Complain about a product or service

Norwegian Cruise Lines

Al of Santa Rosa Beach, FL January 11, 2008

I just returned from a 7-day NCL (Pride of Hawaii) cruise of the 4 Hawaiian Islands. The NCL ship does not compare to Princess ships. The NCL ship had a dusty bathroom that I cleaned when we got on the ship. There was no steward, so we only got ice one a day, so I had to get the ice every afternoon from the 12th deck cafeteria. The food was good but mediocre in the main restaurants; the cafeteria was favored over the formal dining rooms. On the last evening the dinner in the main restaurant took 2 hours (Our table for 6 had champaign so some of that was our fault, but 2 hours?). On the 4th night as my wife and I were returning to our cabin (deck 8) we noticed horrible choking fumes in the hallway and in our room. We immediately went outside on deck 7 to get fresh air. We were informed by other passengers that the odor was from paint vapors that had come in through the vents.

At no time was a ship's representative available to keep us informed and assist us. No one would answer the phones; I called (ship operator, housekeeping, medical) until I called 911. Only then did someone answer the phone who knew nothing about the incident. In fact she laughed at my concerns. I called 911 a second time to get connected to the medical room. There I talked to the nurse. She quickly assigned us an inside room at the other end of the ship. We then encountered a ship executive in the hallway who appeared to be unconcerned with our apprehension. We spent the night in an inside room. On this ship's cruise, 2 weeks prior to ours, many passengers got so sick that the local newspaper ran an article about it.

We will never travel on an NCL ship again. They appear to be the worst of all the cruise lines. You can verify that be looking at the huge number of complaints on this web site about NCL vs the other cruise lines.

Joan of Thousand Oaks, CA December 28, 2007

Norwegian Cruise Lines changed ports at two locations after we were on board.  It is a scam, and I am ery disappointed.  There was no warning and had to change vacation plans in less than 24 hours.

Gloria Williams Monhem of Englewood, NJ December 22, 2007

My best friend took me on a cruise March 1-11, 2007. We were caught in a rolling storm for 7 of those days. Missed most of the promised ports due to the storm. My dilemma began when I returned and checked my bank account. I had spent, over the course of the cruise, 420 in the casino and the gift shop, using my debit card with the Visa logo. They hit my bank account for 820.00! When I questioned them, they told me that it was industry standard to put a hold on twice the amount spent for 72 hours. Well, it has now been 9 months and they keep changing their story. Even though I have the receipts that I signed for, they are refusing to accept them. They told me long ago that their records get destroyed...IN THE MIDDLE OF AN UNRESOLVED ISSUE!?

The latest rep, Caroline, suggested that I simply lost count of how much I spent in the casino. I respectfully let her know that I have receipts and a final, signed bill that states my charges were 420.00. She likened my experiences to her frequent Las Vagas trips, saying we all lose time in casinos. While I spent stormy nights in the casino (I'm not a drinker or a clubber, my friend was sea-sick); this trip was a gift, and my funds were very limited.

When I returned home my bank had bounced 3 checks totaling 90.00! NCL is being unreasonable and crafty. They refuse to refund the funds they pilfered from my account, won't even address the 90.00 in bounced check fees (which was direct result of their error). They even falsified a document which they sent to my travel agent.

Fred of Calgary, OTHER April 4, 2007

Intinary changed with less than 48 hours notice. Dropped Acupulco and Xtapa in favor of Manzanillo and Mazatlan. Request for refund or replacement of original ports refused.

Forced to go on cruise to ports other than those advertised. Replacement ports were of no interest to me.

Mona of Watertown, NY March 23, 2007

. The second day of the cruise we found out, that the stops in the Bahamas and Jamaica were eliminated and replaced with a stop on Key West, Florida. The other stops in Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, and Grand Cayman went as scheduled. NCL gave everyone on board 50 credit for the change (to be spent on board ship, nonrefundable and not to be used for service charges). I found out that some people were notified of the changes two days before the cruise and offered the opportunity to reschedule. I found that others had received a flyer outlining the itinerary change in the Freestyle Daily, the morning newspaper distributed to the cabins. My husband and I received neither a phone call nor a flyer; I had to go to the reception desk area to get one.

