NCL Epic very unhappy

[cod]

Even after turtles06's enlightening post, people are STILL posting that the OP should blame her TA! For something he/she had no way of knowing and no way of finding out about? Folks, get a grip..NCL is not perfect!

 

To the OP, sorry it went so downhill. Some might say 'big deal' but I know how I am when I look forward to something for a long time and have an expectation of how it is going to be. I'd have been as disappointed as you were!

[RNPJN]

Putting aside the issue of a "guarantee" balcony, the point is that NCL does NOT make any distinction between "hull/enclosed" balconies and "regular" balconies -- not in pricing, and, most important, not in the deck plans (at least not on the Jewel class ships; if the EPIC is different, I'm unaware of that).

 

If you did not know these enclosed/hull balconies exist, you could not tell it by looking at the deck plans, nor are these cabins so marked with any sort of icon or legend to flag this when you are looking at cabin selections on line. In fact, if you weren't a Cruise Critic addict, I think you wouldn't even know these types of balconies exist at all.

 

Making things worse, as I found out personally, NCL's own sales reps don't have information available to them to be able to know exactly which cabins on a given ship have enclosed balconies. A year ago, I was making a reservation on the Jewel through my PCC. We'd picked out a balcony on Deck 10. It was fairly far forward, and I wanted to be sure that it was NOT an enclosed balcony (the existence of which I only knew because of CC).

 

My NCL PCC told me that they did NOT have any information showing which of the balconies were enclosed and which were not. He could only tell me that he was pretty sure the one I was interested in was not. That wasn't good enough. Do you know what he had to do to confirm the information? He had to email THE SHIP and have someone go check out the cabin and walk out to the balcony!

 

I wish I were making that up, it's so absurd.

 

In the OP's case, if she had a "guarantee" cabin (which we don't know), then of course NCL could have put her anywhere in that cabin class or above. BUT should NCL really be treating the enclosed balconies the same as regular open balconies? Personally, I don't think so... And I think the deck plans should be marked so that the hull balcony cabins are easily identified by anyone trying to book a cabin, be it the passenger herself, a TA, or any NCL sales rep. (There are icons for other things, like "holds three." They could easily have an icon for this.)

 

OP: I'm sorry this happened to you.

I agree they should be better marked but as far as the pricing they are less

[logan25]

As a novice, I would think a balcony is a balcony. No so, because I read cruise critic. Thank you for giving another example of why guarantees are risky business.

 

Life is not perfect; vacations are not always perfect. Crying for three days is a choice you made.

[halos]

OP, I thank you for posting and am sorry about your disappointment.

Although it seems NCL should list their obstructed balconies more clearly, I would think a TA should KNOW...a good travel agent anyway.

 

I am hoping that beside being upset with NCL, that you have voiced outrage to the TA you booked this through and also would hope that in the future, when purchasing anything, you do some research yourself beforehand....

You must be your own advocate...unfortunately, you really can count on no one but yourself.

 

Cruise critic has been here a long time. Cabin selection is one of the most difficult parts of chosing a cruise (Imo)...there are so many 'not good to have' cabins out there (for various reasons). I hope the next time you cruise, you look here and search/question first. It will save you a lot of grief.

If it were me in your situation I would be kicking myself and blasting the TA.

 

I also want to add that you shouldn't ever book a guarantee cabin (which is what you did) YOU need to book a specific cabin that you want. Don't leave it up to the TA/Cruise line or fate. It's your money...know where and how you are spending it.

[Starry Eyes]

Even after turtles06's enlightening post, people are STILL posting that the OP should blame her TA! For something he/she had no way of knowing and no way of finding out about? Folks, get a grip..NCL is not perfect! To the OP, sorry it went so downhill. Some might say 'big deal' but I know how I am when I look forward to something for a long time and have an expectation of how it is going to be. I'd have been as disappointed as you were!

Of course NCL is not perfect. Then again, there are undesirable cabin on every cruise ship, every cruise line I have encountered. Other lines have been mentioned on this thread with gty cabins with hull balconies or lots of noise. I imagine the OP would have been also unhappy with a noisy cabin that interrupted her sleep; was she warned of that risk? Whenever a guest selects a Gty cabin, the guest takes a chance that they will get the worst cabin in that category or higher. A travel agent needs to tell the guest the worst case scenario, not the best case. agents have only told me the best case-you might get an upgrade. So, I come here to learn about the potential risks, because I have not heard them from agents. If the OP is jot willing or able to do her own research, she needs an excellent agent to assist her so she will not cry for three days because she cannot lay in bed and see ocean...

