Norwegian Sky 12/4/15

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I'm not trying to get personal, I'm honestly curious.

 

What is your end game? Other than more frequent updates, what else did you expect NCL to do? I doubt they, or any cruise line, practices an "evacuate the entire ship" drill. They're not going to refund your money. They just aren't, and they shouldn't. So what then?

 

Also this is maybe a little personal: an experienced cruiser should know that tender ports are at the mercy of the seas, and December in the Bahamas isn't the best.

 

Honestly, we could even understand not wanting to tell us everything while the "situation" was unfolding. But how they handled the aftermath of it was disgraceful and how they are trying to make those who went through the madness jump through hoops to get some sort of response is awful. An hour of free drinks for people who had the UBP already ain't cutting it, nor is $50 credit to be split between THREE people in the cabin with no real apology for the day we lost.

 

I get that these things don't happen often but they practice these drills precisely for when stuff like this DOES happen. Like I said, it could have been worse if this happened in Nassau or a port that did not have local resources to respond like Miami had. Obviously they have to re-examine how they handle and respond to these situations or what is the point of having the plan and going through all the drills and having the procedures in place? That doesn't even involve the customer service aspect.

 

I have said that I don't expect my money back nor do I even want it. I wouldn't even expect a token credit for a future cruise. I want them to just tell us they screwed up and to stop trying to discourage people from passing along knowledge of what they went through to others. After all, people do make decisions to book this ship and line all the time and they should know that things like this could happen AND how NCL reacts when they do.

 

So that is all I want. A form letter with a 25 dollar voucher won't do it, I want them to know that their handling of this entire weekend was poor and to fix it so if it does happen again, they do a better job dealing with it. I also want people who were interested in hearing what happened, be able to hear it firsthand from people who were there.

 

And I know ports get missed, and it was not the end of the world that we missed GSC. But on top of everything else that happened, handing out a few trays of rum punch near the pool didn't cut it either. But if you cannot reliably go to a port due to seasonal weather and you know you stand a 50/50 chance of having to skip it, maybe it would be better to not include this as a port of call when selling the itinerary. Ya know? Some people (not me) may have booked this cruise in part because of a visit to that island, and that could be a huge disappointment for them. I do understand that weather can really screw up a visit to a place and safety is important, but like I said, they should make a good mention of it when you go to book that there is a good chance conditions will not be acceptable to visit. More than the little mention of it that they put in the contract of carriage that nobody actually reads.

[mugtech]

Honestly, we could even understand not wanting to tell us everything while the "situation" was unfolding. But how they handled the aftermath of it was disgraceful and how they are trying to make those who went through the madness jump through hoops to get some sort of response is awful. An hour of free drinks for people who had the UBP already ain't cutting it, nor is $50 credit to be split between THREE people in the cabin with no real apology for the day we lost.

 

I get that these things don't happen often but they practice these drills precisely for when stuff like this DOES happen. Like I said, it could have been worse if this happened in Nassau or a port that did not have local resources to respond like Miami had. Obviously they have to re-examine how they handle and respond to these situations or what is the point of having the plan and going through all the drills and having the procedures in place? That doesn't even involve the customer service aspect.

 

I have said that I don't expect my money back nor do I even want it. I wouldn't even expect a token credit for a future cruise. I want them to just tell us they screwed up and to stop trying to discourage people from passing along knowledge of what they went through to others. After all, people do make decisions to book this ship and line all the time and they should know that things like this could happen AND how NCL reacts when they do.

 

So that is all I want. A form letter with a 25 dollar voucher won't do it, I want them to know that their handling of this entire weekend was poor and to fix it so if it does happen again, they do a better job dealing with it. I also want people who were interested in hearing what happened, be able to hear it firsthand from people who were there.

 

And I know ports get missed, and it was not the end of the world that we missed GSC. But on top of everything else that happened, handing out a few trays of rum punch near the pool didn't cut it either. But if you cannot reliably go to a port due to seasonal weather and you know you stand a 50/50 chance of having to skip it, maybe it would be better to not include this as a port of call when selling the itinerary. Ya know? Some people (not me) may have booked this cruise in part because of a visit to that island, and that could be a huge disappointment for them. I do understand that weather can really screw up a visit to a place and safety is important, but like I said, they should make a good mention of it when you go to book that there is a good chance conditions will not be acceptable to visit. More than the little mention of it that they put in the contract of carriage that nobody actually reads.

 

So you expect NCL to give you the odds of not being able to tender a particular port at a particular time of the year?

