julig22

The distance between Ketchikan and Victoria is not short, they have to leave on time and move fast in order to make Victoria. Which is why the Bliss and the Encore have short times in ports - the only way they could expand the time in ports would be to eliminate a port or add another day to the trip. NCL does offer longer Alaska cruises, just not on those ships.

AFAIK, there is no reason you couldn't use BOGO for a B2B - are you booking as 2 trips or 1? That could make a difference, although any NCL rep with a little experience should be able to figure it out. Unless something's changed recently, you always have the option for 1-way airfare. So it's simply 1-way going on cruise #1, 1-way return on cruise #2

I'm not sure that NCL recommends that you take your passport with you unless you need it for your current port- that tends to be a personal choice, as many consider leaving it on the ship to be a safer option. But you should ALWAYS leave it in your safe if you leave it on the ship. That's where the crew will look if they need to get it to you.

Details, yes. More likely that they couldn't find...

From the sketchy info given (yes, there are some gaps in the story), NCL tried to call, nobody answered. NCL did apparently go to get their passports but were not able to locate all of them. NCL only knew they weren't on the ship, as far as NCL knew they hadn't returned (NCL excursion or not). NCL waits for the bus to return, no guarantees if you aren't on the excursion bus when it returns. Gotta wonder why just this group of 9 - out of probably hundreds of passengers on multiple busses/tours - missed "the" bus. It's been awhile since I took one of the Lumberjack excursions but I'm pretty sure we were assigned busses and there were people directing passengers to "their" bus. So did "their" bus leave without them (and 9 empty seats) because they were late for returning, did people not on the tour get on the bus - the shuttle usually stops running quite a bit before all-aboard. Or some combination of the above. @luv2kroooz I am in no way absolving the tour operator of blame, I am holding judgement on what, if any, responsibility falls on the family, not sure what NCL could have done differently under the circumstances. Hindsight and all of that.

Not all of us LOL.

Not sure where you get some of your info, since you say you don't book ship excursions anyway. As to cost - Because of the $50 discount AND a 15% latitudes discount, many ship excursions are actually cheaper in my case. And they provide transportation, priority tenders if necessary. As a solo traveler, that's worth quite a bit. Refunds on NCL -never once have I had an issue getting a refund if an excursion is cancelled - or I change my mind, as long as I give enough notice. I've usually paid in advance for private excursions, I've paid on arrival for others. Similar cancellation policies - most -but not all- independents will refund if the ship skips the port. I recently had an independent cancel on me at the last minute - and they conveniently forgot to refund me until I contacted them after the cruise. It's obvious from NCL's response that they did provide refunds, flew them to the next available port, etc. So yes, they DID keep their promise. Yes, things happen - a tour operator, hired by NCL, seems to have screwed up - and NCL is fixing the mess, following the contract terms. And it also happens to private tour operators. And contrary to your assertion that they can't call the captain - they most certainly can - and the captain will wait if at all possible. Nobody here really knows the timeline in this case - but unfortunately waiting is not generally possible in Ketchikan.

Price adjustments after final pay have been as a one-time courtesy for as long as I've known about them, so they make the rules. A couple of years ago they standardized them, more or less, and added the task of making adjustments to a specific department. At that time, it was either 100% FCC or a paid upgrade (even if the difference was $1). And available after you sailed. Prior to that time I believe it was 25%, not sure if it was FCC or OBC. It is entirely possible that the terms have changed - the internal "rules" memo/terms has been shared over time by some TA's - so it could have changed. And CAS has it's own set of rules LOL.

Been on many excursions that address the shopping issue. Once the excursion is over (bus gets to it's final destination), you are on your own. Many excursions will allow you to get off of the bus in town for example - and at that point you are no longer on the tour. And since they were apparently the last ones to the bus, it is entirely possible that there was a bit of shopping/malingering involved.

You mean like this one LOL 6 American cruise ship passengers stranded on African island after Norwegian Cruise refused to let them board (nypost.com) To repeat, they have never guaranteed to get you back, if they (or their contracted tour company) is at fault. Stand on your head if you wish, the contract spells out the terms. You are guaranteed to get to the next port if the ship can't wait. Not a different story.

No, they do NOT promise that they will wait for you. They promise to wait if they can, get you to the next port if they can't. Which they attempted to do, a missing passport is the reason they couldn't return to the ship at the next port. And just how is NCL to know that a missing passenger was missing from an excursion? Unless someone had notified them that there were still excursion passengers waiting for a bus, they have no idea why there is a family missing. The tour operator messed up, NCL is left to clean up the mess.

From the NCL response, it sounds like NCL tried to call the missing family and they (NCL) called the port authority. Or maybe they both called. The cruise line shared this statement at 8 p.m. on July 16: I believe it was in Ketchikan that the captain once told us that Ketchikan is one port where they can't afford to wait because it's already full steam ahead to make it to Victoria in time. Word to the wise - always leave your passport in your safe if you aren't carrying it with you! And apparently the ship will try to contact you if you don't make it back - not the first time I've heard mention of the ship trying to call passengers while in port.

