NCL Hell - Beware

[garycarla]

Toronto25, please give us a heads up on what city in Europe your aunt and uncle were robbed?...

 

Today, in just about any city in Europe, somebody will be robbed. In some cases, the police will be of assistance. In some, well....

 

Just the way it is. Same for tourists as non tourists, though some tourists just advertise they are easy marks.

[juliang]

this was an awful experience made far worse by the ignorance and indolence of NCL. I did one cruise on that line to Alaska on the Pearl..and swore I would never do another one. It is cheaper than other cruise lines, and the service shows it. My review was posted on June 2nd, 2008, 01:54 AM . Surpizingly , several found it bnecessary to discount my experience in replies. You may find the same..Ignore them. They have no life, which is why they must self validate their own opinion by discounting someone else's contrary experience. Others are just plain simple and polyanna apologists.

very sorry for what happened to you.

[mpk218]

this was an awful experience made far worse by the ignorance and indolence of NCL. I did one cruise on that line to Alaska on the Pearl..and swore I would never do another one. It is cheaper than other cruise lines, and the service shows it. My review was posted on June 2nd, 2008, 01:54 AM . Surpizingly , several found it bnecessary to discount my experience in replies. You may find the same..Ignore them. They have no life, which is why they must self validate their own opinion by discounting someone else's contrary experience. Others are just plain simple and polyanna apologists.

very sorry for what happened to you.

 

 

You may be due for an anger managment course my dear.. ;)

[wg6530]

Surpizingly , several found it bnecessary to discount my experience in replies. You may find the same..Ignore them. They have no life, which is why they must self validate their own opinion by discounting someoneelse...u.

 

Ummm, Juliang, aren't you validating your opinion by discounting other people's opinions, too? Perhaps those opinions came from people with far more experience on NCL than you. Ignore anybody you like, but try not to be a hypocrite.

[steamboats]

Celebrity is taking all passengers passport son our upcoming med cruise in July we got a notice, and they are keeping them. We had this happen on the NCL sun and star before and had to line up to get them back at a certain port.

 

Happened to us too on the JADE because of the visa for Egypt. We got our passports back the sea day prior to Alexandria. After Alexandria we had to drop our passports again for the reentry to the Schengen community. We had Rhodes (Schengen) and Izmir (non EU) then Athens. We got our passports back in Athens.

 

That´s why I did have my ID card with me. So I do have a proper legal ID for leaving the ship in Italy (Civitavecchia and Naples) and Rhodes and Izmir (for Germans the ID is valid for traveling to Turkey).

 

Anyway I´m aware that many other countries do not offer an ID card and due to visa regulations non Europeans definitely need a passport.

 

In case I have only one legal travel document (passport) and it is collected by the ship I´d always take a copy with me. Makes it easier to identify myself and get replacement documents in case I miss the ship and have to fly. Usually I also do have a scan of my docs somewhere in a safe place in the internet (easiest way is an email to yourself if you don´t have your own server space).

 

steamboats

[yukongold]

Usually I also do have a scan of my docs somewhere in a safe place in the internet (easiest way is an email to yourself if you don´t have your own server space).

 

steamboats

 

A great idea steamboats, thanks for sharing!:)

[hkto]

There is no need to carry original documents (passports, driving licenses, etc) in any EU ports. However non EU ports (such as Dubrovnik, Croatia which btw is also notorious for pickpocketing) requires them. NCL requires only ship issued picture id to embark and disembark. There is a safe in each cabin to keep valuables. It's not a bad practice to carry photocopies and send scanned copies to your own email address as previous poster noted . But other lines (i.e. Costa) may not issue picture id and requires passport photocopies to match names to ship's card.

 

Yes, crowded tourist areas around plaza Catalunia, Las Ramblas and Barri Gothic are notorious for pickpocketing and purse snatching. Following common precautions (like securing cash and credit cards in money belts and other hard to reach places) and having little or no cash in pockets minimizes the risk of loss.

[garycarla]

... NCL requires only ship issued picture id to embark and disembark. ...

 

Some of what you stated is good advice, but NCL does NOT issue a picture ID. I have my cabin cards from the past few cruises. No pictures.

[hkto]

yes technically you are right there is no picture on the card itself but your picture shows up when card is scanned on embarkation/disembarkation

[NMLady]

There is no need to carry original documents (passports, driving licenses, etc) in any EU ports. However non EU ports (such as Dubrovnik, Croatia which btw is also notorious for pickpocketing) requires them. ... .

