less but at this point we would go ahead and book. I also asked her if she was able to have the legal department contact me. She insisted that she never said anything about a legal department! I let her know from the first conversation that I was recording and have her recorded telling us that she would do research with the legal department and her denying that 3 days later. Okay at this point I just want it booked, it's obviously only about money and ethics are not of a concern. I was unfortunately disconnected but recieved a call from my TA 30 minutes later. This was at 2pm. The TA had all the notes on our discrepancy and had to call into the supervisor to have them authorize the room change. We spent the next hour on hold with the TA coming back on every 10 minutes to tell us she was still holding for the one supervisor that we had been talking to. At 3:15 she came back on to let us know that the supervisor had left work early and we would have to try again today. A whole week of being blown off and no explanation of why we would be charged a cancellation to change rooms. I burst out laughing when we found out she left with us still on hold.

So this morning, knowing perfectly well what would happen if we hoped the supervisor would try to assist us, we decided to take a different approach. I called the TA and asked if we could change our room from one ocean view to 2 balconies. No Problemo!! No $1500 cancellation fees, no phantom policies, we just pay the difference in price from what we originally booked to what we want now! On top of that we get the promo for the first room and 2 for the second. Only $700 more than our original singal ocean view for 2 larger rooms and balconies. Why couldn't the supervisor offer us this $700 upgrade rather than a $1500 or $1000 downgrade to smaller inside cabins?? This makes absolutely no sense to me.

So we almost have it figured out but wait, TA puts one adult in each room and only one room,(me and 4 yr old) have the dining package. TA says let me make sure you 2 adults can dine together with this package. 55 minutes on hold and she comes back( she checked in on us every 10 minutes to explain that she was waiting for them to figure it out) she tells us that the NCL agent suggests we get dining package on both rooms to be sure we can dine together. We explain that we need the Internet for my wife's online classes again. Then she tells us that she knows that they can make it happen, the NCL agent just doesn't want to do the work! At this point that comment didn't surprise me. After another 45 minutes on hold they decide to make the change so that we can dine together and send us our confirmations.

The original supervisor that left us on hold yesterday has not called back yet and we still have no explanation why we couldn't change and pay the inside cabins that are available? We will have a great cruise and I will post a review. Hopefully no more issues because I do not want to trust NCL customer service to resolve anything in a fair manner, lol. We purchased 2 of the thermal spa packages today after we finally got this figured out because I like to go to the gym every morning and then sit in the sauna. This is the first ship I have been on that does not have a complimentary sauna or steam room in the locker room. I'm okay with that but couldn't bring myself to spend another $600 when they were trying to screw me out of money for nothing earlier, now that I'm paying the correct price for the room I'm staying in, no thanks to Norwegian customer service, I feel much better.

This will probably be the last time we cruise with NCL because of this experience and we probably will not recommend them to anyone solely based on what happened when we had an issue and how we were dealt with when we didn't understand or agree with them charging us cancelation for a room change.

Hopefully this cruise on the Breakaway will be so amazing that my whole mindset will change but realistically the lack of customer service is not something I would put myself in a position to deal with again.

Is there a Readers Digest version?

Is there a Readers Digest version?

 

He warned you right off the start.

 

OP I hope that you find the onboard staff is much better than the land staff. Have a great cruise, and hopefully all of this will be but a distant memory.

wow what a runaround you got! Well have a great time anyway. I don't think I would have the patience that you had :)

That sucks. I would be furious too. This is where the strategic ambiguity causes problems.

 

That being said, I hope you can manage to leave your pre-cruise drama on the dock and enjoy yourselves for 14 days. I am so jealous.

 

And please make copies of everything. The spa pass, every amenity, even the terms and conditions for your amenities. Also make a folder in your email account with screen shots of everything. That way if you get any guff on board it is all in one place and easily accessible.

 

I hope you have the best cruise ever.

 

Now is my turn to get flamed as I say this. If I were you, I would take my DSC money in cash and spread it all over the ship's crew. It will ensure you get excellent service and stick it to NCL. :)

I'm curious if you usually get better deals when booking by calling NCL? If the rooms you wanted were available on ncl.com, could you have just booked there? I always book online so am I missing something by not calling in to book? thanks.

I think you need a new TA, but I can maybe help you understand the room price thing.

 

Your wife booked ov. You can not downgrade to insides. You can upgrade which is why ov to balcony wss no problem.

 

To go ov to inside, as that is not allowed, you need to cancel and pay any cancel penalties to do that.

 

I am very surprised your TA could not explain that to you.

