Platinum Member with Bed Bugs on Epic 3/15/15

[patri10719]

I wanted you to know about the issues I had aboard the Epic this past week related to customer service specially around bed bugs. I sent this letter to NCL both to the socialmedia and Andrew Stuart email address directly. I will let you know what I hear from them.

 

 

 

To whom it may concern:

 

I want to advise you of my concerns and issues that I had aboard the Norwegian Epic out of Miami on March 15-March 22nd 2015. This is in relations to bed bugs in our cabin. As a Latitudes Platinum member and my first cruise for my wife we were excited to be aboard this ship and cruise. Our reservation number is XXXXXXXX. We were assigned a Mini Suite, Cabin category MX Cabin number 8052.

 

When we got aboard on March 15th and in our room we noticed a large stain, roughly 3 inches in diameter, on our Duvet Cover. We contacted our Housekeeper, Carol, which she promptly changed it. My wife is very clean conscious and she did not feel that the room was clean at all. She could tell it was very dusty and it bothered her nose and allergies. She had to clean and wipe some of the stains off the counter. Before we left Miami on Sunday the 15th she took a nap in the bed. She noticed that she got bitten by what she thought at the time was a mosquito or some other bug in the port.

 

On the next morning, Monday March 16, which was a sea day. She noticed she had a couple of more bites on her skin. I did not have any bite marks yet. She did notice on the top sheet, 3 small blood stains on my side of the bed. I immediately went down to Guest Relations and wanted to speak to someone about the cleanliness of our room. The Guest Relations person stated to me that the supervisor for deck 8 would meet me at our room. I met him at my cabin and showed him the blood on the sheet, and stated to him that the room never felt clean or smelt clean. I stated to him about the Duvet Cover on our bed from yesterday as well. He got Carol to thoroughly clean our room, and it appeared to be better.

 

On Tuesday morning the 17th, I woke up around 8am and had 3 bite marks on both of my legs. As you can imagine I was not happy about the situation. I immediately went down to Guest Relations again and stated to them I wanted to speak to the Hotel Director and stated we had bed bugs. They would not get them, but stated to me they would contact the supervisor and pest control. Guest Relations asked if we wanted to go the Medical Center. I met the same 8th floor supervisor and stated to him that we have bed bugs. After I met him, my wife and I went to the Medical Center, and they looked at our bites with no conclusion but gave us some anti-bite cream.

 

We went back to our cabin, and met with Carol, the 8th floor supervisor, and the Sr Pest Control. They had room turned upside down, and stated to us there were signs of bed bugs in our room. The pest control guy used a UV light on our legs and said yes they were bed bug bites. They were going to call Guest Relations and get us another room. I asked about our clothes, and the pest control guy said all of it should go to laundry. I should not have to ask about our clothes at all. During this time we had to separate our dry cleaning and regular clothes into 2 separate piles. I had to send all of our shoes, and suitcases because we did not know where they could be, and I am not taking them home or to our next room.

 

 

Once we separated our clothes, count them, and fill out our laundry sheets we had to finish packing the little stuff we still had. At this time we were only wearing the clothes on our back. A Guest Services Supervisor came down and just literally gave us our keys for our new room, which was another Mini-Suite. They stated they could not give us an upgrade to anything, as they did not have anything else to give us. I tried to ask her about compensation and she would not even talk about it. We went to the other Mini-Suite at 8055, and we had issues with this room as well. It was very noisy, and had lots of vibrations in the floor. The sink was chipped in two places and was completely unacceptable. My wife would never be able to sleep in such a noisy room. How hard is it to replace a sink?

 

We both went back down to Guest Relations and demanded to speak to the Hotel Director. We talked to Bon Villauz, General Manager Front Desk. I stated to her the entire situation from once we got on board to now. I stated to her no one has ever wanted to talk about compensation, or make us happy. I stated to her that in over 1,500 nights in hotel rooms in my life I have never had bed bugs. I am lifetime Platinum with Marriott, and I am only 38 years old. I have been to over 40+ countries around the world. I made the comment, if I was on land I my entire stay would be free. She said what if there was no other rooms at that hotel. At that point in my head I thought this is basically a prison because I am trapped and have to live with whatever she decides to give me. I stated to her that no one wants to talk about compensation either, and she states she has to contact the main office about it. She is not even empowered to do anything either, which is completely unacceptable.

 

Bon said there was no other rooms in my category or higher available. The only thing that was available was a balcony room or an interior room. I said we would look at it, and she took us to room 12009, which is a large balcony category B6. This balcony was not open to the entire outside, and was basically an exterior window. We went to it and said it appeared to be cleaner than the other room and we had no choice to take it. We went by the original room that she gave us to change which was 8055 and showed her the issues.

