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Fiascos and Fixes
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.
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?
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.
If you show up with the wrong ID to board a cruise, you’ll get left behind on the dock as the ship sails away without you.
Unfortunately, Charishma Motwani and her family experienced this awful scenario firsthand. As a result of documentation confusion, they missed their much-anticipated Alaskan cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Bliss.
Charishma says Norwegian Cruise Line is responsible for the mistake that caused her family to miss their voyage. She believes the cruise line owes her a do-over or a refund for their lost vacation.
And once you hear the facts of her tale, you just might agree.
Maybe you’ve chosen to fly on the same day as your cruise, and things went off without a hitch. But for Marcelino and Julieta Bautista, that’s a gamble they lost.
They redeemed a free Norwegian Cruise Lines “Casinos at Sea” cruise through the Alaskan glaciers. But they pressed their bets too far when they flew into Anchorage on the same day as embarkation. Although their flight arrived as scheduled, something went terribly wrong and the ship left without them.
As a result, that freebie cruise turned out to be no bargain at all. The couple was forced to pay thousands of dollars to catch up with NCL’s Jewel. Bautista says that the cruise line made the mistake that caused the ship to leave without them. He wants reimbursement for all their extra expenses, and he wants our team to help get it.
In May 2021, even as the cruise industry remained paused, Norwegian Cruise line began its NCL Giving Joy contest. The competition, launched to coincide with Teacher Appreciation Week, would honor 100 of the top educators in the United States. The nominees would vie for giant cash prizes for their schools. The cruise line would also award 100 dream cruises to the winners.
In August, after months of voting, Norwegian Cruise Line announced those winners in a joyful Facebook live stream event.
David Sowerby, an orchestra teacher from Caledonia, Mich, was shocked to discover he had won second place in the contest. His win meant that NCL would donate $15,000 to the middle school where he’d taught for the past 17 years. Not only that, but David and his wife, Rebecca, were awarded a dream cruise to Alaska.
In his thank-you speech, David explained that the money would buy new instruments for his school’s orchestra. He felt on top of the world.
But things took a sad and unexpected turn soon after NCL’s festive award ceremony.
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© 2024 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
