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We heard back from Norwegian Cruise Lines. SortaIf you're a faithful reader of our blog, you know that it wasn't two months ago that we took a terrific Mexican Riviera cruise with my parents, sister and brother in law. We had a good time until we tried to get off the ship, and that disembarkation experience was so terrible that I not only blogged about it (see Norwegian Star Cruise Embarkation, Yech!), but wrote a letter to Colin Veitch, President and CEO of NCL Corporation and Andrew Stuart, Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Passenger Services about the experience. Well, six weeks later we finally received a communiqué from them about our letter. Ready for it? Here it is: ![]() Not too inspiring, all said and done, after six weeks. But it's at least something, so I'm hoping to have a more detailed followup from them soon. Meanwhile, it's heartening to read the comments others have left on that blog entry talking about their own disembarkation experiences on cruises. In case you can't read the graphic image too well, here's what it says: Dear NCL Guest, This is just a quick note to let you know that we've received the correspondence you sent. We're now in the process of checking into the matter and we'll write you back as fast as we can. Thanks for your patience - and thanks for taking time to contact us. Best regards, Norwegian Cruise Line Anyone else ever received one of these cards and then actually got a more formal and detailed response subsequent? Posted by Dave Taylor at April 25, 2007 10:54 AM
Comments
We just returned from an NCL on the Pride of Hawaii. I have been on several cruises and this one was aweful. The service was terrible,some passengers never had clean sheets, all the employees were americans and their work ethic is not like the foreign workers. Debarkation was a night mare.I have written also..we'll see what happens. I don't expect much. Posted by: Susan at July 3, 2007 8:38 PMI just returned from an NCL cruise and I tell you what. The island hopping was WONDERFUL, however, the cruise ship SUCKS!!!! The cabins are too small, majority of the staff is on the ship for a paycheck. This was my fifth cruise and my first on NCL. If I was offered a free trip I would not accept it. One of the ladies in my party was bitten by bed bugs. She is currently on antibotics for the bites. The linen was dirty when we arrived, the toliet had feces in it. NCL needs to look at Carnival and Royal Carribean. This would not have happened. Another major problem with NCL. Prior to arriving I contacted the ship coordinator via email and asked if MS Office was on the computers. I was told yes, I got to the ship and their was no MS Office. NCL is a bunch of liars and I would not recommend anyone sailing with them. Prior to going on vacation I read the reviews and thought it can't be that bad...well listen up people it is REALLY BAD... Posted by: Veronica at July 27, 2007 10:21 AM We disembarked today and our experience was the same as mentioned by you all. NCL's treatment of their passengers is just TERRIBLE. Our family has fun being together but the "freestyle" dining was a joke, our cabins dirty upon embarkation and the staff rude with a few exceptions. We will never cruise with NCL again. Posted by: Donna at August 6, 2007 6:56 PMWE JUST RETURNED FROM HAWAII, PRIDE OF ALOHA, MY SISTERS AND I HAVE BEEN ON MANY CRUISES, AND BY A LANDSLIDE THE WORST SHIP EVER. NCL Cruise Warning:First hand experience. My family & I experienced the NCL Cruise from hell from Charleston between Christmas and new Years last year. Some highlights-the decrepit ship almost sank,and engine blew rendering us dead in the water, barely limped back to port, ship without AC for 2 days in 90 degree heat, most passangers had to sleep on the stairs or on the top deck, cabin doors had to be left open, surly service,all ships personnel dissappeared so passangers were helpless,beans & franks food for 2 days- could go on forever. To add insult no forthcoming apology from NCL, no refund, no nothing- oh, excuse me we received a offer two months later for 25% off next cruise! Some lawyers are doing a class action. Moral of story: don't cruise NCL unless you have a death wish and hate yourself. Posted by: K John Scarlett at August 27, 2007 11:22 AMThis is my third cruise, my first on NCL Dawn to Bahamas/Bermuda in August. This is my last cruise on NCL. Here's why: We were on a budget and had to settle for inside stateroom or call it a sardine can. We had two single beds - soft, mushy beds - I would expect at a cheap motel. Barely enough room to walk. Toilet did not flush on two occasions and coffee machine did not work. The TV remote