Breakaway to Western Caribbean 9/1 in Haven

[GA Dave]

Eye just wobbled slightly south-southwest.  This one will be really tricky.  Last track by the State of Florida Chief Meteorologist has the eye coming within 20 miles of the coast around Palm Beach Gardens.

[jaja]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

NCL hung up on me again while I was on hold.  Called the same number back...800-327-7030. Message says the call can not be completed.  

When I think NCL can’t possibly be more inept, they prove me wrong!

GG--I feel so very sorry for you.....

[Cruising89143]

18 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

Eye just wobbled slightly south-southwest.  This one will be really tricky.  Last track by the State of Florida Chief Meteorologist has the eye coming within 20 miles of the coast around Palm Beach Gardens.

 

As someone who spent the first thirty-fives years of my life living in Florida I have seen first hand what these things can do including Andrew in 92. This storm has been a bear to track and when they get this strong they can make their own environment and track. Andrew and Irma come to mind. The further west this storm moves the worst for Florida. I hate what happened to GG and others who were affected but the Coast Guard was right in closing the port. NCL should have made plans sooner but they didn’t. They will be dealing with this for a while. 

[DaCruiseBug]

2 hours ago, emdia43 said:

Meanwhile at the port of Miami, not even a breeze...

 

Miami airport (a bit inland and sheltered) is reporting sustained winds at 13mph with gusts to 21mph. This means that right on the water they're easily 5-10mph higher.

[BirdTravels]

47 minutes ago, OceanBlueWaters said:

NCL can't even handle dinner reservations for a new ship being launched.  How/why do you think they would be capable to handle an event like this?

 

This is about how NCL Customer Service handled this.  Leave out the Hurricane.  

 

The best cheerleader here, blames everything on "sub-minimum wage call personnel" and we (consumer) should just suck it up.  No we shouldn't.

 

I hope everyone remains safe and our comrades in the Bahamas are safe as well.

NCL made a careful decision based on close coordination with the US Coast Guard. The US Government thought the cruise line could operate a cruise today. And that the port would not close until this evening. The US Coast Guard, not NCL, decides to close the port at noon yesterday. It is totally about the hurricane. It is a shame you don’t understand that. 

[alreadypacked]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

What did they say?  Did you get a full refund?

 

Yes they said I would get a full refund. The agent I dealt with sounded very competent (unlike the person I spoke to yesterday).

 

She said they have a separate team processing the refunds. She couldn't actually process the refund herself right then, because she said, "On the day of embarkation, the bookings are locked." What she did was notate on the booking that I did not want to do the modified itinerary and wanted to cancel for the full refund as offered by NCL.

 

She said I would get a cancellation confirmation email probably later on today. 

[alreadypacked]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

NCL hung up on me again while I was on hold.  Called the same number back...800-327-7030. Message says the call can not be completed.  

When I think NCL can’t possibly be more inept, they prove me wrong!

 

I got that same message at first when I dialed, but I hung up and redialed and the call went through. 

 

As I was waiting on hold [forever], I read your post about having been disconnected, so I had my sister dial NCL from her phone and sit on hold too--in case I got disconnected too after all the time I'd already waited. At least we would have been further up the queue versus me having to redial again from scratch! 

 

I wouldn't let her hang up until my call with the agent who'd finally answered was complete!

   

[luvcruzing]

1 hour ago, OceanBlueWaters said:

Do you receive any compensation from NCL from your reviews/promoting/input?  Any Perks?  Upgrades?  

 

Just wondering.  Thanks 🙂

I’m surprised she responded at all.  I just wish people would stop asking why the ship is empty when she takes pictures of it when starting her reviews. I must admit, though, the reviews are great.

[SCOYLE058]

38 minutes ago, alreadypacked said:

 

Yes they said I would get a full refund. The agent I dealt with sounded very competent (unlike the person I spoke to yesterday).

 

She said they have a separate team processing the refunds. She couldn't actually process the refund herself right then, because she said, "On the day of embarkation, the bookings are locked." What she did was notate on the booking that I did not want to do the modified itinerary and wanted to cancel for the full refund as offered by NCL.

 

She said I would get a cancellation confirmation email probably later on today. 

PAY  VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO YOUR REFUND INVOICE!!! We just received ours and it was showing up $604 lighter. On the phone with them again... "the system automatically applied penalties for the cancellation" now we're on hold again waiting on them to figure out how to get this corrected... 

[alreadypacked]

1 hour ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

Miami airport (a bit inland and sheltered) is reporting sustained winds at 13mph with gusts to 21mph. This means that right on the water they're easily 5-10mph higher.

 

We just got home from lunch at Margaritaville on Hollywood Beach. It was not very windy there at all. Other than a brief rain shower, it was mostly sunny. The ocean wasn't rough at all, but the Intracoastal Waterway water level was probably the highest I've ever seen. 

[alreadypacked]

6 minutes ago, SCOYLE058 said:

PAY  VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO YOUR REFUND INVOICE!!! We just received ours and it was showing up $604 lighter. On the phone with them again... "the system automatically applied penalties for the cancellation" now we're on hold again waiting on them to figure out how to get this corrected... 

 

Yikes! Thanks for the heads-up. Hoping yours gets straightened out quickly!

[BirdTravels]

34 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

I’m surprised she responded at all.  I just wish people would stop asking why the ship is empty when she takes pictures of it when starting her reviews. I must admit, though, the reviews are great.

Thanks. None of our cruises have any people. 

 

There was suppose to be to be another BirdTravels live post review this weekend, but alas, the hurricane got in the way. 