[RuthlessBoss]

So you expect NCL to give you the odds of not being able to tender a particular port at a particular time of the year?

 

He thinks it would be wise not to even have it on a scheduled itinerary. So while cruising around, the captain announces "by the way, seas are calm, so let's scrap what was planned today and go to GSC". :D

[kinesiologynerd]

Honestly, we could even understand not wanting to tell us everything while the "situation" was unfolding. But how they handled the aftermath of it was disgraceful and how they are trying to make those who went through the madness jump through hoops to get some sort of response is awful. An hour of free drinks for people who had the UBP already ain't cutting it, nor is $50 credit to be split between THREE people in the cabin with no real apology for the day we lost.

 

I get that these things don't happen often but they practice these drills precisely for when stuff like this DOES happen. Like I said, it could have been worse if this happened in Nassau or a port that did not have local resources to respond like Miami had. Obviously they have to re-examine how they handle and respond to these situations or what is the point of having the plan and going through all the drills and having the procedures in place? That doesn't even involve the customer service aspect.

 

I have said that I don't expect my money back nor do I even want it. I wouldn't even expect a token credit for a future cruise. I want them to just tell us they screwed up and to stop trying to discourage people from passing along knowledge of what they went through to others. After all, people do make decisions to book this ship and line all the time and they should know that things like this could happen AND how NCL reacts when they do.

 

So that is all I want. A form letter with a 25 dollar voucher won't do it, I want them to know that their handling of this entire weekend was poor and to fix it so if it does happen again, they do a better job dealing with it. I also want people who were interested in hearing what happened, be able to hear it firsthand from people who were there.

 

And I know ports get missed, and it was not the end of the world that we missed GSC. But on top of everything else that happened, handing out a few trays of rum punch near the pool didn't cut it either. But if you cannot reliably go to a port due to seasonal weather and you know you stand a 50/50 chance of having to skip it, maybe it would be better to not include this as a port of call when selling the itinerary. Ya know? Some people (not me) may have booked this cruise in part because of a visit to that island, and that could be a huge disappointment for them. I do understand that weather can really screw up a visit to a place and safety is important, but like I said, they should make a good mention of it when you go to book that there is a good chance conditions will not be acceptable to visit. More than the little mention of it that they put in the contract of carriage that nobody actually reads.

 

I mean... you sure mention monetary/material reimbursement a lot for someone who says he's not after it.

 

Also, I'd be willing to bet the success rate for reaching GSC or any other Bahamian private island is well over 50% this time of year.

[travelingdiva]

Like I said numerous times before, I have never felt the need to complain about a cruise experience and I have cruised many times on numerous lines, for almost ten years. It was a horrible situation, made worse by a tone deal NCL who wanted it to just go away and for people to forget that it happened so they wouldn't have to deal with it later. Like I also said before, sometimes them trying to make it go away is worse in the long run than actually confronting what happened, what their role in it was, and to listen to their customers concerns and make it right. You know, if they did that, I would be commending them for their quick recovery but that is not how it went down at all. Even if you are a NCL fan who thinks they can do no wrong, in this case they did. I am sorry if that rubs some who think NCL is never wrong the wrong way but it is just what it is. I am not happy with what happened and I will speak out about it.

 

Honestly, we could even understand not wanting to tell us everything while the "situation" was unfolding. But how they handled the aftermath of it was disgraceful and how they are trying to make those who went through the madness jump through hoops to get some sort of response is awful. An hour of free drinks for people who had the UBP already ain't cutting it, nor is $50 credit to be split between THREE people in the cabin with no real apology for the day we lost.

 

I get that these things don't happen often but they practice these drills precisely for when stuff like this DOES happen. Like I said, it could have been worse if this happened in Nassau or a port that did not have local resources to respond like Miami had. Obviously they have to re-examine how they handle and respond to these situations or what is the point of having the plan and going through all the drills and having the procedures in place? That doesn't even involve the customer service aspect.

 

I have said that I don't expect my money back nor do I even want it. I wouldn't even expect a token credit for a future cruise. I want them to just tell us they screwed up and to stop trying to discourage people from passing along knowledge of what they went through to others. After all, people do make decisions to book this ship and line all the time and they should know that things like this could happen AND how NCL reacts when they do.

 

So that is all I want. A form letter with a 25 dollar voucher won't do it, I want them to know that their handling of this entire weekend was poor and to fix it so if it does happen again, they do a better job dealing with it. I also want people who were interested in hearing what happened, be able to hear it firsthand from people who were there.