Mary of Plymouth, MI March 13, 2007

In April of 2006, I booked a cruise for myself and my brother for February 26, 2007 on the Mexican Riveria cruise offered by Norwegian Cruise Line. The reason for picking this cruise was that the itinerary went to Acapulco. After we were boarded onto the ship, announcements occurred which said that the itinerary had changed and we were no longer going to Acapulco and our other southernmost port, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, but were instead going to different ports for shorter amounts of time. .

 My other major complaint with NCL is that we faced age discrimination on the ship. We were a group of ten college students, ranging in age from 19 to 21. There were only about twenty people onboard in this age bracket. A security guard came in, informed us that we needed to be 23 years of age to drink or else we would get arrested on board, and presented a tazer gun.

Marlene of Erding, AL February 25, 2007

In February the 2007 we boarded Norwegian Wind (NCL, Norwegian Cruise Line) for our honeymoon trip. The whole trip was a bad experience due to the bad service on this ship. Just to mention a few examples: Every time you entered the ship or a restaurant you had to disinfect your hands (company policy). The staff  had difficulties in understanding English and treated all passengers in general so unfriendly and impolite.

The food was poor and below average.
 Elder people risked being injured on this ship.


I took my time to write all these points down on paper and forwarded them to the management on board.

Polly of Corpus Christi, TX November 6, 2006

We were scheduled to leave on a cruise aboard the NCL Dream. I booked the cruise through AARP which deals with Travelocity. All the communication was done through emails. I never received anything over the mail. I called to ask if I needed a passport to make the trip, I was informed that the only thing I needed was an ID, the person on the phone went on to tell me that I would need a passpot after Jan 1, 2007. When we arrived to the terminal we were informed that we need our birth certificates. I had to get my son to leave work and go find them and have them faxed.

I understand that these documents are needed due to the threats the US has endured these past few years with terrorism. What I do not understand is how having a birth certificate faxed makes it valid. Anyone could be faxing a fake one. We were not able to have our birth certificates faxed in time, and we were not allowed to board. I called Travelocity, NCL, AARP and all told me that it was considered a cancellation.

There were 6 other passengers that were told that they only needed a picture ID; however, they were fortunate enough to have someone fax their birth certificates in on time. Needless to say I am very upset and disappointed. I blame my self for not inquiring futher than I did in regards to documents needed to get onboard. When I talked to Travelocity, I asked them to search for the recorded conversation in which the wrong information was communicated, since I was advised by them that all calls are monitored. I was told that they would look into it and I have not heard form them and I doubt that I will.

We paid for a cruise that we were not able to board due to misleading information.

Nancy of Bloomfield, NJ May 12, 2006

I am sending you this letter to address an incident that occurred during our vacation on Norwegian Crown, the week of August 28, 2005 voyage from New York to Bermuda. Our cabin number was 8005. We have take many cruises in the past but this one was the most disappointing by far. We chose to travel with Norwegian this time for its reputation in quality service and quality dining. My husband and I were in disbelief from the beginning. The free styling dining was not for us. Which works for most people, we decided we prefer preset dinning.

My dismay is not how I felt about free style dining but the tragedy that occurred on our vacation. On our third day of our vacation, my husband fell ill in the early afternoon. We were sightseeing and felt it was best to go back to the cabin. My husband was suffering from severely bad abdominal pain. I took him to the ship Dr when they opened that evening. The clinic was unable to take an x-ray because he said my husband was too big for the machine (my husband is 6’4 and 240 lbs, I don't that’s huge). The Dr later diagnosed him with constipation. He prescribed him Gatorade and Citrucel for his symptoms. My husband’s pain grew more during the night .

Not being able to sleep with the pain, in the middle of the night, the pain increased and he began to vomit violently. He felt a little better but that was short lived. We went back to the ship’s clinic that next morning, the Dr just looked at us and told us to go to emergency, there was nothing else he can do. No one helped us get to the hospital, unknown to us that the hospital was 45 minutes away. We were able to get a taxi at the pier. My husband was almost unconscious by the time we got to the hospital. Once at the hospital, a series of tests were performed. They could not diagnose his condition. Finally at 9:00pm that evening the Dr's decided to operate because they thought it could be his appendix.

