May 28th POA Reservation - CANCELED

[cruiseny4life]

17 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Paying employees more means charging customers more.  

Agreed! Pay them more, charge me more. No cancellation of bookings. I'm good with this. 

[cruiseny4life]

47 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

  It's generally not done for good reasons

The only reason it's done is so the employer doesn't get sued - I've worked in HR and leadership positions for a few years and this is why we don't give reasons. It's one of the worst aspects of the job, as I'd much prefer provide a candidate with feedback so they can improve. 

[njkate]

39 minutes ago, firstimer2009 said:

I am so sorry.  I looked at that cruise for next year but thought it was still too expensive. I wanted to wait until prices came down. Are you still going to Honolulu?  I love Oahu and was just there in March.   Not certain how many was on this trip though.  Hope you can still make it and salvage some of your vacation.  There are lots of condos and reasonable places to stay in Waikiki.  

Problem is he had said he took advantage of NCL BOGO air, depending on where he lives to book air a week out to Hawaii is going to be very expensive

[MsTabbyKats]

25 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Agreed! Pay them more, charge me more. No cancellation of bookings. I'm good with this. 

Maybe good for you but take a poll. People want more/better service at a lower price.

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 minutes ago, njkate said:

Problem is he had said he took advantage of NCL BOGO air, depending on where he lives to book air a week out to Hawaii is going to be very expensive

That got me thinking about what is behind this.  Could it be that NCL simply couldn't make suitable air arrangements, so cancelled the OP?  I booked fall HI flights a month or two ago, and they are now approaching triple of what I paid.

[Rob-Bob]

21 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That got me thinking about what is behind this.  Could it be that NCL simply couldn't make suitable air arrangements, so cancelled the OP?  I booked fall HI flights a month or two ago, and they are now approaching triple of what I paid.

Good point.  May have something to do with it.

[4 cruisers]

16 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Read this:

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/ncl-limits-occupancy-aboard-pride-of-america-sailings.html

 

There's nothing ominous and NCL's president explains exactly what is happening.  Other than this thread, we've seen no other reports of cancelled sailings.  Sold out/not available is the same thing.

 

“As of yesterday, we have every voyage through the end of October on a stop sell, so you can’t even book this product before November right now.”

I was thinking that the back log of cruisers on Pride of America is HUGE.  Many of us had to use our air credit by a certain date (ours is Dec 2022).  We struggled to get the category we had previously booked in.  Finally one popped up on July 30th sailing so we grabbed it.  I am hoping that they are literally sold out for the summer at their current capacity.  

 

I hate hearing the "C" word regarding our much anticipated and prepared for vacation cruises!  I am so sorry for the original poster.  

 

We are platinum with NCL (not a big deal, but we have sailed with the quite a bit) but we are not fond of the way they communicate with us.

 

I hope we all get more answers soon!

 

 

[CruiseDealSweeper]

2 hours ago, njkate said:

Problem is he had said he took advantage of NCL BOGO air, depending on where he lives to book air a week out to Hawaii is going to be very expensive

That is accurate thought I already shared it but can’t find the post so for perspective my BOGO Air was $799 for 2 people. If I want to rebook a trip to Hawaii outside of NCL or swap plans last minute to go to Europe or somewhere else plane tickets for two are nearly $6,000!

 

 

 

 

[njkate]

7 minutes ago, CruiseDealSweeper said:

That is accurate thought I already shared it but can’t find the post so for perspective my BOGO Air was $799 for 2 people. If I want to rebook a trip to Hawaii outside of NCL or swap plans last minute to go to Europe or somewhere else plane tickets for two are nearly $6,000!

 

 

 

 

Are you within reasonable driving distance to a port in Fl, NY, New Orleans, Seattle where you could use the FCC to book a last minute cruise?

[travelmatron]

This is a Points Guy article that mentions Pride of America and problems that other cruise lines are having with staffing.  Cruise lines cap ship capacity, close restaurants due to crew shortages (thepointsguy.com) 

 

[LisaLisa87]

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That got me thinking about what is behind this.  Could it be that NCL simply couldn't make suitable air arrangements, so cancelled the OP?  I booked fall HI flights a month or two ago, and they are now approaching triple of what I paid.

Wouldn't those arrangements have been made some time ago? I know when we sailed on POA with the air promo, we received our flight details and were ticketed through the airline about 45 days out. We had logged in on the airline's site and upgraded to economy plus. That piece may not be done as far out these days, but the OP was only 10 days out! I'd be curious to know whether they had been ticketed.

