Norwegian Worst Customer Service /Corporate

[JBorowicz83]

Booked a cruise, two cabins on the Escape. This was going to be our third cruise with Norwegian and they were going strong to keep as avid cruisers and loyal customers. Then my wife got pregnant and it was a surprise. She did not tell me until 2 months in in case something happen because the doctor said there was only 4% chance so we were not planning on it. Back to the cruise. We booked Balconies for both me, my wife, and my stepdaughter as well as my parents. We were suppose to leave on March 10th, and we send the pregnancy info into the cruise line and they said we were over their limit by 1 day! That is okay, I say that we would be alright with a refund or even better just moving to a new ship that leaves 1 day earlier since its our wedding anniversary and the cruise was my step daughters Christmas gift. They said we could change via email from access desk. They then say that we can only get a refund for our cabin and only change our cruise but my parents have to stay or pay a 1,000 dollar fee to change. This is after we are going to loose money on hotels and flights. I speak to multiple people at Norwegian and get told different things, including Cristal who called me a liar and said that I didn't say the things I was telling her. One rep said they would wave the 1000 dollar fee if we all upgraded to the Bliss and pay the difference in cost amounting to 2600 dollars. Another rep said they would call me back within 3 days but I had to call about a week later. A different rep said they would offer 500 dollars of cruisenext credit if we payed the penalty. I asked if we could change boats to one closer to the price we already paid and said that we would pay for a 1,000 dollars of on board credit to be used but nope. They said it was because of different reservation numbers but the fact is that I was told by a Norwegian rep that in order for my parents to get their cruisenext rewards and other promotions they needed to do their own reservation, which i set up for them since they did not know how. Norwegian would do well to talk to Disney about customer service. So the only choice we were left with is my older parents must travel to New York alone to cruise alone while they refund my money for me and my family to choose to cruise with a different company. Never asked for anything for free just wanted to keep my family together most companies offer concessions. 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

When is the cruise?  Isn't there time to buy cruise insurance with a cancel for any reason policy?

[pieshops]

I am so so confused, if you are willing to move the cruise one day earlier why not just take the original cruise?

 

[tallnthensome]

- Your parents probably did indeed have a different reservation number so it does not apply to yours.

- You wife withheld the pregnancy info which sort of screwed you.

- Did you or your parents have cruise insurance?

- You're in the less than 90 day window for full refunds

 

Who's fault and failure to plan is this really?

Edited January 8, 2019 by tallnthensome

[Etta1213]

JBOROWICZ - I'm so sorry you're going thru  this. Hopefully your parents will have a lovely time and want to cruise in the future with you. May the "surprise" baby be pure blessing for you!

[Pauser]

I'm confused. Why can't you take this cruise if you can take one that leaves one day earlier? Did I miss something??

[CruiseGal999]

1 hour ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

When is the cruise?  Isn't there time to buy cruise insurance with a cancel for any reason policy?

 

Insurance usually must be purchased either 10 - 14 days after the first payment (deposit) was made on the cruise.  So it doesn't seem to be an option here. 

[CruiseGal999]

52 minutes ago, pieshops said:

I am so so confused, if you are willing to move the cruise one day earlier why not just take the original cruise?

 

 

Because NCL has denied them.  Due to the pregnancy.  They are 1 day over the NCL policy limit. 

[GUT2407]

53 minutes ago, pieshops said:

I am so so confused, if you are willing to move the cruise one day earlier why not just take the original cruise?

 

Ummm because she’d be one day over the pregnancy limit set by NCL.

 

[GUT2407]

I’m not sure even insurance (other than cancel for any reason) wouokd cover this one.