 

Dubrovnik Croatia and Hvar Croatia were 2 of our port stops on a cruise where the ship collected our passports. We did NOT need them at either of the port stops. I always carry a photocopy of my passport with me but I didn't need that either. Since immigration officials had checked all the passenger passports before letting passegers disembark, none of the passengers needed passports in order to disembark and sightsee in Croatia.

[Sally Forth]

Dear fellow cruisers, i am writing this post to highlight a very distressing and alarming incident that happened to us while cruising the Med on the NCL Jade.

[snipped] Also i have since learnt that we should make copies of all our passports which can be taken ashore (except in Dubrovnik - advice from other cruisers), leaving the originals in the cabins safe.

Shame on you NCL

 

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Just be glad you're British. They have a rep for the best and fastest passport replacement.

 

Viv

[Music City]

Okay...Where do I start?

 

First of all, it's not NCL's fault your husband had to leave the ship because he had no passport, it's the law. You need to look to the European Union and your own British government if you want to blame someone. NCL was simply following European Law.

 

Here is a thread from 3 weeks ago about these very pickpockets in Barcelona and where a couple of your countrymen as well as a Canadian or two that were offended and even a bit "pissy" at the suggestion that there is crime in European countries.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1206584&highlight=

[Music City]

I appreciate your post, and I don't want to flame you too much, but it wasn't NCLs fault that your husbands passport got stolen. I'm a bit shocked to learn that they kicked him off of the ship though.

 

When I am on shore at ports, I keep my passport in my cabin safe and bring a photocopy with me.

 

Well...I can tell you from firsthand experience your suggestion is a bad idea. We spent four days stranded in Barcelona with only the clothes on our backs (shorts and a polo shirt for me), a little cash and a credit card because we had no passports. I had heard about the pickpockets in Barcelona so I left our passports in the safe as well, but then we missed the ship and were left behind. Since we had no passports we could leave Spain, but no country would accept entrance without a passport. We had to wait until Costa could get our clothes, luggage and passports (from the safe) to us in Barcelona before we could finally leave.

[Music City]

If hubby stayed ON the ship until passport mess was fixed then I would think it wouldn't be a problem, right? What a TERRIBLE experience this was!

 

It could not be "fixed" on the ship. It could only be fixed at the British Embassy.

[Music City]

Three comments

 

1) Does the fact that the people who may or may not have stolen your husband's passport were dark skinned have anything to do with your problem;

 

2) NCL customer service obviously sucks and there must have been a better alternative than putting him off;

 

3) Your post would have been much easier to read if you left a blank line between paragraphs

 

DON

 

Don,

 

not only are you playing the Thought Police but you are policing English Composition as well.

 

So...why did you feel the need to bring a sexual references into it?

[Music City]

one should never leave the ship with your passport....you dont need it;)

 

wrong!

[14 Days or Longer]

All passengers should be aware of the pick pockets in Barcelona! NCL should make an announcement or notice in the daily. We were with a friend when I noticed that a picpocket was after her.,it was to late. They managed to get her passport and her wallet!

Lucky for us we still had a day to get her passport re issued! She would have been denied boarding without the passport. The officals at the embassy said this happens on a frequent

basis. So Beware....Madrid has the same problem....Plese check the State Department web page for information.

[Globaliser]

wrong!

Only occasionally.

 

Mostly, prg2101 is right: You usually don't need your passport off the ship.

[Goldryder]

A very good friend of mine & his wife were due to join NCL Jade late last year. They flew to Barcelona a day or so beforehand and on the way to the ship both were mugged. Thankfully neither were hurt but both lost their money, credit cards and passports.

 

They reported the incident to the local police and then went to the pier to notify NCL of what had happened.

 

NCL refused to let them board and they were left to go to the embassy who allowed them to call their credit card companies and to arrange flights home later that day. They paid for the flights home and claimed those back from insurance but they did not get the cost of their cruise back, despite protestations that they never got on board, the insurance company found clauses galore to make sure that the couple thousand spent on the cruise was not repaid. They contacted NCL who refunded their port fees but nothing else.

 

These friends are extremely well travelled and took all the usual precautions yet they were still mugged, they still lost everything and had a 5 month fight to get some sort of reimbursement...they never did take another cruise and to date they do not have another booked as the experience shook them so badly. They are both in their 70's and have been too wary to go abroad again.

[steamboats]

Only occasionally.

 

Mostly, prg2101 is right: You usually don't need your passport off the ship.

