Why I cancelled my Breakaway Sailing and views on my Encore Sailing

[chefchick]

20 hours ago, LHARTWICK said:

Curious if this experience is typical of NCL?  We are considering sailing with NCL for the first time in December, due to their current CV protocols, mainly the ability to test at the pier since the logistics for CCL are too risky for us (only 2 days to get results back - we've moved 2 CCL cruises over to 2022/2023 because of it). And to the OP - I personally respect and appreciate you posting your experience.  You have a right to be upset about it!  As for that large group of rude people, as someone has already pointed out, you can't fix stupid.......and it seems to be everywhere these days.  I have a coworker who just returned from an NCL Alaskan cruise, and she also said the specialty restaurant food was completely inedible. And the horrible elevator etiquette has been on every ship we've sailed on - don't even get me started!  😡

 

Currently sailing Encore and fortunately have not had any of the problems the OP experienced. Our AC is fine, no large groups of obnoxious people, no elevator jerks, and hopefully I will have no problems getting my double loyalty points 😎. We have eaten at 4 specialty restaurants, the MDR, the Local and the buffet and although food is extremely subjective, I have had few complaints. No cruise is perfect but if you are willing to put up with the protocols and go with the flow of the craziness that is travel currently, then you will hopefully have a great time.

[davencl]

21 hours ago, LHARTWICK said:

Curious if this experience is typical of NCL?  We are considering sailing with NCL for the first time in December, due to their current CV protocols, mainly the ability to test at the pier since the logistics for CCL are too risky for us (only 2 days to get results back - we've moved 2 CCL cruises over to 2022/2023 because of it). And to the OP - I personally respect and appreciate you posting your experience.  You have a right to be upset about it!  As for that large group of rude people, as someone has already pointed out, you can't fix stupid.......and it seems to be everywhere these days.  I have a coworker who just returned from an NCL Alaskan cruise, and she also said the specialty restaurant food was completely inedible. And the horrible elevator etiquette has been on every ship we've sailed on - don't even get me started!  😡

 

I can only give you my experience.  I was on the Aug. 21 alaska Encore cruise and we had a great time.  No issues.  The crew was fantastic, clearly so happy to be back.  We did have a thermal spa pass so possibly that allowed us to avoid any hot tub issues.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Regarding the A/C I remember being told by a Hotel Director on both NCL and Holland America that these newer ships are built so that if someone is leaving their balcony door open it will actually shut down the A/C system for the area around the cabin that is leaving the door open. This sounds like this could easily be what as occured.

[phillygwm]

3 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Regarding the A/C I remember being told by a Hotel Director on both NCL and Holland America that these newer ships are built so that if someone is leaving their balcony door open it will actually shut down the A/C system for the area around the cabin that is leaving the door open. This sounds like this could easily be what as occured.

Interesting.  I usually enjoy sleeping with the balcony door open.  It's fresh air and the sound of the ocean is soothing.  I've never had a problem with climate control and I've been on newer (though not yet BA+ class) ships.  

 

You'd think there would frequently be SOMEONE with the balcony open so it's odd that 1) Maintenance wasn't aware/didn't suggest this possibility; and 2) We're not reading posts from many other people experiencing this same issue.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

9 hours ago, phillygwm said:

Interesting.  I usually enjoy sleeping with the balcony door open.  It's fresh air and the sound of the ocean is soothing.  I've never had a problem with climate control and I've been on newer (though not yet BA+ class) ships.  

 

You'd think there would frequently be SOMEONE with the balcony open so it's odd that 1) Maintenance wasn't aware/didn't suggest this possibility; and 2) We're not reading posts from many other people experiencing this same issue.

There was a recent lengthy thread on this.  Apparently, when somebody has their balcony door open, "all" of the air flows to that room instead of surrounding rooms.  There is a sticker on some doors that says "leave door closed" but doesn't explain why.  To your point, if this is a known problem, than that would be the first thing we would expect the crew to look into.

[phillygwm]

50 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

There was a recent lengthy thread on this.  Apparently, when somebody has their balcony door open, "all" of the air flows to that room instead of surrounding rooms.  There is a sticker on some doors that says "leave door closed" but doesn't explain why.  To your point, if this is a known problem, than that would be the first thing we would expect the crew to look into.

I must have missed that thread.

 

I never saw the "leave door closed" sign but, again, I haven't yet been on the newest ships.  I did notice this, indirectly, when I had the balcony door open and opened the "front" door.  Wind tunnel effect  🙂

[zerooveride]

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

There was a recent lengthy thread on this.  Apparently, when somebody has their balcony door open, "all" of the air flows to that room instead of surrounding rooms.  There is a sticker on some doors that says "leave door closed" but doesn't explain why.  To your point, if this is a known problem, than that would be the first thing we would expect the crew to look into.

Very true!

 

There is a sensor in the door and the whole HVAC system is computerized (Maintenance uses an iPad-like tablet). They can see if that is the issue. I did ask and was told that was not the problem. I was told initially that they set the AC to only go to 22 Celsius (71.6 F) at Max AC. That's pretty hot to be honest. They eventually put it down to 18 and while better, it wasn't really 18 (62.6 F).

 

 

[NikiPinkston]

We were on the August 14 Encore sailing and, thankfully, didn't encounter any of the problems that the OP did, but I would have been very upset with a large group taking over the ship, too.  I'm so glad that they mentioned the issue with Latitudes Points, though!  We didn't get our triple points, either, so I contacted our PCC who said that he had emailed the Latitudes Dept. & they said that the triple points offer wasn't good on our sailing although, when we booked it, this was shown as one of the perks and he had told me that we would get them.  I decided to just let it go but, after reading this thread, I called just now & talked to a very sweet NCL rep. who told me that triple points were offered for this voyage, so she emailed that department, too.  I told her that triple points is a big deal & others on CC said that they had received them.  (Apparently, it's correct that you can't contact the Latitudes Dept. by phone - only email, so what the heck?)  She told me to check back in a week, so we'll see.  Will keep you posted.

[Mally900]

Bullet point #2 is sort of a one-off thing that can happen on any cruise line. I wouldn't hold NCL responsible. As for the a/c I know from experience that's  a super frustrating annoyance. I once had the same thing happen on a Holland America ship in August in the Mediterranean when it was 92 degrees! It was a 12 day cruise, they fiddled with the a/c every day but it never got fixed. Anyhow, hope you enjoy your next cruise.

[Cruising Cantab72]

The folks in the Latitudes area can take what seems like forever to add points to your account. Adding points can sometimes be a manual process.

 

 I was on the Encore Inaugural Cruise in 2019. There was a lot of discussion about what other cruisers had tried and what success they had. It took almost three months for anyone to get any points. 
 

Keep on them. The points will appear.  Document each contact. Date and name and their response.