Rare luv2kroooz Posted July 19 #101 Share Posted July 19 All you need to do is take a picture of your passport before your cruise. Upload it your secure storage on your phone and that will be better than having nothing, in the most unlikely event you will need it. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distinctive-Destinations Posted July 19 #102 Share Posted July 19 The ideal passport plan (in my opinion) is to leave the actual passport in the cabin safe, and bring a passport card in your wallet. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare luv2kroooz Posted July 19 #103 Share Posted July 19 2 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said: The ideal passport plan (in my opinion) is to leave the actual passport in the cabin safe, and bring a passport card in your wallet. Yes, also good advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distinctive-Destinations Posted July 19 #104 Share Posted July 19 This article has an interesting detail. it says one of the ATTENDEES told them “We go to get on the bus and one of the attendees is like, ‘The bus is full and you know, you got to wait for the next bus’,” https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/norwegian-cruise-lines-alaska-missing-ship-b2581825.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew69 Posted July 19 #105 Share Posted July 19 After having arrived back in Oklahoma, Joshua added: “So yeah, we’re beat down right now. We’re unhealthy and beaten down.” Unhealthy and beaten down, but able to contact several news outlets.😉 Pieces are still missing. Did they try to board the correct tour bus or one of the shuttle busses? Did they try to board right after the show or after hanging around awhile and waiting too late? Why didn't they speak to their tour leader and not just "one of the attendees?" If this "attendee" was a fellow guest, why would you listen to them? Were they in contact with the remaining 7 family members on the ship? did those family members try to give the meds, etc. to NCL to give to port authority? Why didn't they go to a pharmacy in the town to get meds replaced? Why did everyone else from that tour apparently make it back to ship with no issue except this family? 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted July 19 #106 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, zqvol said: After having my passport stolen by a pickpocket while ashore, mine never leaves the ship any longer. On our first cruise back in 2002, there was a fellow passenger who we had met who was pickpocketed including her passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 19 #107 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 3 hours ago, omahabob said: One would have to weigh the possibilities, a stolen passport vs maybe being stranded without it. Mine stays in a location where a pickpocket couldn't really get it, as does my cash and a single credit card, so I opt to not leave it on the ship. Out of curiosity, where were you when you were pick pocketed? Quebec City we were on a B2B and that was turn around day. We were off exploring when it happened. Since we were already boarded, NCL never asked about. CBP let me back in the country using my passport card. The met us because I had already reported it stolen. Edited July 19 by zqvol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsnotjustme Posted July 20 #108 Share Posted July 20 On 7/17/2024 at 9:44 PM, tetleytea said: I always thought that promise was a bit empty. In Israel of all places, we were on an NCL excursion and it returned late.... a good 30 minutes after SAILING time if memory serves me right. They waited for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rib Jig Posted July 20 #109 Share Posted July 20 On 7/17/2024 at 11:14 PM, icft said: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13645365/Family-stranded-Alaska-cruise-ship-left.html which includes: "We go to get on the bus and one of the attendees is like, "The bus is full and you know, you got to wait for the next bus,' Joshua recounted." Wait. Attendee, as in, another passenger !!?? Taking orders from another passenger??? Oh heck no... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valleyvillage Posted July 20 #110 Share Posted July 20 In the next paragraph it is made clear they are speaking of the attendant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Son Posted July 20 #111 Share Posted July 20 31 minutes ago, valleyvillage said: In the next paragraph it is made clear they are speaking of the attendant. To be honest, I haven't read any account, anywhere, that makes anything "clear". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailingships Posted July 20 #112 Share Posted July 20 I have a question. There were nine of them. Was there no opportunity for at least one of the adults to get on a bus and get back to the ship to report the rest possibly stranded? Were they determined to stick together regardless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike07 Posted July 20 #113 Share Posted July 20 Curious why so many on here defend NCL 1 hour ago, sailingships said: I have a question. There were nine of them. Was there no opportunity for at least one of the adults to get on a bus and get back to the ship to report the rest possibly stranded? Were they determined to stick together regardless? Why is the onus on the family to fix the situation when they were told another bus was coming on an official NCL shrorex? