Jump to content

ESCAPE - September 9th Bermuda - TS/H Florence


Formula280SS
 Share

Recommended Posts

Just wondering...

 

I haven't heard any mention of frank del rio lately

 

Is he still around or has Andy Stuart taken over?

Frank del Rio is still around, unfortunately. While I don't feel the service onboard has been negatively affected by his reign, the decisions they make shoreside nowadays are questionable at best, and that trickles down. I have no doubt the decision on whether or not give anything to the guests who were rerouted came straight from him. He is a penny-pincher, often to the detriment of customer service, IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was on this sailing and received a credit of $30 per person for the change in port fees for the altered itinerary.

 

As I said, we did, too -- but were told that they were for the cancelled Bermuda port. Since we paid over $400 for port fees, and they gave us back $60, I am assuming they put the rest toward the newly scheduled 3 ports. But when they cancelled Nassau, nothing else was said about port fees being refunded! .

Edited by Wyoming2010
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frank del Rio is still around, unfortunately. While I don't feel the service onboard has been negatively affected by his reign, the decisions they make shoreside nowadays are questionable at best, and that trickles down. I have no doubt the decision on whether or not give anything to the guests who were rerouted came straight from him. He is a penny-pincher, often to the detriment of customer service, IMHO.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info

 

My family of 6 cruises quite often (especially since my 3 oldest are now self supporting and of course pay their own way)

 

That said I still do the bookings of course and look for great deals and while I've been please with the last several cruises on ncl pricewise and itin wise for our April 2019 cruise I jumped to rccl

 

Better itin

Better dates

Longer cruise

Better embark port

 

Much much better price (we don't want the drink packages anyway on ncl)

 

Ok not they newest ship in the fleet on rccl but we are fine with that

 

Point is...my kids see how I operate when booking a cruise and are learning from it so I can venture to guess they will operate the same way I do in the future

 

When I told them we were jumping to rccl they were more than receptive to it

 

We have all cruised ccl princess Disney and ncl previously so all I'm saying is that ncl lost the opportunity to gain some very well educated and well paid 20 something future cruisers but so be it

 

As they say...if mama ain't happy..nobody's happy...

 

Ncl take heed of this...it would be beneficial to you lol

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the info

 

My family of 6 cruises quite often (especially since my 3 oldest are now self supporting and of course pay their own way)

 

That said I still do the bookings of course and look for great deals and while I've been please with the last several cruises on ncl pricewise and itin wise for our April 2019 cruise I jumped to rccl

 

Better itin

Better dates

Longer cruise

Better embark port

 

Much much better price (we don't want the drink packages anyway on ncl)

 

Ok not they newest ship in the fleet on rccl but we are fine with that

 

Point is...my kids see how I operate when booking a cruise and are learning from it so I can venture to guess they will operate the same way I do in the future

 

When I told them we were jumping to rccl they were more than receptive to it

 

We have all cruised ccl princess Disney and ncl previously so all I'm saying is that ncl lost the opportunity to gain some very well educated and well paid 20 something future cruisers but so be it

 

As they say...if mama ain't happy..nobody's happy...

 

Ncl take heed of this...it would be beneficial to you lol

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Well stated from an educated cruiser.

 

And yes, we felt a definite difference on the Escape compared to the Breakaway 2 years ago. Not sure when DelRio took over, but we felt every area on the Escape last week was "lacking" -- both in quality and cheapness. That didn't help us be more accepting of all the other things NCL did or didn't do ;) After the flagrant stubbornness I witnessed at guest services onboard, and the apparent disregard for passenger loyalty I received when I called, I really don't think NCL cares about what people think or their reputation!

 

Honestly, I do hope they feel a pinch in their future cruisings -- maybe it will be a wake up call.

