Terrible experience with NCL so far!!!

[EaglesWin]

We chose to use a TA because they offered us $200 cash back plus the NCL promo, ended up getting an additional $150 cash back for second room. The TA also helped when the NCL agent said there was no way to put the 2 adults as the free dining promo because we were in separate rooms, she knew it could be done, even if more difficult, and followed through to make it happen. I'm not sure whether or not this would have been avoided if booking direct? But we will learn from it and take more time before booking in the future to do our research.

 

This is another clue. The TA was almost certainly selling you from their group inventory (which they got at a discount) and they had no interiors left. Of course, they didn't tell you this and tried to blame NCL. I bet they could have gotten you the cabins you wanted but you wouldn't get the rebates (and they wouldn't get to sell their inventory).

[Demonyte]

This is another clue. The TA was almost certainly selling you from their group inventory (which they got at a discount) and they had no interiors left. Of course, they didn't tell you this and tried to blame NCL. I bet they could have gotten you the cabins you wanted but you wouldn't get the rebates (and they wouldn't get to sell their inventory).

 

I wouldn't go that far with assumptions. My TA always has always given us about 10% of the total price (read: cruise line's current price) as a discount and/or OBC, and if they have a group booking then the price is even lower.

[hftmrock]

to be honest,

 

your TA should be interacting with you ONLY. there should NEVER be a time where you contact NCL or NCL contacts you.

 

If your TA let NCL contact you, then you need to change TAs or book direct.

 

The TA is the ONLY person you should deal with and THEY need to spend the hours and hours and hours on the phone and come back to you with clear proper answer and if they don't get the right answers THEY need to escalate

 

You are the customer of the TA and they were lazy and dropped the ball

[hftmrock]

That is like saying that you will never eat food because there was salmonella in chicken once.

 

I have heard WAY too many horror stories from dealing with TA's here on CC.

 

I would think its the opposite of what you are saying.

 

That is like saying that you will keep eating chicken even though there was salmonella in chicken time and time and time and time and time and time again

[beerman2]

Frustrating for OP for sure!

 

My experience dealing with NCL rep directly couldn't have gone any better than it did. That was after their web froze us out trying to book.

 

3 way conference call with rep, Our Fla traveling partners, and us in Ohio. Couldn't have gone any better!

[EaglesWin]

I wouldn't go that far with assumptions. My TA always has always given us about 10% of the total price (read: cruise line's current price) as a discount and/or OBC, and if they have a group booking then the price is even lower.

 

Yes, it's an assumption, but fits the facts. The amount back on 2 interiors ($350) seems like it would be all or most of the commission making me think it might be group space. The TA should have had no problem booking available interior cabins, but managed to upsell them to OV? Seems fishy.

[luddite]

I figured I would share my experience as I have used this forum many times to help make decisions regarding our vacations. I'll start by saying 1. this is probably going to be a long post. 2. No one is forcing you to read this, if you are going to be insulted and hurt that someone is very disappointed with there experience with you favorite cruise line, you have every right to stop reading now. However I have read many posts here and fully expect some ignorant, blaming and angry comments telling me why I am wrong for expecting some integrity when dealing with this cruise line and I look forward to hearing from you select few that just can't help yourselves.

About a month ago, my wife and I decided that we better plan our winter vacation. We usually would already have it booked but we have been crazy busy. The 5 of us ( 4yr old daughter, 9 and 10 yr old sons) have sailed with Royal and Carnival in the past many times, we were late booking this year and couldn't get on the cruise we wanted. My wife really wanted to try something new and found a 14 day on the breakaway, she was super excited, I'm not good at saying no, I got excited too and found rooms online through a TA. I was working 5am-7-8pm so asked that she contact them and book it. She agreed to do this.

The next day she called the TA to book the 2 connecting interior rooms, they told her that they had to make sure they were available and contacted NCL. She was told that the rooms were no longer available and the only options we had were getting a single ocean view or 2 connecting rooms that would be thousands more. She called me and I told her we should book so that this cruise didn't sell out on us, she booked the ocean view.

When I got home we looked online and could see that the 2 connecting interior rooms were showing as available and $600 less than the single room that we booked. It was late so I asked her to call back the next day and ask them about it. When she called back the next day, the same thing happened, the TA showed that it was available as well as NCL website but NCL told us the only connecting cabins we could get were thousands more. She told me this and I figured at least we got a room on this one.