 

 

Why does one use a travel agent rather than booking direct? The number one reason should be for expertise. If the travel agent does not have the needed expertise (or do the research to learn about the ship/cabins/itineraries/etc), then the OP needs a new travel agent, one you can help her get the derails right. The number two reason some use travel agents is for discounts and perks offered by some agents.

[katybird]

Does anyone have a photo of this type of balcony they could post?

[tbmrt]

Does anyone have a photo of this type of balcony they could post?

 

My understanding is that the hull balconies on the Epic may be different.

Barbara

[silkhair1]

I am very sorry this happened to you. It really sopunds like the TA dropped the ball and did not explain everything to you. I am happy you are better informed for future cruises! We always book with the cruise line directly because we have been let down by a TA before too. Live and Learn. I am really sorry.

[fergusonvt]

Still waiting for the OP to give us the cabin number.

[che5904]

Does anyone have a photo of this type of balcony they could post?

 

The OP has been asked a couple of times to share the cabin # but has not replied.

 

This is I think the balcony type that the OP is refering to.

[katybird]

What deck are these on?

[thistimeplease]

Trust me, I am very upset with our travel agent as we were told it would be a regular balcony, because I remember saying when I booked the reservation that I wanted to make sure it was a regular balcony. The thing that I'm upset with NCL about is that when we got our room assignment, I looked at our catagory and there was NO indication that it was an obstructed view. The pictures of the staterooms in our catagory show a REGULAR balcony. I've never had this problem before and I just feel so cheated. We really didn't save any money. We got a $100 room credit from our travel agent. That's it. I would have GLADLY paid extra for a regular balcony. Like I said, I just feel so cheated. There should be somewhere in the room explinations on the NCL website about these specific balconies

 

I'm just curious where it states that the OP booked a guaranteed balcony. After reading and rereading the posts I haven't seen where that was stated. In fact the OP stated they thought they booked a regular balcony.

 

OP, I would've been as upset as you. I'm so sorry the cruise wasn't to your expectations but thank you because I never would have known the differences in balconies if it weren't for this thread.

[fergusonvt]

I'm just curious where it states that the OP booked a guaranteed balcony. After reading and rereading the posts I haven't seen where that was stated. In fact the OP stated they thought they booked a regular balcony.

 

OP, I would've been as upset as you. I'm so sorry the cruise wasn't to your expectations but thank you because I never would have known the differences in balconies if it weren't for this thread.

 

 

I'm thinking the assumption was made because she said she booked through a TA and didn't get the balcony assignment until 3 weeks ago.

[cynbar]

Oh my, from that last picture, I would have been very unhappy with the balcony too! I would be interested to know from the OP if her TA told her that you save money with a guarantee, but some cabins may be less than satisfactory because of location, noise , or of course a balcony which is inferior to most. If the TA did not, then I think this is certainly his/her fault and I would definitely complain to the manager. And of course this is a lesson to all of us ---- you may get a nice upgrade, or you may be stuck with a cabin you don't want when you book a guarantee, and the savings isn't worth having your cruise ruined.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...I cried for 3 days about this once we were on the ship! I couldn't sleep the first night and cried all night long. ...

 

Sorry to hear that things were not as you assumed they would be. That can be a bummer. If you had told me that this was a "vacation of a lifetime" and not your 16th over the last 11 years, I would better understand how devastated you seemed to be. You say you "cried all night long" over this? :confused:

 

We ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS research to the nth degree and specifically pick our cabins. I don't like surprises, yet we still have encountered a few over ~60 sailings. I don't think I ever shed a tear over such matters though - but that's my individual response, and people can run the gamut in that regard.

 

I'd be willing to wager that you will research the situation a bit more in the future, no matter what line you sail.

 

Good luck.

 

Tom

[cod]

I like using a TA or an online agency who usually has lower prices and usually an OBC. Having been a TA myself I do a LOT of research and, by the time I contact whoever I decide to book with, I know exactly what I want. One example stressing the importance of 'research' is our Costa Fortuna transatlantic a couple of years ago. Two online agencies had $546 for an oceanview...not a guarantee either, a list of cabins was available to chose from. I called Costa, their price was $799 as was the agency I used to work for. I hated not to give my business to my ex-boss because she was booking our air at a great rate but even she said it was a 'no brainer' and to book it online! (By the way, that was a WONDERUL trip in every way!!)

