Complain about a product or service

Norwegian Cruise Lines

John of Kingston, OTHER March 16, 2008

In July my wife and I booked a Hawaiian cruise January 23,2008. Ship is Pride of Aloha, Honolulu. Reservation #14526771. All arrangements were booked through Service Guaranteed Travel, 645 Gardiners Rd., Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 613.384.4567. Toll free 1.866.843.2480. Travel consultant: Linda Doyle @ ext. 111. On December 10, 2007, I became aware that I required open heart surgery, and Linda Doyle was informed to cancel the cruise. RBC Insurance covered the air tickets, and the cruise costs were to be refunded as a credit to my credit card.

RBC honored their policy. NCL has not honored their refund policy nor has there been any communication other than to tell Linda Doyle NCL needs all the paper work sent again. This was done. Still nothing. My Google searches have revealed many unhappy NCL customers. Can you help me? 

Donna of Enfield, CT March 16, 2008

I took a cruise on the Jewel 3/9 to 3/14. As soon as I arrived at the port for check-in, I became aware that the ship would be filled with college spring breakers. I requested an upgrade to an area of the ship away from what was sure to be chaos.... I was told there was no more room anywhere. During the course of the cruise, it was impossible to get anywhere near the pools or the hot tubs unless I wanted to share them with no less than 10 college kids and their beer. The games and entertainment on the ship was blatantly geared to the college-age passengers which left not a lot of things for me to do or any place to go that did not have college kids there already. There were fights in the hallways and illegal substances constantly in the air. I went to the reception to request only that I be allowed to use the hot tub and steam room in the spa at no charge (you could use them for 20 a day). I told them it was the principle of the thing, and that I really didn't want to get into a problem on my cruise.

The practiced and canned answers were useless: We're so sorry. We strive to make your cruise...and on and on. I received to phone call to my cabin from the receptionist supervisor asking me to detail the person or service that I was unhappy with so she could report them to the manager of that dept. I told her there was no person or service other than that I could not use the ship's pools and such due to all the spring breakers. Upon the third phone call I told her I had no intention of using my cruise time to help her investigate a problem that she had no intention of fixing. All I wanted was to be able to use the spa hot tub at no extra charge, yes or no. I came to believe the answer was no when chocolate covered strawberries were delivered to my room. That should make me want to use the spa hot tub a lot less...right? Anyway, the ship was full, the automatic tips were way out of line, the extra charges for specialty resturants were crazy... cover charges to get in, then the good stuff on the menu, was even more. And canned answers to any complaints. I will never cruise NCL again. I have cruised on 5 other cruise lines and cannot believe that NCL can be so bad!



Griselda of Buenos Aires, FL March 12, 2008

I have booked Norwegian Jewel from February 15-24, 2008, by web, and I've book shore excursions, too. In the confirmation, my son's (aged 16) excursions prices were less than my husband and me. Once aboard, when we received the tickets, the prices for my son where higher than those booked and confirmed, and my account was charged for 1035 in total, instead of 955 ( 80 more than booked). I have asked a refund of 80 for money wrongly collected since February 26. Up until now, nobody answers mail. This company acts like thieves. I wait for your reply.

Holly of Olde Bridge, NJ March 8, 2008

We embarked on a 5 night cruise aboard the NCL Pearl. We had a mini-suite, more like a veranda cabin with a sightly larger bathroom. Ship was beautiful but food was awful. Spa was lovely but personnel were thieves. I booked a hot stone massage on embarkation day for discount rate of 175.00. Massage was overpriced but good. They added 18.5% to bill, and when I asked if this was a gratuity, the masseuse told me no. So I added 20%. This did not sit right with me or my husband who had his massage the next day. He was told it was a gratuity. I then called the spa manager to complain, and he gave me a new bill--no apology, however. A few days later I saw an ad for tooth whitening in the spa. I first asked for a consultation to see if my teeth could benefit. I was told they could and that we are having huge success in Europe!. Needless to say, I was out the 200.00 plus 18.5% for absolutely nothing.

I also have a few food disasters to report. I went to the Grill on Deck 12 for burgers mid cruise and snagged one hot off the grill, bit into it and spit it out. It tasted like meatloaf. I called the restaurant mgr. who told me that they were running low on hamburger so they extended the meat with something. Again no apology. Also, the freestyle is not free in most restaurants; there are cover charges between 10-3 a.m. I ordered a soup one night in the French Restaurant that stated it contained jumbo lump crab. It came with a crab product--you know, that pink and white faux seafood creation sold in the grocery store made from pollack. The only good meal was in the steakhouse, Cagneys.The experience was more Outback than Ruths Chris.

We paid a lot of money for this. I have cruised with Celebrity several times and will gladly go back to them. Norwegian's unapologetic attitude is shameless. Their germaphobia is about the only thing that they appear to be vigilant about. Customer service, good food, fair advertising and value obviously are not of paramount concern.

Joan of New Britain, CT March 6, 2008

I, too, was on the cruise from Charleston, SC, from 2/23 to 3/1, and not only do I ditto what is printed already, but they closed the pool mid week for painting. We then were accosted each day by waiters/waitresses pushing bar drinks, but if you want soda or a free drink, they ignore you and you get treated VERY RUDELY! I am writing a letter to the CEO, and I will update you on the reply, if any. ALSO, if the ship fails to dock, you are entitled a refund of port fees. DO NOT LET THEM tell you otherwise. Good luck. I refuse to give them a break on this poor behavior; they need an overhaul of everything and everyone on this ship!