 

Oh, and we never received the survey!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the info

 

My family of 6 cruises quite often (especially since my 3 oldest are now self supporting and of course pay their own way)

 

That said I still do the bookings of course and look for great deals and while I've been please with the last several cruises on ncl pricewise and itin wise for our April 2019 cruise I jumped to rccl

 

Better itin

Better dates

Longer cruise

Better embark port

 

Much much better price (we don't want the drink packages anyway on ncl)

 

Ok not they newest ship in the fleet on rccl but we are fine with that

 

Point is...my kids see how I operate when booking a cruise and are learning from it so I can venture to guess they will operate the same way I do in the future

 

When I told them we were jumping to rccl they were more than receptive to it

 

We have all cruised ccl princess Disney and ncl previously so all I'm saying is that ncl lost the opportunity to gain some very well educated and well paid 20 something future cruisers but so be it

 

As they say...if mama ain't happy..nobody's happy...

 

Ncl take heed of this...it would be beneficial to you lol

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Enjoy, good to have choices. The Bride and I wouldn't think of taking a vacation on a cruise without a drink package..so it is a factor to many. Any RCL cruise I price I add $700 per 7 days for the Bride and I.....I think the drink package can be bought for that most of the time...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will echo some of the previous posters on this topic. I bought 3 balcony cabins for this trip at a cost of $9,100 and we had no problem with the itinerary change at first.Safety is the most important point on this issue. That being said when ship went to the worst port in the U.S. in Florida followed up by their own island( no port fees) and then not going to Nassau at all just screams of non equal value. To not refund port fees for Nassau is a bad way to run a company. There is even a question as to whether there was port availability in Nassau and whether we actually were going there. The way NCL handles customer service is appalling. To be honest I was not expecting any kind of refund from this cruise but was thinking along the lines of a future cruise credit in amounts comparable to what cabin type was booked. This was my first cruise with NCL. I have cruised on 9 different cruises prior to this one and twice on Celebrity and once on princess we received port fees back and OBC for missed ports. NCL's total disregard for this aspect of their business policy will to me mean no future cruises with NCL. there are plenty of other cruise lines and ships that are available. They will not see my money in the future.

 

I also saw an article on NCL yesterday and Del Rio was quoted as saying cruise fares are rising as of October

1st. He also stated that 50% of their bookings for 2019 are filled as of now. So his incentive to be accomodating to current guests is lacking. It's a short sighted business view and may work for now as the cruise industry as a whole is strong but nothing lasts forever and his loyalty base will decrease over time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will echo some of the previous posters on this topic. I bought 3 balcony cabins for this trip at a cost of $9,100 and we had no problem with the itinerary change at first.Safety is the most important point on this issue. That being said when ship went to the worst port in the U.S. in Florida followed up by their own island( no port fees) and then not going to Nassau at all just screams of non equal value. To not refund port fees for Nassau is a bad way to run a company. There is even a question as to whether there was port availability in Nassau and whether we actually were going there. The way NCL handles customer service is appalling. To be honest I was not expecting any kind of refund from this cruise but was thinking along the lines of a future cruise credit in amounts comparable to what cabin type was booked. This was my first cruise with NCL. I have cruised on 9 different cruises prior to this one and twice on Celebrity and once on princess we received port fees back and OBC for missed ports. NCL's total disregard for this aspect of their business policy will to me mean no future cruises with NCL. there are plenty of other cruise lines and ships that are available. They will not see my money in the future.

 

I also saw an article on NCL yesterday and Del Rio was quoted as saying cruise fares are rising as of October

1st. He also stated that 50% of their bookings for 2019 are filled as of now. So his incentive to be accomodating to current guests is lacking. It's a short sighted business view and may work for now as the cruise industry as a whole is strong but nothing lasts forever and his loyalty base will decrease over time.