The above has happened other times too and is not a one-time occurance. Plus I like having a go-between with a cruiseline if needed. But everyone has to do what they are comfortable doing...the main and most important word is RESEARCH and hopefully you will avoid any surprises.

That being said I don't know how the OP could have avoided what happened. If there are no obstructed balcones listed on the EPIC (I don't know...are there?) and she didn't care about location, why not book a guarantee? And how could she, or even her TA, have known about this type of cabin if even NCL is clueless when called since they are not indicated on a deck plan in any way? Would I have cried if I looked at steel instead of water when sitting on my balcony? Yes..maybe not for 3 days but to me that shows she REALLY needed a vacation!

[che5904]

[quote name='katybird']What deck are these on?[/quote]

As you can see from the photo, these cabins are on all balcony decks forward. They may be other places as well I didn't look.

I've never been on the Epic, as a matter of fact at this moment the Epic doesn't even appeal to me. So the photos I have posted took me less than 5 minutes to find each. I can understand even after so many cruises that the OP may not be internet savvy or have the research skills. But a good TA should have also been able to do as I just did.

As another poster wrote "Why does one use a travel agent rather than booking direct? The number one reason should be for expertise." Or at least it should be in my opinion as well.

[65viki]

I, too, would be upset. I wish these hull balconies were so called on the NCL website . . . I'm very glad to be part of Cruise Critic all these years, I've gotten so much help in planning. On our last cruise with some of the family, everyone was astounded :) by my knowledge of the ship.

[che5904]

[quote name='65viki']I, too, would be upset. I wish these hull balconies were so called on the NCL website . . . I'm very glad to be part of Cruise Critic all these years, I've gotten so much help in planning. On our last cruise with some of the family, everyone was astounded :) by my knowledge of the ship.[/quote]

Yes I think most can understand the OP's disappointment, although the crying for 3 days, and all night instead of enjoying the rest of what the ship offered, I believe some like myself think is a little over dramatic.

I also don't think anyone feels that NCL should not make these type of differences better known. Hull balconies, obstructed views etc, but this is an issue on all of their fleet and probably other lines as well. Therefore, the TA should have been very well aware that this could be a possibility.

I myself would be upset if this was the balcony I received. The TA and/or OP made lots of mistakes to allow this to happen prior to even being assigned a cabin. The only thing NCL did was not show the OP (after they received their cabin assignment) that that particular cabin was a hull balcony. Their cabin assignment was 3 weeks prior to sail. Technically at that point (after final payment), may have been too late to do much about anyway.

As for how the front desk apparently handled it. (and I am in no way sticking up for the front desk or NCL in this matter because I myself thinks NCL's front desk staff on their ships, suck and need major retraining in customer service). I just have to take the OP's description of what happened at the front desk with a grain of salt, because of their major high drama with the cabin assignment.

[fergusonvt]

[quote name='che5904']Yes I think most can understand the OP's disappointment, although the crying for 3 days, and all night instead of enjoying the rest of what the ship offered, I believe some like myself think is a little over dramatic.

I also don't think anyone feels that NCL should not make these type of differences better known. Hull balconies, obstructed views etc, but this is an issue on all of their fleet and probably other lines as well. Therefore, the TA should have been very well aware that this could be a possibility.

I myself would be upset if this was the balcony I received. The TA and/or OP made lots of mistakes to allow this to happen prior to even being assigned a cabin. The only thing NCL did was not show the OP (after they received their cabin assignment) that that particular cabin was a hull balcony. Their cabin assignment was 3 weeks prior to sail. Technically at that point (after final payment), may have been too late to do much about anyway.

