NCL CRUISE ITINERARY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE - HELP!

[Oakman58]

27 minutes ago, Tigeroy said:

Hi-

We are on Jan 26th Epic Cruise too.  We did not get a letter saying there was an Itinerary change.  Did anyone get one?  

We were booked on the Getaway for the same date from NOLA and got a letter stating that cruise was cancelled.  No explanation-just cancelled.  Re-booked with discounts and refunds for airfare changes to the Epic from San Juan.  I've sailed NCL several times and this is the first time experiencing cancellations etc.  I understand that 'stuff' happens but a letter with an itinerary change would have been nice.  This will be my friends first time with NCL and they are already not happy with them.  😪  Oh well...any cruise is a good cruise!  

 

The notification of the itinerary change for the Epic was in an email from Norwegian.  You might check you Spam folder just in case.  If you are using a travel agent you might want to check with them.

 

Also I have to wonder why you got a letter stating your Getaway cruise from NOLA was cancelled.  That cruise is still available to book.

[timf2001]

1 hour ago, Sweetnspicy said:

 

 

 

 

So as of this morning all the itinerary changes have been made but now we are leaving at 9pm. Im a little cranky about this. We have to check out of our hotel by 11am. I already purchased plane tickets as the prices had dropped dramatically so I can't fly in the day of now. What will I do all day?! 

 

Despite the later departure time, the ship should still open for boarding in the late morning so you can spend the day on board.  You just won't be sailing away until later at night.

[Sweetnspicy]

33 minutes ago, timf2001 said:

 

Despite the later departure time, the ship should still open for boarding in the late morning so you can spend the day on board.  You just won't be sailing away until later at night.

 

Oh really? That would be wonderful! I have never cruised with such a late departure time. I have no idea what to expect. Thanks for the reply!  I guess this means muster drill is pretty late as well?

[trivimp]

28 minutes ago, Sweetnspicy said:

 

Oh really? That would be wonderful! I have never cruised with such a late departure time. I have no idea what to expect. Thanks for the reply!  I guess this means muster drill is pretty late as well?

 

Muster drill will be at about the same time as usual, I think; they don't want to push it back into the dinner hours.  

Edited August 6, 2019 by trivimp

[Tigeroy]

On 8/2/2019 at 7:13 PM, Oakman58 said:

Our 11 day Epic cruise out of San Juan on Jan 26th has been changed too.

 

On 8/2/2019 at 7:13 PM, Oakman58 said:

Our 11 day Epic cruise out of San Juan on Jan 26th has been changed too.

Hi Oakman58-

 

So far no letter on itinerary changes.  

Our NOLA Getaway cruise was a 12-day.  I do see its replaced with a 7-day. I'm still waiting to hear from my TA to see if she's gotten anything.

[OrcaGirl]

On 8/5/2019 at 6:38 AM, belchro22 said:

Does anyone know if any itinerary changes have been made to the March 22 sailing of the Epic? I ask because we are sailing on the January 26th and even though we have received email of change the itinerary has not been updated on NCL website. Others in my family are on the March 22 sailing. 

 

I haven't received an email or any other notification, but I'm booked on the March 22 sailing and when I logged into MyNCL just now the itinerary has indeed changed. We've lost Curacao and St Maarten, and they've subbed in Barbados and Tortola instead. The number of sea days remains the same at two.

 

I'm on the fence as to whether I'll cancel or not; I love both Barbados and Tortola, but we've been to both a couple of times, and booked this sailing specifically because it had two new-to-us ports (Curacao and St Kitts).

[OrcaGirl]

2 hours ago, trivimp said:

 

Muster drill will be at about the same time as usual, I think; they don't want to push it back into the dinner hours.  

 

Yep, we had a 9pm departure out of San Juan earlier this year; the muster drill was at 4pm per usual, with a make-up drill the next day for anyone who hadn't already boarded the ship. It was actually a nice change, because there wasn't a mad rush to get from the drill to a sailaway viewing spot up on deck.

[newmexicoNita]

We have sailed out of San Juan many times: seems the sail away time is always later but yes, the muster drill and other activities still are held late in the afternoon and you can board the ship, just like any other sailing around lunch time. We have always enjoyed the later sailing. 

[Sweetnspicy]

2 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

We have sailed out of San Juan many times: seems the sail away time is always later but yes, the muster drill and other activities still are held late in the afternoon and you can board the ship, just like any other sailing around lunch time. We have always enjoyed the later sailing. 

 

Thank you Nita!  That relieves so much stress. I was wondering what the heck I was going to do all day with my bags and my husband 🤣 

[crazyboutdisney]

We are currently booked on the March 8 sailing for Epic and are most likely changing. I was not a fan of Tortola at all. We had already planned to stay onboard in St Thomas as we have been there so many times. Not sure I want to pay so much $$$ to stay on board for 2-3 ports. 

[OneNewTexan]

We are very disappointed to lose a port visit and also see St. Maarten swapped out for Tortola.  We specifically selected this cruise because we wanted to spend the day in the French side of St. Martin and also to visit all three of the ABC islands which we have never been to before.  Why would NCL make this change so close to the departure date which for us in January 2020?  We have already booked non-refundable airline tickets so we are stuck with this cruise, like it or not.  Looks to me like NCL is dramatically moving away from port visits to St. Maarten.  Does this have anything to do with port fees or port congestion at St. Maarten?

[newmexicoNita]

6 hours ago, Sweetnspicy said:

 

Thank you Nita!  That relieves so much stress. I was wondering what the heck I was going to do all day with my bags and my husband 🤣 

you are welcome, now just relax and enjoy your cruise. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. 