Last week I decided to check again and noticed that numerous connecting interior rooms were shown as still available to book, we wrote down all of the info on all of these rooms and called the next morning, this was Tuesday. The TA verified that the rooms were shown as available and called NCL, this is where the trouble started.

On the first conversation, NCL told us that the rooms were available but we would have to pay a $1500 cancellation fee on the room we already booked to change. I have changed rooms on cruises in the past and never got charged a cancellation for a room change? I asked why it was considered a cancellation, the TA told us that she didn't think this was right and we spent 4 hours on the phone. At the end they told the TA that the room could be changed for a cancelation fee of $1000, this would mean that I would be paying $1000 more for the rooms I originally asked for. I let the TA know that I did not understand why a room change was a cancellation, she couldn't answer and attempted to get the NCL agent on a conference call with me. After another hour on hold we were told that a supervisor would contact us shortly. The whole day spent on the phone I was at work pouring concrete and my wife was sitting in her car beeping and calling me over when someone would come back on the line. I was very agrivated that they didn't just give us the connecting interior rooms in the first place. Later that night I missed a call from the customer service supervisor at NCL and she left me a message with her extension. The next day I left her 5 messages and did not receive a call back, on Thursday she did call and I let her know that I was very disappointed that we were not given the option of booking these rooms when we booked and they wanted to charge us a cancellation fee to book them now. She told me that we were given the option and we chose the single room instead. We were getting no where and she was not acknowledging that I had a concern or offering to help in any way.

She then mentioned that I agreed to the cancellation policy that included room changes when I booked anyway. I asked her to show me where it states this and after being put on hold for 40 minutes she told me to check my email. I recieved an email with something highlighted referring to name or date changes being considered cancellations? I spent the next hour trying to explain that I was not changing the name or date and she kept telling me that it's there policy. Then she told me that she would have the TA call me to go over the policy and I was very assertive in stating that the TA couldn't figure out where this policy was and that is why they gave me her number. We both knew that the TA couldn't help me and she was pushing me back off on them. This isn't how I am used to being dealt with, a total lack of respect and integrity. She knew the TA couldn't help me and wanted me off the phone. I asked her if there was someone higher up that I could talk to and she told me that she would research the policy with the legal department and get back to me within 24 hours. This satisfied me as I really didn't believe that a room change was a cancellation.

Around 7pm that evening I recieved another voicemail stating that she had good news and we could book an inside room and have our room moved inside for $600 more than what we had already paid? Still confused because it should be $600 less. The following day I left 3 messages throughout the day. I left her messages asking why we were being charged more and why this was a cancellation? No call backs.

Yesterday I got a call from her, now we could get the inside rooms for the same price we already paid. I told her that I still didn't agree that this was right as the 2 rooms would normally be $600 less but at this point we would go ahead and book. I also asked her if she was able to have the legal department contact me. She insisted that she never said anything about a legal department! I let her know from the first conversation that I was recording and have her recorded telling us that she would do research with the legal department and her denying that 3 days later. Okay at this point I just want it booked, it's obviously only about money and ethics are not of a concern. I was unfortunately disconnected but recieved a call from my TA 30 minutes later. This was at 2pm. The TA had all the notes on our discrepancy and had to call into the supervisor to have them authorize the room change. We spent the next hour on hold with the TA coming back on every 10 minutes to tell us she was still holding for the one supervisor that we had been talking to. At 3:15 she came back on to let us know that the supervisor had left work early and we would have to try again today. A whole week of being blown off and no explanation of why we would be charged a cancellation to change rooms. I burst out laughing when we found out she left with us still on hold.

So this morning, knowing perfectly well what would happen if we hoped the supervisor would try to assist us, we decided to take a different approach. I called the TA and asked if we could change our room from one ocean view to 2 balconies. No Problemo!! No $1500 cancellation fees, no phantom policies, we just pay the difference in price from what we originally booked to what we want now! On top of that we get the promo for the first room and 2 for the second. Only $700 more than our original singal ocean view for 2 larger rooms and balconies. Why couldn't the supervisor offer us this $700 upgrade rather than a $1500 or $1000 downgrade to smaller inside cabins?? This makes absolutely no sense to me.

