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More Disappointment for some NCL Passengers


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Passengers booked on Norwegian Escape between September 8, 2022 and October 2, 2022 are being advised this week that their Mediterranean cruises have been canceled.  In a statement Norwegian advises the cancellations are necessary as Escape must go into dry dock for required repairs, all effected guest will be given a full cash refund back to their original form of payment.  According to some articles a 10% future cruise credit will also be given to all passengers and guest who book their airfare through NCL, are covered whereas passengers who booked their airfare separately unfortunately are on their own and will have to deal with the airlines directly.  Some articles have speculated that this unplanned dry dock is directly tied to Escapes running a ground earlier this year in the Caribbean although NCL has not confirmed that. All NCL has said thus far publicly is the ship must go to dry dock for require repairs. 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/ncl-cancels-norwegian-escape-sailings

In other news do to staffing shortages especially on the Pride of America Norwegian has decided instead of canceling entire cruises they would instead cancel an unspecified number of passengers reservations as a way to reduce capacity on ships.  According to NCL effected passengers will be advised and offered a cruise on a different vessel.  If the passenger chooses to not sail on a different vessel Norwegian will offer them a full refund, a future cruse credit worth 100% of their cruise fare and in this case NCL will cover any airline imposed cancellation or change fees.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27617-norwegian-limiting-occupancy-on-hawaii-cruises-due-to-crew-levels.html

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7 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I read earlier today that the debut of the newest Virgin Lady (can’t remember the exact name of the ship) was being pushed back, too. Lots of cancellations and delays, it seems.

Yes sadly covid travel restrictions, supply chain issues and staffing are given as the reasons for delaying Resilient Lady

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/virgin-voyages-defers-resilient-lady-launch-to-spring-2023

 

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16 hours ago, Mike.s said:

Yes sadly covid travel restrictions, supply chain issues and staffing are given as the reasons for delaying Resilient Lady

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/virgin-voyages-defers-resilient-lady-launch-to-spring-2023

 

Several other articles have asserted that Virgin could have taken delivery of Resilient Lady in August as planned because construction is back on schedule and the ship will be ready for delivery in August of 2022.  However it was Virgin that initiated the delay citing supply chain issues and other things.  According to one article from thestreet.com it stated Virgin could have still taken delivery of Resilient Lady in August of 2022 but has chosen not to do so citing a softening economy in Greece where the ship was supposed to be home-ported until moving to San Juan.  According to thestreet.com Virgin Voyages is also questioning whether Carnival, Norwegian and Royal are really seeing strong demand they've publicly stated in the face of growing inflation?  To which Royal's CEO responded telling thestreet.com Royal is keeping an eye on inflation but thus far future bookings and demand for cruises on Royal remains strong.  Inflation has had no effect on future bookings or demand on Royal Caribbean.    

According to other articles that were a bit more objective or critical than travelweekly.co.uk they assert the root cause of Virgin Voyages delay of Resilient Lady has more to do with lack of demand on Virgin Voyages not so much supply chain issues, covid restrictions or even staffing.  I asked this in a different thread which is what can Virgin Voyages do to increase demand on their cruise ships?

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/virgin-cruise-line-news-a-warning-for-royal-caribbean-carnival?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

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I wonder how much the policy of the US requiring Covid tests to  fly back into the US impacts the cruise industry (as in Americans NOT going overseas to cruise).  All of the sailings I have been doing within the US have had a breakdown of about 50% new passengers to Royal and I believe Royal has been doing well hitting their mark with the capacity they are seeking.
 

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49 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

I wonder how much the policy of the US requiring Covid tests to  fly back into the US impacts the cruise industry (as in Americans NOT going overseas to cruise).  All of the sailings I have been doing within the US have had a breakdown of about 50% new passengers to Royal and I believe Royal has been doing well hitting their mark with the capacity they are seeking.
 