[CruiseGal999]

1 hour ago, JBorowicz83 said:

Booked a cruise, two cabins on the Escape. This was going to be our third cruise with Norwegian and they were going strong to keep as avid cruisers and loyal customers. Then my wife got pregnant and it was a surprise. She did not tell me until 2 months in in case something happen because the doctor said there was only 4% chance so we were not planning on it. Back to the cruise. We booked Balconies for both me, my wife, and my stepdaughter as well as my parents. We were suppose to leave on March 10th, and we send the pregnancy info into the cruise line and they said we were over their limit by 1 day! That is okay, I say that we would be alright with a refund or even better just moving to a new ship that leaves 1 day earlier since its our wedding anniversary and the cruise was my step daughters Christmas gift. They said we could change via email from access desk. They then say that we can only get a refund for our cabin and only change our cruise but my parents have to stay or pay a 1,000 dollar fee to change. This is after we are going to loose money on hotels and flights. I speak to multiple people at Norwegian and get told different things, including Cristal who called me a liar and said that I didn't say the things I was telling her. One rep said they would wave the 1000 dollar fee if we all upgraded to the Bliss and pay the difference in cost amounting to 2600 dollars. Another rep said they would call me back within 3 days but I had to call about a week later. A different rep said they would offer 500 dollars of cruisenext credit if we payed the penalty. I asked if we could change boats to one closer to the price we already paid and said that we would pay for a 1,000 dollars of on board credit to be used but nope. They said it was because of different reservation numbers but the fact is that I was told by a Norwegian rep that in order for my parents to get their cruisenext rewards and other promotions they needed to do their own reservation, which i set up for them since they did not know how. Norwegian would do well to talk to Disney about customer service. So the only choice we were left with is my older parents must travel to New York alone to cruise alone while they refund my money for me and my family to choose to cruise with a different company. Never asked for anything for free just wanted to keep my family together most companies offer concessions. 

Wow ... while that is very unfortunate, all of this is yours and your wife's doing.   NOT getting insurance.  NOT communicating honestly.   NOT reading the contract and knowing the limits.  ALL of this was avoidable.  No drama was necessary.  

[JBorowicz83]

2 minutes ago, CruiseGal999 said:

Wow ... while that is very unfortunate, all of this is yours and your wife's doing.   NOT getting insurance.  NOT communicating honestly.   NOT reading the contract and knowing the limits.  ALL of this was avoidable.  No drama was necessary.  

I understand that there are some things we could have done differently to avoid the situation, The insurance is one thing, I do not think my wife not wanting to tell me we are pregnant in the high risk for loosing it issue was a communication issue. I am sorry that my wife miscounted the pregnancy days by 1. My issue is with the resolutions offered. We did not ask for our money back but to simply switch to another ship (In this case it would have been the Star) We would have payed the difference of the cruise fare and it would of ended right there and incurred the cost of hotel and airfare changes. Norwegian would of had more money and we would have been kept together and would have remained Norwegian customers. The other issue is the different responses from different agents and supervisors and being called a liar constantly on the phone. How many companies have you heard of that tell customers that they do not want to fix a issue and at the same time take more of your money. 

[schildiams]

A baby's due date is estimated. Have the doctor write a note with a one day earlier date.

[CruiseGal999]

2 minutes ago, JBorowicz83 said:

I understand that there are some things we could have done differently to avoid the situation, The insurance is one thing, I do not think my wife not wanting to tell me we are pregnant in the high risk for loosing it issue was a communication issue. I am sorry that my wife miscounted the pregnancy days by 1. My issue is with the resolutions offered. We did not ask for our money back but to simply switch to another ship (In this case it would have been the Star) We would have payed the difference of the cruise fare and it would of ended right there and incurred the cost of hotel and airfare changes. Norwegian would of had more money and we would have been kept together and would have remained Norwegian customers. The other issue is the different responses from different agents and supervisors and being called a liar constantly on the phone. How many companies have you heard of that tell customers that they do not want to fix a issue and at the same time take more of your money. 

 

Yes, this boils down to you wanting NCL to do things against their policies because you both did not do due diligence.  You want special treatment and arrangements.  And yes, customer service reps. are not the best trained employees in any industry and it is well known that you can call 3 different reps and get 3 different answers.  

[JJAuckland]

Its sad that NCL couldn't assist you & gave you such conflicting responses especially as the period in question is 1 day outside their terms. I can understand your frustration at their inflexibility even though I understand that they have rules/regulations etc.

I wish you all the best for your new addition to the family

[NLH Arizona]

17 minutes ago, JBorowicz83 said:

How many companies have you heard of that tell customers that they do not want to fix a issue and at the same time take more of your money. 

