We recently returned home from a 7 night cruise on NCL Pearl ( a new ship), which took us to Honduras, Belize, Cozumel, and the Bahamas. On our last day of the cruise prior to disembarking the vessel, around 6:30 am we were rudly disturbed by immigration officials escorted by someone from NCL stating they needed to check our documents. This was after we'd already gone thru immigration at our assigned time. We were asked to come out of our state rooms with our documents and were questioned in the hall way for about 20 mins while a second officer entered our rooms and searched every inch of our belongings. Upon completion of the questioning, we were told that these officers go thru the passenger manifest, and chose guests whom they check more thoroughly.
It the most rude experience I've ever gone thru. While I know NCL may not be directly responsible for the behavior of these officers this cruise line should not allow this kind of treatment of their passengers. They should demand that all passengers be treated with respect and dignity! I wasn't totally thrilled with my NCL cruising experience but this pushed me over the edge. This was the worse travel experience I've ever had. After speaking with several of the crew on board the comments we got were this was routine and it's the way NCL conducts business to some of it's passengers. I will no longer travel with NCL again.
Joseph of St-Hubert, OTHER November 15, 2008
Our experince was a nightmare from the moment we embarked. We sailed on the NCL Dream Oct 26- Nov 2, 2008 We were told only when the ship left port that the cruise we were on was the last for the Norweigian Dream. We leared through word of mouth that due to the last voyage some of the crew were left behind in Boston to go to other assignments. This of course left holes in the service we were promised through websites.The second day at sea it took us an hour and a half from time of ordering to receive our eggs cold I might add. we can not blame the staff as they were running frantically to deal with all the orders.
Further more we had to beg for more coffee only to wait 1/2 hour, after asking the first time 15 minutes prior on deaf ears. We felt the food was inferior. In one paticular instance we were serve 3 day old died cake for desert. We realized the cake was bad because the raspberry sprikles were dried on the plate as if they were dried on with a dish washer. You couldn't scrape it with your finger nail. They ran out of certain foods. We were also lied to about not having certain foods, so as to relieve themselves from running to another deck to obtain them. At certain points the staf was rude.
There was a code bravo called 4 am on the friday morning through out the ship including the individual cabins. Upon calling the front desk to find out what had happened, we were told it was a general call for all crew members only. Why my cabin? Upon hanging up I started to smell smoke in my cabin and upon opening the door there was smoke in the hall. I tried to call the front desk and received a repeated recording saying we will call back over and over. We made our way to the front desk on the 7th deck and demanded to know what was going on. We were told what we already had known, that there was a fire in the 3rd deck. I asked why when I had phone he had not been honest with me and why did I have to find out my self by smelling the smoke. He stated that it was the captains orders not to announce it.
When we complained to the Office manager the captain happened to be there. He had asked us directly what was wrong.When we proceeded to answer his question,he threw his hans up and stated I don't want to hear it. We assured him that it was not personal and that it wasn't eevn his fault. We had his attention again and proceeded to tell him it was more of a staff problem. Again rudely throwing his hand up again saying he did not want to hear it. Rhis experience with the lack of trust with our lives in as much as with holding the truth from us have left us very afraid and left us with a frightened feeling about cruising in the future.
2500.00 material expense including the cost of the cruise, food and lodging prior to get tho the ship, gas and minor expenses. 20000.00 pain and suffering from the experience, leaving us with the fear of cruising again.
Laura of Bridgewater, NJ November 8, 2008
We went on the cruise to New England/Canada in September 2008. The food was ok, but not much to complain about. I really have two complaints. First, my daughter's doll was left in the cabin. My husband has called their lost and found department SEVERAL times and each time they take down his issue, but never return any information to us.
Second, upon boarding the ship, your hands are sprayed with what they say is a hand sanitizer. My daughter still puts her hands in her mouth and I was pregnant. We both have to be careful of what goes in and on our bodies. They wouldn't let us refuse the spraying and also wouldn't tell us what was in the spray. We also received no prior information that we would be sprayed and no information while on the boat. I understand stopping the spread of germs, but they can't just spray people with chemicals whenever the want.
My daughter's doll is lost. We didn't have any side effects to the spray, but my baby has not been born yet; so, who knows if it received anything.
Darrell of Glendale, AZ October 30, 2008
Beware of Norwegian Cruise Line's price policy. I've been on cruises from Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Both have a policy that if a lower price is published before the cruise date, you can call and get the lower fare. Well, NCL does not have this policy. On a cruise I'm booked on, they just dropped the price 25%. I called to get teh lower price, and they won't do it. They won't offer an onboard credit, or knock off the fuel charge that was added when oil was 2x as expensive as now. I'm just overpaying by 25% because I booked too soon.
Margaret of Forrestdale, Western Aust, OTHER October 3, 2008
Norwegian Cruise Lines had a sale on cruises - 50% off second passenger. We were quoted by email an all inclusive price of 2683.00 USD for 2 adults with 50% deducted off the second fare. The invoice came through at 2880.80. USD. I had chased the cruise consultant for the amended invoice through several emails spanning 10 + weeks, he repeatedly promised the correct price is there and he would send it through tomorrow for over two months it never came.
