Emergency help needed please

[kidrn]

I cannot believe what has just happened. We are leaving Friday on the pearl. we booked adjoining cabins because I have 3 children. We had our cruise docs and advance registrations completed and just by chance I went on the Ncl website and they moved one of our rooms down the hall! I called NCl direct and after being on hold for an hour I called our ta She got through to NCL but noone knows why this happened and our TA nor us were notified. # hours later I still do not have an answer. NCl is supposed to be notifying inventory to see what is going on. Any suggestions or comments or anyone with a crystal ball to see the outcome would be appreciated. kidrn:mad:

[cruisingfromMN]

I cannot believe what has just happened. We are leaving Friday on the pearl. we booked adjoining cabins because I have 3 children. We had our cruise docs and advance registrations completed and just by chance I went on the Ncl website and they moved one of our rooms down the hall! I called NCl direct and after being on hold for an hour I called our ta She got through to NCL but noone knows why this happened and our TA nor us were notified. # hours later I still do not have an answer. NCl is supposed to be notifying inventory to see what is going on. Any suggestions or comments or anyone with a crystal ball to see the outcome would be appreciated. kidrn:mad:

 

Gosh, I hate to say it but a couple others on this board have reported similar problems lately. Try to stay calm and hope NCL and your TA can get this corrected.

[kidrn]

as of right now they sat nothing can or will be done they have the right to move due to numbers for life boats was over capacity! My ta is reading through the fine print too bad for us and we only have been offered a ship board credit of 50.00 unbelievable:(

[cruisingfromMN]

as of right now they sat nothing can or will be done they have the right to move due to numbers for life boats was over capacity! My ta is reading through the fine print too bad for us and we only have been offered a ship board credit of 50.00 unbelievable:(

 

Oh my, this is a problem that I hoped would be solved. Let's talk damage control.

 

1. Ask for a higher OBC to satisfy your disappointment. Be reasonable though. Simply state your reasoning about why you deserve the amount, ie. clearly you were not notified so you could have had an option of canceling, your family is now split up etc. etc.

 

2. Get something in writing about the OBC before you leave.

 

3. How old are your kids? And, how far down the hallway?

 

4. Upon boarding, state your case but again be reasonable and see if there is anyway to be moved. This is not likely but try.

 

5. Go to NCL's website and look for yourself about what rooms are left.

[lvtotrvl1]

I would definatly have you TA speak to a supervisor. I just checked and there are only interior staterooms available and no triples available on the ship. They begin to restict triples and quads due to lifeboat availability, but I have to say, I've never heard anyone being moved due to this. How ald are your children and how far away are the rooms now. If it is at all workable, I would definatley go for a higher OBC. , I would also ask the supervisor when this was done and why you weren't notified. Good Luck and I hope you get this settled. Let us know!

[Toyz711]

when we booked our rooms for our cruise last sept, i emailed our TA and told him to make sure to list us as "no upgrades, no moves". told him this was very important. he noted it on all of our paperwork. don't know if it worked, but we weren't mored. (had family member across the hall that needed extra attention) also had the rooms booked together with 1 reservations number.

[kidrn]

Ok this really is awful but I am going to tey to salvage this. NCl admitted that they put 4 people in our triple occupancy room and moved us and even though it is due to "occupancy Issues" whatever that means and not my fault there is nothing to be done and they moved us to the nearest available stateroom. Well I no longer need a balcony stateroom for my 2 teenagers and I am hoping they will give me an interior nearby or crdit me more than 200.00 OBC Again I am trying to keep this in perspective. I am a pediatric nurse and if I ever talked to any patient or patient's family the way that NCl spoke to me today, I would have been fired on the spot. We all know the need for nurses. I am feeling sorry for myself when there are a lot of children that will be in a hospital bed and not in a cruise bed. No, this is not fair and no NCl has not handled it well but We will just have to go from here. The revenue dept is supposed to call and let me know if they can do anymore. Obviousy I am disappointed in the room change but mostly I am realing from the rudeness of NCl. Just fyi mykids are 13,16, and 7. they moved us our cabins 5 doors down on deck 9 from where it is now. thanks for everyones suggestions and help KIDRN:)

[Don Haynes]

Yes, NCL has more beds in certain lifeboats sections of the ships. If you can't be satisfied with NCL, use the $50 OBC and ask the persons either inside or outside to switch.