Not sure of your point? Yes, it was the tour operator not checking tickets for those on a tour. I've been on a tour that ends at the LumberJack show and it can be quite confusing with respect to which bus you should take, even when busses are clearly labeled and there are people trying to guide people to the correct bus. So people that should be on bus #1 get on #2, then there's no room left on bus #2 but plenty of room on bus #1 and so on. They were given bad information about another bus. Not your typical "pier runner" situation, if everything stated is how it actually happened (kinda a coincidence that only this family was left behind). As to calling the port - you obviously have to do that BEFORE the ship leaves port. But there are a few missing pieces - and it's also possible the ship couldn't wait for whatever reason. And in that case, NCL's responsibility is to get them to the next port if possible. For various reasons, that wasn't possible and NCL is paying their expenses. And looking for a new tour operator LOL.

The lumberjack show often ends within minutes of all-aboard (been there, done that). So even if they had chosen to try to find a cab, there might not be one immediately available. But what they should have done is call the port number listed on the FreeStyle daily to let the ship know the situation - and get instructions from there. The ship would have probably sent a bus for them - or told them to get a cab, the ship would wait. But the bigger question would be how they were the only ones apparently left behind? I've been on that tour and yes, there are people trying to take the tour bus instead of the NCL shuttle (which is probably no longer running by that time). But everyone should have tickets and/or stickers - and the tour operator should be checking.

NCL usually docks at Ward Cove, which is NOT within walking distance of the Lumberjack show. Yes, it was apparently a NCL-sponsored excursion and from the article I read, the responsibility lies with the tour-operator that was not checking tickets for the return trip. They were told there would be another bus so by the time they realized they needed a plan B, it was too late. As to NCL waiting, they only wait for the tour operator to return. If a passenger is not on that bus for whatever reason, NCL would most likely be unaware of the issue and that passenger is a no-show at that point.

Or ramped up a little. I'm not sure everyone who is directed to a roll call and M&G knows what happens (or can happen) at a M&G. And while lately the crew has been relatively well represented but often missing the list of crew contacts - which to me was always a nice thing to have. That's on NCL's side.

For once, I have to agree 100% with you LOL.

I guess I'm a little confused. Is the issue who is signing up or the fact that actual attendance is low? Attraction - bragging rights to be able to say 150 people signed up for MY M&G event??? On FB when people have been invited - sometimes by the person organizing the event, sometimes just some random person - I've seen comments basically saying it's too much effort to join CC and find the roll call. As to attendance, it would be nice to somehow get a reminder - especially when the time/place is sometimes a moving target. But not everyone is comfortable giving out their room # and/or e-mail. And sometimes it also comes down to a choice, since there are other activities scheduled at the same time.. Note, I do check the CC roll call once onboard to verify the time/place - so it would be really helpful if the host could update so it's one of the last entries, not buried 50 posts back.

I will say that the onboard crew tends to often look the other way with respect to bringing bottled water onboard at the ports. Not so much at embarkation, although there are those who swear that they bring a 6-pak of soda on every cruise. Don't believe everything someone tells you...

No, a lot of people are saying just put them in a pill organizer. Big difference over putting them in baggies or alternative containers with original labels. Just what is an original container? A generic plastic pill container that some tech filled and slapped on a label. Again, it's the LABEL, not the container. Note, I'm old enough to remember when pills came in paper envelopes with labels on them.

I've never been asked BUT when you are traveling to parts of the world where certain medications are prohibited - including ones that are commonly prescribed or sold OTC - knowing what is legal and having quick and easy identification of what you have just might save you a lot of grief if someone does happen to check.

Yes, it's about the label - not the container. My pharmacy had no issues with giving me labels that I could put on more reasonably-sized containers for travel. I've traveled to a few countries where there are fairly strict regulations with respect to medications. So I go as prepared as I can - but they've never actually checked.

Yes, I took it but I suspect my experience was quite different than what people are finding now. I went in October, 2021, so early in the restart process. I think we were the only ship in port and probably less than 1000 passengers. So for me it was the perfect excursion, got to see the highlights of the island, then had sufficient time to wander around town afterwards. According to the description, the ticket for the cable car was included - it wasn't, not a big deal. But not much of a line, think the line was at the bottom of the stairs, definitely not hours long. But of course that would also depend on what time you are trying to return.

You are correct. Nothing magical about a pill bottle, other than the label that some tech put on the bottle when they filled it. I asked my pharmacy to print out an extra set of labels that I can put on my own containers - which happen to be plastic bags designed for pills. Take up a lot less room and provide the exact same information as is on the pill bottles - including name and descriptions. I also carry a copy of the original prescription, also provided by the pharmacist. For OTC supplements, etc I either peel off the label or find a picture on the web and print it out, use that to label the bag.

I was on the Jewel from Japan to Alaska in April. I don't recall anything special about dining (wasn't looking), there is an Asian restaurant on the ship. But NCL does not typically alter their menus by itinerary, they are standardized across the fleet. Not saying the head chef wouldn't choose some itinerary-specific meals though. And most provisioning for the ship is actually done through Miami as opposed to utilizing local markets. Entertainment in our case was not aimed toward the local culture - other than showing "Crazy Rich Asians" one night in the theater LOL. But again, our trip was a transpacific and leaving Asia. I have been on NCL ships that did have some regional entertainment. NCL tends to offer generic entertainment - meaning that you won't find an english-speaking comedian on a cruise where many of the passengers do not speak english as their first language. Besides the language barrier, many jokes jus don't cross to other cultures. At one time, the Spirit was intended for the Asian market - with Asian decor. But it was renovated several years ago, completely redecorated. Personally, I would choose based on the itinerary.