 

clear.png?emoji-thumbsup-927

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will echo some of the previous posters on this topic. I bought 3 balcony cabins for this trip at a cost of $9,100 and we had no problem with the itinerary change at first.Safety is the most important point on this issue. That being said when ship went to the worst port in the U.S. in Florida followed up by their own island( no port fees) and then not going to Nassau at all just screams of non equal value. To not refund port fees for Nassau is a bad way to run a company. There is even a question as to whether there was port availability in Nassau and whether we actually were going there. The way NCL handles customer service is appalling. To be honest I was not expecting any kind of refund from this cruise but was thinking along the lines of a future cruise credit in amounts comparable to what cabin type was booked. This was my first cruise with NCL. I have cruised on 9 different cruises prior to this one and twice on Celebrity and once on princess we received port fees back and OBC for missed ports. NCL's total disregard for this aspect of their business policy will to me mean no future cruises with NCL. there are plenty of other cruise lines and ships that are available. They will not see my money in the future.

 

I also saw an article on NCL yesterday and Del Rio was quoted as saying cruise fares are rising as of October

1st. He also stated that 50% of their bookings for 2019 are filled as of now. So his incentive to be accomodating to current guests is lacking. It's a short sighted business view and may work for now as the cruise industry as a whole is strong but nothing lasts forever and his loyalty base will decrease over time.

 

 

IMO, only receiving a credit of $30 per person seems rather a poor compensation for both the change in ports, only going to 2 ports and the initial difference in the cruise pricing in general from what you would have paid for the Nassau/Fl sailing to what you were charged to sail to Bermuda and with no future cruise credits offered. You made the sailing even after the ports were changed vs. cancelling.:(

 

MARAPRINCE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well stated from an educated cruiser.

 

And yes, we felt a definite difference on the Escape compared to the Breakaway 2 years ago. Not sure when DelRio took over, but we felt every area on the Escape last week was "lacking" -- both in quality and cheapness. That didn't help us be more accepting of all the other things NCL did or didn't do ;) After the flagrant stubbornness I witnessed at guest services onboard, and the apparent disregard for passenger loyalty I received when I called, I really don't think NCL cares about what people think or their reputation!

 

Honestly, I do hope they feel a pinch in their future cruisings -- maybe it will be a wake up call.

 

Oh, and we never received the survey!

 

I find this so intriguing as we had the exact OPPOSITE experience on the Escape last week. The staff was far better than what we had 2 years ago on the Breakaway. Of course we didn't go into our vacation with a negative attitude like some other cruisers did. ;p We booked in the peak of hurricane season and we got a hurricane... such is life. Instead of complaining we chose to eat, drink, get a couples massage, hit the spa, enjoy 6 warm sunny days and had an amazing vacation. Life is what you make of it! :halo:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find this so intriguing as we had the exact OPPOSITE experience on the Escape last week. The staff was far better than what we had 2 years ago on the Breakaway. Of course we didn't go into our vacation with a negative attitude like some other cruisers did. ;p We booked in the peak of hurricane season and we got a hurricane... such is life. Instead of complaining we chose to eat, drink, get a couples massage, hit the spa, enjoy 6 warm sunny days and had an amazing vacation. Life is what you make of it! :halo:

What a wonderful attitude!

 

We did the same thing last year when we got diverted from Bermuda to Canada. We enjoyed every miniute of our cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find this so intriguing as we had the exact OPPOSITE experience on the Escape last week. The staff was far better than what we had 2 years ago on the Breakaway. Of course we didn't go into our vacation with a negative attitude like some other cruisers did. ;p We booked in the peak of hurricane season and we got a hurricane... such is life. Instead of complaining we chose to eat, drink, get a couples massage, hit the spa, enjoy 6 warm sunny days and had an amazing vacation. Life is what you make of it! :halo:

 

We were on that cruise, too. NCL didn’t announce the new itinerary until everyone was onboard and they conducted the muster drill. Thereafter, they spent the night in NYC. People were p*ssed because people were wondering why NCL didn’t announce the change before boarding. Others thought that we would be re-routed to New England. I think they gave $100 OBC per person or per cabin. We bought spa passes so it was not all that bad. The entire ship was in a bad mood for the entire cruise ... that I do recall

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was on this cruise and I agree completely with those who feel NCL has not provided good customer service. I also think that some here are misinterpreting what people are saying. No one is arguing we should have sailed into the hurricane or that NCL should have put anyone at risk. I'm also aware that they are under no legal obligation to do anything.