[newmexicoNita]

9 minutes ago, OneNewTexan said:

We are very disappointed to lose a port visit and also see St. Maarten swapped out for Tortola.  We specifically selected this cruise because we wanted to spend the day in the French side of St. Martin and also to visit all three of the ABC islands which we have never been to before.  Why would NCL make this change so close to the departure date which for us in January 2020?  We have already booked non-refundable airline tickets so we are stuck with this cruise, like it or not.  Looks to me like NCL is dramatically moving away from port visits to St. Maarten.  Does this have anything to do with port fees or port congestion at St. Maarten?

There are reasons as other have said for changing itineraries and 5 months out is not close to the departure date. Yes, it sucks to have to miss a port you had hoped to visit but for those of us who have sailed several times, we all have had it happen once or twice. Of course it has nothing to do with port charges; as the passenger you pay them, NCL doesn't.  

[HuliHuli]

Just like OrcaGirl, we are on the March 22nd cruise to the Southern Caribbean.  For us, seeing A & C was  important, but this change is not so bad as our prior cruise with NCL where all of our ports were changed from the Eastern Caribbean to the Western Caribbean.  We confirmed with NCL today that no compensation is being offered for the change, as is normal under the cruise contract terms.  We zullen missen Curaçao en Sint Maarten. ☹️

Edited August 7, 2019 by HuliHuli

[chirpy12345]

3 hours ago, HuliHuli said:

Just like OrcaGirl, we are on the March 22nd cruise to the Southern Caribbean.  For us, seeing A & C was  important, but this change is not so bad as our prior cruise with NCL where all of our ports were changed from the Eastern Caribbean to the Western Caribbean.  We confirmed with NCL today that no compensation is being offered for the change, as is normal under the cruise contract terms.  We zullen missen Curaçao en Sint Maarten. ☹️

Oh wow. That would have been extremely disappointing!

[newmexicoNita]

9 hours ago, chirpy12345 said:

Oh wow. That would have been extremely disappointing!

Think that was when San Juan and st Martin were so damaged by the hurricane. It would be a real disappointment for sure. Worse might be booking a Caribbean and ending up doing New England and Canada. I have seen that happen a couple of times due to hurricanes 

[mugtech]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:35 PM, Stlcardsfan79 said:

We are on the Breakaway in Feb out of Port Canaveral, received email today say that due to berthing issues instead of St Thomas we will be going to San Juan.  One couple going with is not happy with the change. Any thoughts on San Juan vs St Thomas? 

Same complaints going down on the RCI board because the Allure, a huge ship, has propulsion problems and had to switch St Thomas to San Juan until dry dock next spring.  One said he took the cruise to see friends on St Thomas, is past final payment, and is refusing to take the cruise, will never book RCI again etc etc.  Hope he didn't book Epic as the replacement.

[Isabella Benjamin]

16 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

There are reasons as other have said for changing itineraries and 5 months out is not close to the departure date. Yes, it sucks to have to miss a port you had hoped to visit but for those of us who have sailed several times, we all have had it happen once or twice. Of course it has nothing to do with port charges; as the passenger you pay them, NCL doesn't.  

Does this mean that people who have a port day turned into a sea day that have already paid for their cruise get a refund?

[kismet618]

We actually booked the Getaway for the 9 day Western Caribbean cruise 2/7/20 last night, and about 15 minutes later joined the other site’s M&G page. When I scrolled to the most recent post I saw this posted...apparently sent by NCL literally yesterday to existing cruisers on this itinerary...Suffice it to say we were a little pissed. Ports are reversed and times really changed. We’ll live, but will need to get up a lot earlier on some port days. Thanks for letting me vent. Still super excited. 

[newmexicoNita]

2 hours ago, Isabella Benjamin said:

Does this mean that people who have a port day turned into a sea day that have already paid for their cruise get a refund?

It means you should get your port charges back. Normally they will show up on your final shipboard account at the end of the cruise. At least that is the way it has worked for us when we have had to skip a port. 

[newmexicoNita]

3 hours ago, mugtech said:

Same complaints going down on the RCI board because the Allure, a huge ship, has propulsion problems and had to switch St Thomas to San Juan until dry dock next spring.  One said he took the cruise to see friends on St Thomas, is past final payment, and is refusing to take the cruise, will never book RCI again etc etc.  Hope he didn't book Epic as the replacement.

I can' believe anyone would forfeit all their payment or almost all of it when this is something that happens often and it is out of everyone's hands. To me, that is cutting off your nose to spite your face.  

[mugtech]

14 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

I can' believe anyone would forfeit all their payment or almost all of it when this is something that happens often and it is out of everyone's hands. To me, that is cutting off your nose to spite your face.  

Most everyone on the RCI board expressed the same sentiments, refused to believe anyone could be so spiteful.  Claims he paid $8,000, few believe the cruise was actually canceled. 

[newmexicoNita]

6 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Most everyone on the RCI board expressed the same sentiments, refused to believe anyone could be so spiteful.  Claims he paid $8,000, few believe the cruise was actually canceled. 

I too would wonder if he really gave up that much money. if he did, he deserves to get what is coming to him:::::NOTHING 

[Bootman4U]

Anyone here ever read a post from cruiser who "just LOVE those sea days?" I have and as far as there not being things to do, who can say?

 

Abrupt changes are never welcome and I suppose the usual, "But traveling requires flexibility" scolds are around somewhere, but the whole thing with "no explanation" (quick, somebody tell us the explanation EVERYBODY would accept:  perhaps, "our ship SANK" might work) leaves a bad taste and seems careless on the part of the cruise line. That along with, "We are experiencing a high call volume at the moment; somebody will be with you shortly"  which probably translates into, "We refuse to hire more than two reservationists so we can maximize profit so cool your jets."

Edited August 8, 2019 by Bootman4U

[lanceholt]

Looking at the title of the thread....what does the OP want HELP!! with?