So we almost have it figured out but wait, TA puts one adult in each room and only one room,(me and 4 yr old) have the dining package. TA says let me make sure you 2 adults can dine together with this package. 55 minutes on hold and she comes back( she checked in on us every 10 minutes to explain that she was waiting for them to figure it out) she tells us that the NCL agent suggests we get dining package on both rooms to be sure we can dine together. We explain that we need the Internet for my wife's online classes again. Then she tells us that she knows that they can make it happen, the NCL agent just doesn't want to do the work! At this point that comment didn't surprise me. After another 45 minutes on hold they decide to make the change so that we can dine together and send us our confirmations.

The original supervisor that left us on hold yesterday has not called back yet and we still have no explanation why we couldn't change and pay the inside cabins that are available? We will have a great cruise and I will post a review. Hopefully no more issues because I do not want to trust NCL customer service to resolve anything in a fair manner, lol. We purchased 2 of the thermal spa packages today after we finally got this figured out because I like to go to the gym every morning and then sit in the sauna. This is the first ship I have been on that does not have a complimentary sauna or steam room in the locker room. I'm okay with that but couldn't bring myself to spend another $600 when they were trying to screw me out of money for nothing earlier, now that I'm paying the correct price for the room I'm staying in, no thanks to Norwegian customer service, I feel much better.

This will probably be the last time we cruise with NCL because of this experience and we probably will not recommend them to anyone solely based on what happened when we had an issue and how we were dealt with when we didn't understand or agree with them charging us cancelation for a room change.

Hopefully this cruise on the Breakaway will be so amazing that my whole mindset will change but realistically the lack of customer service is not something I would put myself in a position to deal with again.

 

This is a nice, lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg paragraph.

[skylock]

The TA can not do anything or make changes until approved by NCL, the TA wanted to help us and spent many hours on hold with us, the TA never blew us off or left work with us on hold, the TA did not tell us that she would send a copy of the policy and not follow through, the TA did not take days to return are calls and blatantly lie about what she told us previously. If NCL was willing to try to understand our concern and work with us to figure out a solution that was beneficial to all of us, the TA could have done something. I never asked for something free and was perfectly willing to spend thousands. I requested to speak directly with NCL after they had me and the TA on hold for a full day.

Thanks for adding a bit of color to my thread, but even with the red letters I am not swayed from feeling that NCL has failed to show any integrity in dealing with me and my families vacation.

You can defend your ta all you want to, and I guess no-one can convince you that your ta WAS the problem.

 

When you booked with a ta, the cruise details were basically out of your hands. All this back and forth with ncl are things your ta should have been handling.

 

The mere fact your ta could not explain the no down grading thing tells me you need a new ta because yours really dropped the ball for you.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Demonyte]

This is a nice, lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg paragraph.

 

...and still you felt the need to quote that in full?!? :D

[hawkeyetlse]

Yes, it's an assumption, but fits the facts. The amount back on 2 interiors ($350) seems like it would be all or most of the commission making me think it might be group space.

It was $350 back on the two balconies (the OP's current, modified booking). We don't know what the TA's offer was on the insides, because the OP never actually managed to book those. And remember this is a 14-day cruise, so the fares are high (and the TA's kickbacks can be accordingly higher).

[13seth]

As for a PP comment about the boy with cancer, one of the major reasons why people (like myself) purchase trip insurance is in case something bad unexpectedly happens. My mom had a cruise booked when she found out she had cancer, and had to cancel. No problem, that is what insurance is for. Why should people pay for insurance if the cruise line will let folks re-book for every sob story? Illness, death, job loss, injury, home loss, disaster - no one expects these things to happen, but they do.

 

If you feel that in this situation, a business should not have tried to be flexible on there policy to help a family who's child was diagnosed with cancer, then you may want to apply for a job as a NCL customer service supervisor. I stated before that running a successful business is not solely about money, good customer service departments will use discretion and good judgement to be in a position to help customers without being taken advantage of and losing money. In my opinion, the way they dealt with that situation was horrible and taking the poor families money without offering a credit, then selling the room to another family to make even more money was not a good decision. I also feel that they could have easily done a better job handling my situation, still made profit, and had a happy customer.

[NLH Arizona]

If you feel that in this situation, a business should not have tried to be flexible on there policy to help a family who's child was diagnosed with cancer, then you may want to apply for a job as a NCL customer service supervisor. I stated before that running a successful business is not solely about money, good customer service departments will use discretion and good judgement to be in a position to help customers without being taken advantage of and losing money. In my opinion, the way they dealt with that situation was horrible and taking the poor families money without offering a credit, then selling the room to another family to make even more money was not a good decision. I also feel that they could have easily done a better job handling my situation, still made profit, and had a happy customer.