 

But lets look at this another way. For my girlfriend and I, this was our first cruise. We enjoyed the ship itself, but like a number of people have said here, we felt completely cheated ending up in Florida (and not a nice part of Florida), and then NCL's private island for about 2 hours (the tenders took forever) before heading home. My girlfriend and I are both young and will do a lot more cruising in the future, probably another 30 or 40 years ahead of us after this initial cruise. How many people in our situation do you think would continue to sail with NCL after they offered nothing beyond the text written in the contract, while we know other lines, like RCI, offered really nice customer-centric compensation to make up for the itineraries? For those arguing about this from a business standpoint, how can you possibly argue that's good business and good for customer retention? All it's good for is sending couples like my girlfriend and I to RCI or other competitors who will give you some form of compensation when the itinerary is jokingly bad.

 

Anyway, we've made the decision that we won't be sailing with NCL ever again if they don't decide to offer some remedy. Again, I realize they are under no obligation to do so, but they'll certainly be losing tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of dollars in LTV from my girlfriend and I if they don't.

 

That jokingly bad itinerary is what Escape sails all winter. I sailed it last spring on the Breakaway and booked it again this coming spring. Some of us like it, mainly for the convenience for sailing out of NY and for being able to enjoy actually cruising. Personally, sailing to one port, Bermuda, and docking there 2 1/2 days is jokingly bad. I’d prefer to just fly there and get a hotel. What is the point of cruising when so much time is spent stationary? But everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Similar to another poster, I would not cruise without a drink package. Sorry you were disappointed, but so far NCL has not disappointed me at all, and I will continue to sail with them as do most my co-workers and friends. My last solo cruise I had the time of my life. But towards the end of the cruise I sat next to a couple in O’sheehans who I coined the most miserable couple in the world. They truly deserved each other. They complained openly how it was the worst vacation ever. To hear me describe my week compared to theirs, you would never guess we were on the same cruise. They ended their meal with the guy slamming his basket of fish sticks on the table saying “I can’t believe they only give you 3”, and got up and left. Attitude is everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That jokingly bad itinerary is what Escape sails all winter. I sailed it last spring on the Breakaway and booked it again this coming spring.

 

How do you figure that? They cut out Nassau. That’s literally 1/3 of the itinerary. Cancelled while already at sea, announced 5 minutes after we were supposed to depart GSC. In GSC, they cancelled 1/2 of the excursions we signed up for, making that 1/3 of our total excursions cancelled on the trip for no other reason but to help NCL’s bottom line. They even admitted such, with their “not enough people” letter. You don’t think either of those events deserves any kind of compensation, even if it’s just a small gesture? Seems like terrible customer service to me and although you’ve never had an issue with them, a number of people in this thread, including myself, claim to be lost customers at this point, so they will lose at least some business.

 

The couple you describe sounds awful. My girlfriend and I were very happy and made the best of the cruise while on the ship. But that in no way means we can’t reflect on it as a whole and see the shortcomings. They should at least try to make it less transparent how much they are penny pinching. Announcing 15 times on the cruise “safety is our #1 priority and we know this cruise wasn’t as expected” and then offering absolutely nothing to their customers makes them seem kind of cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find this so intriguing as we had the exact OPPOSITE experience on the Escape last week. The staff was far better than what we had 2 years ago on the Breakaway. Of course we didn't go into our vacation with a negative attitude like some other cruisers did. ;p We booked in the peak of hurricane season and we got a hurricane... such is life. Instead of complaining we chose to eat, drink, get a couples massage, hit the spa, enjoy 6 warm sunny days and had an amazing vacation. Life is what you make of it! :halo:

 