 

And I know ports get missed, and it was not the end of the world that we missed GSC. But on top of everything else that happened, handing out a few trays of rum punch near the pool didn't cut it either. But if you cannot reliably go to a port due to seasonal weather and you know you stand a 50/50 chance of having to skip it, maybe it would be better to not include this as a port of call when selling the itinerary. Ya know? Some people (not me) may have booked this cruise in part because of a visit to that island, and that could be a huge disappointment for them. I do understand that weather can really screw up a visit to a place and safety is important, but like I said, they should make a good mention of it when you go to book that there is a good chance conditions will not be acceptable to visit. More than the little mention of it that they put in the contract of carriage that nobody actually reads.

 

As a person who was actually on this cruise and experienced this first hand, I agree with everything "FlyingCruiserNJ" has said! The security breach situation or whatever that was AND not being able to tender to GSC are situations that once we were in it were beyond Norwegian's control. And yes, most cruiser's still made the best of it. However, the point is that as soon as the security situation began to evolve, Norwegian failed in the way they handled it! PERIOD! It would have been great if the person coming to the doorway had a bullhorn to communciate with and provide updates that all could hear and would have served to keep everyone calm.

[EyeSeaEwe]

So now there have been several interviews on TV with the various law enforcement groups who handled this security breach. Every single one of them said that no information was made public during the event to keep any bad guys from knowing what was being done to track them down. IOW there was no information that NCL could pass on like so many have been complaining about. Of course it was always common sense that this is what went on, but now that it has been confirmed I am pretty sure that those same complainers will say "Yeah but" and change their complaints to something else. Complainers will ALWAYS complain!

[Ctrinh225]

I'm so sorry this has happen to everyone that went on this cruise. I hope NCL will do something right and give a partial refund or a nice percentage off for a future cruise. Thousands of unsatisfied customers will talk to their friends and families of how bad it was. That will put a big stain on NCL even if it was out of their hands. It's a lose lose situation for everyone from the cruisers to NCL. I hope everything works out for all involved.

 

 

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[FlyingCruiserNJ]

So you expect NCL to give you the odds of not being able to tender a particular port at a particular time of the year?

 

Not necessarily, but remember other transportation companies, like airlines, do make public on-time and completion percentages when you book a trip. If there is an issue with a particular tender port or any port during certain times of the year, would it not be prudent for them to possibly not include this port or island during those times? I know that ports get missed from time to time but seeing that it supposedly happened twice in a few weeks time and that it probably happens quite a bit this time of year, does it almost become false advertising when they continue to promote it as a stop?

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

He thinks it would be wise not to even have it on a scheduled itinerary. So while cruising around, the captain announces "by the way, seas are calm, so let's scrap what was planned today and go to GSC". :D

 

I hate to say it but it looks like you are completely missing the point and you just want to bash posters who you disagree with and who raise legitimate concerns about this kind of thing. Again, this is cruise critic, it is for critiquing cruises and ships/ports. Maybe if you went through what we went through on this half-cruise, you would understand why many are upset but you just went by a press release from NCL and came to the conclusion that everyone who has issues with how the service recovery was handled is just complaining for no reason. Missing GSC was not a deal-breaker for me but clearly they miss this port way too often due to seasonal weather and maybe they should adjust their itineraries to visit other ports at certain times so they don't further disappoint their customers when they miss them. It would not be impossible to do.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I mean... you sure mention monetary/material reimbursement a lot for someone who says he's not after it.

 

Also, I'd be willing to bet the success rate for reaching GSC or any other Bahamian private island is well over 50% this time of year.

 

My issue was more that what they were offering was an insult, not that I wanted more from them. If they were going to give out obc, they should have given a fixed amount to each pax, not each cabin, or at least an apology or both for the situation, but nothing. It just seemed like their attitude was, suck up the screwed up vacation we gave you, take this $17 a person (which would barely cover a day's gratuities), and shut up and keep on like nothing happened. Also, something like a small voucher for a future cruise would be an insult as well along those same lines and in my complaint to the company, I did not ask for one. I don't want any of that, I just want them to acknowledge they handled this situation poorly and that people who may be considering this ship or NCL in general know that this is how Norwegian performs when things go bad. And even 70 percent would not be that great a percentage. I mean, that means they miss this island at least once every two weeks on average. But again, it is not the end of the world that we missed it, but that when you add it to everything else that happened that weekend, it just makes NCL look worse.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

As a person who was actually on this cruise and experienced this first hand, I agree with everything "FlyingCruiserNJ" has said! The security breach situation or whatever that was AND not being able to tender to GSC are situations that once we were in it were beyond Norwegian's control. And yes, most cruiser's still made the best of it. However, the point is that as soon as the security situation began to evolve, Norwegian failed in the way they handled it! PERIOD! It would have been great if the person coming to the doorway had a bullhorn to communciate with and provide updates that all could hear and would have served to keep everyone calm.