[kidrn]

You mean literally myself gp knock on their cabin door and ask them to switch? kidrn:confused:

[melissa89n]

Just fyi mykids are 13,16, and 7. they moved us our cabins 5 doors down on deck 9 from where it is now.

 

That is a bummer! I am sure you have checked that this is not against their policy, if they have one, of having minors only in the same or adjoining cabin with an adult.

 

What I would probably do if you have to take these cabins (and I have 3 kids 17, 13, and 11) is put the youngest with us and trust the 2 older ones to be okay down the hall. My 2 oldest would be fine and I wouldn't worry. I would establish rules like not leaving without calling me first and stuff like that. I hope it works out okay!

[gimmesun]

Since this is clearly the fault of NCL, and an OBC can't come near to making up for the idea that you wanted connecting rooms, and that you would not be comfortable leaving your children in the room by the hall, and the reason for the switch is that there is capacity control for the lifeboats, I'd recommend suggesting that they reassign the connecting rooms to you with one parent and one child in each, and provide you with a third interior room, which is assigned the same lifeboat, for the third child. You wouldn't need to use the third room, but it would allow the five of you to share adjoining rooms and would meet their capacity requirements. I have no idea on if that's possible or if they'll bite, but it seems like it would be a decent solution.

 

As I see it, they simply have to find a way to make this work for you. Every solution they have offered is just not going to work.

 

Good luck!

[newmexicoNita]

Ok this really is awful but I am going to tey to salvage this. NCl admitted that they put 4 people in our triple occupancy room and moved us and even though it is due to "occupancy Issues" whatever that means and not my fault there is nothing to be done and they moved us to the nearest available stateroom. Well I no longer need a balcony stateroom for my 2 teenagers and I am hoping they will give me an interior nearby or crdit me more than 200.00 OBC Again I am trying to keep this in perspective. I am a pediatric nurse and if I ever talked to any patient or patient's family the way that NCl spoke to me today, I would have been fired on the spot. We all know the need for nurses. I am feeling sorry for myself when there are a lot of children that will be in a hospital bed and not in a cruise bed. No, this is not fair and no NCl has not handled it well but We will just have to go from here. The revenue dept is supposed to call and let me know if they can do anymore. Obviousy I am disappointed in the room change but mostly I am realing from the rudeness of NCl. Just fyi mykids are 13,16, and 7. they moved us our cabins 5 doors down on deck 9 from where it is now. thanks for everyones suggestions and help KIDRN:)

Keep us posted. If nothing else you certainly shoud get more than a $50 OBC. I am sure the 2 older kids can handle the situation just fine, but I don't know if I would want my 7 year old that far away. Good luck. NMNital

[KeystoneCruiser]

NCL strikes again. This is becoming all too familar of a theme on NCL! When it happened to us back in April for our June Dawn cruise, there were people on these boards saying that that never happens. Now this makes at least the third documented case in less than a year. (and as many CC members love to point out, those on CC make up only a small minority of the total passengers on NCL, so there is probably more stories like this.)

 

 

In our case they switched our three AF rooms down the hall and we kept three side by side AF's but we lost our connecting rooms. We were traveling with other family members who had an inside cabin across from our original set of rooms. (they were not moved) At first NCL denied they did it, then they came back with "we did it and now live with it" attitude. They hate it when they make a blunder and someone calls them on it and the person on the other end of several conversations had extremely poor attitudes.

 

I went on line and looked for connecting cabins but all I could find was AB-AF connecting. We asked NCL for the price of this upgrade (feeling that we would solve the problem by paying for the upgrade), BUT NCL wouldn't even give us a price. They kept telling us that the online inventory was wrong and "three or four" days behind. (members of this very CC board refuted that and showed how it wasn't true.) There were more than one AB/AF combo left and on three seperate occasions, shortly after we would ask about a specific one, it would disappear from the inventory. (two would reappear a couple days later). Nice "coincidence."

Funny thing was, I think NCL was afraid we would want the upgrade for free but we were willing to pay for it to get the connecting rooms, they just wouldn't give us the chance!