Unfortunately a lot.  Just had a similar situation with American Airlines, I was 2 days late trying to use a credit and they wouldn't allow me to.  I didn't think they had bad customer service, I just felt I was a dummy for not keeping track of the dates.  

[Two Wheels Only]

18 minutes ago, schildiams said:

A baby's due date is estimated. Have the doctor write a note with a one day earlier date.

 

Wouldn't 1 day later be better?

[mjkacmom]

I don’t think they were even obligated to give you a refund in this case, and most cruise lines have the same policy. I can’t image keeping a secret like that from my husband for that long, if the pregnancy ended in m/c, would she have told you or suffered alone? Full disclosure, I tried to hide a pregnancy from DH because it wasn’t planned and the chance of m/c is like 1 in 4, and we had 3 little kids, the youngest had just turned 1, I lasted an hour before bursting into tears (16 years later I’m so grateful for our bonus babies - twins!).

[ray98]

Some things in life we can attribute to 'tough luck'.  Sometimes it is our decisions such as when a wife hides a pregnancy for 2 months which pushes a cruise contract into penalty phase when you didn't purchase insurance to cover the unexpected.

Edited January 9, 2019 by ray98

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, JBorowicz83 said:

Booked a cruise, two cabins on the Escape. This was going to be our third cruise with Norwegian and they were going strong to keep as avid cruisers and loyal customers. Then my wife got pregnant and it was a surprise. She did not tell me until 2 months in in case something happen because the doctor said there was only 4% chance so we were not planning on it. Back to the cruise. We booked Balconies for both me, my wife, and my stepdaughter as well as my parents. We were suppose to leave on March 10th, and we send the pregnancy info into the cruise line and they said we were over their limit by 1 day! That is okay, I say that we would be alright with a refund or even better just moving to a new ship that leaves 1 day earlier since its our wedding anniversary and the cruise was my step daughters Christmas gift. They said we could change via email from access desk. They then say that we can only get a refund for our cabin and only change our cruise but my parents have to stay or pay a 1,000 dollar fee to change. This is after we are going to loose money on hotels and flights. I speak to multiple people at Norwegian and get told different things, including Cristal who called me a liar and said that I didn't say the things I was telling her. One rep said they would wave the 1000 dollar fee if we all upgraded to the Bliss and pay the difference in cost amounting to 2600 dollars. Another rep said they would call me back within 3 days but I had to call about a week later. A different rep said they would offer 500 dollars of cruisenext credit if we payed the penalty. I asked if we could change boats to one closer to the price we already paid and said that we would pay for a 1,000 dollars of on board credit to be used but nope. They said it was because of different reservation numbers but the fact is that I was told by a Norwegian rep that in order for my parents to get their cruisenext rewards and other promotions they needed to do their own reservation, which i set up for them since they did not know how. Norwegian would do well to talk to Disney about customer service. So the only choice we were left with is my older parents must travel to New York alone to cruise alone while they refund my money for me and my family to choose to cruise with a different company. Never asked for anything for free just wanted to keep my family together most companies offer concessions. 

Last I checked, a pregnancy last around 9 months. Final Payment and the start of penalties is less than 9 months. There are clear written policy about "how pregnant" once can be to cruise. I am not sure why you kept the reservation beyond final payment. NCL owes you nothing. You have a contract with the cruise line which you would like to breach.

 

The cruise line does not want to deviate from policy because it sets a precedence that they don't want to set. Not for a month, not for a day. 

 

So, what is the problem?

[tarps14]

Oh come on people.  Take a step back (and a deep breath) and have just a wee bit of a heart here.  I can certainly understand the OP's frustration.  But to blame the wife for keeping the pregnancy to herself for just a bit?  That's beyond heartless.  I give her all kinds of credit for thinking of her husband and not wanting to get him all excited if the pregnancy wasn't going to succeed.  I watched my husband go through the heartbreak of a miscarriage and if I could have prevented that I would have done everything in my power to.  

 

To the OP, talk with your OB and ask them to do a due-date confirmation ultrasound.  It's possible that could shift the due date just enough to make this trip work. 