 

She stated that she would help us with our stuff to move, and that she would get us our keys. She helped us move our stuff and we were tired and hungry at this time. We went upstairs and had some lunch, and went downstairs to get our keys. At this time it was almost 2pm, completely exhausted, and lost our entire sea day for rest and relaxation. We have been dealing with this since 8am-2pm. We did not get our clothes back until around 5pm from laundry.

 

We heard from Bon the next day about our “compensation”. She stated to us we would get a $50 credit for each of us for the small room, and a 25% off a future cruise. I laughed inside and told her that is completely unacceptable. I could never see myself taking NCL ever again, especially after all of this. I do not even think my wife would ever cruise again after this ordeal. She stated that she would get back to me. I heard from her 2 days later and she said she would give me a total of $500 in credit. This is from the initial 50 per person for the “downgrade” and 200 per person for the issue. We were tired of dealing with this and just took it. We wanted to get off the ship at our first stop in Jamaica and go home but how could we?

 

My wife had emotional distress during the entire cruise and had a hard time sleeping the rest of the cruise. She thought there were bugs crawling on her and since this is her first cruise she stated to me it would be very difficult for her to try it again.

 

I want you to know what we lost and what you have lost. We lost 1 full sea day, downgrade of our cabin, emotional distress from my wife. You have lost a Platinum member. I feel like your company and everyone that we were dealing with did not care and want to take care of US the customer. I feel like customer service is not number 1 at your company.

 

This does not include any of the other issues related to this ship, including way to many people, people fighting over chairs on the pool deck and at the buffet, lots of stress on board, no free deck chairs on the pool deck. We could never enjoy the pool deck on the sea days. Everyone we talked to onboard seemed to have issues with this ship and the stress they were under as well.

 

I expect some kind of additional compensation, and some additional resolution with this matter.

 

I will be posting this letter on Cruise Critic.

[Laszlo]

Thats stinks, but look on the bright side, things could always be worse

[Bocadude85]

Perhaps you would be better suited sailing on a luxury line like Oceania or Regent.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Bocadude85

[moxtrot07]

What kind of compensation are you expecting?

[russianmom]

You lost me after your first few paragraphs... this is way too long and will probably end up in someone's circular file.

[tvguy72]

I understand the bed bug situation, that would piss anyone off. That's why I ALWAYS check every hotel room and ship cabin I'm assigned to before I "move in"

 

But why were you compelled to include your autobiography is beyond me. I would have just kept to the main subject. IMHO.

[cruiseyesplease!]

I would have literally been crying. As someone that is terrified of bugs, I would have been a total nervous wreck for the rest of the entire cruise. No one wants to pay to go on vacation to a room with bugs in it! I would have wanted either a same category room that was to my standards or a COMPLETE refund, I understand where this cruiser is coming from. It is unacceptable for a room to have bed bugs in it!!!! There should be inspections after every sail in each room. I AM TOTALLY FREAKED OUT NOW, I sail on the Epic this coming weekend!! For those of you asking what kind of compensation is wanted... I answer a FULL REFUND!!! This is just disgusting and they actually bit them also! I would have died. TERRIBLE!!!

[SissasMomE]

You can lose the "emotional distress". It's clear you think you may have a lawsuit on your hands (you don't). Forget about the "too many people" complaints, crowded buffets, etc. Irrelevant.

 

You accepted the compensation they offered. You are not going to get more.

 

Sorry about the bed bugs. Completely unacceptable, and would piss me off as well.

Edited March 23, 2015 by SissasMomE

[triptolemus]

tl;dr: they had bed bugs and weren't compensated properly. OP is widely traveled.

Edited March 23, 2015 by triptolemus

[SissasMomE]

I would have literally been crying. As someone that is terrified of bugs, I would have been a total nervous wreck for the rest of the entire cruise. No one wants to pay to go on vacation to a room with bugs in it! I would have wanted either a same category room that was to my standards or a COMPLETE refund, I understand where this cruiser is coming from. It is unacceptable for a room to have bed bugs in it!!!! There should be inspections after every sail in each room. I AM TOTALLY FREAKED OUT NOW, I sail on the Epic this coming weekend!! For those of you asking what kind of compensation is wanted... I answer a FULL REFUND!!! This is just disgusting and they actually bit them also! I would have died. TERRIBLE!!!

 

I agree - but he should have taken a deep breath before writing that letter to NCL. Throwing in other issues just muddied the waters. He should have stuck to the facts and the issue with the bed bugs.

[detroitlions]

I agree with most responses on here. I do not like how the OP set this letter up. He makes his wife sound like some sort of diva. And he brags about his worldly travels. I would never mention any of this. I believe you should be compensated for the time missed having fun and thats it. Its hard to believe with all of the so called travel you have done you have not had a bad room experience before. Passengers like your self brought in those bed bugs I dont think that NCL planted them in there. I do say the housekeeping that everyone raves about does not clean the room completly most of the time. But that may be NCL and the housekeepers fault with not enuff employees or the housekeepers being lazy I dont know which.