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roseflyer Posted July 20 #114 Share Posted July 20 19 hours ago, omahabob said: NCL makes plenty of mistakes, but they didn't this time. They are not responsible for passengers not getting on the bus back to the ship. They adhered to policy. If passengers on an NCL excursion cannot make it back, and the ship can no longer wait, they take ownership for getting them to the next port, which they tried to do. But, since the passengers didn't take their passports with them, that couldn't be done. So they went home, and NCL is covering that. NCL did nothing wrong here, but the passengers did to at least some extent. Obviously the excursion operator really screwed up, and they bear the brunt of the blame. I would question the timing of the phone calls the passengers made. It should have been obvious they wouldn't make it back on time, so I have to wonder why NCL didn't go into their cabin to get their passports, and give them to the port agent. I thought that was standard practice. I would also question how long it took NCL to figure all this out. Communication is not their strong suit, so I imagine a lot of confusion and head scratching on their part. But I learned long ago to never, ever trust news reporting on stuff like this. why do you say NCL didn’t make mistakes? It appears the excursion bus was full and didn’t have enough seats. The family was told to wait for the next bus, which didn’t come. Not having enough seats on the excursion bus absolutely is an NCL problem since this was a shore excursion booked through NCL. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roseflyer Posted July 20 #115 Share Posted July 20 From what I read, there weren’t enough seats in the excursion bus back from the lumberjack show. The family was told there would be another bus, but it didn’t show up. That sounds like it is NCL’s fault since the excursion was booked through NCL. NCL customer service failed here. They refunded only 20% of the cruise, out of pocket expenses and fees. While technically that is something to make the family whole, it didn’t address the fact that NCL destroyed their vacation. While I can see this being an honest mistake of people getting on the wrong bus leading to not enough seats on the last bus, that isn’t this family’s fault. NCL should have refunded the whole cruise as a gesture of goodwill and offered a full future cruise credit. If they had, this would not have been news damaging the brand. I can expect that at least some people will second guess booking shore excursions through the cruise line due to bad press. NCL could have avoided that, but chose to go the cheap way out and provide the minimum level of reimbursement. For those quoting contract terms and conditions, that never helps with branding. It doesn’t look good from a brand perspective when NCL says they messed up, and chose to only compensate them for air travel and 20%. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roseflyer Posted July 20 #116 Share Posted July 20 (edited) To anyone saying NCL did the right thing by not holding the boat since their terms and conditions don’t commit to holding the boat, any lawyer will tear that apart since they advertise that they will hold the boat. You can’t advertise that you will adhere to a policy and then change the policy in terms and conditions. Judges will quickly toss that out. A bus being full and being told to wait for the next certainly sounds like an “unforeseen circumstance” ”#7. You’ll never miss the boat with a Norwegian Cruise Line Shore Excursion. If for some reason your self-booked destination tour is running late because of traffic or any unforeseen circumstances, you’re taking the chance that your ship may sail away without you. But, if you’ve booked your Shore Excursions with Norwegian Cruise Line directly, they’ll always wait for even the tardiest of tours to return to their ship before sailing. More valuable peace of mind!” https://www.ncl.com/travel-blog/reasons-to-book-shore-excursions-with-norwegian Edited July 20 by Roseflyer 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distinctive-Destinations Posted July 20 #117 Share Posted July 20 7 minutes ago, Roseflyer said: To anyone saying NCL did the right thing by not holding the boat since their terms and conditions don’t commit to holding the boat, any lawyer will tear that apart since they advertise that they will hold the boat. You can’t advertise that you will adhere to a policy and then change the policy in terms and conditions. Judges will quickly toss that out. A bus being full and being told to wait for the next certainly sounds like an “unforeseen circumstance” ”#7. You’ll never miss the boat with a Norwegian Cruise Line Shore Excursion. If for some reason your self-booked destination tour is running late because of traffic or any unforeseen circumstances, you’re taking the chance that your ship may sail away without you. But, if you’ve booked your Shore Excursions with Norwegian Cruise Line directly, they’ll always wait for even the tardiest of tours to return to their ship before sailing. More valuable peace of mind!” https://www.ncl.com/travel-blog/reasons-to-book-shore-excursions-with-norwegian The story has more holes than Swiss Cheese, but near as I can tell the tour did return to the ship. They didn’t. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted July 20 #118 Share Posted July 20 19 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said: The ideal passport plan (in my opinion) is to leave the actual passport in the cabin safe, and bring a passport card in your wallet. Save your money. A passport card is useless unless you are cross the US/Canada or US/Mexico boarder by land. It has no use other than that. You could not fly home from a foreign country with it. It's the same as a driver's license (e.g., government issued ID), but much more expensive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare luv2kroooz Posted July 20 #119 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, sailingships said: I have a question. There were nine of them. Was there no opportunity for at least one of the adults to get on a bus and get back to the ship to report the rest possibly stranded? Were they determined to stick together regardless? No. Yes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiCruzr Posted July 20 #120 Share Posted July 20 How do we know this from the reports? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew69 Posted July 20 #121 Share Posted July 20 1 hour ago, Roseflyer said: To anyone saying NCL did the right thing by not holding the boat since their terms and conditions don’t commit to holding the boat, any lawyer will tear that apart since they advertise that they will hold the boat. You can’t advertise that you will adhere to a policy and then change the policy in terms and conditions. Judges will quickly toss that out. A bus being full and being told to wait for the next certainly sounds like an “unforeseen circumstance” ”#7. You’ll never miss the boat with a Norwegian Cruise Line Shore Excursion. If for some reason your self-booked destination tour is running late because of traffic or any unforeseen circumstances, you’re taking the chance that your ship may sail away without you. But, if you’ve booked your Shore Excursions with Norwegian Cruise Line directly, they’ll always wait for even the tardiest of tours to return to their ship before sailing. More valuable peace of mind!” https://www.ncl.com/travel-blog/reasons-to-book-shore-excursions-with-norwegian The tour returned. They did not return with their tour. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distinctive-Destinations Posted July 20 #122 Share Posted July 20 34 minutes ago, BirdTravels said: Save your money. A passport card is useless unless you are cross the US/Canada or US/Mexico boarder by land. It has no use other than that. You could not fly home from a foreign country with it. It's the same as a driver's license (e.g., government issued ID), but much more expensive. I completely disagree. A passport card is helpful to get an emergency passport renewal at the embassy, if needed. Plus “much more expensive?” Really? It’s $65 for the first ten years, then $30 to renew for the subsequent 10 year blocks. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rib Jig Posted July 20 #123 Share Posted July 20 (edited) we assume NCL excursion contracts disallow punitive damages; since merely being reimbursed costs is "abusive" in our opinion, (20% off future cruise is laughable since 35% off is already common) we never use NCL excursions & we always return to ship at least 2 hours in advance of deadline, e.g., public transportation to-from Pisa was our choice over the same to Florence... Edited July 20 by Rib Jig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare karatemom2 Posted July 20 #124 Share Posted July 20 How many of you commenting here have actually been to the absolute joke that is the NCL Ward Cove port? I have - twice. And let me tell you I would NEVER cruise with NCL in Alaska again. The Ketchikan port stop is a complete cluster with the short port times and crazy shuttle bus situation. By the time people are trying to return via these shuttles from town, it is literally every man for themself. We had the good sense the second time we were there to arrange private transportation because we knew what a complete mess it is based on actual experience. I feel for those who venture into this uninformed thinking that they will have a fun port day in Ketchikan. it’s pretty clear what happened here. This family booked an NCL excursion which should have been reliable and provided them peace of mind and protection. But in the mob scene of people pushing and shoving their way on any bus they can plant themselves on as the day gets short, the tour operator made the error of allowing non tour passengers on a bus dedicated to the lumberjack tour excursion participants, thus leaving this family out in the cold with the promise another bus would be coming for them. This is completely on NCL and the tour operator - they know it which is why they are being so upfront about reimbursement and trying to make things right. But the even bigger issue is the whole Ward Cove failure and how dismal it is to navigate as opposed to being on a ship that actually docks in Ketchikan. 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike07 Posted July 20 #125 Share Posted July 20 (edited) 20 minutes ago, karatemom2 said: How many of you commenting here have actually been to the absolute joke that is the NCL Ward Cove port? I have - twice. And let me tell you I would NEVER cruise with NCL in Alaska again. People are unable to put themselves in other shoes and express empathy when it comes to situations like this. This is a general comment... There are a lot of people that are self-professed SMEs in an area and use their jump to conclusion mats that more often land on "The customer is to blame." Flyer Talk is the aviation equivalent of CruiseCritic, and their boards are more brutal than they are here on CC. Yes, often times customers are to blame for the situations that they put themselves in and not reading or understanding all of the rules for the actions they chose that led to the calamity they're in. Effectively, had the couple been more aggressive getting on a bus, raised cain with the port authority, or found an alternative form of transportation knowing when the ship sails, they would have not found themselves in the situation. Sadly, you can strawman or hypothetical or disagree all you want, but had the family sought private transportation to the ship and simply asked for reimbursement through an OBC, the ship would have claimed "Well, the bus was coming back to get you... you're the one that decided to deviate outside of the scheduled itinerary." To some point, NCL customer service has a valid point. But, we see where listening to the NCL tour operator led to a $10,000+ bill whereas a $100 taxi ride with $100 in OBC would have made this a non-issue. Edited July 20 by Mike07 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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