On the cruise ship, staff had been very polite and, after politely asking to speak with management, I was met by two of the ship's guest service managers. They were patient, listened to my story, and confirmed that they had no flexibility or authority to provide any compensation outside of what the Miami office explicitly approved. They provided me with a contact name and number.
Yesterday, I called this contact. I got a voicemail, but my call was returned fairly promptly, about 30 minutes later. The representative I spoke with was the Customer Relations Coordinator for the ship I sailed on, the Norwegian Gem. She was patient, polite, and answered all of my questions without hesitation. I was told that compensation requests had to be submitted in a written letter. However, she also provided a fax number, so I wouldn't have to wait the additional days for the US Post Office to deliver a letter. Unfortunately, she also told me it normally takes 10 to 15 business days to process a compensation request. Once the letter was received, she said it would be reviewed by her, brought up to management should it have merit, and compensation would have to be approved by management.
Below is a copy of the body of the letter that I sent:
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Thank you very much for your time earlier today on the phone, and for returning my call so promptly. I appreciate you providing the information you did. To restate a couple points, you indicated that:
You personally receive requests for compensation from guests
You advocate compensation to management, who decide on approval
Generally, it may take 10 – 15 business days to deal with a request from a guest.
As requested, my contact info is located at the top of this letter. I appreciate you taking the time to review my case. My family and friends have been loyal customers and come to expect good, prompt service from NCL. (myself 3 cruises, my parents have taken more than I have, and extended family have taken multiple trips as well.) I trust that my case will be considered with swiftness and good judgment.
Let me describe my story:
Yesterday I returned from a 10-day Eastern Caribbean cruise via Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). It was scheduled to be a 5-port stop, but wound up being 4. On the second day at sea of the cruise, passengers were informed that at least one day prior, the Azipod propulsion system was experiencing computer malfunctions. The ship could not make top speed. To make matters worse, the ship did not carry a spare part for this system, and consequently, our first port at San Juan was canceled. The rest of the trip's itinerary was effectively up in the air. A day later, they confirmed that our third port, St Maarten, would become our second port, leaving the remaining two ports still with no confirmation. At the end of two days later, barely 12 hours before scheduled docking, we were informed that our remaining two ports of Antigua and Tortola were confirmed.
This was, naturally, a nightmare, and for a variety reasons. The first and foremost was that San Juan was the most anticipated stop for my girlfriend and me. It was also the longest port of call, at 9 hours. We had a variety of activities we had planned that were then, with less than 24 hours' notice, canceled.
The other reasons this was a nightmare:
For half our cruise, we did not even know if we would see even 3 or 4 ports.
This is a 2-year old ship, the youngest in NCL's "youngest fleet in the world" fleet. If a single malfunction in the propulsion system could make our speed crippled, we feared for the remainder of the trip (8 of 10 days) that another system could break and leave us stranded - or worse - at any moment.
This was my girlfriend's first cruise, as well as her first ever visit to the Caribbean. Worst first impression ever.
My girlfriend gets seasick, and still gets queasy even medicated with sea-calm pills. I realize that NCL has no control over the 15 foot seas that were present in the Atlantic, however, if we had no propulsion problems, we would have had one less day in the bad sea conditions.
Because of the lack of proper compensation, we had to worry for 8 of 10 days about the following uphill battle of dealing with NCL's corporate offices after we got home. Throughout the entire cruise it was always in the back of our minds, prevented us from fully relaxing, essentially tarnishing our entire vacation with anxiety.
When we got home, rather than bask in the great vacation we had, we immediately had to deal with attempting to deal with NCL corporate to get a refund. The stress caused on the cruise would continue after the cruise until it was resolved.
Because of the problems, we constantly were hearing other guests on the cruise complaining about the problems. This was a constant reminder and a constant stress.
NCL stands to financially gain from an extra day at sea. People, with no island to visit, wind up spending their money at the bars, restaurants, and shops on the cruise ship, rather than the port of call. And since people everywhere were expressing how upset they were, people were most likely ordering more drinks than usual, making NCL more money. Additionally, NCL provided on its television and in its central lounge area ("Crystal Atrium") advertisements to shop on the ship. During prime daytime hours, a snake-oil type salesman was promoting purchasing of Alexandrite gems, citing several incorrect facts (It's the “rarest stone in the world” being one of the false claims. It's not even the rarest gemstone – see http://www.curiousnotions.com/gemstones/ ) and generally giving a car-salesman sales pitch.