I think travel services are catching on to how much this is affecting things. I am starting to get survey's from places basically wanting to know why I'm not traveling. The latest one was from British Airways. It's very obvious from the questions that they know people are just (mostly) not going to spend money in places that require them to do COVID tests/vaccines. I've heard that it's really killing American tourism as well, the requirement to test to get into the states. Hopefully they can all get back to normal sooner rather than later, surely they need the money.

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35 minutes ago, Bowen said:

I think travel services are catching on to how much this is affecting things. I am starting to get survey's from places basically wanting to know why I'm not traveling. The latest one was from British Airways. It's very obvious from the questions that they know people are just (mostly) not going to spend money in places that require them to do COVID tests/vaccines. I've heard that it's really killing American tourism as well, the requirement to test to get into the states. Hopefully they can all get back to normal sooner rather than later, surely they need the money.

True, but they can test and get in and not worry about testing to go home.....if we test positive overseas we have a large expense in front of us in regards to hotel/food and change of flights-  So there are Europeans coming to our country pre cruise and spending tourism$$ (though I don't know understand

why they come in 3 days or more early and risk testing positive before getting on the cruise) and then they cruise.  Personally, I would cruise first, then spend the extra time here and fly home without worry of a test!.

 

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4 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

True, but they can test and get in and not worry about testing to go home.....if we test positive overseas we have a large expense in front of us in regards to hotel/food and change of flights-  So there are Europeans coming to our country pre cruise and spending tourism$$ (though I don't know understand

why they come in 3 days or more early and risk testing positive before getting on the cruise) and then they cruise.  Personally, I would cruise first, then spend the extra time here and fly home without worry of a test!.

 

We're due to spend 3 days in Miami before our cruise and are stressing over the pre cruise test (like where to get one), sadly when we booked the holiday it wasn't clear what protocols would be in place, like many we hoped there wouldn't be any and covid would be a distant memory.

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9 hours ago, Bowen said:

I think travel services are catching on to how much this is affecting things. I am starting to get survey's from places basically wanting to know why I'm not traveling. The latest one was from British Airways. It's very obvious from the questions that they know people are just (mostly) not going to spend money in places that require them to do COVID tests/vaccines. I've heard that it's really killing American tourism as well, the requirement to test to get into the states. Hopefully they can all get back to normal sooner rather than later, surely they need the money.

I sure hope you're right about this.  Unfortunately, we have never been questioned about why we are not traveling.  I would love to share that information !  LOL

Dan and I have been considering international travel (for instance there was a post earlier today that highlights Greece not requiring vax nor testing...which is AWESOME !).  The problem for us is....we couldn't get home !  LOL.  So....we wait and vacation locally.

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28 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I sure hope you're right about this.  Unfortunately, we have never been questioned about why we are not traveling.  I would love to share that information !  LOL

Dan and I have been considering international travel (for instance there was a post earlier today that highlights Greece not requiring vax nor testing...which is AWESOME !).  The problem for us is....we couldn't get home !  LOL.  So....we wait and vacation locally.

I've only had them from airlines so far. Same, we've been spending all of our vacation money locally, or in states that are the same as our state in regards to protocols. Hopefully by the beginning of the year the US will drop these requirements. I would love to take those international trips we skipped in the last two years.