While he was in surgery, I returned back to the ship to get a change of clothes for the night to spend next to my husband. I went to the front desk, I asked them to help me with accommodations due the fact that this is my first time in Bermuda and was unfamiliar with island. They told me they could not help me but if I went to the dock there was a phone and a phonebook to help me find accommodations. Now I felt a wave of panic hit me and decided to deal with it in the morning before the ship left. I also asked to have our excursion refunded that we were unable to fulfill that day due to my husbands illness. They told me no because I did not give 24 hr notice. Which made me more irate because here I am , my husband in surgery and no one wants to help me or have any compassion to assist me. I went back to my cabin, retrieved a few things and went back to the hospital.

Surgery was over when I got there. The Dr told me that they removed his appendix but it was NOT the problem. My husband had food poisoning. The only place we ate was on the ship. Thank goodness we did not eat the same things! I was just stunned and in disbelief . The next morning , after spending a sleepless night on a chair next to my ill husband, I went back to the ship to pack our belongings. FINALLY there was someone to help me with my luggage to the pier. Before disembarking , I went to the front desk to sign disembarkation and custom papers. I asked them to help me return helmets from a scooter we rented three days ago. They just simply told me to go to the pay phone and make arrangements. By this point, with no sleep and worrying about my husband in a hospital , none the less in a foreign country, due to food poisoning , my patience was lost.

Once back at the hospital, with all my luggage in tow, some caring people helped me find a place to stay while my husband recuperated from surgery. Fortunately, family flew in to help us in our darkest hour. Exactly a week after this whole tragedy occurred, including the pain and suffering that both my husband and I endured, we were able to return home again at our own expense.

Our vacation has caused us both financial and emotional hardship. My husband has not fully recovered from his ordeal. He continues to have stomach and intestinal problems. A few months have passed and until today no one has contacted us from Norwegian just to ensure that my husband is alive. I am flabbergasted at the thought that my husband could have been died and no one from the corporation has helped me or even reached out to us thus far.

Frank of Sicklerville, NJ May 2, 2006

My girlfriend and I booked a cruise with NCL on the Norwegian Crown for April 25, 2006 via USAA Travel Agency sailing from Philadelphia to Bermuda. Unfortunately, we are both disappointed with this cruise and will likely never embark on another one. I am writing this letter with great disappointment with our cruise experience. Below are some of our complaints:

1. When we received our cruise packet 14 days prior to embarkation, the itinerary had changed to no longer include a port stop in Hamilton. NCL gave no explanation other than “business reasons” as to why the cruise had been cut short.

2. The original booking material gave us the impression that the stateroom we reserved would be a queen size bed. Rather it was two small bunks (I believe less then twin size).

3. The food onboard is very below grade and of fair quality. The hours posted as to operating hours for the various on board restaurants differed from the hours they actually operated. They were always late in opening.

4. On Friday, April 28, 2006 the Bahamas-registered passenger vessel Norwegian Crown departed from St. George, Bermuda at approximately 1130. The vessel was expected to arrive at the Philadelphia pilot station at 0100 on Sunday, April 30, 2006. The Norwegian Crown encountered heavy weather in the Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and the United States coastline. Between 2200 April 28 and 0400 April 29, the ship encountered severe storm and gale conditions up to 65 knots and waves between 12 to 30 feet. Higher waves sufficient enough to strike our cabin on deck 6 were also experienced as we traveled in the Gulf Stream. From 0400 to around 2000 rough seas were also encountered.

It is clear to me, that the Norwegian Crown Captain at the direction of the cruise line probably jeopardized the safety of the passengers and the crew in order to return to Philadelphia on time so as to disembark the current passengers for the new passengers on the next cruise so as not to lose any money. With ship to ship and ship to shore communications; satellite imagery and state of the art weather forecasts from the National Weather Service, plenty of data was available for the Captain to do the right thing and extend port time in Bermuda so as to avoid this storm.

That is not what was done as a “passenger be damned” attitude seems to be what guides NCL. I am a former 24 year veteran with the United States Navy and am familiar with conditions at sea. I can not fathom the irresponsibility of this cruse line in your disregard for safety by taking civilian passengers into harms way like you did on this trip. With obviously known prevailing wind and sea conditions, NCL should have done the right thing and extended port time. Rather they took the ship into hurricane force winds that created conditions where the vessel was to pitch and seas to break over the bow caused considerable discomfort to passengers.

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