Safety Issue on the Jade

[G-Funk]

I apologize in advance if anyone thinks this is a bit harsh....but I think it needs to said.

 

I don't care who you sail with in the future, but I do think it is your obligation to see this situation through. Especially since you claim that safety is your concern.

 

Upper management needs to understand the situation so that: 1. it is documented if there is a problem with another passenger in the future. 2. they can make decisions on how to improve services to other challenged passengers in the future.

 

Companies (of all types) do not promote changes that will cost them money or resources. That is, they don't until they are threatened with a loss of revenues that exceed those changes vis a vis a lawsuit.

 

The apathy you are showing with regard to their lack of caring is selfish and if safety were truly your motivation then their lack of response should fuel your fire even more.

 

/steps off the soapbox

 

Wow, in one message I managed to have my motivaton questioned twice and be called selfish - thanks very much.

 

Just to make you happy, I called the glorious NCL to find out what email address I should forward my concern to. After confirming (several times) that I did not want anything from them, the customer service representative told me that there was not an email address that she could provide me, but if I wanted to tell her the details, she would ensure that it would be forwarded to the correct person.

 

So I went through it for her and got the ooohs and aaahs at the appropriate times, and she promised that as soon as she got off the phone she would email the responsible person on the Jade. This despite the fact that I told her that I had raised the issue already while on the ship.

 

I had assumed the corporate offices would be in a building somewhere - who knew they would be on a boat??

 

And to think I thought I would be wasting my time.

[OceanDreaming2]

G-Funk -

 

I am sorry to hear of the problems you've described in your posts. My late sister was disabled and only then did I become aware of the difficulties she (and other disabled) encountered. I don't have a specific email address - but you may wish to contact Kevin Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer at NCL. I'm sure you'll talk to one of his assistants when you call 305-436-4000 but NCL does want to hear from you and anyone else who wishes to let them know when they have an issue.

 

A complete listing of the officers at NCL is here http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=LeadershipTeam

 

Good luck.

[sillysailor 1955]

Once again the NCL Pom Poms are flying!

G-Funk you will just never win with the NCL fan club!

[Carnac767]

Um, what was she trying to win? She stated a concern and the issue has been discussed. I thought that was the purpose of this forum.

[flashdog_1]

It's a matter of advertising that there IS accessibility when there wasn't on the way down. It was not only his own safety, but that of anyone who might have been "in the way" or the 4 carriers, too.

 

The crew trains for emergencies like fire, pirates etc. so they should include training for putting the chair down to the tender in their program.

 

Think about this. If it had been an emergency at sea (think Titanic) they should all have known about the chair and that's that.

[CanadaFour]

OK- As any one who reads the thread will know, I come out on the side of the OP. Strongly. I feel that safety is everyone's concern and nothing can be gained by questioning the OP on her motivations to receive or not receive compensation. I believe that s/he is sincere in wanting to ensure that others are not harmed. OP-please read the following with this in mind.

 

That said-- it is my personal ethic that one must take on issues of importance and see them through to resolution. Although the OP has clearly educated us on CC regarding the safety issues, I do feel that s/he has a responsibility beyond this. The decision makers at NCL Corporate need to be apprised of the situation. I understand that it is possible to feel powerless when dealing with situations like this. You were clearly deprived of your sense of personal power during the episode and feel it has been challenged on this board. But... if one faces a critical incident, such as this, and does not try everything possible to resolve it, then one is complicit when the next person is harmed. (I know that this is strongly worded, but my personal ethic is thus. I mean no harm. Only to emphasize that difference is only made when one acts in the face of a wrongdoing). I do sympathize deeply with the OP. S/he tried and tried. I ask him/her to try again. Send the letter to the President of the corp. This is not a ship specific issue. Please. If it is my mother, another poster's sister, or a total stranger who is injured next time.... you will always wish you stepped forward and tried one additional time.

[maggiecatenjay]

I am very sorry that happened to you. It sounds like it was VERY scary. It seems to me that situations like yours, in retrospect happen in the blink of an eye and it takes a moment or two to get oriented to what is happing in/around/to you and then the panic. Then it's scary all over again later when you think about it.

