NCL dropped a destination weeks before cruising

[Ruttrowg]

Our cruise in May was supposed to stop in British Virgin Islands. An email came saying due to fuel costs and recent surveys they are dropping this destination and giving us a mere $100 credit. Another day at sea instead of going to this destination. 
 

Can they pull a stunt like this weeks before sailing?

[www3traveler]

They can change itineraries any time they want for no reason given nor are the obligated to provide any kind of compensation.

 

Apparently, you have not followed the news. Tortola, British Virgin Islands may not be all that safe.  In the past month 5 passengers from two separate Norwegian cruises has gone MISSING in Tortola.  As of a few days ago NONE of them have been found.

[shof515]

here is a post about this issue:

 

[Ruttrowg]

Wow did not know about the missing people. Makes sense they dropped the stop,  but they should have done more than a $100 credit don't you think? Lots of good points on that thread above.

[Seas2mountains]

At first, I also believed it may have to do with the 5 missing people, but NCL Sky is currently docked in Tortola.
 

The Breakaway has a scheduled stop on May 2nd that hasn’t been canceled. The truth is always preferred over twisted words. 
 

We are booked on the May 26th sailing of the Breakaway.  
 

 

[njkate]

27 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

They can change itineraries any time they want for no reason given nor are the obligated to provide any kind of compensation.

 

Apparently, you have not followed the news. Tortola, British Virgin Islands may not be all that safe.  In the past month 5 passengers from two separate Norwegian cruises has gone MISSING in Tortola.  As of a few days ago NONE of them have been found.

It’s still unknown if they went missing due to some nefarious reason or because it was on their own volition, Have read articles that say in the case of one group all personal articles were not in cabin and none of the families are looking for them or concerned, 3 were Colombian nationals so who knows, until they surface on their own or found it’s speculation on what happened. Cruises after the disappearance up to cancellations have stopped there 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

53 minutes ago, Ruttrowg said:

Our cruise in May was supposed to stop in British Virgin Islands. An email came saying due to fuel costs and recent surveys they are dropping this destination and giving us a mere $100 credit. Another day at sea instead of going to this destination. 
 

Can they pull a stunt like this weeks before sailing?

Yes. They cancelled Grenada on us just a few weeks back on our recent cruise to the southern Caribbean on the Jade.

[G-DawgMN]

27 minutes ago, Ruttrowg said:

Wow did not know about the missing people. Makes sense they dropped the stop,  but they should have done more than a $100 credit don't you think? Lots of good points on that thread above.

 
 

  They’re obligated to do nothing. According to your cruise contract they can change every single port and you have no recourse. Of course that doesn’t happen except for once when there was a hurricane and the cruise went to Canada instead of south. 
  I’m actually surprised they’re giving you a $100 credit. I haven’t seen any compensation for missed ports in a long time. 

[ontheweb]

I am also surprised that they gave you the $100. This past summer we had an e-mail that they were dropping the port of Zeebrugges for Brugge due to an extremely low tide. Not only did we get nothing, but when I asked for a refund of the money we had already spent for an NCL excursion, I was told we would be getting the amount back as non-refundable OBC, and I should be glad as I was even getting that as they did not have to give anything. (The representative finally realized I was asking for a refund of an excursion they could no longer provide as they were no longer going there and after consulting another department, my credit card used for the excursion was refunded as the excursion was cancelled within the cancellation window.) But the main point is they gave nothing for the dropped port and said they were not obligated to give anything.

[schmoopie17]

You must be new around here...then realizing you only joined two hours ago. 😁

 

This has been a hot topic on this board lately. Numerous threads about cancelled/revised itineraries, especially after final payment. As stated above, they reserve the right to pretty much do whatever they want/need to do in regard to port stops. I'm also surprised they offered $100 (for your convenience, of course).

[Jordan61]

I don't think it is anything to do with the missing passengers, since apparently the Jade is changing a stop from St. Croix to Tortola.

[JandC_Cruising]

39 minutes ago, G-DawgMN said:

I’m actually surprised they’re giving you a $100 credit. I haven’t seen any compensation for missed ports in a long time. 

 

2 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I am also surprised that they gave you the $100. This past summer we had an e-mail that they were dropping the port of Zeebrugges for Brugge due to an extremely low tide

Actually we received $100 each OBC last summer for missing two ports due to weather (Le Verdon and Zeebrugges) on our Getaway cruise in Europe.   We also received a 10% discount coupon which we applied to a cruise later this year.  Surprised you had issues or got nothing.   