 

Finally after my TA had called everybody she could at NCL many times, I had written two letters to Colin Veitch and several emails and the member of the CC board got behind us on here, NCL "found" three AF cabins together, two of which were connecting. Funny thing though, these three cabins were about three doors from the cabins we originally had booked. (Like Shoreguy said at the time: those people in those three cabins that NCL moved us to should have thanked us because they probably got one heck of an upsell or upgrade deal!) NCL was afraid to let us purchase the AB/AF rooms, but they gave away money to move those three....lol

 

$50.00 OBC.....your lucky....we got nothing for our two months of troubles and work. I wrote a letter to NCL after the trip (July) and I got my response back in mid November. Basically they told me they were sorry it happened and let them know on our next NCL cruise and they would have something placed in our cabin. (probably one of their food trays). To me it just didn't seem sincere. At least NCL is offering YOU something for your troubles in spite of it not being helpful.

[KeystoneCruiser]

I cannot believe what has just happened. We are leaving Friday on the pearl. we booked adjoining cabins because I have 3 children. We had our cruise docs and advance registrations completed and just by chance I went on the Ncl website and they moved one of our rooms down the hall! I called NCl direct and after being on hold for an hour I called our ta She got through to NCL but noone knows why this happened and our TA nor us were notified. kidrn:mad:

 

Several points here:

1.) Teenagers. Doesn't NCL policy forbid children under 18 (or is it 21) in cabins by themselves? This could create another problem for either you or them. Not a big deal with connecting cabins, but now are you and your spouse supposed to seperate and each go to one of the rooms with the minor children? Or is NCL going to sign off an allow the rule to be broken?

(even if you feel the teens would be fine in a cabin by themselves, it is a rule and the principle of the thing.) Use this against them!

 

2.) Why move a family (obviously with the same last names) in order to reduce life boat passengers? You can't tell me that there wasn't another cabin on that same lifeboat that was traveling alone. Why not move them! Will someone just please read the names on the reservations BEFORE you start switching people!

 

3.) The big question is WHY weren't you or your TA notified of this change. Were you supposed to just show up at the pier and be told then? What about your luggage tags....was the luggage going to be delivered to the new room with the old room tags that you already have on it?? Oh, that is right, if they surprise you when you arrive then there is EVEN LESS that you can do about it and means less time for you and your TA to register your complaints and fight this!! NCL hiding again.

 

4.) $50.00 each for being seperated....even though it is more than I got, it is still an insultingly small token for the problems this is creating. Would you have even gotten the $50 if you had not found this out early and just shown up at the pier?

 

Between the stupid firing fiasco on the POAm and now this stupid room switch, NCL is not having a good week.......

[electricron]

I read of a similar problem like yours not too long ago.

I understand that there are lifeboat limitations with capacity, but I believe they should have move you so both of your cabins were still adjoining.

Still, 5 cabins down the aisle isn't that far away, at least your cabins are still on the same deck, and I do understand your concern.

I suggest keeping the pressure on your travel agent and on NCL to get the adjoining cabins you booked, if not connecting cabins. It's possible another party will cancel, and you might end up with cabins closer together, even if they aren't adjoining.

Also, your idea of substituting an inside cabin is a good one. Just be diplomatic, but firm, with both NCL and your travel agent, letting them know you aren't pleased as they stand now.

[samtig]

I can't understand why Norwegian can't see that children & parents need to be together, not down the hall. Also, you purchased the trip based on connecting rooms. It would seem the TA would assume some responsibility here. Unbelievable!

[Toyz711]

NCL may not know, if the TA didn't book them under the same reservation number. since you can't book a room for kids only, an adult must be booked in that room. to NCL it looks like 1 adult and a couple of kids in one room.

[maddenmd]

If they don't give you a satisfactory solution prior to boarding the ship, I would insist on one when you check in. On Embarkation, tell them you had confirmed connecting cabins - show them your written confirmation, and refuse to go to the cabin until they make it right. If you are pleasant, but firm, I think that would work better than angry and upset.

