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Are NCL's Website Problems Intentional?

Falckon

By Falckon,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Falckon

Falckon

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I just booked a cruise for January. As usual, I did mock bookings on both the NCL website and a third party website before booking with my Personal Cruise Consultant. I thought that it was unusual that the NCL website didn't allow me to see the Club Balcony Suites that were available, yet the third party website showed over thirty Suites available on deck plans. I mentioned this to my PCC and she stated that she had received a lot of similar complaints from her clients. Why would NCL not show which cabins are available? Secondly, when going over the costs she said there was an additional cost of over $400 for Taxes and Port Fees which didn't show up on the NCL website. When I questioned her on that, she said they changed the website to only show the Taxes and Port fees when you complete the booking entirely. I feel that this is a bit deceptive. I would like to know the total cost up front before booking. Bottom line, I think that NCL is intentionally designing their website to deceive their customers and instructing their PCCs to pass it off as just a website problem.

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bonvoyagie

bonvoyagie

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Larger TAs can block out large sections of cabins in all categories, they receive a good discount on them that they can pass along to customers by offering OBC or PrePaid DSC. They have a limited amount of time to sell them - in the meantime they are removed from inventory. As for the website NCL recently changed the booking portion of the site to make the port fees and taxes less visible - they are there but only approximates  and they are in very fine print. I deal with an outside TA - not a PCC so I can't speak to the process they have for looking at inventory. My TA says he has a special log in that allows hiim to see inventory and they also have a different booking engine. I usually book using the website and then transfer the booking to him.

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Panhandle Couple

Panhandle Couple

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22 minutes ago, purplecow15 said:

The mock bookings have not included taxes and port fees for several months now. It clearly states they are not included. I agree it’s annoying to have to enter personal info to arrive at final price. 

I just checked Princess, and that seems to be the case for their web site.  Using a 2nd source site, the totals are shown w/all included the same as NCL on that site. 

Different interface, which I prefer.  But it also has stored cookies on my computer, so it knows who I am.  It brings up my e-mail as part of the process to get the cost.

 

 

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schmoopie17

schmoopie17

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Very often a certain cabin category comes up as "Guarantee"...which implies you have no choice in cabin or cabin location. However, a quick call to our PCC gets us a whole laundry list of available cabins in that category. Has happened more than once...

 

Edited by schmoopie17
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Falckon

Falckon

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34 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

 

Very often a certain cabin category comes up as "Guarantee"...which implies you have no choice in cabin or cabin location. However, a quick call to our PCC gets us a whole laundry list of available cabins in that category. Has happened more than once...

 

That is exactly what I perceive as a problem. When I do research for a cruise, I like to see specifically which cabins are available and at what price. The specific cruise I am looking at is the Escape out of Port Canaveral on Jan. 20, 2024, a Club Balcony Suite. The NCL website says that Club Balcony Suites are "Guarantee". Their definition is, "A Guarantee stateroom has no cabin number assigned at the time of booking. You are guaranteed to sail in the category you have chosen, or higher. The deck and location can be anywhere on the ship and assigned up to one day prior to embarkation."  Club Balcony Suites have 5 different categories on 8 different decks, all with different prices. Why would I book a "Guarantee" cruise on the NCL website when I can go to a third-party website that shows me the exact cabin, deck and price category? We are five months out. Why would NCL only have "Guarantee" cabins available? 

 

As for our PCC, as much as I love working with her, there is no such thing as a "quick call". She is a busy person and rarely answers a call immediately. While she always gets back to me within a few hours, I don't have time to play phone tag when I am just researching cruise prices.

 

As for NCL selling their cabins to travel agents and the cabins not being available on the NCL site, why would I be able to purchase one of those cabins listed on a travel agent site from my PCC? Why would NCL make it so difficult to pick a specific cabin at a specific price point?

 

 

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cruiseny4life Holiday Sharing Rare

cruiseny4life

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1 hour ago, Falckon said:

That is exactly what I perceive as a problem. When I do research for a cruise, I like to see specifically which cabins are available and at what price. The specific cruise I am looking at is the Escape out of Port Canaveral on Jan. 20, 2024, a Club Balcony Suite. The NCL website says that Club Balcony Suites are "Guarantee". Their definition is, "A Guarantee stateroom has no cabin number assigned at the time of booking. You are guaranteed to sail in the category you have chosen, or higher. The deck and location can be anywhere on the ship and assigned up to one day prior to embarkation."  Club Balcony Suites have 5 different categories on 8 different decks, all with different prices. Why would I book a "Guarantee" cruise on the NCL website when I can go to a third-party website that shows me the exact cabin, deck and price category? We are five months out. Why would NCL only have "Guarantee" cabins available? 

