Charlene Jones

You are correct. The individuals involved would never sail on any NCL owned ship anyway. So banning them was meaningless.

I guess we shouldn't believe the vast majority of what is on this board as it overwhelmingly unsubstantiated. I've been trying to share information to help others receive cruise credit and/or money back. I was instrumental in getting the article in the USA Today. And I was successful in getting FCCs through the help of a wonderful travel agency. Why would I lie about this or anything else I post? Do you work for NCL? That might explain your attitude.

The source is the individual who was banned. That's the best I can do. Since cruise critic encourages anonymity, I'm not going to post the text messages I received from that person. They are currently on a non-NCL trip, but when they return, I will ask if I can publish a redacted copy of the letter to satisfy your skepticism.

NCL corporate sent a letter via the travel agent.

I wanted to update everyone on a few things. Initially my travel agent refunded me the cost of the cruise. However, we had an agreement that if he could get Oceania to issue us FCCs that I would return the money to the agency. On November 6th, Oceania issued us FCCs. So Oceania is caving in some instances. Also, a funny side note, the couples featured in the USA Today article received full refunds, but at least one of the couples has been banned for life by NCL corporate. We laughed that it was a badge of pride. Bottom line...keep pushing for FCCs. Travel agents are having better luck than individuals, and it has usually taken the President/CEO of the agency to make the request and get a resolution.

My travel agency is so angry with Oceania over its treatment of customers that they refunded me my money and are going after Oceania. I'm beyond happy that I've been made whole, but wish it had come from Oceania as opposed to the travel agency.

Of course.

I know the individual quoted in the article. We have been working the PR angle together. Divide and conquer, so to speak. The travel agency they use has had success with its customers who had the FCC offer rescinded. This seemed to start happening yesterday afternoon.

If you were promised a FCC and the offer was rescinded, have your travel agent ask them to reconsider. They seem to be begrudgingly honoring that promise suddenly.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/11/02/oceania-cruise-refunds-israel-hamas/71406253007/?fbclid=IwAR1cLrwcBvZFNi-sBgyDot_9PsBOAjzHw4DZEs1psmiBfeHQlnkLD1PjCEc_aem_Afdtu2HVWuFq0pqRitPLzgVdaDUO3uiU_cV9KUrP5uIH3Hi-h-oOO_MSkRLVUB5imqk#lohxmribiee2k36af9h

I believe they are slowly reimbursing these charges. We were reimbursed for the Egypt overland trip. but are still awaiting a reimbursement for our Jordan excursion.

Viking is currently offering FCCs to customers impacted by similar circumstances. I will argue that there is a difference between cancelling a port in route because of last minute circumstances and completely changing an itinerary a month before departure.

Here is info I posted on the Nautica roll call. Please email these reporters with your story. Also, email the head of NCL Corp. - Harry Sommer - at HSommer@nclcorp.com.

I hope everyone keeps the pressure on Oceania. They may or may not decide to do the right thing. My cousin is friends with the head of NCL ltd., and she is advocating on our behalf. I also contacted Jane Wooldridge who is the travel editor for the Miami Herald. Her email is jwooldridge@miamiherald.com. She expressed interest in doing a story. Perhaps, others could email her, too, to help that cause.

Sounds like Celebrity understands the lifetime value of its customers. Oceania seems to want to learn that lesson the hard way.