 

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I feel really sorry for you, pity you cannot send them a bill for the time you have spent on hold.

 

Being in New Zealand I don't even have access to the toll free number so my only complaint is that they never seem to want to answer emails!!

 

Good luck, hope it all turns out well and you all have a great cruise.

 

On all the cruises we have been on the crews on the ships have been excellent.

 

Mike

That sucks. NCL needs to get their heads out of their rear ends. It always seems to be drama. I don't know why anyone sails with them. That seems like a whole lot of time on the phone to book a cruise. It also seems like NCL really doesn't care. Instead of making customers happy they want to run it by the legal department. I just read an article about a couple last year who found out their son (young child) had cancer and they didn't want to cancel the cruise but just rebook for later and NCL said no. They wouldn't refund any money (it was past final payment) and they were sorry about their son but those are the rules. It was another cruise company who came forward and gave them a free cruise. Nice eh?

 

Anyways - we bought the spa package same as you and went down at 6am when the gym opened to work out. After the workout we went to the spa....but it was closed until 8am. Yup. Walked back to our rooms in sweaty clothes to shower. Its stupid to make people pay for showers and saunas and then not have them open when the gym is open.

 

Hope you have at least have a wonderful cruise.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful time. I have not sailed on the ship you have booked on but have sailed on three other NCL ships.

 

I can only say good things about the kids club staff and activities, so I am sure your kids will have a great cruise.

 

I am sorry you had to spend so much time and effort getting everything straightened out.

 

I am guessing your 14 day cruise is really two seven day cruises back to back. I have never booked on of those, but I wonder if the website has a harder time showing availability for those cabins when it has to compare them against the bookings for both 7-day cruises and the 14-day cruise. I haven't had luck getting NCL's website to allow me to book or look at two staterooms at the same time...so I am not sure how you were doing that online. I always thought I had to book one stateroom all the way through one time and then the other state room through the other time. Because I am a nervous nellie that the second room will be gone by the time I get to it, I always just call NCL and book with them direct.

 

I get that being on hold all those hours and trying to get answers from NCL must be EXTREMELY frustrating. And, I get that you have some trepidation about sailing with NCL after such a run around.

 

I am just wondering what role your TA plays in all of this? It is pretty much cruise 101 that you can upgrade but not downgrade after you book. That is not unique to NCL, either, that is s o p across the lines. Downgrading you pay all the cancel fees, upgrading you pay none. This shouldn't have taken NCL more than one minute to explain to your TA, and your TA should have been able to explain it to you in no more than five minutes.

 

As to the one adult in each room and the dining package being on one cabin and not the other....if you are before final payment, you might want to see if you can rebook again, since the current deal is two promos per room...maybe you can get both for both!

 

Best of luck to you and have fun on your two week cruise.

I am new to NCL and my only cruise prior to the one I'm booked on in Janurary 2016 is with Carnival. I think your complaints should all be directed to your TA. It sounds like the TA didn't have your best interest in mind. I booked directly with NCL and got great perks so I'm an advocate for booking directly without the TA.:eek:

I think you need a new TA, but I can maybe help you understand the room price thing.

 

Your wife booked ov. You can not downgrade to insides. You can upgrade which is why ov to balcony wss no problem.

 

To go ov to inside, as that is not allowed, you need to cancel and pay any cancel penalties to do that.

 

I am very surprised your TA could not explain that to you.

 

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This is the right answer.

 

Your TA should have known and explained it. NCL should have explained it. Odd they could not get through to you this simple concept.

 

Next time, call your friendly NCL consultant.

Reasons why I don't use TA's!!!! Takes minutes to book a trip via NCL.com.

I think you need a new TA, but I can maybe help you understand the room price thing.

 

Your wife booked ov. You can not downgrade to insides. You can upgrade which is why ov to balcony wss no problem.

 

To go ov to inside, as that is not allowed, you need to cancel and pay any cancel penalties to do that.

 

I am very surprised your TA could not explain that to you.

 

 

Exactly this. Plus the answer to why the NCL supervisor didn't offer balcony to begin with is that the OP clearly was adamant about getting insides instead of higher categories.

 

OP has already vented about this situation in multiple threads before and it always boils down to that they should have not originally booked something they didn't want.

Reasons why I don't use TA's!!!! Takes minutes to book a trip via NCL.com.

 

But you also pay more than when booking through a good TA.

 

We have always gotten about 10% better price and better service from our TA than by booking direct. Also the same agent can help us with any cruise line and I don't need to build a new relationship with an agent from every cruise line.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Demonyte

Wow, what length Sir!