was Scotch taped together. The regular dining was decent but the buffet area was filthy, crowded, and the food was very bad. It reminded me of an old fashioned cafeteria that don't exist anymore. The fake eggs and wrinkled sausage were not acceptable. There were no lounge chairs available unless you went out at 5:00 a.m. and put a towel down. Kids of all ages running wild all over area and all over ship unsupervised. It was as if I was at a day camp. The entertainment was barely adequate. As far as the health spa, I never heard of paying for the sauna and inside jacuzzi (never happened on other ships) as my previous complaints showed. The last two days of the cruise the ship smelled terrible. Certain areas smelled like urine (I'm not lying). They announced the ship had about 2800 passengers. It seems it should hold only about 1500. That's about it. I will go back to Carnival or another cruise line. Posted by: John K. at September 6, 2007 5:12 PMI worked all 3 ships for ncl in hawaii. the pride of america, pride of aloha, and pride of hawaii. ok the america there a bunch of dicks. no one cares about anyone and they would rather see you hurt. the hawaii is my favorite one. pretty chill to work on, and the aloha was far the worse old disgusting thing i have ever seen. they hire all of the idiots for that ship, and the ones who have the most behavior problems, and pretty much the ugliest. lol And let me tell you the worse experience in my entire life!!!! The ships are dirty, disgusting, not to mention the toilets and bathrooms were so gross i had to clean em myself to even use them, im not kidding, feces on the floor dosgusting. We were treated like slaves and barely got 3 hrs to sleep a day. They would put us somewhere and hide us and make us clean white walls that already had been cleaned for 8 hrs, to make us look like we were busy., sooo annoying. We had a girl get her arm sliced apart by a sheet machine. not a pretty picture. We had to sleep 4 ppl to a tiny room with out a window, and not to mention next to the engine room. I was on the ship 2 nights and finally i complained enough i wanted to get off, they finally got some lady to take me off the ship and she took me to the hospital. They kept taking my blood then brought me to a mental institution. I had no way of gettng home and no money and they would not send me home. I dont understand why. I had to stay for a week in a psych center before they would send me home. I think this was to be safe on there side. im still not too sure. I really had a bad experience and wouldnt like to see anyone have to go through what i did. these ships suck no matter what you hear and what you do!! Honestly you will get sick on these ships and there is no one to help you. goodluck!! I can honestly say everyone who worked on there worked there to get a paycheck and get the hell out of there. we had to be on there for 5 months then we would get one paid at the end of it. big deal right>>>>> the food on there is gross by the way!! i got paid 7.15 an hr. and time 1/2 paid crap. if you have any questions about anything just ask i probably know the answer. Posted by: crystal at September 20, 2007 12:23 AMyou can email me at ihatencl@yahoo.com I just returned from a back to back cruise on the Pride Of America, starting September 1, 2007 to September 8, 2007 and September 8, 2007 to September 15, 2007. We were in bad need of R&R and wanted to stretch our excursions over two weeks. We booked a cabin with a window on lowest deck for the first week and then a cabin with a balcony on the 9th deck. The cabin on the 4th deck. They charged about $15.00/litre for the bottled water that should have been provided at $5.00,( no service charge ), Second week, September 8, 2007. Moved to deck 9, with balcony. Hell week, no hot water, phoned down to reception, said they would get back to us, of course, nobody did. My neighbor complained, he got hot water as soon as we sailed, we figured, small glitch, no problem, wrong! I went to see reception every day after that, over time,the girl at reception was almost in tears, apologising profusely, why, she wasn't the problem. The captain had stated at the latitudes cocktail, "he would look after the ship, and we were just to enjoy ourselves" or words to that effect? On thursday we got hot water, scalding hot water, no cold water, I complained, next day we got cold again, it still had not been fixed when we left the ship. I pity the next people that got our cabin. We, the people above us and below us and to either side of us had a balcony conference, a unique experience, a vertical conference table, anyway the upshot(no pun intended) of that, was that we were all having the same problem from scalding