I called the reservations department to try to sort it out, they put me on to a supervisor who could not find any details of the price change (to the quoted price) which the cruise consultant had promised was there several times by email. In addition, the discount which had appeared on our invoice was for union membership which we were not asked about and are not entitled to, therefore my understanding is we would be liable for the remainder of the full fare prior to boarding the ship when we can not produce union membership cards. Full price when we booked was 1199 each, with taxes and fuel supplement for both 3177.50 USD. (Discount should have been 494.50 USD according to the quoted figure). I have kept all emails, a log of calls, and the sale advertisement email to prove my claim.
It should be noted that yesterday they did amend the cruise price to the quoted price BUT the fraudulent union membership is still on the invoice, which from my understanding means we would be liable for a further 390.86 USD before boarding. This website will show the discount applied for union membership 20% on Norwegian Sun 01/18/2009. Our Australian dollar has fallen considerably since this was booked and numerous emails were sent to this affect telling the cruise consultant how much extra this was costing us because of his inaction, and we just kept getting promises. He is aware we paid a 400 Australian dollar cancellation fee on a Celebrity Cruise to be on their cruise. Our Contact with Norwegian Cruise Lines in Arizona: Cruise consultant - Nathan D.
I want my amended invoice for the correct price quoted (2683. category D Guaranteed cabin) with the union membership removed. AND I want compensation for the extra 460.00+ Australian dollars we are now going to have to pay as a direct result of these delays, due to the drop in our Australian dollar since the time we booked. This is now urgent, we now only have 4 weeks to pay in full or risk losing our deposit and we leave Australia next month.
As it stands at the moment @.7741 exchange rate = 505.66 Australian dollars extra, PLUS 390.86 USD if union membership is not removed.
Lloyd of South Ozone Park, NY September 9, 2008
Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line Cruise Ship: Norwegian Spirit Departure Date: Sunday, August 31, 2008 Departure Port: New York, New York Length of cruise: 6 days Category: Balcony Stateroom (BD) This is my third time cruising and I had a horrible experience. The cruise was supposed to leave from NY going to Florida and two places in the Bahamas. The cruise line did not properly notify me that they were no longer going to the planned destination and that we were to spend four days at sea and two days in Bermuda where I had already visited this year.
The buffet food was horrible, they did not change the menu for the entire cruise. It was the same food every morning for breakfast and the same menu for lunch and dinner. The buffet closed everyday at 3pm, and re-opened for dinner from 7:30 to 9:30pm. I got home on Saturday and felt sick from eating their food, I couldn't go to work on Sunday.
We were supposed to depart from NY at 4:30 p.m. but ened up departing until 8:30 p.m. They did not make any announcements over the loud speaker to indicate what was going on or why we were be delayed. Announcements of arrival and departures from Bermuda was never made, the only announcements that were heard was that the shops were open for business and that bingo will be starting in the next ten minutes.
I spent alot of money for a balcony room and found that it was not clean. In the shower I found someone else's disposable shaver on the shower floor. The balcony was useless because it was dirty and I did not want to touch it and the bathroom sink and shower kept flooding.
I bought an unlimited soda pass for 43, when I got the soda it was mostly ice in the small glass. I asked for two sodas, the staff then asked for another soda pass??? I did not understand, since I had an unlimited soda pass. Why did I need another pass to get more soda? I basically payed 43 and only got two small glasses of soda for the entire trip.
This was supposed to be a family vacation for my mother. This was her first time on a cruise and it turned out to be a horrible vacation for her. We were all disappointed, I felt that I was robbed of my vacation and totally ruined my mothers' xperience of ever cruising again.
Bob of Victoria, Bc Canada, OTHER August 26, 2008
Anyone planning a cruise beware of NCL. These folks should think again about being in the customer service business. My wife and I sailed on the Pride of Aloha in April. We are still fighting about getting some money back. These guys are corporate thieves.
Paid far too much money for the poor quality cruise, bad service, horrible food and misrepresentations. And, the CEO will not even talk to passengers. Because they get so many complaints, they have a standard policy - 1 complaint gets 25% of the cost of the cruise (not including on-board ripoffs) as an on-board credit for the next cruise.
Jeff of Forked River, NJ August 25, 2008
I don't know where to start.I'm not even on the boat and i'm already having problems with NCL.First things first. I have cruised with NCL twice in the past. Each time they have let me down.
1st trip. Norwegian Crown to Bermuda.In Short the boat stayed in Manhattan 2 nights because of engine problems. We couldn't back out and take a full refund because everyone knows how easy it is to just take back your vacation time at work and re book and plan a cruise. So we went on and took the refund. You would think NCL would go above and beyond to try and fix your trip where your only going to spend one day on the island. You would think. No they don't. They actually had the nerve to charge us for ponchos when we arrived to the island. Ohh yea.. It rained. Above all the service just sucked. The vacation was ruined I was brought down to the level of tears at breakfast one morning in front of my girlfriend because the trip was just that terrible.