[LS8595]

I’m terribly sorry to hear your trip has been canceled by NCL.  That’s a really bad business move, in my opinion.  Taking this cruise is a huge commitment of money, research, and travel time, so to have it canceled on such short notice is despicable.
 

I was on the POA last week and can confirm the staffing levels are painfully low.  It was the worst cruise I’ve been on in all my years of cruising.  The staff on the ship was a mixed bag.  There were many superstars that we adored, but there were also a bunch of not-so-superstars, and not much in between .  At the beginning of the week, we tried to give the lesser performing crew the benefit of the doubt since they were mostly new, but by the end of the week, it was clear that their poor attitudes had far more to do with their mistakes than their newness did.  
 

We only ate in the main dining room twice and both times were not good.  Very slow service and the food was terrible.  Most of the food on the ship was bad.  Really, really bad.  Even in the two specialty restaurants (Jefferson’s Bistro was the worst, Cagney’s was slightly better).
 

The employees we grew close to during our cruise dropped subtle “I’m miserable” vibes, with many talking about getting off the ship when their contracts ended in June and July, including the current captain.  That likely could be the main culprit for the reduced capacity throughout the summer.  As current staff rolls off their contracts, and seem unwilling to extend, it‘ll likely be a significant challenge for NCL to replace them.

[CruiseDealSweeper]

35 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Wouldn't those arrangements have been made some time ago? I know when we sailed on POA with the air promo, we received our flight details and were ticketed through the airline about 45 days out. We had logged in on the airline's site and upgraded to economy plus. That piece may not be done as far out these days, but the OP was only 10 days out! I'd be curious to know whether they had been ticketed.

Yes they were ticketed over a month ago. I even paid extra to upgrade my seats. How do I get that money back? Oh I can fill out a form and go through the hassle of documenting, uploading receipts, and then probably wait a month or so to hear back from NCL..

[CruiseDealSweeper]

1 hour ago, njkate said:

Are you within reasonable driving distance to a port in Fl, NY, New Orleans, Seattle where you could use the FCC to book a last minute cruise?

Unfortunately no we are not as all would require flights to get to those ports. 

[LisaLisa87]

4 minutes ago, CruiseDealSweeper said:

Yes they were ticketed over a month ago. I even paid extra to upgrade my seats. How do I get that money back? Oh I can fill out a form and go through the hassle of documenting, uploading receipts, and then probably wait a month or so to hear back from NCL..

I really feel for you. We did an extended family cruise on POA in June 2019, and we spent months planning and anticipating. We would have been beyond disappointed if this had happened to us.

 

Have you called the airline yet? They may refund the cost of the upgrade due to the circumstances.

[CruiseDealSweeper]

4 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

I really feel for you. We did an extended family cruise on POA in June 2019, and we spent months planning and anticipating. We would have been beyond disappointed if this had happened to us.

 

Have you called the airline yet? They may refund the cost of the upgrade due to the circumstances.

No not yet. Takes so much time waiting on the phone these days getting a hold of people. So have to manage around my work schedule. 
 

I have a few other items I need to quickly call about and kindly ask for refunds: 

 

I was staying at the Waikiki Sheraton prior to the cruise and it was over $600/night for the room we booked. I’m hoping we can still get that money back. 
 

I have already lost a bunch of money for things that can’t be refunded within 10 days (even when I called) of the trip including: excursions, National park tickets, arrangements at home, etc. 

[CruiseDealSweeper]

I also find it very interesting I’m the only one that has reported this issue. Makes me wonder if I was just one of a very small group of people impacted by this cancelation…

 

Which for those still on that sailing, I’m at least very grateful this wasn’t more widespread!! 

[vacation44]

1 minute ago, CruiseDealSweeper said:

No not yet. Takes so much time waiting on the phone these days getting a hold of people. So have to manage around my work schedule. 
 

I have a few other items I need to quickly call about and kindly ask for refunds: 

 

I was staying at the Waikiki Sheraton prior to the cruise and it was over $600/night for the room we booked. I’m hoping we can still get that money back. 
 

I have already lost a bunch of money for things that can’t be refunded within 10 days (even when I called) of the trip including: excursions, National park tickets, arrangements at home, etc. 

Did you buy third party travel insurance?   If so, maybe some of those costs can be reimbursed.    

[CruiseDealSweeper]

9 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Did you buy third party travel insurance?   If so, maybe some of those costs can be reimbursed.    