 

It seems to me the sequence was:

• Change of port altering debarkation process
  
• Because the original port was docking you didn't need to investigate debarkation processes for the disabled.
  
• You were unaware of the chair lift's existence
  
• The frightening lift and carry happened in a flash.
  
• Then you didn't get an apologetic 'We were wrong in the way we handled the situation."
  

I have found in corporate situations personnel will not admit wrongdoing or ineptitude or even hurting your feelings for fear of litigation and other ramifications magnified by their admittance - whether they should make it or not.

 

A sad state of affairs when an "I'm sorry" is 'against policy."

 

It's food for thought that your being aware of the alternate mode of debarkation would have avoided the whole scary situation - because you would have simply opted for it.

 

I have found that getting information is extremely difficult for cruising... Not sure if it's only NCL or the whole industry. If you don't ask the specific question to the specific person that can give you a definitive and specific answer you are out of luck. The first step is knowing that you have to ask the question - let alone actually asking it.

 

Good for you for having a good time anyway.

[CruisnGram]

Everything cannot be solved via email. Send a letter, registered mail, to:

 

Norwegian Cruise Lines

Kevin Sheehan, CEO

7665 Corporate Center Drive

Miami, Florida 33126

[maggiecatenjay]

I somehow missed this last page of posts and was responding to 'old news.' Sorry.

 

I agree (as usual) with Cruisin Gram. If knowledge would have been power for you on board, knowledge is power for the CEO. If he doesn't know he has to ask the question (or take action, as it were) he won't even ask it or start the ball rolling to rectify it for future disabled passengers (and with the aging baby boomers I'd think it would behoove him to rectify all he can regarding the disabled).

[Tokaybean]

 

Needless to say, it was an exceedingly unsatisfying resolution and clouds my impression of the Jade, their staff, Captain Fafalios, and NCL. Too bad, because I love the Freestyle concept, but we will not sail NCL again and I would suggest the same to others.

 

What is it that you want from NCL? They apologized. Do you not have some responsibility in this whole matter? Why did you let them pick you up and carry you if you thought it was unsafe? That is when you should have started complaining especially if they picked you up without your consent. I don't get it.

 

BTW, I see NO reason why I shouldn't sail with NCL. I've never had a problem getting on or off the ship.

[suzyed]

I am very dissappointed to see how the OP has been admonished for telling her experience here and many folks sounding like they don't believe her by using terms like "claim" and "if".

Then she is told she has a "responsiblity" to follow this through? It sounded to me like she tried to do her part by reporting this right after the incident and it fell on deaf ears. Strawberries and sparking wine is supposed to smooth over what she felt was an unsafe incident like this?

 

I can't even imagine the response she would have gotten had she come to CC and stated she was going to the top at NCL and that she was considering litagation...wow...she would have been crusified here.

 

I believe the OP has the right to say she just wont sail with NCL again if she feels its not safe. I have heard other posters state they won't sail NCL, RCI, ABC, etc...over much less than this.

 

I really enjoy NCL and will continue to sail with them, but we all have the right to pick and choose what we feel is the best fit for each of us.

 

JMHO

[noobcruiser]

CanadaFour you summarized exactly what I was feeling after I read through the thread.

 

G-Funk, I knew my comment was going sound harsh and admit that the word "selfish" may not have been the best word to use so again, I apologize.

 

I am on your side in terms of I think you were wronged, but the situation warrants more than the attitude of "oh well, nobody cares, why bother".

 

If I were in your situation, I would make it my personal mission to get NCL to at least admit that they need to do a better job of handling special needs guests.

 

I don't know all of the rules of the CC boards, but I would be willing to sign a petition in support of telling the cruiselines that they need to be more mindful of the needs of their special needs passengers by publishing clear rules on how they handle these kinds of situations.

[mickeysgal]

I am very dissappointed to see how the OP has been admonished for telling her experience here and many folks sounding like they don't believe her by using terms like "claim" and "if".

Then she is told she has a "responsiblity" to follow this through? It sounded to me like she tried to do her part by reporting this right after the incident and it fell on deaf ears. Strawberries and sparking wine is supposed to smooth over what she felt was an unsafe incident like this?