As for how the front desk apparently handled it. (and I am in no way sticking up for the front desk or NCL in this matter because I myself thinks NCL's front desk staff on their ships, suck and need major retraining in customer service). I just have to take the OP's description of what happened at the front desk with a grain of salt, because of their major high drama with the cabin assignment.[/quote]


Agreed. I would be disappointed if I thought I was getting a normal type balcony and got this cabin instead but my disappointment would have lasted for maybe a few hours. I certainly wouldn't have let it ruin 3 days of my cruise.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

[quote name='Barbie Sunshine']I didn't know where to post this because I'm still kind of new on the message boards, but I just wanted to vent a little about our cruise on the Epic last week. I booked our cruise in early August for the Nov. 12th sailing. I reserved a balcony through a travel agent and didn't get our room assignment until about 3 weeks ago. I've had a stressful last couple of months, so I was really looking foward to laying in bed all week, letting my husband watch tv (especially football) and just staring out the window at the ocean from bed in our balcony stateroom. Well, much to my suprise, when we got to our room, we didn't have a traditional balcony. [COLOR="Red"] We had sort of an extra steel room with a window to the ocean.[/COLOR] I'm very short and it was barely chest level for me standing up! I was so let down! On the scale of bad things happening on a vacation, this doesn't come close, but still... we reserved a traditional balcony and I was NEVER informed that it would be an obstructed view!!! All I could see from bed was a steel wall, not the ocean I've waited 3 months for!

My husband and I NEVER complain about anything. We get the wrong food in restaurants, bad meals, etc., but never complain. This we did though. I could understand if we paid a little less for the room or knew ahead of time so we could get the right balcony but SERIOUSLY!!! I cried for 3 days about this once we were on the ship! I couldn't sleep the first night and cried all night long. After we got into our stateroom, we went down to the guest services and explained to them that we were never informed about this room being an obstructed view. Unfortunately they were sold out of traditional balconies so we couldn't get what I really thought we were getting to begin with. After talking to several people, we finally settled on possibly switching to an inside cabin midweek. No one understood that we didn't get what we wanted, a BALCONY!!! I guess we got an extra room with a window and I was told we could still open the door and "get fresh air." We paid almost $800 extra for a balcony stateroom vs an inside cabin.

I was so upset that on Monday, they called to offer us an inside cabin with a $380 onboard credit. So in otherwords, we ended up paying an extra $420 for an inside cabin. I was so upset about the room that we just took the onboard credit. So instead of the relaxing vacation I had hoped for, I was just stressed... I'm leaving out many details leading up to this point, like for example, when the guest services woman laughed at me when we were complaining about the room. There were also minor problems with the cruise. Ladies, if you are stressed and get your menstral cycle early, bring pads, because they are NOT available onboard.

Bottom line, we will NOT be cruising NCL EVER again! My husband and I have been on 16 cruises since 1999 and 4 of which are NCL, but never again! When we were at the guest services, I was informed that we should know that after so many cruises, we could get an obstructed balcony with no indication. I have been so disappointed and will NEVER EVER cruise with NCL again!

Oh, and I checked the NCL website and it doesn't say in the room discription anywhere that our stateroom was not a real balcony stateroom.[/QUOTE]

I would love to hear from the OP again too. The OP said, "window to the ocean", which I admit, I find confusing. Was it an oceanview cabin with a window or an obstructed balcony, but still a balcony? I am not familiar enough with epic at all and trying to understand if in fact the OP meant they had an oceanview with window, instead of a balcony..?

[JamesIlsley]

[quote name='CruiseDivaNJ']I would love to hear from the OP again too. The OP said, "window to the ocean", which I admit, I find confusing. Was it an oceanview cabin with a window or an obstructed balcony, but still a balcony? I am not familiar enough with epic at all and trying to understand if in fact the OP meant they had an oceanview with window, instead of a balcony..?[/quote]

Epic doesnt have any oceanview cabins. What she had was the enclosed balcony with a "openable" window. Scroll up and see the photo another person posted on this thread. That is what the Epic hull balconies are.

[che5904]

[quote name='CruiseDivaNJ']I would love to hear from the OP again too. The OP said, "window to the ocean", which I admit, I find confusing. Was it an oceanview cabin with a window or an obstructed balcony, but still a balcony? I am not familiar enough with epic at all and trying to understand if in fact the OP meant they had an oceanview with window, instead of a balcony..?[/quote]

I think the OP got a little mixed up further down in the post when they refered to what they had received as and "obstructed balcony". But perhaps they didn't know that that term is used for oceanview with something in their line of vision. Actually if you look at my photo of the forward balconies in post #35. It's a pretty good description that the OP used in their fist paragraph. Although if you wish a balcony, why anyone would then accept an inside in place of this "steel room with a window" is beyond me

[Turtles06]

[quote name='RNPJN']I agree they should be better marked but as far as the pricing they are less[/quote]

I can't speak to pricing on the EPIC, but your statement is simply not correct in terms of the balcony pricing on Jewel class ships, which is one of the things that makes it impossible for people to know about these hull balconies unless they are CC addicts -- the fact that the pricing is the same means no red flag is raised.

