NCL call center so bad that people come here to crowd source answers/complaints?

[Son of a son of a ...]

Looking at this weekend’s postings. Wow ... this Cruise Critic board ought to get paid for picking up the slack that NCL should be pulling.

[PTC DAWG]

I use a local travel agent, no issues...

[kitkat343]

I've sailed many lines. The people who answer the phones are usually very kind, but totally clueless. My favorite was the one at Princess who tried to get me to book a cruise tour to Denali before the buses into the park were running in May. Me: "Of course there's availability on that cruise tour, once they get there, they will realize they won't be able to get into the park." It's not just a NCL thing.

[gambit57]

It's not just a NCL thing.

 

I agree. Definitely not just a NCL thing.

[Keith1010]

Yes a good example of using a TA.

 

Keith

[KeithJenner]

I often feel bad about being so critical of the NCL shoreside staff, as I'm sure that the lack of info they have isn't their fault, but there is no getting away from it, they are spectacularly bad.

 

The worst is when they tell something to someone who then comes on here armed with the certain knowledge that they are correct because "NCL told them so". One of my all time favourite threads on this board was one back in the Summer of 2014 (I just looked it up) where someone had been told by NCL that there would be just one ship in Europe for Summer 2016. They got quite angry when we pointed out that those itineraries weren't released yet and the call staff wouldn't know.

 

 

They had gone off in a huff quite some time before NCL announced the 4 ships that would be in Europe for Summer 2016. :)

 

 

I'm sure a good travel agent would avoid some of these problems, but I have yet to meet one of those. I don't think I have ever had a conversation with a Travel Agent where they didn't give me some incorrect information, often fundamental stuff. The last one was when I went to pick up a brochure for Disneyland Paris. I was told that if we were driving then there was only one hotel we could use. I had only just started looking at going there, but already knew that was total nonsense. The large car parks at each hotel gave that one away. For us here, knowledge of Disneyland Paris should be a minimum requirement for a Travel Agent.

[Markanddonna]

After fifteen cruises, I have decided that the wealth of knowledge from the people on the cc board is far superior than that of any cruise consultant or travel agent. We get some who offer old or very opinionated advice, but with experience, you learn to identify those folks.

 

The only thing that we can't make happen are the realities of booking.

[pieshops]

Looking at this weekend’s postings. Wow ... this Cruise Critic board ought to get paid for picking up the slack that NCL should be pulling.

 

You can pretty much insert any companies customer service into this - either it is outsourced to India or you have to go through a 15 process phone tree to actually speak with someone or they just plain hang up on you when they dont know the answer or they are clueless - they are all the same. Exceptional service is now a very unique thing and rarely happens.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

I use a local travel agent, no issues...

I'm with you. We have the same travel agent that we have used since our first cruise. If we don't get a quick answer on the boards; I just call her and I get the answer within a day.

[wdsted]

There have been a lot of threads with the general theme about bad service via NCL’s call center and they just don’t resonate with me. I’ve called about 30 or so times over the past 10 years and have never been on hold for more than 10 minutes, have never received bad information, have never talked with any one rude. Maybe it’s because we’ve cruised with them so many times or maybe it’s because I actually read web page content and confirmations. We handle complaints/issues onboard as they happen. As for info received via CC, you get what you pay for. I think there are way too many conflicting responses given and not all advice is current. The one exception is Bird Travels—that woman knows it all.

 

 

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[davy jones]

I see similar postings about RCI and CCL.

[rangeley]

Called shore excursions on Friday. On hold 32 minutes. Then when they finally answered, they told me the excursions I was calling about were not on their system yet. Our cruise is in May.

 

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[DarkJedi]

Several TA's still have my next cruise going to the wrong port. NCL changed that port over 6 months ago.

 

Customer service on the phone is going to tell you whatever the computer tells them when they pull it up. Does it suck? Yes. Is it normal for pretty much every industry? Yes.

 

I recently called a major hotel chain about an upcoming stay for training and reached their national call center. I was told the hotel was booked and that I could not reserve a room. I gave the girl my reservation number since I booked the room almost a year ago. She told me that that reservation was not available as it was for a different person, I had never given her my name. It was my reservation.

[rmurray847]

There have been a lot of threads with the general theme about bad service via NCL’s call center and they just don’t resonate with me. I’ve called about 30 or so times over the past 10 years and have never been on hold for more than 10 minutes, have never received bad information, have never talked with any one rude. Maybe it’s because we’ve cruised with them so many times or maybe it’s because I actually read web page content and confirmations. We handle complaints/issues onboard as they happen. As for info received via CC, you get what you pay for. I think there are way too many conflicting responses given and not all advice is current. The one exception is Bird Travels—that woman knows it all.

 

 

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I recently have had some VERY long hold times for NCL. Once, on a Saturday when I had some free time on my hands, I just put my phone on speaker and went about doing other work while I waited 56 minutes for someone to pick up. But that can happen with just about any company.

 

NCL (and RCCL) staff that I've talked to on the phone has invariably been quite friendly. It's always nice talking to them. On the other hand, the INFORMATION they dole out is sketchy at best. Sometimes I think they just have bad info at their fingertips. Other times, I feel like they're saying something just to make me feel better. I wonder how many of these folks have even been on a cruise, since often their answers demonstrate no real knowledge of what the experience of cruising is like. I feel a little bad for them...they must get some crazy questions and they try their best. These days, I usually just use them when the price has dropped and I need to ask for some price relief. Not really anyone else to go to. For other advice, I do find cruise critic to be very helpful...even when it's clear there are differing opinions, you get so many of them, I think it's not to hard to kind of filter through and see what applies to you.

[bmwman]

I recently have had some VERY long hold times for NCL. Once, on a Saturday when I had some free time on my hands, I just put my phone on speaker and went about doing other work while I waited 56 minutes for someone to pick up. But that can happen with just about any company.