I have some travel insurance built into my main travel credit card. So I do need to look into that process on how to challenge charges for refunds. Unfortunately, just another instance of me spending a lot of time to fix this mess from NCL so last minute. 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, LS8595 said:

 That’s a really bad business move, in my opinion.

 

Let us know when you can forecast your staffing levels more than a week or 2 out.  It's a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation.  If they don't cancel any reservations and provide a cruise with poor service quality as a result of an understaffing situation you get complaints (I read a thread on the RCI forum about a horrible Explorer of the Seas cruise because of staffing levels).  If you cancel people to provide a quality experience for those that travel you get complaints because of the cancellation.

 

Which do you prefer?  While we'd all like to take our trips, especially after a ton of planning, but do you want a trip with a sub-par experience?

 

1 hour ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Wouldn't those arrangements have been made some time ago? I know when we sailed on POA with the air promo, we received our flight details and were ticketed through the airline about 45 days out. We had logged in on the airline's site and upgraded to economy plus. That piece may not be done as far out these days, but the OP was only 10 days out! I'd be curious to know whether they had been ticketed.

 

Flight arrangements would have been made, yes.  However - since they were tied to (and "paid for") through the cruise reservation that's being cancelled the flight is now cancelled as well.

[Cindy]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:59 PM, CruiseDealSweeper said:

I received an email today informing me my reservation on POA (May 28th - next week!) has been canceled. Not enough staff for the number of people currently booked. Never been so upset as a lot of planning went into this trip for my family/ work. 

 

Anyone else receive this email today?

I'm so very sorry! I have been booked in some way, shape, or form on the POA since July 1, 2019, and have suffered seven cancellations (one was before Covid because they were going to take the POA to drydock). I would be destroyed at this point if we were only 10 days from sailing and got cancelled. I can't even begin to imagine how you feel.

[Cindy]

54 minutes ago, CruiseDealSweeper said:

I also find it very interesting I’m the only one that has reported this issue. Makes me wonder if I was just one of a very small group of people impacted by this cancelation…

 

Which for those still on that sailing, I’m at least very grateful this wasn’t more widespread!! 

I have read posts on another site of people whose reservations were cancelled. The number I saw was a total of 21 reservations. It's small number, except to those of you that were impacted any was too many!

[LS8595]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

 

Let us know when you can forecast your staffing levels more than a week or 2 out.  It's a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation.  If they don't cancel any reservations and provide a cruise with poor service quality as a result of an understaffing situation you get complaints (I read a thread on the RCI forum about a horrible Explorer of the Seas cruise because of staffing levels).  If you cancel people to provide a quality experience for those that travel you get complaints because of the cancellation.

 

Which do you prefer?  While we'd all like to take our trips, especially after a ton of planning, but do you want a trip with a sub-par experience?

I prefer that NCL get their act together, be more proactive with their decision making and deliver on the promises they’re selling.  While I agree that they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t, I disagree with the notion that they don’t have the ability to forecast their staffing levels a week or two out.  With the exception of crew that falls ill (very little of that last week from what we saw and heard and how would they predict that 10 days out for Op’s cruise), these folks are on contracts, which makes it far easier to predict your headcount numbers.  I just think NCL waited too long to invest in their staffing levels for this ship, while happily booking reservations, and now they’re scrambling.  
 

Canceling peoples’ vacations 10 days out is unconscionable, sorry.  They should have done it a month ago, which would have provided a wee bit more time for the OP to pivot their vacation.  It seems to have become a socially acceptable business practice for the cruise lines to just cancel reservations nowadays.  Definitely not helping with customer loyalty, that’s for sure.  Again, my opinion, for the two cents it’s not even worth.  

[Cindy]

21 minutes ago, LS8595 said:

Canceling peoples’ vacations 10 days out is unconscionable, sorry.  They should have done it a month ago, which would have provided a wee bit more time for the OP to pivot their vacation.  It seems to have become a socially acceptable business practice for the cruise lines to just cancel reservations nowadays.  Definitely not helping with customer loyalty, that’s for sure.  Again, my opinion, for the two cents it’s not even worth.  

Precisely! If they need to cancel my reservation they need to do it now while I still have options. My refund will more than pay for my back-up reservations, and the plane tickets we bought in July 2019 need to be used. I don't want to plan at the last minute when everything is booked up and my options are limited.

[PTC DAWG]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Agreed! Pay them more, charge me more. No cancellation of bookings. I'm good with this. 

Getting off topic here, but many cruise line employees can make as much on a 6-9 month contract than they can in 3 years in their home countries…

 

But yeah, POA has issues due to Hawaiian/US rules..