It is embarrassing to have to return to friends and family having a bad sales experience on a large purchase such as a cruise.
Cruise staff on the ship were given no flexibility. While the customer relations staff on the ship were extremely polite and expressed sympathy, they were given absolutely no flexibility to provide compensation for guests. I suggested compensating more on-board credit, cover charge for their premium restaurants, drinks at the bar, or compensation for excursions. The staff said that authorization was given only from their Miami office. This is silly - when you run a hotel, your local staff and management needs to have flexibility to deal with guests. NCL tied its hotel staff's hands.
Did we get extra activities scheduled on the extra day at sea? None that I saw.
My girlfriend and I both work on hourly / contract basis. A vacation represents lost wages, not just vacation days.
We heard that some of the staff had scheduled shore leave / were set to depart the boat on San Juan. Would this translate into pissed-off staff? I'd imagine so, whether they showed it or not.
For a full day en route to the Caribbean, the "Navigation Channel" on the in-cabin television was turned off. Whether true or not, it gives the impression that the crew did not want us to see the location and/or speed of the ship. When it did come up, the navigation path was messed up, indicating that we had stopped in San Juan and that we also sailed near the coast of Africa. (I have a picture of this if you'd like to see.)
Additionally, there were a few other issues we had with the cruise:This is my third NCL cruise. The food was noticeably of a lesser quality. My first cruise, 4 years ago, had me thinking every basic meal was fantastic - even the buffets were super tasty. Last cruise, a year and a half ago, food wasn't as good as the first, but still very good. This cruise, there were many nights we looked at the menu of the main dining rooms, and felt compelled to pay for the premium restaurants instead.
The first day, there was absolutely far too little capacity to feed the 2000+ guests going on board hungry and seeking food. They had their cafeteria open and it was standing room for many people eating. It was January in New York, so eating outside was out of the question.
While the majority of the staff I dealt with was polite and friendly, there were a couple of wait staff who were very slow and messed up orders. Considering that the menus were limited, this should have been easily avoidable.
For all this trouble, NCL's office in Miami authorized the cruise ship's staff to offer us $75. In on-board credit that we had to spend on the ship. Per state room, not per person. Considering that the port fees were $150 per person, assuming 5 ports of call (according to my research, home ports - as New York City appears to be - generally charge greatly reduced fees) we're talking an average of ... $30 per person per port or $60 of the $75. Since we did not go to Puerto Rico, we shouldn't have to pay the port fees. That means after subtracting port fees, we were compensated $7.50 per person - barely enough to pay for a well drink at the cruise ship bar.
Now, I understand that malfunctions with equipment happen. I also understand that if you are responsible for the lives and safety of over three thousand people, both guests and staff, you really should carry spare parts for each and every part of essential navigation and propulsion equipment.
As for my own actions, I have been extremely polite and patient. I encountered less reasonable folks on the cruise, but opted to not let my own problems affect my behavior. One man claimed to have even called his credit card company, while on St. Thomas, and charge-back the entire trip.
I'd also like to acknowledge the professionalism and friendliness shown by you and your customer service staff on the ship.
What I expect is:
Acknowledgement of receipt of this letter immediately. (Via e-mail or phone is fine.)
Rapid consideration of my situation. I don't consider 10 – 15 business days to be a reasonable turnaround time for response, when the fault of such a fundamental part of the ship. (I understand, however, if once making a decision to further compensate me, it takes a couple weeks longer.)
Financial compensation, either in the form of a check for US Dollars, or (less preferential) a transferable cruise monetary credit. (My parents are, at present, considering sailing this fall on NCL, and if I could pass it to them, then that would be only a minor inconvenience.)
At the current time, having been far inadequately compensated, I will not sail with NCL again. Furthermore, realize that the last time I cruised, I went with a dozen other close family and friends. Losing me as a customer means losing at minimum 13 other customers. Your response to my situation does have a good potential to affect all of our minds.
Additionally, I might also want to point out that, as my profession, I am a social media expert and a large percentage of my work involves marketing businesses to large numbers of people. Regardless of the outcome of my situation, I will be blogging / Twittering / video-blogging about my experiences with this cruise. NCL has an opportunity to make amends for its failure to me, and to make my reports about my dealings with NCL a shining, positive one.
Thank you very much for your time, and your consideration.
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