You sound like someone I'd like to cruise with! When I look back at our travels through the years, some of our favorite memories were the direct result of something going awry. A positive attitude and an adventurous spirit will usually lead to a great travel experience if you just let it. I can understand being disappointed when things don't go as planned, but at some point you have to choose to be happy or miserable. I choose happy :cool:.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were also on this cruise and I have to say, of my 6 NCL cruises, this one was by far the best. The weather was accommodating, the seas were as calm as I have ever seen them (save for Sunday night out of NY), the service was first rate and the meals were great. 6 of the 7 days the Haven courtyard roof was open (never happened at sea for us on the Breakaway) and we never waited for anything, anywhere on the ship. Also, seemed like the people on this cruise were far more outgoing and engaging than our past cruises. I enjoyed the Haven on the Escape far more than on the Breakaway.

 

Now, did we go to Bermuda? No. Did we get off the ship at all? No. Do we feel cheated in any way, shape or form? No. We had an amazing, relaxing time and we got to do more on the ship than we otherwise would have. I also find it interesting that people are attaching nefarious intentions to the timing of the Nassau cancellation announcement. We had dinner with the captain and the hotel director early in the week. They said the slowing in Florence's forward momentum was causing unexpected navigational warnings to pop up for later in the week. What they told us was they were still going to try to hold to the itinerary, but if warnings held they would not be able to go to both locations. They said that they would head to GSC and if the seas were too rough for tendering they would race on to Nassau and do a 1-10pm stop there. But if we stopped at GSC and the warnings held we would need to cancel Nassau to go around the storm. The situation was far more dynamic then some people here seem to think.

 

All said, we had a great time and would gladly do a cruise like this again. That said, we've decided to make the switch to a luxury line and are trying a 14-night caribbean on Seabourn in 2020. I suspect we will be back to NCL for our shorter cruises at some point in the future because of how great a time we had on this cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also find it interesting that people are attaching nefarious intentions to the timing of the Nassau cancellation announcement. We had dinner with the captain and the hotel director early in the week. They said the slowing in Florence's forward momentum was causing unexpected navigational warnings to pop up for later in the week. What they told us was they were still going to try to hold to the itinerary, but if warnings held they would not be able to go to both locations. They said that they would head to GSC and if the seas were too rough for tendering they would race on to Nassau and do a 1-10pm stop there. But if we stopped at GSC and the warnings held we would need to cancel Nassau to go around the storm. The situation was far more dynamic then some people here seem to think.

 

Sorry that those of us in steerage didn't have access to the same info you did, so we were kind of in the dark. I'm not sure how that info excuses them making the announcement 5 minutes after we were supposed to be on our way to Nassau. If anything, it makes it worse because it seems as if they likely knew long before they made the announcement that there was no way we could go to Nassau.

 

Not everyone measures the enjoyment of a cruise in the same way, or takes as many cruises. We met a couple from upstate NY a day or two into the cruise who's only real vacations were a single cruise every few years. They were looking forward going to Bermuda. When they found out we weren't going to Bermuda, they were a little upset because they had already taken the Bahamas cruise a few years before and were excited to do something new. They were really looking forward to finally getting to Atlantis and had planned a bunch of stuff around that. Too bad they weren't privileged enough to have access to that information that we probably wouldn't make it there, because maybe they wouldn't have gotten their hopes up and spent all of that time planning. I feel bad for people who had that experience.

 

I also feel bad for a woman in one of our excursions who told us that someone in her party had planned for a wedding in Bermuda, and when that fell through, quickly made plans for Nassau. I can only imagine how they felt when they had that announcement come through the loud speaker. I wonder how much money/time they could have saved knowing there was a good change we weren't going to make it to Nassau. And I can only imagine how they felt after they found out they'd receive 0 compensation for their perils.

 

But hey, let's look on the bright side - at least the Haven courtyard had the pool roof open 6/7 days!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry that those of us in steerage didn't have access to the same info you did, so we were kind of in the dark. I'm not sure how that info excuses them making the announcement 5 minutes after we were supposed to be on our way to Nassau. If anything, it makes it worse because it seems as if they likely knew long before they made the announcement that there was no way we could go to Nassau.