 

 

I think we have to differ between:

 

1) Do I need an ID/passport to reboard the ship? That depends on the port but in most cases your boarding card is sufficient. Usually the ship doesn´t require it.

 

2) Do I need a ID/passport for my land excursion? Legally: yes!! By law you are required to carry a proper travel document. Sure it´s pretty unlikely that anyone is asking for it. But in case something is happening (f.e. you´re missing the ship), what are you going to do without an ID or passport?

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

A very good friend of mine & his wife were due to join NCL Jade late last year. They flew to Barcelona a day or so beforehand and on the way to the ship both were mugged. Thankfully neither were hurt but both lost their money, credit cards and passports.

 

They reported the incident to the local police and then went to the pier to notify NCL of what had happened.

 

NCL refused to let them board and they were left to go to the embassy who allowed them to call their credit card companies and to arrange flights home later that day. They paid for the flights home and claimed those back from insurance but they did not get the cost of their cruise back, despite protestations that they never got on board, the insurance company found clauses galore to make sure that the couple thousand spent on the cruise was not repaid. They contacted NCL who refunded their port fees but nothing else.

 

These friends are extremely well travelled and took all the usual precautions yet they were still mugged, they still lost everything and had a 5 month fight to get some sort of reimbursement...they never did take another cruise and to date they do not have another booked as the experience shook them so badly. They are both in their 70's and have been too wary to go abroad again.

 

 

Ally,

 

I´m sorry that this happened to your friends. But I don´t think that NCL did not act properly.

 

One thing I do not understand in this case: Why didn´t they try to board the ship after the got new docs in one of the following ports?

 

As for the cruise line your friends are simply a "no show" and then they have to pay 100% of their fare. Stolen documents are not the fault of the cruise line.

 

steamboats

[Music City]

Only occasionally.

 

Mostly, prg2101 is right: You usually don't need your passport off the ship.

 

No, you don't need it to get off the ship, but as we have learned from the OP getting back on the ship and staying is what is important. And having a passport in a foreign country is very necessary if you don't get back on the ship.

[UKBayern]

thats awful and SHAME of NCL. My uncle had his passport stolen while on the Way to board the Celebrity Solstice last summer in Europe also. The taxi they were in was held up and they were robbed luggage and all.

 

Once they go to the Ship Celebrity helped them, it was embarkation day. Since they had completed online check in and had provided passport info that helped Celebrity they said. They contacted the Canadian Embassy in a future port of call and said they would have a car set up to take them to the embassy once they arrived in that port of call. I think there was a port before then they were just not allowed off! But Celebrity took care of them from start to finish. Gave them free clothes helped them with everything, even arranging to get some meds that were needed, and helped contact the insurance company at no cost of the phone call to my uncle and aunt.

 

I am sure that it could have just been the person making the call that day on NCL but thats awful just awful!!!!!

Now that is excellent customer service. Celebrity went far beyond what they had to do and what was to be expected from them. It would be nice if NCL would have made about 25% of the effort Celebrity made.

 

First of all, it's not NCL's fault your husband had to leave the ship because he had no passport, it's the law. You need to look to the European Union and your own British government if you want to blame someone. NCL was simply following European Law.

If you have followed the debate on this thread between several Schengen/EU-citizens, you know that it is NOT the law. Besides: what "European law"? We are talking about Schengen-legislation here.

[halos]

Ally,

 

 

 

One thing I do not understand in this case: Why didn´t they try to board the ship after the got new docs in one of the following ports?

 

 

steamboats

 

You and I would do that, but it sounds like this older couple was pretty shook up about the whole thing...they probably weren't thinking straight, which is a shame. I think if they DID get to the next port and board there, their insurance would then have covered their losses.

 

I haven't cruised in Europe before...so all this info is very helpful for when I do. BUT I am still not sure which is worse...being stranded without a passport that is stolen or being stranded without a passport that is locked in your safe on the ship?

 

For Caribbean/Mexico/Bahama cruises, I always leave the passport in my safe and still will do that.

But what is honestly best while in Europe??????

[Music City]

If you have followed the debate on this thread between several Schengen/EU-citizens, you know that it is NOT the law. Besides: what "European law"? We are talking about Schengen-legislation here.

 

The laws that say you have to have a passport to go from country to country. While Spain and France my have some sort of agreement they weren't the only two countries the ship was going to. Laws require the cruise ships to be sure each and every passenger has the required travel documents, i.e. a passport.