And if it were your company, where do you draw the line. Is it someone with cancer or is it someone with a broken leg or is it someone who just had a heart attack or is it someone whose husband was just deployed or is it someone whose mother passed away or is it someone who can't make it because of a blizzard? Where would the line be for you?

 

Once you make an exception for one, you have to make it for all otherwise there were be lawsuits galore.

 

It is easy to say a company should be compassionate and make exceptions, but it is not as easy as one would think. Cruise lines sell insurance for emergencies, illnesses, etc. and not to purchase it is not the cruise line's fault, it is the customer's fault.

 

Since you said NCL dealt with it by sailing the cabin to another family, do you know for fact that the cabin was resold?

[13seth]

And if it were your company, where do you draw the line. Is it someone with cancer or is it someone with a broken leg or is it someone who just had a heart attack or is it someone whose husband was just deployed or is it someone whose mother passed away or is it someone who can't make it because of a blizzard? Where would the line be for you?

 

Once you make an exception for one, you have to make it for all otherwise there were be lawsuits galore.

 

It is easy to say a company should be compassionate and make exceptions, but it is not as easy as one would think. Cruise lines sell insurance for emergencies, illnesses, etc. and not to purchase it is not the cruise line's fault, it is the customer's fault.

 

Since you said NCL dealt with it by sailing the cabin to another family, do you know for fact that the cabin was resold?

 

I own a business and have many customers that I personally service. We have had customers have deaths in the family and go through other hardships and I use discretion and good judgement to help my customers and not get taken advantage of. I just finished helping a customer a very good customer of mine that has stomach cancer and is going through treatment, he needed something taken care of but could not afford it as he is a self employed electrician. I had a very profitable year and let him know that I would do the job for my cost if he waited until we slowed down. I am happy to help him and I am sure he has told multiple people how grateful he was. If a large business cant fund a customer service department capable of using discretion to help its customers and enhance the reputation of the company, they are doing something wrong.

As far as assuming the ship sold the cabin, I do not know this but why would I assume that they kept it empty or gave it away, just using common sense.

[StolidCruiser]

Having read your original post and the varied replies, I am sure this won't make a bit of difference to how disgruntled you are feeling.

 

Without discounting how you perceived the customer service to be lacking, there seems to be quite a bit that was handled poorly with your reservation - starting first with your own actions and those of your travel agent (no matter how much you think they were going "above and beyond" to help you).

 

Neither you nor your travel agent comprehended the stipulations of your booking and the attempts to modify it. You booked something you didn't want when you were advised what you wanted was supposedly no longer available. That was your first mistake. If you were confident, based on your own knowledge, that what you wanted was available you shouldn't have booked something different without doing more due diligence. You should have investigated (or been told) the ramifications of any future modification of your booking under the terms at the time you made it.

 

Many here have explained the ramifications of your attempted booking modification and no matter how much you feel it's "just a change in rooms" it isn't handled quite so plainly by the cruise line.

 

You also failed to investigate the amenities available for gym, spa, sauna, etc and the hours of operation of those facilities. Basing your expectations on past experience on other cruise lines is another shortcoming you set upon yourself.

 

Most of your disappointment lies with yourself and your travel agent. That disappointment was magnified by the cruise line not providing a remedy that was satisfactory to you and made your frustrations worse by feeling as if you were dismissed. And to a large degree, you were.

 

The lesson here is if you don't clearly understand what you are booking, aren't getting exactly what you bargain for and chose an agent clearly inadequate to handle your business, you can't really place sole blame on the cruise line failing you. You failed yourself. Just because you are "paying thousands of dollars" does not absolve you of being an informed consumer and obligate the cruise line to capitulate to your every desire with a smile and a "No problem!".

 

I'm sure its small comfort, but now you know what you are faced with when dealing with this particular cruise line and your particular travel agent. In the future, you can act accordingly.

[NLH Arizona]

I own a business and have many customers that I personally service. We have had customers have deaths in the family and go through other hardships and I use discretion and good judgement to help my customers and not get taken advantage of. I just finished helping a customer a very good customer of mine that has stomach cancer and is going through treatment, he needed something taken care of but could not afford it as he is a self employed electrician. I had a very profitable year and let him know that I would do the job for my cost if he waited until we slowed down. I am happy to help him and I am sure he has told multiple people how grateful he was. If a large business cant fund a customer service department capable of using discretion to help its customers and enhance the reputation of the company, they are doing something wrong.