 

Yes, it seems that those of us who went though all of that have a slightly different outlook on what happened than those who were not there and are just going off of company press releases and statements. I don't know how much the security breach wasn't NCL's responsibility either. The people who scan those cards in the terminal work under direction of NCL if I am not mistaken and seeing that something so minor like that cause the chaos it caused means that maybe NCL has to re-examine their procedures when something like that happens. But of course the police were in charge much of the time but after it was all over, they had a great chance to really wow their pax as they recovered from the lost day and aggravation and they really dropped the ball so to speak. My cruising buddies and I did have a good time later on, but that is only because we met a few other people (including folks in that wedding party that got completely disrupted) who we able to make lemonade from lemons so to speak, and that we were all together and the venue that we were at didn't matter so much. Unless you were at the top of the steps, no way could you hear what they were saying, and when they did talk, it was the same we know nothing crap for 7 hours on end. Thankfully nobody really got sick or whatever that I could see in the warehouse, but really, the whole situation and NCL's poor handling of it and its aftermath was what disappointed me most and potential Sky or/and NCL cruisers should know about it.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

So now there have been several interviews on TV with the various law enforcement groups who handled this security breach. Every single one of them said that no information was made public during the event to keep any bad guys from knowing what was being done to track them down. IOW there was no information that NCL could pass on like so many have been complaining about. Of course it was always common sense that this is what went on, but now that it has been confirmed I am pretty sure that those same complainers will say "Yeah but" and change their complaints to something else. Complainers will ALWAYS complain!

 

Not even going to argue with you on the part of the police not wanting NCL to tell the people too much during the event. But after, NCL failed miserably in their reaction to it. Do you not think that it would have served them better to go above and beyond to make a bad experience into a good one for their pax and that this would create much more goodwill than to try to ignore anything went on at all and go business as usual? All they cared about was getting to Nassau on time the next morning when everything was sorted out, to heck with everything else. Don't even allow people to get food or beverage that they have been kept from all afternoon and night so you can do your muster drill and can go to the next port so you don't have to refund any pre-purchased excursions. Like I said, tone deaf. Legally they probably don't really have to give anybody anything for what happened, but come on, negative word of mouth hurts them far more in the long run. And people were seriously nervous as the police kept coming through the warehouse periodically and we honestly did not know what was happening on or off the ship or if we were even in any danger or not. It was just a messed up situation and I guess you had to be there to understand it fully.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I'm so sorry this has happen to everyone that went on this cruise. I hope NCL will do something right and give a partial refund or a nice percentage off for a future cruise. Thousands of unsatisfied customers will talk to their friends and families of how bad it was. That will put a big stain on NCL even if it was out of their hands. It's a lose lose situation for everyone from the cruisers to NCL. I hope everything works out for all involved.

 

 

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It was a totally messed up situation. I don't really know if they are going to do the refund or future credit or whatever and even if they did that with no apology, it would still be very empty and a slap in the face. Like, here is a token voucher, now shut up and don't tell anyone about how bad we handled this emergency. I just want people to know what NCL's attitude towards this albeit, rare type of occurrence is and I want NCL to look at their procedures and emergency recovery approach and possibly improve them in the future. I have cruised a ton of times and this will not keep me from cruising in the future(maybe NCL for a long while though) but I heard a lot of folks saying this was their first or second or whatever, and that it would surely be the last because of everything that happened and how NCL handled it. That is lost future revenue from those people and like you said, their friends and family who hear how bad it was and will not consider NCL themselves. But after the up to 15 days that it will take to get a response, we will see how they handle our complaints.

[Aquahound]

I hate to say it but it looks like you are completely missing the point and you just want to bash posters who you disagree with and who raise legitimate concerns about this kind of thing.

 

Yes, it seems that those of us who went though all of that have a slightly different outlook on what happened than those who were not there and are just going off of company press releases and statements.

 

Oh come on...don't you know that anonymous internet bloggers always know better than those who were actually there? ;)