 

NCL (and RCCL) staff that I've talked to on the phone has invariably been quite friendly. It's always nice talking to them. On the other hand, the INFORMATION they dole out is sketchy at best. Sometimes I think they just have bad info at their fingertips. Other times, I feel like they're saying something just to make me feel better. I wonder how many of these folks have even been on a cruise, since often their answers demonstrate no real knowledge of what the experience of cruising is like. I feel a little bad for them...they must get some crazy questions and they try their best. These days, I usually just use them when the price has dropped and I need to ask for some price relief. Not really anyone else to go to. For other advice, I do find cruise critic to be very helpful...even when it's clear there are differing opinions, you get so many of them, I think it's not to hard to kind of filter through and see what applies to you.

 

The problem is the "staff" are not staff. In a lots of cases it is an outsourced operation who know little or nothing about the product beyond the computer screen.

 

Also the high turnaround of real staff at any call centre means information can be wrong - They do not care in some cases.

[newmexicoNita]

Several TA's still have my next cruise going to the wrong port. NCL changed that port over 6 months ago.

 

Customer service on the phone is going to tell you whatever the computer tells them when they pull it up. Does it suck? Yes. Is it normal for pretty much every industry? Yes.

 

I recently called a major hotel chain about an upcoming stay for training and reached their national call center. I was told the hotel was booked and that I could not reserve a room. I gave the girl my reservation number since I booked the room almost a year ago. She told me that that reservation was not available as it was for a different person, I had never given her my name. It was my reservation.

Several? Why would you be using several TAs at once? Of course some are just order takers but a good TA is worth his/her weight in gold.

[newmexicoNita]

Call centers do not pay top of the world salaries and are often a first time job for the employee. I retired from a canter (hotel, not cruise) I was amazed at what I would hear some agents saying, especially after going into management. Even with decent training which our company offered many of those answering the phone had never even traveled, did not pay a lot of attention to changes and really didn't care. Those who were good and there were many, quickly moved up. Others would move on to another call center that paid, maybe .50 an hour more. We need to all keep this in mind.

[$hip$hape]

I'm with you. We have the same travel agent that we have used since our first cruise.

If we don't get a quick answer on the boards; I just call her and I get the answer within a day.

For the record, my TA sends an email response to inquiries.

 

For the fun of it, try getting a NCL representative to put one of their screwy answers in writing.:D

[latebloomer56]

OK My TA got the same answer I did. They put our sons latitude level of silver on our cruise in April. They know this he was born in 87 my husband on the reservation born in 55 and is platinum same as I am. How can they mix up the latitude levels but not the names? Said no problem they would update our edocs, nope that was my first call. TAs call week later all same after she spoke with a supervisor who handles TAs issues. Told they would fix by next day, nope that was 6 days ago. Sent email response you guessed it none.

So you can get the same answer once in a while, but they don't follow through.

[BirdTravels]

For the record, my TA sends an email response to inquiries.

 

For the fun of it, try getting a NCL representative to put one of their screwy answers in writing.:D

Your TA is not REQUIRED to handle the volume of calls a NCL call center agent is required to handle to keep their job. They can ONLY reliably answer what they can “google” on their call center system. It is when people keep insisting that the are ENTITLED to more data that those agents start making stuff up.

[$hip$hape]

Your TA is not REQUIRED to handle the volume of calls a NCL call center agent is required to handle to keep their job.

They can ONLY reliably answer what they can “google” on their call center system.

It is when people keep insisting that the are ENTITLED to more data that those agents start making stuff up.

You are correct.

The NCL Call Center employees are only required to sell cruises and make money.

They are not in the business of "customer service".

Edited March 13, 2018 by $hip$hape

[YVRBassElectric]

Shelby, an NCL employee, has been booking my cruises since 2009 & is awesome! He used to just book cruises and take payment, now he is handing dinning, entertainment and cruise bookings!! The Bliss is having IT trouble with the inaugural cruise, Shelby is going to call all his clients when it's fixed (14 days before sailing!)

 

When I bought Cruise Next coupons, the on-board staff made sure I had a Personal Cruise Consultant, I don't call the call center.

[cruise4kicks]

If Call Center Employees Were Honest

[Oceansaway17]

WOW I was surprised at the comments on this thread.

 

EVERY time I have called NCL I have had nothing but wonderful service. One of their call centers is in AZ and I have even gotten the same lady twice in one week.

 

Also she and the others did not try to hurry me along. They were very helpful and most did not have a thick accent of Any kind.

 

So NCL is far better than RCI or HAL. Trust me over the last 4 years I can attest to this.

I got a HAL rep who rattled his headphones so much and mumbled so bad that I had to get off and call back another day.

And RCI seems to have a lot of agents while able to speak English, they have various accents from various countries.

 

So that being said perhaps they might have had a change in staff and some new hires. Still NCL is great.

 

And as for T Agents, after what my mine did to me on a bus tour in England back in 2015, never again.

She gave me my documents saying all was well and then when I got to London, no transfer papers for the hotel from airport. So TA are only people and they are juggling everyone and working to make a buck.

I book my trips MYSELF and then I can call and handle as needed. And NCL is practically the only web that allows for searching by room type too.

[Sotermarler]

WOW I was surprised at the comments on this thread.

 

EVERY time I have called NCL I have had nothing but wonderful service. One of their call centers is in AZ and I have even gotten the same lady twice in one week.

.

 

 

 

Yes! Imagine my surprise when an agent told me they were in AZ! I put in a app for PT right away.

I was envisioning working a few hours a week so I could get some cruise discounts. It was quickly rejected since they were looking for full time, I guess they didn’t check my Latitude status. [emoji23]

 

 

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