 

Not everyone measures the enjoyment of a cruise in the same way, or takes as many cruises. We met a couple from upstate NY a day or two into the cruise who's only real vacations were a single cruise every few years. They were looking forward going to Bermuda. When they found out we weren't going to Bermuda, they were a little upset because they had already taken the Bahamas cruise a few years before and were excited to do something new. They were really looking forward to finally getting to Atlantis and had planned a bunch of stuff around that. Too bad they weren't privileged enough to have access to that information that we probably wouldn't make it there, because maybe they wouldn't have gotten their hopes up and spent all of that time planning. I feel bad for people who had that experience.

 

I also feel bad for a woman in one of our excursions who told us that someone in her party had planned for a wedding in Bermuda, and when that fell through, quickly made plans for Nassau. I can only imagine how they felt when they had that announcement come through the loud speaker. I wonder how much money/time they could have saved knowing there was a good change we weren't going to make it to Nassau. And I can only imagine how they felt after they found out they'd receive 0 compensation for their perils.

 

But hey, let's look on the bright side - at least the Haven courtyard had the pool roof open 6/7 days!

 

My God, there is always someone who goes there. I was simply relaying my experiences on this cruise just like everyone else. My experience is no less valid because my cabin was in a different part of the ship. As for the wedding, sure that is unfortunate and no one would wish that on anyone, but NCL did not sell it as a wedding cruise and they did decide to wed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of hurricane season. That couple should have considered making lemonade out lemons like the other couple on the cruise who got married on the ship on Sunday afternoon in NYC (they also had to cancel their Bermuda wedding). I got married in the middle of a blizzard and some family and friends couldn't make it in . . . I did not demand compensation from any of our ancillary vendors.

 

As for the Atlantis visit, please. They were really looking forward to a excursion that was even a possibility until 5 days earlier? That they had reserved for what, all of 3-4 days?

 

I'm done with this thread and perhaps the NCL Board for a while. The attacks on here seem to be escalating at an alarming rate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm done with this thread and perhaps the NCL Board for a while. The attacks on here seem to be escalating at an alarming rate.

 

You sound pretty out of touch and seem to be on the side that nothing is ever the cruise line's fault and everyone should just shut their mouths and say everything was great.

 

You just argued that some here are expressing an ill-informed opinion of the handling of the itinerary/skipping of Nassau because you were privileged to the additional information directly from the captain. I know to you NCL can do no wrong, but have you stopped to think that maybe it was their job to better communicate with the passengers and inform them how these decisions were made? I get it, they are under no obligation to. But damn, if you don't communicate these things to the customers, you are almost guaranteeing your company is going to take heat, and rightfully so.

 

You're missing the point about their Atlantis excursion. The point is it was one of the few bright spots of the planned cruise/itinerary for them, and like other stuff on the cruise, was cancelled with very little notice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had dinner with the captain and the hotel director early in the week. They said the slowing in Florence's forward momentum was causing unexpected navigational warnings to pop up for later in the week. What they told us was they were still going to try to hold to the itinerary, but if warnings held they would not be able to go to both locations. They said that they would head to GSC and if the seas were too rough for tendering they would race on to Nassau and do a 1-10pm stop there. But if we stopped at GSC and the warnings held we would need to cancel Nassau to go around the storm. The situation was far more dynamic then some people here seem to think.
You found this information interesting enough to remember it and share it here. Did it occur to you that perhaps this information might have also been interesting to the rest of the passengers and perhaps it should have been communicated to the rest of the passengers and not just a select few fortunate enough to have dinner with the Captain? Apparently that didn't occur to you which makes the subsequent "steerage" comments appropriate. Your comments are also further evidence that NCL's handling of the situation was awful.

 

 

 

I'm done with this thread and perhaps the NCL Board for a while. The attacks on here seem to be escalating at an alarming rate.
That is easily explained. NCL has screwed up, people have pointed out the screw ups, and the NCL loyalists have come in attacking people for saying negative things about NCL. It's downhill from there.