Steven of Ridgeway, SC March 4, 2008

My wife and I booked a cruise for our 25th anniversary and decided to port out of Charleston SC. We set out on Feb 23 headed for Grand Caymen, Cozumel, and Key West. The cruise was a huge disappointment for us because when we got to Cozumel the captain decided that it was too rough to port there at the dock, so our only glimpse of Cozumel was from the window of the ship. The problem is that there were several other ships there in the port that were able to get their passengers on land. When we complained about not porting the NCL, people were very arrogant and did not offer anything in return for not getting to go to Cozumel. This port was the only reason that we took the cruise. (I felt like I had bought a plane ticket to Las Vegas, and when we got there we could not land so they brought me back home, and I still had to pay for the ride.)

 Once I started talking to people on the ship about this, I found out that this happens frequently with this ship. There is nothing on their website that talks about the ports that are missed for each ship so, for us there was no was to make an educated decision on weather this was the right cruise for us to take. I will definitely not cruise with NCL again and will tell everyone to stay away from them. I feel like I was robbed because there is no recourse for their actions. They have you on the ship, and you feel totally helpless. They told us that they could not dock, so we asked about using tenders. They told us that there were none available, but a cruise director on the ship with a group told us that the majesty had used it own boats to tender the passengers back and forth, so I felt like we didn't get to Coxumel so they could save the money. If you need any other information please contact me. This was our first cruise and it amazes me that they can do this and get away with it. Thanks.

We spent our hard earned money, that took us 1 year to save and never got to go to Cozumel. We don't know when we will be able to afford to take another vacation. This was like our honeymoon because we were not able to afford one when we married 25 years ago and now this is our memory of our hard earned money. I feel like they are all about the money and don't care about the passengers on the ship. Thanks

Charity of New City, NY March 3, 2008

To began with, there was no toilet paper, soiled linens. soiled plates. There was no use of toilets for 24 hrs. We spent 13,000 each and it was horrifying. I complained and all I received was a 100.00 gift certificate for a new cruise with them

Paul of Norcross, GA February 7, 2008

My wife and I were on the Jewel on the January 18, nine-day cruise. On a 1 to 10 rating, the cruise ranks about a 3. The food was meager and certainly not up to the food served on other cruise lines. For the first time cruiser he/she might think the food was excellent, but it wasn't. My wife ordered a shrimp and lobster dinner one evening and got 2 shrimp, and she is still looking for the lobster. There was an announcement that there were a couple people on the cruise who were sick. That caused the ship's Captain to close a couple of the sit down restaurants, and everybody had to eat in the Golden Corral type restaurant--thousands of cruisers all crowded into a self serve restaurant, and they could not even pick up their own plate. The food was given to them by an NCL employee: line up for coffee or a glass of water; line up for desert; line up for a hot-dog. This was a pretty sorry event which could have been corrected by allowing the cruise customers to eat at the sit-down restaurants where no one touches the food except the kitchen staff and the server.

Overall the serving staff and the housekeeping staff were excellent on this trip. This was my first NCL cruise since 1985, and it is my last for at least another 22 years.

Amy of Howells, NE February 4, 2008

We just got back from a 5 day cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel. Our trip was to the Caribbean from 1-27-08 through 2-1-08. I will NEVER go again. First off, one of the things you look forward to on a cruise is the amazing food; let me tell you its not anything close to amazing on this ship. They serve you the same thing every day. Even with 13 different restaurants...which half of those you have to pay to eat at, you still have the same menu day after day. If I am paying a good chunk of money to go on a cruise I am not going to pay more when I get on board to eat at restaurants. Whenever you buy something you are automatically charged 15% gratuity. That doesn't include the 10 per person per day charge to your room for gratuity.

Then there is the service; they are germaphobes--everywhere you went there was someone standing with a spray bottle of hand sanitizer. I am all for preventing the spread of germs, but this was more annoying than anything. The cruise staff catered to either the elderly or the 20 something people. If you were anywhere in between you were nothing. The main events they had on board were BINGO! I am only 28, and they charged you to play anyway. Back to the food, the buffet they served...was actually served to you! You could not get your own portions...they gave you them. There was supposed to be a kids buffet as well...never once was it up and running. The kids program was fine; that is the one thing I am not complaining about. We were supposed to celebrate a couple birthdays on board and never got anything from them like I was told we would get. The people across the hall got a cake ,though. My son was disappointed he didnt even get a  cake on his birthday. Then to boot, after we came home I tried to find a form or something to that affect that I could let the cruiseline know my thoughts....there is absolutely nothing. No one to contact or email. I will NEVER cruise with this line again. Very unhappy and out of A LOT of money.

It ruined my perspective on cruising.

George of Hollis, NH January 17, 2008

I was on the Norwegian Spirit on 1/6-1/13/08. Here's my story. The buffet food was good at first. Then they kept serving the same leftovers. So, in the last few days, the buffet was nasty. Also, one engine was down and caused a delay to ports. I think the casino, is in fact, fixed. Be wary of the automated shufflers. The rooms were smaller than other lines I have been on. The ship, I read, was in operation since 1999. It seems much older than that. The crew, I have to say, was awesome. I would not go on this line again. I have been on other (better) lines and would prefer to spend more to go on better vessels. If you choose this line, good luck.

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