 

I do believe the OP still has the responsibility to follow through and make sure that someone does listen to this issue. Yes, she tried immediately while on the cruise to get some resolution, but sending wine and strawberries isn't the right resolution and therefore more needs to be done so that NCL can correct this problem. Now, did the front desk just send the treats or did they send the treats and document and forward the complaint to proper channels? Who knows? If it were me, I would put my concerns in writing so that it is documented and send it to the address given in a post above.

 

Does it mean that NCL is a cruise line that is completely unsafe and should be avoided entirely? Of course not. It means they have to modify their safety procedures for people with disabilities when tendering.

[maggiecatenjay]

CanadaFour you summarized exactly what I was feeling after I read through the thread.

 

G-Funk, I knew my comment was going sound harsh and admit that the word "selfish" may not have been the best word to use so again, I apologize.

 

I am on your side in terms of I think you were wronged, but the situation warrants more than the attitude of "oh well, nobody cares, why bother".

 

If I were in your situation, I would make it my personal mission to get NCL to at least admit that they need to do a better job of handling special needs guests.

 

I don't know all of the rules of the CC boards, but I would be willing to sign a petition in support of telling the cruiselines that they need to be more mindful of the needs of their special needs passengers by publishing clear rules on how they handle these kinds of situations.

 

It seems to me that this is an opportunity for the CC community to pull together on an important issue...

I've seen polls here on CC (never took one as they did not apply to me). I wonder if somebody (noobcruiser???) created a thoughtful, meaningful poll and lots of CC'ers... The advantages would be (at least): G-Funk would feel as though the safety concerns were validated by this community and two, if the poll was constructed carefully and the results were sent, along with G-Funk's letter (snail) to the CEO I would suspect the concern would carry a bit more weight than a letter alone....

 

Conversely, a poorly constructed or poorly worded poll might be counterproductive...

 

Just a thought from a newbie.

[suzyed]

Well if NCL "monitors" the CC boards as they say they do....hopefully they are seeing this and will take steps to remedy this problem.

[G-Funk]

OK- As any one who reads the thread will know, I come out on the side of the OP. Strongly. I feel that safety is everyone's concern and nothing can be gained by questioning the OP on her motivations to receive or not receive compensation. I believe that s/he is sincere in wanting to ensure that others are not harmed. OP-please read the following with this in mind.

 

That said-- it is my personal ethic that one must take on issues of importance and see them through to resolution. Although the OP has clearly educated us on CC regarding the safety issues, I do feel that s/he has a responsibility beyond this. The decision makers at NCL Corporate need to be apprised of the situation. I understand that it is possible to feel powerless when dealing with situations like this. You were clearly deprived of your sense of personal power during the episode and feel it has been challenged on this board. But... if one faces a critical incident, such as this, and does not try everything possible to resolve it, then one is complicit when the next person is harmed. (I know that this is strongly worded, but my personal ethic is thus. I mean no harm. Only to emphasize that difference is only made when one acts in the face of a wrongdoing). I do sympathize deeply with the OP. S/he tried and tried. I ask him/her to try again. Send the letter to the President of the corp. This is not a ship specific issue. Please. If it is my mother, another poster's sister, or a total stranger who is injured next time.... you will always wish you stepped forward and tried one additional time.

 

Thank you for your message. I have reformatted my message into a letter format and sent it via mail to Kevin Sheehan at NCL this morning. I will let everyone know if I hear back from them.

 

By the way, I am a 45 year old male. No apologies necessary by anyone, I never made that clear. But I am far from shy or timid, so that can give you an idea how fast things happened and how grave they were.

[suzyed]

Thank you for your message. I have reformatted my message into a letter format and sent it via mail to Kevin Sheehan at NCL this morning. I will let everyone know if I hear back from them.

 

By the way, I am a 45 year old male. No apologies necessary by anyone, I never made that clear. But I am far from shy or timid, so that can give you an idea how fast things happened and how grave they were.

Good luck G-Funk! Let us know how it turns out...we got your back! ;)

[Ladder55]

G-Funk=

glad you decided to write a letter

some of the comments on this thread are really unbelievable

not sure which is worse, the treatment you received on the incident, or the treatment from fellow cruisers on this thread, truely incredible and it happens all the time here,

good luck on getting help with the issue with Ncl

[CanadaFour]

G-Funk

I wish you all the best. If there is anything I can do to help you further, please just ask.