January of last year we missed the DR (before they started going back to Taino Bay).  They gave us the notice when we all checked in to Miami.  However, in that case, they altered the itinerary and sent us to Jamaica for the day.  We were fine with that since we've been to DR enough.  However, many were livid, because they had 3rd party excursions they couldn't cancel.  

As mentioned, they are obligated to do nothing, but at least they are notifying people early so they can cancel independent plans. 

 

 

[dexddd]

We missed a stop to Scotland late 2022 and got zero.

[FLAHAM]

Missing a stop in Greenland on the Star this August and getting nothing.

[zqvol]

4 hours ago, Ruttrowg said:

Wow did not know about the missing people. Makes sense they dropped the stop,  but they should have done more than a $100 credit don't you think? Lots of good points on that thread above.

A $100 credit was more than generous 

[IrieBajan54]

6 hours ago, www3traveler said:

They can change itineraries any time they want for no reason given nor are the obligated to provide any kind of compensation.

 

Apparently, you have not followed the news. Tortola, British Virgin Islands may not be all that safe.  In the past month 5 passengers from two separate Norwegian cruises has gone MISSING in Tortola.  As of a few days ago NONE of them have been found.

Do you really believe that NCL dropped Tortola due to missing passengers? There is a plethora of recent history of NCL dropping ports for what they call environmental reasons and passengers' convenience.

 

 

[www3traveler]

If NCL has reason to believe that a port of call is unsafe for passengers, YES they will cancel it.  They have canceled calls to Acapulco on a number of occasions.  I have been on Panama Canal cruises where Acapulco was canceled.

Edited April 28 by www3traveler
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[schmoopie17]

8 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

They have canceled calls to Acapulco on a number of occasions.  I have been on Panama Canal cruises where Acapulco was canceled.

Unfortunately they kept Acapulco for our Panama Canal cruise. We decided to stay on the ship...and unfortunately, so did the majority of the passengers. So much for having the ship to ourselves.

[yakcruiser]

Yup! That's why they replaced Costa Rica on a number of cruises with Acapulco. "For Safety"

[Asawi]

7 hours ago, Ruttrowg said:

Our cruise in May was supposed to stop in British Virgin Islands. An email came saying due to fuel costs and recent surveys they are dropping this destination and giving us a mere $100 credit. Another day at sea instead of going to this destination. 
 

Can they pull a stunt like this weeks before sailing?

Well, by now I guess you realise that yes, they can do this. And it¨s not uncoomon.

And be very happy about the $100! Most of us that have had stops dropped has gotten less or nothing at all!

[ontheweb]

And maybe if they see people complain about "only getting $100, they'll decide why bother ever giving anything. Let's just give nothing like we usually do.

[Travelling2Some]

1 hour ago, www3traveler said:

If NCL has reason to believe that a port of call is unsafe for passengers, YES they will cancel it.  They have canceled calls to Acapulco on a number of occasions.  I have been on Panama Canal cruises where Acapulco was canceled.

Want a good laugh?  On our Panama Canal cruise they canceled the perfectly safe port in Costa Rica and substituted Acapulco (Level 4 Do Not Travel per the US and Canadian State Departments).  They had the gall to tell us that the switch was made out of concern for our safety!

[Travelling2Some]

I'm surprised you got the $100 too.  Our last 3 cruises on NCL have all had significant itinerary disruptions and we got zero!  Most notably, we were supposed to have a full day an a half in Panama City and were never even able to dock.  This was due to months long ongoing construction which they knew about well in advance but continued to advertise the overnight in port anyway.  We have been booking other lines when the itinerary is important to us and will only go with NCL now when it's just a "fun in the sun" Caribbean cruise.

[rtkenmore]

8 hours ago, Ruttrowg said:

Wow did not know about the missing people. Makes sense they dropped the stop,  but they should have done more than a $100 credit don't you think? Lots of good points on that thread above.

They don't have to do anything...  Be thankful they gave you $100 OBC.

[Seas2mountains]

1 hour ago, www3traveler said:

If NCL has reason to believe that a port of call is unsafe for passengers, YES they will cancel it.  They have canceled calls to Acapulco on a number of occasions.  I have been on Panama Canal cruises where Acapulco was canceled.

I understand what you are saying but if it is unsafe, why was it okay for the Sky to dock there today and with the Breakaway planing to go there on May 2nd?