water to cold water and they had all complained with the same results I had. I tried to talk to the office manager, and I was told he would phone back, he never did. Posted by: Art at September 20, 2007 4:47 PMMy husband and I sailed on the Pride of Aloha on 10/20/2007 for a 11 day cruise, this was the worst cruise I have been. This was our 6th cruise, the 1st with NCL and this was our last with NCL. Entertainment non-existant during the day, buffet food neither looked nor tasted good,the closet space a joke, took a inside superior guaranteed received a room next to the crew staterooms, the door banged all night, area by restaurant smelled probably because there was only one toilet each, tendering to islands were terrible, crew scared me if there was an emergency my husband said we had better jump overboard then depend on the crew. Poor mgmt. Food ran out, coffe stations empty for milk, coffee and plain old Lipton Tea. No little cute towel animals, mints every other night, bedding had stains, liquid soap out, 2 days bed not made. Everyone we spoke to on the cruise was unhappy. Don't spend your hard earned money on this cruise, use a differnt cruise line. Posted by: Evelyn Smith at November 2, 2007 4:58 PM10/24 sailing of Dream from Miami. NIGHTMARE IT WAS IT WAS. luggage delivered wet! Soaking. Just dropped in room. RECEPTION NO HELP. No apoligy from Senior Staff, never saw one for 11 days. No final reason or one hard to believe. No one seemed to care. Senior staff totally disconnected. Same menu two weeks...what cruise line does that!!! NCL IS A DISGRACE TO THE CRUISE INDUSTRY. The tip in advance insures not so good service. 5th cruise, 1st on NCL, NO MORE NIGHTMARES for us. We would tell everyone take another cruise line. We won't even get into the debark disaster. It was to be our last trip due to my husbands dimentia. What a shame it was so awful. The only redemption was going thru the Canal! Posted by: H Hagopian at November 16, 2007 12:19 PMI obviously was on a different planet last month; funny, because I thought I was on the "PRIDE OF ALOHA". That is my attempt at sarcasm. I am sorry that some folks apparently have had less than terrific experiences on this ship; because I took the November 21, 2007 cruise and enjoyed myself immensely. It was first cruise and I WILL BE RECOMMENDING IT to others. Let me tell you a story about my son and his girl friend who got jobs on NCL Hawaii. The recruters promised them they would be together event though their written policy said no promises. The kids told them if we can't be together we don't want to go. The recruiter said no problem. They went through the hiring process taking 6 months. Drug and medical tests and homeland security check. They got the call that they would be leaving on Jan5th. Once there they would be in coast guard training for a week. These two kids were so excited to have the job. They flew for 13 hours and arrived at hthe ship to start their training. NCL paid their ticket there $525. each and they paid their back ground checks. $3000. each. Three days in the kids called me and said they put us on different ships. So it is no wonder the employees are not happy and not doing a good jobs. Posted by: Deborah at January 15, 2008 8:48 PMI've been on 3 NCL cruises and always had a great experience. All cruise ships have their issues; we've been on Carnival and that was a terrible cruise. NCL has never disappointed me! Posted by: Cruiser at February 12, 2008 10:34 AMCruise from hell. Booked suite with 2 beds & 2 baths & received "suite with 1 bedroom for adults & 1 bathroom only. Second bedroom had divan that opened up to 5' long. I'm 5'9" & my husband is 6'! We had to sleep on the couch in the sitting room. No privacy & no longer a suite in which we paid extra. When we complained we were told this room was an upgrade! I'm writing to the Attorney General & if no results will take them to small claims court. Hated everything about the ship! Pride of America my foot. Posted by: Monica Van Dewerker at February 21, 2008 11:31 AMWell don't worry anymore this isn't an American ship anymore. Posted by: family at February 21, 2008 4:01 PMSailed on Pride of Aloha on 3/5/2008, worst cruise I have ever taken. Cabin was a fousome and with the king size bed in the middle, averytime we got out of bed our head would bump on the top bed that was folded up against the wall. Mattress was so hard in felt like sleeping on the floor. Asked cabin attendent to gives us two additional quilts that we placed under the sheet to make it more barebable. Cleanliness was not a major concern. Buffett on deck 11 was always the same for ten day's no variety of food. Post a comment
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