 

 

Mary-- a fellow Canuck!

[Mooder]

Thank you for your message. I have reformatted my message into a letter format and sent it via mail to Kevin Sheehan at NCL this morning. I will let everyone know if I hear back from them.

 

By the way, I am a 45 year old male. No apologies necessary by anyone, I never made that clear. But I am far from shy or timid, so that can give you an idea how fast things happened and how grave they were.

 

I'm glad to hear this and will be looking forward to hearing the response.

[Zeno]

Thank you for your message. I have reformatted my message into a letter format and sent it via mail to Kevin Sheehan at NCL this morning. I will let everyone know if I hear back from them.

 

By the way, I am a 45 year old male. No apologies necessary by anyone, I never made that clear. But I am far from shy or timid, so that can give you an idea how fast things happened and how grave they were.

 

So happy to hear this. I refrained from commenting on the thread because although I agreed with you about the very real safety issue, I was a bit concerned that you seemed to be giving up without writing them. (We have a friend who has a chronic illness who sometimes travels with us. Our friend is not in a wheelchair yet but that time may come and it bothered me that a significant safety issue might not be addressed.) Thanks so much for taking the effort to pursue this!

[G-Funk]

Just to conclude the issue for the time being and to assauge the suspicions of those that have questioned my motives earlier in the thread, the letter I sent to NCL was exactly the content of the original post, with a couple of grammatical corrections, and the following conclusion. As I mentioned, if I hear anything back I will post it to this thread.

 

--------------------

 

Needless to say, it was an exceedingly unsatisfying resolution and clouds my impression of the Jade, their staff, Captain Fafalios, and NCL. Too bad, because I love the Freestyle concept, but it would be difficult to sail NCL again given the apparent lack of concern for safety and apparent willingness to put disabled passengers in danger.

By the way, I do not want anything from NCL and am forwarding you this letter only after a spirited discussion on cruisecritic.com. I actually figured bringing it up twice on the ship and the other day on the phone with your customer service department was enough, but other posters convinced me that it was my responsibility to make sure NCL corporate knew about this in order to help future passengers.

You or your staff may feel free to contact me with any questions.

 

---------------------

[maggiecatenjay]

Beautiful.

Will look forward to NCL's response.

[ikelmay]

Glad to see the OP took this to the appropriate level. We have travelled on most lines and tendered in quite a few times and it can be the most chaotic experience for an able bodied person never mind anyone with challenges. I suspect it depends on the individuals running the tender operation on the individual ship - our most competent and well run tender departure by far, was with the Norwegian Gem - the worst have all been on Celebrity.

 

There should be a very clear chain of operations for dealing with passengers with limited mobility, and I'm surprised it continues to be a problem.

 

As a p.s., I'm surprised the OP didn't connect the dots with the strawberries and sparkling wine though - the day any line 'gifts' me without an ulterior motive is the day the sky will fall in.

[CC Help Michell]

Just to conclude the issue for the time being and to assauge the suspicions of those that have questioned my motives earlier in the thread, the letter I sent to NCL was exactly the content of the original post, with a couple of grammatical corrections, and the following conclusion. As I mentioned, if I hear anything back I will post it to this thread.

 

--------------------

 

Needless to say, it was an exceedingly unsatisfying resolution and clouds my impression of the Jade, their staff, Captain Fafalios, and NCL. Too bad, because I love the Freestyle concept, but it would be difficult to sail NCL again given the apparent lack of concern for safety and apparent willingness to put disabled passengers in danger.

 

By the way, I do not want anything from NCL and am forwarding you this letter only after a spirited discussion on cruisecritic.com. I actually figured bringing it up twice on the ship and the other day on the phone with your customer service department was enough, but other posters convinced me that it was my responsibility to make sure NCL corporate knew about this in order to help future passengers.

 

You or your staff may feel free to contact me with any questions.

 

---------------------

 

Now THAT seems absolutely perfect to me. I hope you receive a satisfactory response in a timely manner and I thank you for taking the time to do this -- I really do think it was the "right thing to do," whatever the response.