As far as assuming the ship sold the cabin, I do not know this but why would I assume that they kept it empty or gave it away, just using common sense.

Glad to see you can help one customer, but with NCL it would probably be thousands...where do you draw the line. Letting the customer service department use discretion on who they want to help and who they wouldn't, would result in a ton of lawsuits. Why help one, if you aren't going to help all.

 

You know what they say when you assume!

[MiniJeffrey]

I think you should complain to your TA, to me it seems that he was really failing in giving you the correct prices and options. I would advise you to book directly with NCL, no problems at all. And you have a personel Cruise Consultant you can call to. Also please note that downgrading is never allowed. Upgrading can be done without any problem, downgrading is cancellation. Please understand the business point of view here.

Edited November 25, 2015 by MiniJeffrey

[hawkeyetlse]

Twice you have mentioned not getting taken advantage of, and that is exactly why a large company cannot afford to ignore their policies and bend the rules for every case that cries out for compassion. You mentioned your customer with stomach cancer. You know this man personally, and you know he's not making it all up just to get cheap work out of you. NCL cannot follow up every cancer claim or every other sob story, and they will hear a lot of them once word gets out that everyone can get a penalty-free last-minute cancellation that way. People will not hesitate to defraud a large company, and NCL cannot afford the risk.

 

Now, are you really suggesting that your regret at booking the wrong room in haste and then not being able to change it without a fee is somehow comparable to someone getting cancer? :confused: Why are we talking about these other cases here?

[PATRLR]

This is a nice, lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg paragraph.

Thank you for quoting the entire post, just to tell us it was a long post (as if we hadn't noticed). You realize by quoting his entire post your post is even longer?

[luddite]

...and still you felt the need to quote that in full?!? :D

 

Oh, absolutely!

[PATRLR]

Glad to see you can help one customer, but with NCL it would probably be thousands...where do you draw the line. Letting the customer service department use discretion on who they want to help and who they wouldn't, would result in a ton of lawsuits. Why help one, if you aren't going to help all.

This is one of the more ridiculous things I've read on this board.

 

I'm not a lawyer but I know enough about business to know that business using discretion when dealing with customer problems does not expose them to lawsuits.

[luddite]

Thank you for quoting the entire post, just to tell us it was a long post (as if we hadn't noticed). You realize by quoting his entire post your post is even longer?

 

Hey now, there is nothing untoward about a long post.

 

Some consideration for anyone making an attempt to read a long post is certainly in order.

[swedish weave]

This is one of the more ridiculous things I've read on this board.

 

I'm not a lawyer but I know enough about business to know that business using discretion when dealing with customer problems does not expose them to lawsuits.

 

I agree with the ridiculous comment. All the cruises I have booked with NCL have had a clause in the contract that you must agree to arbitration to settle disputes.

 

The lawsuit comment is not valid.

[NMLady]

I don't usually mind reading long posts, but the op has no paragraphing and no space breaks so I gave up reading after a few sentences. I'm glad some of you toughed it out and could make helpful comments.

[sanger727]

Not a cheerleader at all, but just a couple of thoughts on the situation as you described it.

 

1. When you tried to get the connecting rooms, they showed as available but the only way to get them was to pay much more. Is it possible you were basing on the price on the "guarantee" rate? If so, then yes, you should have been able to get two guarantee cabins (with no guarantee they are together) at the cheaper rate or pay much more for assigned cabins that are together.

 

2. What you experienced where you can't downgrade after final payment seems pretty standard.

 

I think that what you are having the first time, isn't Norweigan's policy issues (I think you would find these policies the same on any line), it's last minute booking issues. You said yourself you typically book well in advance, in which case none of these issues would have come up. You can typically get assigned rooms without any additional cost and if there is a discrepency in room assignment, you can change rooms without a penalty.

 

Just another perspective

Edited November 25, 2015 by sanger727

[NLH Arizona]

This is one of the more ridiculous things I've read on this board.

 

I'm not a lawyer but I know enough about business to know that business using discretion when dealing with customer problems does not expose them to lawsuits.

Are you serious. They allow someone whose child got cancer to cancel or change without penalty which goes against their passenger contract, the public finds out and what do you think the person whose mother died or their husband hand a heart attack will do when they are told no, NCL will not make an exception for them as well. It is discrimination clear and simple and the media will be all over it like white on rice. Edited November 25, 2015 by NLH Arizona