 

Please, though, do not let the frustrations of the trip take away from the joy and excitement you have to look forward to.  In the grand scheme of things, this blessing is what you'll remember, not the trip that was lost.  Congratulations and I wish you all the luck in the world!

[Cruisercl]

It really is about personal responsibility for any part of it.

The rules are very well spelled out in the contract signed  by the cruisers.

The rest of any personal health issue is a personal responsibility.  Not sure why anyone would leave it up to a corporation and it's rules.

The liability is why these rules/policies are in place.

The onus is always on the cruiser to make sure they are aware and follow the safety policies which are well explained in the contract you sign when agree to the cruise.

It is not the cruise line fault you did not read the T&C you signed up for. Just like any other legal contract.

Having a sympathetic opinion has nothing to do with this. There are MANY pregnant couples that take this into consideration.

Is it bad customer service because they won't go against ther own safety policies and you could not get your own way? Hmm.........

Safe sailing all!

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Cruisercl
Typos

[JBorowicz83]

43 minutes ago, tarps14 said:

Oh come on people.  Take a step back (and a deep breath) and have just a wee bit of a heart here.  I can certainly understand the OP's frustration.  But to blame the wife for keeping the pregnancy to herself for just a bit?  That's beyond heartless.  I give her all kinds of credit for thinking of her husband and not wanting to get him all excited if the pregnancy wasn't going to succeed.  I watched my husband go through the heartbreak of a miscarriage and if I could have prevented that I would have done everything in my power to.  

 

To the OP, talk with your OB and ask them to do a due-date confirmation ultrasound.  It's possible that could shift the due date just enough to make this trip work. 

 

Please, though, do not let the frustrations of the trip take away from the joy and excitement you have to look forward to.  In the grand scheme of things, this blessing is what you'll remember, not the trip that was lost.  Congratulations and I wish you all the luck in the world!

 

1 hour ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

If you mean the NCL Facebook page, that I can at least understand. It’s an official NCL public forum, so you can reasonably hope for some kind of official public response. 

 

Posting here just smacks of bitterness and a hope for some measure of revenge. 

 

 

Thanks Tarps14 for understanding the totality of the circumstances. To the individuals that are only posting negative comments, I hope that you never have a perfect storm situation that cost you cash, or the chance to make memories with your families but I am sure you would just let it roll of your shoulders. 

 

Just to let ya'll know I was contacted by a NCL representative who agreed with me and proceeded to switch our reservations with little issue after reviewing the case and notes as well as listening to the previous five hours of calls where I was told things would happen to only have someone else contradict them. They booked us on a different ship leaving 1 day earlier and thanked me for bringing up the issues and even offered a extra promotion which I denied and they hope that I will continue to be a loyal NCL cruiser. At least there are some fantastic supervisors hiding around their corporate office. 

[richstowe]

33 minutes ago, JBorowicz83 said:

Just to let ya'll know I was contacted by a NCL representative who agreed with me and proceeded to switch our reservations with little issue after reviewing the case and notes as well as listening to the previous five hours of calls where I was told things would happen to only have someone else contradict them. They booked us on a different ship leaving 1 day earlier and thanked me for bringing up the issues and even offered a extra promotion which I denied and they hope that I will continue to be a loyal NCL cruiser. At least there are some fantastic supervisors hiding around their corporate office. 

Congratulations . Nice to hear the squeaky wheel gets the grease . What about your parents ? 

[senseib]

41 minutes ago, JBorowicz83 said:

 

 

 

Thanks Tarps14 for understanding the totality of the circumstances. To the individuals that are only posting negative comments, I hope that you never have a perfect storm situation that cost you cash, or the chance to make memories with your families but I am sure you would just let it roll of your shoulders. 

 

Just to let ya'll know I was contacted by a NCL representative who agreed with me and proceeded to switch our reservations with little issue after reviewing the case and notes as well as listening to the previous five hours of calls where I was told things would happen to only have someone else contradict them. They booked us on a different ship leaving 1 day earlier and thanked me for bringing up the issues and even offered a extra promotion which I denied and they hope that I will continue to be a loyal NCL cruiser. At least there are some fantastic supervisors hiding around their corporate office. 

 

So where's your new thread topic "Norwegian Best Customer Service/Corporate"