 

I agree with other posters, get a new agent or book online. Have a great cruise.

I feel really sorry for you, pity you cannot send them a bill for the time you have spent on hold.

 

 

 

Being in New Zealand I don't even have access to the toll free number so my only complaint is that they never seem to want to answer emails!!

 

 

 

Good luck, hope it all turns out well and you all have a great cruise.

 

 

 

On all the cruises we have been on the crews on the ships have been excellent.

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

I'm from Aus, so yes I don't like being on hold either. I feel for the OP. How frustrating! I requested via phone and now have a PCC assigned and he is very prompt with emails. He also rings punctually if I need him too and is available 24/7 which is great as our hours don't always coincide with the US office hours. I often screen shot things and email him if I see a better deal. He gives me good advice. Eg I decided to upgrade to a balcony a few weeks ago and emailed him the cabin I wanted. He told me it was directly above the theatre and suggested another one. So I'm glad I now have an assigned PCC.

But you also pay more than when booking through a good TA.

 

We have always gotten about 10% better price and better service from our TA than by booking direct. Also the same agent can help us with any cruise line and I don't need to build a new relationship with an agent from every cruise line.

 

 

I guess the price thing can be true.

 

But better service? I booked a trip online in less than 10 minutes online. Picked my promo, my room and put deposit down. Had my confirmation emails quick and my online account had the cruise listed.

 

What service? I don't need any service.

 

I have read way to many issues when booking with TA. Lying about promos, actually not even booking the cruise, unresponsive etc.

 

I provided great service and had everything done in 10 minutes.

 

Again, maybe old vs new? You have to admit, I see way more negative things on here about TAs than other topics. I have never used a TA, and this board certainly is not pushing me to do so. I travel a lot and book everything myself.

Wow, you got a crummy TA - NCL shouldn't have to explain the concept of downgrading rooms from a Oceanview to 2 interior rooms is rebooking / cancellation especially under the 90 day final payment window, because your TA was supposed to say that to you. Did your TA explain other stuff to you as well - like the service charges, what documents to bring and recommend money amount to bring for the onboard account, too?

It's 2015 and soon to be 2016 ... who uses a TA anymore? :)

OP I am sorry about the frustrations you had while calling the manager they should have been more responsive even if it was not what you wanted to hear its a total lack of respect for the customer to not return calls in timely manors as it is clear that they were avoiding you

 

HOWEVER with that being said

Some of this problem stems from your TA I suggest you chuck that TA out the door and book with another TA - If you need one I have a good one

 

This TA should have been able to tell you exactly why it's costing you more as I read your post I was like come on TA tell him he can't downgrade without cancelling and re-booking - So even though it's not technically a cancellation because you are still going on the ship it is because you canceled the more expensive room to get into the cheaper room - When it comes down to it the cheaper rooms are easier to sell than the more expensive rooms especially close to booking thus the reason they don't want people changing from expensive to cheap

 

If you decide not to get another TA then I strongly suggest you booking the cruise yourself as you could have called them and had it taken care of yourself as you would have been on the phone with them and been able to sit down and look at the computer the same time they were looking at it

As to the one adult in each room and the dining package being on one cabin and not the other....if you are before final payment, you might want to see if you can rebook again, since the current deal is two promos per room...maybe you can get both for both!

It sounds like they were already past final payment when they booked the cruise a month ago, and they certainly were when they started trying to change the booking last week, that's why they had all these issues with cancellation fees. Last minute bookings can offer great savings, but you really need to decide what you want and make sure to book it exactly right on the first try, because once you push the button there is much less room for adjustment than with advance bookings.

 

As for the cancellation policy, I think it is true that NCL never says anywhere in writing what exactly counts as a cancellation. People in this thread know that a category downgrade is a cancellation while an upgrade is not, but where does it say that? Nowhere, as far as I can tell. But the rule of thumb is quite simple: if after final payment you want to switch to a booking that costs more than what you already paid, NCL will probably be willing to work with you to make that happen. But if you want to change your booking and pay less, they are going to do everything they can to discourage you, and that is what the cancellation policy is there for.

It's 2015 and soon to be 2016 ... who uses a TA anymore?

I'll keep using a TA as long as they keep saving me money on every cruise.

Edited November 25, 2015 by hawkeyetlse

It's 2015 and soon to be 2016 ... who uses a TA anymore? :)

 

Me, not wanting to pay about 10% extra for every cruise I take.

Is there a Readers Digest version?

 

I as going to add footnotes at the end but was exhausted after righting the thread.