So a few months later we went on the Gem to rebound from a disaster. We took the refund and the 15% discount they gave us and saved a decent amount of money. I mean this trip could have been better if they didn't have to change the itinerary, make reservation for specialty resuraunts so difficult, have rude workers and not try to sell and jam everything down your throat. It's clear all they really care about is money.Now it gets juicey.
Get this. In a few days i'll be going on the NCL Spirit with some buddies. Now NCL already acted themselves by taking away one island and extending the other. Now either you can take a full refund with no charges or cruise and recieve 50 per state roomSo that equals out to 12.50 a person. So I call up NCL and let them know about my past experiences and how i'm not happy with the offer because I have been dissapointed so many times. The man on the phone was very nice and understood and agreed that it could be a little discouraging wanting to book future trips. So he told me to write them a E-mail and they would get back to me.
So I call them for an update and some rude lady give me an attitude about the whole deal. Saying that, that is the offer take it or leave it. I try to explain that I can't back out of the cruise and that the 12.50 is kind of insulting to a cruiser who has been let down everytime so far by NCL. Then I tell her last time I called i was actually helped by a man and gave me good advice. Then she goes off to say that since I booked it through Liberty Travel he had no authorization to be talking to me in the first place.
So I spoke with my agent about it and she said sh'ed call them.Later on I got a call back from Liberty saying that NCL doesn't really care about my past experiences and dissapointments and maybe i'll get a bottle of wine in my room. Who know's I'll doubt they'll do it. They lost a customer just because they couldn't show a little decency. It's retarded. Don't cruise with NCL becuase they could really care less about you or if you are having a good time.
Dona of Greensboro, NC July 31, 2008
This was the worst vacation of our lives. Norwegian Cruise Lines was a HUGE disappointment. The service was absolutely over the top bad. When we arrived we waited for 5 hours to receive our luggage, and it was only after I complained that it promptly appeared. On Kauai we chose to do an excursion called the Mudbugs, and it was a great experience all except for the bus that picked us up. The driver had her IPOD on and the music was vibrating my brain, she had Sexual Healing blaring out of the speakers. She pulled into the gift shop associated with the Mudbugs and left her IPOD going. The next thing we know Snoop Doggy Dog, comes on singing an uncut version of a song I already know I wanna [expletive], you, then he proceeds to describe the female anatomy in vulgar detail. This was a bus with 9 children and many women on it.
The room service on the Pride of America was a complete joke, we ordered a turkey sandwich, and the bread was so hard I couldnt bite into it, I tried to rip it with all my might to no avail. Another time we ordered pizza thinking, who can mess up pizza? Norwegian Cruise Lines. It was nearly raw on top and looked just like a personal microwave pizza, and burnt to a black crisp on the bottom. It made our room smell so badly we put it in the hall. The food at the restaurants was mediocre to say the least. Hard breads, cold food, burnt tasting coffee and tea.
I called to make a reservation with the restaurants and was told that I could only do that? 24 hours before, so I waited until the next day and called and they said Oh, you have to call before 4:00. Later I found a printout in our room that said because we were in a state room with a balcony that we could make dinner reservations up to 48 hours in advance. Again poor service, and lack of attention to detail. Our anniversary was on Friday, so we decided to go to the Liberty Restaurant. We arrived properly dressed at around 6:30 and were told there would be a 45 min wait. So, we took our pager and went to the wine bar and purchased a bottle of wine . After well over an hour, they finally paged us. When we returned to the restaurant it was half empty and the wait staff were rushing to clean up there sections for the next day. They sat us in an busy isle seat. Jeff was our waiter, and he completely blew us off. We waited for 30 minutes for him to bring some butter for our cold hard bread. I had to get up and ask someone else for butter. Eventually he brought us our very cold food. Then Jeff brought out a cake that said Happy Birthday, and threw it on the table while a group of waiters all laughed. Then they all proceeded to sing a stupid song.
We had the impression that a cruise would be world class service with excellent gourmet style foods available at any hour, including midnight buffets and Las Vegas style shows. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND NORWEIGAN CRUISE LINE TO ANYONE! This trip was 3,500 for the cruise alone. It was a waste of good money.
John of Palos Verdes Estates, CA July 11, 2008
We booked two rooms on Norwegian Sun for the Alaska cruise and got aboard on June 30. On the first day, after a mandatory safety drill, which drove everyone to the deck, and some time in the lounge, when our friend and my wife came back to their stateroom, the cleaning crew had done a turn-down service and about 400 of cash were stolen from their purses which had been laying on the beds. Security was called and nothing was done about it.
The next day, when my wife and her friend entered the fitness room to practice yoga, an instructor (John) charged them 11.80 each for using the room when his class was winding up, claiming that as a master of martial art he deserved respect. When I confronted him, he agreed to refund the money. After I left, he reneged and went to yell at the ladies. The spa manager, Audrey, who was in charge, also lied about having posted Do not disturb signs on the doors, which there were none.
Few of the staff spoke decent English, yet a lot of them sported perfect English surnames. With Norwegian Cruise Line, a vacation turned into a nightmare. After I made the complaints, I was promised that someone would get back to me. To date, no one has contacted me. My suggestion: Avoid Norwegian Cruise Line like a plague.
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