 

You sound pretty out of touch and seem to be on the side that nothing is ever the cruise line's fault and everyone should just shut their mouths and say everything was great.
My thoughts exactly.

 

You just argued that some here are expressing an ill-informed opinion of the handling of the itinerary/skipping of Nassau because you were privileged to the additional information directly from the captain. I know to you NCL can do no wrong, but have you stopped to think that maybe it was their job to better communicate with the passengers and inform them how these decisions were made? I get it, they are under no obligation to. But damn, if you don't communicate these things to the customers, you are almost guaranteeing your company is going to take heat, and rightfully so.
Well said.

 

Most everyone on this thread gets it that NCL is under no obligation to do anything with respect to itinerary. But NCL is in a customer service business and their customer service as documented in these threads has been lousy and it's OK for people to point it out.

Edited by PATRLR
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amen to that. It works in most industries. Those that provide excellent customer service retain customer business. I will give you a great example. September 11th ,2001. That tragic day and my office was in WTC 1. We had to relocate to a back up site in New Jersey and I had to drive everyday to work where I normally would have taken public transportation. I quickly realized that I was going to go over my car lease mileage limit so I contacted Chrysler and told them what happened. Their immediate response was " don't worry we got your back" and they covered the excess miles. I have been a loyal customer ever since. A fellow worker tried to do the same with GM and got the run around for months before he got a token gesture from them. He never got another GM car again. Its that simple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amen to that. It works in most industries. Those that provide excellent customer service retain customer business. I will give you a great example. September 11th ,2001. That tragic day and my office was in WTC 1. We had to relocate to a back up site in New Jersey and I had to drive everyday to work where I normally would have taken public transportation. I quickly realized that I was going to go over my car lease mileage limit so I contacted Chrysler and told them what happened. Their immediate response was " don't worry we got your back" and they covered the excess miles. I have been a loyal customer ever since. A fellow worker tried to do the same with GM and got the run around for months before he got a token gesture from them. He never got another GM car again. Its that simple.

 

(y)

 

Customer service in my business is #1. To the point we will not make a dime even loose money for some of our long time customers. Considering we have been around for 80 years we must be doing something right. We understand their are a dozen other companies in the country some of our customers can use. I don't expect a dime back from NCL, its all in the contract and I get that. Having said that it only makes good business sense. Maybe NCL is doing so well they don't care about that right now, but it the long run it always catches up to you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amen to that. It works in most industries. Those that provide excellent customer service retain customer business. I will give you a great example. September 11th ,2001. That tragic day and my office was in WTC 1. We had to relocate to a back up site in New Jersey and I had to drive everyday to work where I normally would have taken public transportation. I quickly realized that I was going to go over my car lease mileage limit so I contacted Chrysler and told them what happened. Their immediate response was " don't worry we got your back" and they covered the excess miles. I have been a loyal customer ever since. A fellow worker tried to do the same with GM and got the run around for months before he got a token gesture from them. He never got another GM car again. Its that simple.

 

 

 

This is so true with so many things..

 

We drive 20 miles away to avoid our local Honda dealership when leasing our cars

 

We stay with the same salesman 20 miles away because he takes our cars back no problem...but of course we realize all of that is factored in one way or another on our next lease. Car salesman really need to get new "lines" especially when dealing with baby boomers as we've heard it all. Their "lines" might work on millennial but not on us. Still we continue to do business with him because he simply makes it easy for us and that is our priority.