For example, if you look at the deck plan for Deck 10 of the Jewel, forward, you will see the BB balconies starting on the port side with cabin 10506. That BB balcony is in the same class, and thus price, as BB balcony 10514, yet the former is a hull/enclosed balcony and the latter is not. In fact, 10506, 10508, and 10510 are all hull balconies (if I recall correctly); they are all BB class and thus all priced the SAME as the BB cabins that have "regular" open balconies. And, nothing on the deck plans indicates the distinction in the balconies. I can only tell you this info from having booked a BB cabin on the Jewel and gone thru the absurd process with NCL I detailed above to be sure we weren't in a hull balcony cabin.

The traveling public ought to be able to look at that deck plan and assume that there is nothing significantly different from one BB cabin to the next. No one should have to be a CC addict to find out that some balconies are enclosed, yet cost the same as the ones that aren't.

People should not be so hard on the OP here -- research on NCL's own web site, which is where the vast majority of the traveling public would do that research -- would not have helped. Talking to someone at NCL probably would not have helped either, for the reason I set out in my earlier comment.

As for the OP's TA -- I agree that a good TA should know a lot more than the traveling public. But can he/she really be expected to know even more info than NCL's own deck plans (and pricing structure) disclose? Here, perhaps so. At any rate, I'm sure that if I were the OP I'd be very upset with my TA over this.

[che5904]

[quote name='Turtles06']I can't speak to pricing on the EPIC, but your statement is simply not correct in terms of the balcony pricing on Jewel class ships, which is one of the things that makes it impossible for people to know about these hull balconies unless they are CC addicts -- the fact that the pricing is the same means no red flag is raised.

For example, if you look at the deck plan for Deck 10 of the Jewel, forward, you will see the BB balconies starting on the port side with cabin 10506. That BB balcony is in the same class, and thus price, as BB balcony 10514, yet the former is a hull/enclosed balcony and the latter is not. In fact, 10506, 10508, and 10510 are all hull balconies (if I recall correctly); they are all BB class and thus all priced the SAME as the BB cabins that have "regular" open balconies. And, nothing on the deck plans indicates the distinction in the balconies. I can only tell you this info from having booked a BB cabin on the Jewel and gone thru the absurd process with NCL I detailed above to be sure we weren't in a hull balcony cabin.

The traveling public ought to be able to look at that deck plan and assume that there is nothing significantly different from one BB cabin to the next. No one should have to be a CC addict to find out that some balconies are enclosed, yet cost the same as the ones that aren't.

People should not be so hard on the OP here -- research on NCL's own web site, which is where the vast majority of the traveling public would do that research -- would not have helped. Talking to someone at NCL probably would not have helped either, for the reason I set out in my earlier comment.

As for the OP's TA -- I agree that a good TA should know a lot more than the traveling public. But can he/she really be expected to know even more info than NCL's own deck plans (and pricing structure) disclose? Here, perhaps so. At any rate, I'm sure that if I were the OP I'd be very upset with my TA over this.[/quote]

You are right in your assumption, these enclosed/hull balconies on the epic are the same price as a mid ship balcony.

I also agree that NCL should make these cabins noted as a different color/category # or something, but saying that is more for the benefit of those booking on their own not through a TA. Too many people book with a TA for pricing and not for expertise. Therefore they end up a lot of times getting what they paid for if they are not able to do extensive homework in for their own vacation.

As stated above the reason I put the blame back on the TA and not NCL was all of this was done before the OP was even given their cabin assignment. Therefore the OP either should have known or been told by their TA that there were downfalls to booking a GTY. Also if the TA had any experience in NCL at all they would have known the above information that you stated with the jewel or any of NCL's ships for that matter (that enclosed/hull and obstructed oceanviews are not clearly defined) and therefore that would be a possibility when booking a GTY.

I still believe the main problem here is with either an uncaring or inexperienced TA.

Lesson to learn: Unless you are planning on doing extensive research on your own. If you insist on using a TA for whatever reason. Make absolutely sure your TA has experience in the vacation that [U]you are taking[/U]. Crusing or otherwise.