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I read where that other cruise line admitted during a shareholder video conference that they would continue limiting capacity on their ships because it was producing more profits.  Apparently the demand for cruising from loyal, repeat customers was high and they were willing to pay a higher price to cruise. By limiting capacity, the company limited expenses. These include paying for less crew members and less provisions. The combination of less expenses and higher fares resulted in a higher profit margin than having full capacity with lower fares. This has the appearance of taking advantage of your most loyal cruiser.
I think this is a short sighted strategy that may prove profitable in the short run, but will cost them long time loyal customers who may try other options…like me. I was loyal to them, but then their prices jumped…especially post Covid. I reached their highest loyalty level with over 700+ points but was disappointed with the lack of tangible perks, or even simple recognition. The only way to get the perks was to pay for the highest suite category…just like a first time cruiser. I felt slighted and cheated. Plus, some of their decisions early on during the restart were problematic…such as demanding full one hundred percent vaccinated cruisers which prohibited families from booking. Add in some of their unfortunate mishaps resulting in lots of cancellations and confusion. Oh, well…
Now I’m absolutely loyal to Royal. Not only do I now enjoy the benefits of being Pinnacle, but I also enjoyed the benefits I received along the way. C&A is much, much better than that other line in recognizing and rewarding loyalty. 
Bottom line…the grass sometimes IS greener somewhere else. Shame on them for pushing some of their best customers away. But, I say to them…thanks! It made me find a new, better, more appreciative home.

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10 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I wonder how much the policy of the US requiring Covid tests to  fly back into the US impacts the cruise industry (as in Americans NOT going overseas to cruise).  All of the sailings I have been doing within the US have had a breakdown of about 50% new passengers to Royal and I believe Royal has been doing well hitting their mark with the capacity they are seeking.
 

Thankfully this policy has been repealed. 

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The entire travel industry is one big mess right now.

After we sail on our October Maine/Nova Scotia cruise on Voyager that ports out of Boston, we're gonna do our best to avoid commercial air travel and stick to driving to our vacation destinations until the crew shortage issues are resolved. We'd rather drive 11 hours to Galveston for a cruise (we live in Memphis, TN) than risk the hassles of commercial air travel.

While we immensely enjoyed our last two cruises on Symphony and Wonder, flying home post-cruise was a disaster for each trip. Our first trip we finally made it home 11 hours later than scheduled flying Southwest, and the 2nd trip coming home on Delta left us stranded in Atlanta...we barely booked one of the last rental cars available for the 6-hour car drive home to Memphis...what a joke.

 

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On 6/11/2022 at 6:15 PM, JimnKathy said:

After we sail on our October Maine/Nova Scotia cruise on Voyager that ports out of Boston, we're gonna do our best to avoid commercial air travel and stick to driving to our vacation destinations until the crew shortage issues are resolved.

I agree.  East TN here, and we will drive to ports for now.  We flew to Seattle for our AK cruise, but until things calm down with the airlines, we will drive to NJ and some FL ports before flying again. 

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On 6/8/2022 at 5:16 PM, JasonOasis said:

Passengers booked on Norwegian Escape between September 8, 2022 and October 2, 2022 are being advised this week that their Mediterranean cruises have been canceled.  In a statement Norwegian advises the cancellations are necessary as Escape must go into dry dock for required repairs, all effected guest will be given a full cash refund back to their original form of payment.  According to some articles a 10% future cruise credit will also be given to all passengers and guest who book their airfare through NCL, are covered whereas passengers who booked their airfare separately unfortunately are on their own and will have to deal with the airlines directly.  Some articles have speculated that this unplanned dry dock is directly tied to Escapes running a ground earlier this year in the Caribbean although NCL has not confirmed that. All NCL has said thus far publicly is the ship must go to dry dock for require repairs. 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/ncl-cancels-norwegian-escape-sailings

In other news do to staffing shortages especially on the Pride of America Norwegian has decided instead of canceling entire cruises they would instead cancel an unspecified number of passengers reservations as a way to reduce capacity on ships.  According to NCL effected passengers will be advised and offered a cruise on a different vessel.  If the passenger chooses to not sail on a different vessel Norwegian will offer them a full refund, a future cruse credit worth 100% of their cruise fare and in this case NCL will cover any airline imposed cancellation or change fees.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27617-norwegian-limiting-occupancy-on-hawaii-cruises-due-to-crew-levels.html

We were booked on the October 2nd cruise. The reason it was cancelled is because this was the ship that ran aground in the Dominican Republic port. They needed to get it into dry dock and a spot opened up. Bummer, but things happen I suppose. 

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