 

I left my long term online TA because he didn't seem interested in our business any longer. Of course we are still cruising only he's lost the commission

 

I left a longterm doctors office because of the idiocy of the employee who answers their phones. Of course we still need the care but now we are with a much more efficient office

 

I stopped having my local newspaper delivered due to their political slant but of course I'm still well informed only now it's free

 

I've stopped watching most tv shows and newscasts for the same reason but of course now I've read some great books

 

We've stopped booking ncl due to their price gouging for next April but of course we are still cruising only on a better priced better itin

 

Point is that I am actually a very loyal customer but I'm not stupid nor gullible and it does take some serious consideration before I dump something. (Took me years to stop,newspaper delivery)

 

There is nothing wrong with expecting good service and to get less from a company and still continue to defend them seems a bit ridiculous

 

All ncl needed to do was offer % off your next cruise. That offer alone would be worth millions in good public relations and word of outhouse referrals. I'm still raving about how well DCL took care of us during hurricane Frances in 2004. I'd be happy to detail the considerations they gave if anyone is interested.

 

Some will use it some won't but initially it costs ncl zero dollars to offer it and by the time those credits are used ncl will have raised their prices by 25% anyway. Lol

 

Is it any wonder why 2019 cruises are so much higher than before?

 

Well my take is that they offered so many % off due to 2017 hurricanes that those cruisers are using them now so ncl raised the prices

 

While I recognize this other cruisers won't and will think they are actually getting 25% off. Ncl is smart when it comes to stuff like this.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited by maggie cruises
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had dinner with the captain and the hotel director early in the week. They said the slowing in Florence's forward momentum was causing unexpected navigational warnings to pop up for later in the week. What they told us was they were still going to try to hold to the itinerary, but if warnings held they would not be able to go to both locations. They said that they would head to GSC and if the seas were too rough for tendering they would race on to Nassau and do a 1-10pm stop there. But if we stopped at GSC and the warnings held we would need to cancel Nassau to go around the storm. The situation was far more dynamic then some people here seem to think.

 

Ummm, yeah, this does not in any way explain why, a couple of days later during the Captain's Q&A, it slipped that the reason we didn't go to Nassau WAS NOT weather related, but instead because they couldn't get a berth. Hence leading to the build up of anger and frustration that NCL may have known full well before departing NYC that we were never going to Nassau. Which leads many to find the deceit and hard-nosed corporate attitude just another reason not to trust them for future ventures :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is nothing wrong with expecting good service and to get less from a company and still continue to defend them seems a bit ridiculous

 

All ncl needed to do was offer % off your next cruise. That offer alone would be worth millions in good public relations and word of outhouse referrals. I'm still raving about how well DCL took care of us during hurricane Frances in 2004. I'd be happy to detail the considerations they gave if anyone is interested.

 

Some will use it some won't but initially it costs ncl zero dollars to offer it and by the time those credits are used ncl will have raised their prices by 25% anyway. Lol

 

Is it any wonder why 2019 cruises are so much higher than before?

 

Well my take is that they offered so many % off due to 2017 hurricanes that those cruisers are using them now so ncl raised the prices

 

While I recognize this other cruisers won't and will think they are actually getting 25% off. Ncl is smart when it comes to stuff like this.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

If they had offered a good percentage off a future cruise, in the beginning, we would have booked onboard. But after all the run around and miscommunication and lack of response as the cruise went on, any offers like that will fall on deaf ears. Any percentage off is still money in their pocket and now we have no desire to give them any more of our money. At this point, they owe us. Period!

 

We were on that Disney cruise in 2004 -- when our 7-day became a 10-day and we were the first 10-day Disney cruise LOL. The care and communication they showed was outstanding. Even if you didn't book your air through them, they took care of everything, including ground transportation (we had to port in Fort Lauderdale instead) and hotels the day we finally docked. They stopped in Galveston to restock, got permission ahead of time for passengers to be allowed to get off the ship and look around, and even offered free bus service to Houston for those who wanted to fly home. While in Galveston, they had made arrangements to fly more entertainment in from L.A. and we had there new shows for the next three nights. It was amazing. We went through another hurricane with them in 2005 (Hurricane Hillary) from L.A. that cancelled a port, but they quickly booked another and added new excursions. I guess I was foolish enough to expect the same kind of care and communication from NCL. Lesson learned!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...