 

If they refuse to honor your request you can also bring a prepared document for them to sign stating that if they do not provide connecting cabins, they take full responsiblity for the safety and conduct of your children. If they are injured, behave badly, disturb other passengers or destroy anything in the cabin, NCL takes responsiblity, and not you, as they decided to put them beyond your supervision and control.

 

I don';t think any ship staff in their right mind would sign such a document, and solutions would be found in a hurry.

 

I think I read another post where the parents did just that, stayed put until connecting cabins were found.

 

Good luck! Let us all know what happen.

[dwrist]

If they don't give you a satisfactory solution prior to boarding the ship, I would insist on one when you check in. On Embarkation, tell them you had confirmed connecting cabins - show them your written confirmation, and refuse to go to the cabin until they make it right. If you are pleasant, but firm, I think that would work better than angry and upset.

 

If they refuse to honor your request you can also bring a prepared document for them to sign stating that if they do not provide connecting cabins, they take full responsiblity for the safety and conduct of your children. If they are injured, behave badly, disturb other passengers or destroy anything in the cabin, NCL takes responsiblity, and not you, as they decided to put them beyond your supervision and control.

 

I don';t think any ship staff in their right mind would sign such a document, and solutions would be found in a hurry.

 

I think I read another post where the parents did just that, stayed put until connecting cabins were found.

 

Good luck! Let us all know what happen.

 

In the small print on NCL documents, it clearly states children must have an adult in the same cabin they are. I do not think NCL or any staff would sign that threat.:rolleyes:

[Studebaker59]

Why are you blaming the travel agent? Obviously, NCL made the switch.

[mush71]

Isn't there a rule that minors can't be in a room by themselves unless it is a connecting room to the adult room. Did you try bringing this up to NCL? Maybe they should be told they are breaking their own rules by separating you. Good Luck.

[kidrn]

thanks again so much for your supportive replies in what has beeen an extremely stressful day. Again I am disappointed about the bogus switch but I am really upset about how NCl has responded. I would never treat or talk to anyone the way that I was treated toda. No they had no intentions of notifying us or our travel agent as they just did it yesterday! which is even more maddening. The entire situation is outragious and I wish could be rectified. Someone was supposed to call me back today to maybe or maybe not offer some sloution but she was mysteriously was art lunch and then gone for the day. I just do not feel comfortable putting 2 children in a balcony stateroom 5-6 doors down from me. Oh did Imention that the 16 year old sleep walks from time to time! Oh my gosh I hope this works out.kidrn

[KeystoneCruiser]

Someone was supposed to call me back today to maybe or maybe not offer some sloution but she was mysteriously was art lunch and then gone for the day. I just do not feel comfortable putting 2 children in a balcony stateroom 5-6 doors down from me. Oh did Imention that the 16 year old sleep walks from time to time! Oh my gosh I hope this works out.kidrn

 

 

Funny, that is the same thing that happened to dad when he called NCL. The person who he needed to speak to was "out to lunch" and then when he called back "gone for the day." The next day he was put on hold for 2 hours. (he put the call on speakerphone and read a book) When someone did come back (and sounded quite surprised that he was still there), the person was once again: "out to lunch." I'm sure this person will be out to lunch tomarrow too. (of course that is my general opinion of NCL's top execs...lol)

 

As mush said, I don't believe that NCL rules allow kids to be seperated. Bring that up!

 

Also: be careful about offering your solution of an inside across the hall. NCL may take you up on it and then say that an adult has to be in both cabins and then you and your spouse will be split up.

[kidrn]

I finally taked to a nice Ncl representaitve. Of course he could not help but he completely understood and was actually nice and understanding which is really all I ever asked for I guress I will start all over again tomorrow, this issue just seems too wrong to let go. so due to occupancy issues they will separate my family and put them in different lifeboats! I do not see any rationale or logic at all. Kidrn:mad:

[kidrn]

I have already posted here today but so upset about the outragious way ncl has responded, just switched my room (CONNECTING ROOMS)FOR FAMILY TOLD ME TO TAKE A 200.00 OBC AMD MOVED MY FAMILY 5 DOORS DOWN THE HALL DUE TO OCCUPANCY ISSUES SO NOW IF WE NEED LIFE BOATS MY FAMILY WILL BE DOWN THE HALL WHERE I CANNOT GET TO THEM.KIDRN