 

As for our PCC, as much as I love working with her, there is no such thing as a "quick call". She is a busy person and rarely answers a call immediately. While she always gets back to me within a few hours, I don't have time to play phone tag when I am just researching cruise prices.

 

As for NCL selling their cabins to travel agents and the cabins not being available on the NCL site, why would I be able to purchase one of those cabins listed on a travel agent site from my PCC? Why would NCL make it so difficult to pick a specific cabin at a specific price point?

 

 

I suggest you take a look at some of the public-facing online travel agents. Many of them will show rooms that are available, even when listed as a guarantee. As a travel agent, I can always see open rooms using the NCL software, so you could also work with a travel agent if you want. They'd be able to give you updated room availability.

 

I am in agreement with you that this is frustrating! I wish NCL would do a better job of being transparent to customers, but that's the kind of dream that's wasted. Hope you enjoy whatever cruise you book! 

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Smitheroo

Smitheroo

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14 hours ago, purplecow15 said:

The mock bookings have not included taxes and port fees for several months now. It clearly states they are not included. I agree it’s annoying to have to enter personal info to arrive at final price. 

I always see taxes and port fees in the final total. The only "personal" info I have to add is the 2nd person's name, age, etc. Sometimes I make it up if I'm looking for a price for a shared cabin.  There is no need to add credit card info. until you actually want to purchase it.  I definitely do see taxes and port fees.

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cruiser2015 Holiday Sharing Rare

cruiser2015

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8 hours ago, Falckon said:

That is exactly what I perceive as a problem. When I do research for a cruise, I like to see specifically which cabins are available and at what price. The specific cruise I am looking at is the Escape out of Port Canaveral on Jan. 20, 2024, a Club Balcony Suite. The NCL website says that Club Balcony Suites are "Guarantee". Their definition is, "A Guarantee stateroom has no cabin number assigned at the time of booking. You are guaranteed to sail in the category you have chosen, or higher. The deck and location can be anywhere on the ship and assigned up to one day prior to embarkation."  Club Balcony Suites have 5 different categories on 8 different decks, all with different prices. Why would I book a "Guarantee" cruise on the NCL website when I can go to a third-party website that shows me the exact cabin, deck and price category? We are five months out. Why would NCL only have "Guarantee" cabins available? 

 

As for our PCC, as much as I love working with her, there is no such thing as a "quick call". She is a busy person and rarely answers a call immediately. While she always gets back to me within a few hours, I don't have time to play phone tag when I am just researching cruise prices.

 

As for NCL selling their cabins to travel agents and the cabins not being available on the NCL site, why would I be able to purchase one of those cabins listed on a travel agent site from my PCC? Why would NCL make it so difficult to pick a specific cabin at a specific price point?

 

 

When you are researching what's available, please be aware that at least some of the cruise lines parcel out the cabins that you can see as "available" in batches. There are likely many others in the same category unbooked - but they don't let you see them unless they want to. Once upon a time, you could request a cabin number and if it wasn't booked, it was yours. Not anymore.

 

Here's another NCL hiccup. I have a booking, also this January, on the Bliss. I periodically check to see if there is a price drop. For the past several days, on NCL's website, they do not show all of the separate levels for the Club Suites. They show Family, Larger Balcony, Spa & a bargain-priced Sailaway. All others (MA, MB, MC) are shown as a single item. There's a price, no specific ID (as MA) and no cabin selection. However, the TA I am using, shows all of the separate cats and the selection of cabins. There is no reason for them to withhold cabin selection - the rate shown is neither a Guarantee or Sailaway. I suspect a cabin choice will come up at some point. I took the mock booking as close to the end as I wanted to, but not up to the payment page, so I'm unsure what NCL's game is.

 

Also note that my TA, a large online national cruise specialist agency, enables you to do your own search - no need to call an agent unless you want to for assistance. I used this TA many years ago, then some direct line bookings and finally to some other online TA's. I switched back to this one as they offered the best givebacks currently. But I have used them throughout the years for research as they make it easy. You can search any line or multiple lines at once to see what's available and the general pricing; then, if you like, drill down to the specific sailing as well as cabin selections - all anonymous whether you have an account with them or not. And there are others that are similar.

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