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Fiascos and Fixes
Norwegian Cruise Line recently denied boarding to a bewildered passenger in Tokyo — she says, solely because of her nationality. But the next day, NCL reversed course and told the woman she was welcome to join the cruise.
Unfortunately, by then, Norwegian Spirit had sailed and was nearly 500 miles away in Kobe.
Would Norwegian Cruise Line ban a passenger just for complaining about itinerary changes? The answer likely depends on how the passenger delivers their grievance.
One former NCL customer recently discovered that his complaint about a port cancellation on an upcoming cruise wasn’t well received. And that’s an understatement.
Lynette Hampton was looking forward to a trip aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Viva with her friend Gloria. That is until the two had an irreversible falling out, which caused Hampton to cancel her part of the cruise. Things only got worse between them when NCL mistakenly sent a portion of Hampton’s refund to her newly minted enemy — and she refuses to give it back. Now what?
Norwegian Cruise Line handled all the details of Caleb and Karyssa Deslich’s honeymoon trip. So when American Airlines canceled their outbound flight, they expected NCL to come to the rescue. That didn’t happen, and the couple almost missed their Caribbean cruise.
Almost.
The Desliches came to their own rescue and spent an additional $700 on a replacement flight. They flew to Miami and arrived just in time to board Norwegian Joy before it set sail.
The couple assumed Norwegian Cruise Line would automatically refund either their canceled flight or the replacement one. But that didn’t happen.
Now Deslich is asking the Consumer Rescue team to intervene and get their money back. He says an NCL agent promised to send the $700 refund and then reneged on the deal.
So what does the cruise line have to say about the missing refund for the canceled flight? The answer will probably surprise you.
If you suffer a sudden medical emergency during a cruise, could the ship leave you behind in a foreign country? Much to his dismay, NCL passenger Andrew Goldstein found out that the answer is ‘yes.’
Norwegian Cruise Line recently gave Evangelia Koumanidis some awful news about her family’s much-anticipated sailing aboard its brand-new ship Prima. In a baffling email, NCL canceled their fully paid $4,657 cruise – citing nonpayment.
Confident that this cancellation was a simple clerical mistake that Norwegian could quickly correct, Koumanidis called the cruise line.
That’s when an NCL agent informed a stunned Koumanidis that there was no mistake. The cruise line had canceled the family’s trip 21 days before departure over an unpaid balance.
But there was worse news on the horizon. That same NCL agent coldly explained that when a passenger’s cruise is canceled over an unpaid balance, no refund is owed.
Now an incredulous Koumanidis is hoping Consumer Rescue can convince the cruise line to reconsider its decision. She’s certain that her cruise was paid in full and that NCL made a $5,000 mistake.
But what is really going on here? (March 24, 2023 Update)
Last August, Allen Nicholsen and his wife used a Norwegian Cruise Line consultant to book their first-ever cruise together. But when they attempted to board NCL’s Getaway last week, a now-pregnant Lindsey was stopped, questioned, and denied boarding.
Then things took a really bizarre turn for the parents to be.
As the expectant couple’s friends and family boarded the ship without them, the Nicholsens asked crew members about their options. That’s when an NCL agent cheerfully told Allen the good news: he was still welcome to join the cruise. But his pregnant wife would not be allowed to sail on the Getaway under any circumstances.
Of course, like any sane husband, Allen quickly let the crew member know he wouldn’t be taking the cruise without Lindsey. An NCL supervisor then handed the stunned couple denied boarding cards, and the Getaway sailed without them.
Now Allen is asking Consumer Rescue for help. He’s hoping we can convince Norwegian Cruise Line to give the disappointed couple a do-over or refund their money.
But when a passenger is denied boarding – even a pregnant one – does the cruise line owe them anything?
What happens when you miss your cruise ship home? Kevin Rohrer knows the answer to that question: many costly and unpleasant things.
During a Norwegian cruise aboard the Sky, Rohrer and his girlfriend missed the deadline for reboarding the ship by two hours. The boat sailed home without the couple, and they suddenly found themselves stranded on the island.
Rohrer says NCL changed the cruise’s departure time with no prior warning, abandoning them in Cuba to fend for themselves. He wants Norwegian Cruise Line to refund the cruise and pay all of the couple’s costs to return home. But is that a reasonable request?
This case highlights the importance of understanding the fluid nature of cruise itineraries. All cruise lines can and do change departure times and even ports of call in some circumstances. Anytime you step off your ship for a shore excursion, it’s imperative to reconfirm the reboarding time. Or you, too, could miss your cruise home.
Editors note: I originally reported on Rohrer’s case and published this article on July 3, 2018. Despite the cautionary warning that this story offers, our team continues to receive similar requests for help from cruise ship passengers in 2023 and the guidance remains relevant. (This column has been updated and checked for accuracy and republished on Feb. 2, 2023.)
Could a cruise ship passenger be denied boarding even if they have all of the required documents for sailing?
Lee Bolland says he knows the answer to that question is “Yes” because it happened to him.
Last fall, he and his wife planned to cruise through the Mediterranean on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Epic. The couple flew to Spain to begin their adventure, and all was going well — until it suddenly wasn’t. At the port, NCL employees shockingly denied Lee boarding and abandoned the couple there.
Last December, Patrick Doyle and his wife boarded a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, vaccinated and COVID negative. They intended to celebrate Christmas with a tropical cruise sailing on NCL’s Dawn. Unfortunately, within three days of embarkation, Lee Doyle became very ill. In the medical center onboard the vessel, she received a diagnosis of influenza. Her husband, who was feeling fine, tested positive for COVID, and their holiday adventure suddenly took an awful turn.
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