 

We knew a week ago that the hurricane was going to likely impact our cruise. We read the public announcements from the coast guard. We understood what NCL was doing to coordinate a voyages, even if the port condition was raised to YANKEE. We took full advantage of airline and hotel cancellation policies because of the storm. We made INFORMED DECISIONS throughout the process. We are not here on CC making victim noises. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by BirdTravels

[SCOYLE058]

24 minutes ago, alreadypacked said:

 

Yikes! Thanks for the heads-up. Hoping yours gets straightened out quickly!

They have it straightened out for now at least. Fingers crossed!

[alreadypacked]

4 minutes ago, SCOYLE058 said:

They have it straightened out for now at least. Fingers crossed!

 

Excellent! I'm glad.

 

If I might ask, how long did you have to wait on hold for a customer service rep? 

[cruisinmeme]

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

And there are folks saying it’s a beautiful day in Miami and the port should’ve been left open. I assume those who want to cancel can, and those that want to take a shortened cruise can. No cruise line is going to cancel a cruise due to a hurricane several days in advance, 99.9% of the time they sail anyway, somewhere else, maybe early, maybe late, shorter cruise, longer cruise.

Finally someone hit the nail on the head with a hammer.

Living on the coast my 72 years i have seen some hurricanes. I remember one hurricane was Living in Texas . Worked at a hospital and they didnt know what to do. My whole family so 5 mins before them leaving in caravan with me i was told ok go. We got to our destination and wasn’t there long before the latest news was the thing has turned and we should be ok. We started back home and people was steady going north.  I guess my point is if cruise lines cancelled for every threat days ahead. Wow what a mess and our prices would sore. The way i keep reading things sounds like the coast guard messed this one up.

i will say in 24 cruises the closest i have came to hurricane season was November 15. So we sit home and worry.

[pmt3]

When we talked to NCL this morning they said we would have to get our refund through our travel company, which is closed until Tuesday, yet they want us to spend a couple of hours on hold (if we don't get hung up on) to let them know if we are going to show up for the Wed. cruise?? (NO) Has anyone tried emailing NCL successfully?

[SCOYLE058]

20 minutes ago, alreadypacked said:

 

Excellent! I'm glad.

 

If I might ask, how long did you have to wait on hold for a customer service rep? 

The first time was about 20 minutes. Second was 15 or so. I dialed the 800 number in the cancellation email from last night. 

[alreadypacked]

Ok Thanks. Just wondering because I waited on hold 2 hours to cancel this morning. Hoping they don't mess up my refund, but if they do, was just trying to get an idea of how much time on hold I might be in for this time...   

Edited September 1, 2019 by alreadypacked
grammar

[david_sobe]

I am curious.  If you book with a TA, should not your TA work on getting the refund?  Or does NCL allow you to contact them directly?  Maybe this is one of the situations it pays to book directly with NCL. I would never wait on hold, I would simply email my PCC about cancelling or refunds.

[pmt3]

4 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I am curious.  If you book with a TA, should not your TA work on getting the refund?  Or does NCL allow you to contact them directly?  Maybe this is one of the situations it pays to book directly with NCL. I would never wait on hold, I would simply email my PCC about cancelling or refunds.

Yes, NCL told us to have TA do it, but just a bit nervous since the travel company is not open for the holiday weekend and we are in FL so could lose cell service on Tues. I sent emails just in case.

[alreadypacked]

2 minutes ago, pmt3 said:

Yes, NCL told us to have TA do it, but just a bit nervous since the travel company is not open for the holiday weekend and we are in FL so could lose cell service on Tues. I sent emails just in case.

 

And, NCL put a time limit on getting the full refund: You have to contact them by 9:00 pm tonight. I assume they mean EST as it seems their offices close at that time on Sundays.

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, OceanBlueWaters said:

In essence, you receive compensation and that is a game changer everyone should know about.  Your views are impaired/influenced due to your compensation by NCL.  Your views are not coming from the "average" cruiser and therefore deceitful.
Please stop defending the inept customer service. Stick to the "facts", like photographing current Starbucks menus, MDR Menus, Specialty Menus, Whales/chipmunks/squirrels in their natural habitat.  Also Observation Lounge slobs/ Chair Hogs, etc.  Oh wait...you are on NCL payroll so negative pics would definitely not be conducive for you.

Wow. What prompted this personal attack?

 

The Bird is not a NCL or RCCL employee. And does not receive any type of compensation or recognition. Just an avid cruiser on NCL and RCCL. 

 

Have a wonderful day!  

Edited September 1, 2019 by BirdTravels

[volk904]

It would seem that the NCL weather guys had this spot on but were blindsided by the Miami Port closing much earlier than needed.   Seems like their plan to ring the Breakaway in early and do a rushed turn would have helped about 9000 passengers from both cruises out.  

 

On the other head had they pulled it off RCCL, Carnival and MSC would have been trashed for pushing back to soon. Really no win for the cruise lines.  

 

 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

Can't imagine why the Customer service is slow.  They probably have no less then 10000 people trying to contact them right now.  Based on the Weather Channel's latest predictions I doubt The Breakaway is back by Wednesday.

[oncruisecontrol]

6 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

And there are folks saying it’s a beautiful day in Miami and the port should’ve been left open. I assume those who want to cancel can, and those that want to take a shortened cruise can. No cruise line is going to cancel a cruise due to a hurricane several days in advance, 99.9% of the time they sail anyway, somewhere else, maybe early, maybe late, shorter cruise, longer cruise.

I am saying that NCL should have canceled the 7-day Sept 1st sailing as soon as the Coast Guard made the noon announcement yesterday about closing the port the evening of Aug 31st.  At that time NCL could have announced a shortened sailing that would begin on Wednesday and affirm that anyone not able/willing to take a revised cruise would get a full refund.  But NCL waited until the 11th hour to make that announcement even though they must have known many hours earlier of the coast guard intention to close the port Saturday night. This is what I take issue with.