[punkincc]

Perhaps you would be better suited sailing on a luxury line like Oceania or Regent.

 

Yes, I hear the bed bugs don't like the Oceana or Regent customers. They really don't like fancy food! Just kidding Boca, I know you were referring to the Op's other issues.

 

And those bed bugs on NCL have been told multiple times NOT to mess with Platinum passengers. Bronze only, please.

 

To the OP, you have my sympathy. A very bad thing to have happen to you and it would freak me out as well. But, I think the ship seemed to have responded very well in handling the issue. You ARE on a ship at sea, so the available rooms will be limited. Did you want them to turn someone out of a suite to accommodate you? And the $500 seems quite fair to me. Not sure what more you are looking for except maybe to "punish" NCL for something they have no way of preventing and can only deal with after the fact.

 

You may not have ever encountered them in the past, but they are common all over the world and are found in the finest of hotels, even hospitals.

[tvguy72]

OP Joined in 2007 and its his 1st post. hmmmmmmmmmmm. :eek:

[detroitlions]

Perhaps you would be better suited sailing on a luxury line like Oceania or Regent.

Awe come on he has already been there and done that he has been everywere.

[Laszlo]

I would have literally been crying. As someone that is terrified of bugs, I would have been a total nervous wreck for the rest of the entire cruise. No one wants to pay to go on vacation to a room with bugs in it! I would have wanted either a same category room that was to my standards or a COMPLETE refund, I understand where this cruiser is coming from. It is unacceptable for a room to have bed bugs in it!!!! There should be inspections after every sail in each room. I AM TOTALLY FREAKED OUT NOW, I sail on the Epic this coming weekend!! For those of you asking what kind of compensation is wanted... I answer a FULL REFUND!!! This is just disgusting and they actually bit them also! I would have died. TERRIBLE!!!

 

LMAO

Insects will outlive all of us. FULL REFUND LMAO LMAO!!!!!

[cruiseyesplease!]

LMAO

Insects will outlive all of us. FULL REFUND LMAO LMAO!!!!!

 

 

You laugh but I bet if it would happen to you, you wouldn't be laughing. Look at the pics below and tell me if you wouldn't be upset and that you would be laughing at the situation and that you wouldn't want a refund ?!?!?!

 

 

[Leavethekidswithmom]

Personally I think they should hit those bed bugs with an increased DSC and a 18% auto gratuity , that will run them off.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Leavethekidswithmom

[Demonyte]

You laugh but I bet if it would happen to you, you wouldn't be laughing. Look at the pics below and tell me if you wouldn't be upset and that you would be laughing at the situation and that you wouldn't want a refund ?!?!?!

 

The cruise fare includes a whole lot more than just the cabin to sleep in. Absolutely no grounds for full refund like suggested earlier.

[glittergal1]

OMG I sail on Epic in May ive never heard of bed bugs on a ship before does it happen a lot?

[Demonyte]

OMG I sail on Epic in May ive never heard of bed bugs on a ship before does it happen a lot?

 

Ships are hotels just like ones on land. When a lot of people travel (especially after staying in hotels on land) they can bring bed bugs to ships in their clothing and luggage. We we've been lucky and never seen bed bugs in any of the hotels or ships we've stayed on and reports of bed bugs are very rare here too.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Demonyte

[Beaver1975]

A Platinum Latitudes member that is unaware of the prevalence of chair hogging? I call BS!

[candygirl27540]

I tried to look up UV light to check skin for bedbug bites and couldn't find anything. :rolleyes: I wondered why bites would be examined by a UV light in the first place and why that would not have been done when they were examined in medical?

[jackson bernard]

Omg that's really disgusting.

 

I would expect a full refund as well.

 

Social media is your friend. Please let everyone you can think of via fb and Twitter know so they will not be subject to the same filthy conditions.

 

If it is like that in the guest rooms, I can only imagine what it is like in the non public spaces. Yuck.

[Demonyte]

Omg that's really disgusting.

...

If it is like that in the guest rooms, I can only imagine what it is like in the non public spaces. Yuck.

 

A lot cleaner as the disgusting passengers bringing the bed bugs onboard do not have access there.

[Laszlo]

Omg that's really disgusting.

 

I would expect a full refund as well.

 

Social media is your friend. Please let everyone you can think of via fb and Twitter know so they will not be subject to the same filthy conditions.

 

If it is like that in the guest rooms, I can only imagine what it is like in the non public spaces. Yuck.

 

Yes, full refund........ LOL

 

On top of that you should Sue the pax who brought them aboard