NCL’s constant itinerary changes…

[Christine Castro]

Hi

Has anyone noticed that NCL seams to be changing their itinerary more often..either just prior to boarding or even worse while cruising..been sailing with them for about 18 years, but it feels like it’s getting worse and often for no apparent reason (last December ALL our cruise  ports where changed with no explanation given while cruising, a first for me) I’m asking because I have a few cruises on hold for the next two yrs and I’m kinda nervous to be honest and would like to know if anyone feels the same. 
Thx

Christine

[Cruising Caribbean]

@Christine Castro This is ironic; I was just commenting back to @Benjamin in another thread about this same topic. NCL has been really slacking on communication with guests and following through with its original itineraries. Obviously, booking during hurricane season gives you a higher chance of changes and cancellations with any cruise line you choose. Are these upcoming cruises you have booked during hurricane season? The prices tend to be more affordable but it comes with lots of unpredictability. Where will you be cruising? I would possibly reconsider NCL if you want more consistency and predictability. 

[Dan T.]

I've sailed with NCL over the years, on many of their ships.  But, since they are  making these decisions to continually cancel a large amount of sailings, that have negatively effected so many people, I will simply sail with Royal Caribbean or Princess cruiselines instead!!  If they want jerk people around, hit 'em where it hurt$!!  Problem solved!!  --Dan   Seattle, WA 

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Dan T. I appreciate your refreshing feedback. Your comment speaks values about your cruising history and your passion for cruising. It's a shame that so many guests have expressed being "burned" by NCL over the past years. The culture of the line has declined significantly, and I have read many comments that have decades of loyal guests transferring their loyalty elsewhere. RCL and Princess Cruises are very strong and reliable cruise lines. I don't blame you for choosing them and taking your money elsewhere. I'm curious, what is your favorite Princess ship? I have been wanting to take a romantic getaway with the line!

[PaulB]

It's very frustrating that all these cruise ships are constantly changing itineraries. I'm not even going on them and I'm getting angry seeing all these changes. 

[RICK9772]

We have previously booked a cruise that included Belize city only to have them change the destination right before sailing. This happened to us 2 times now. Same port Belize !

 I believe that they are using false advertising. Bating you with certain ports and then change to a different port for there own profit. I understand that weather makes changes necessary but they have done this both times 40- 30 days before sailing. They do not care if you are upset and offer no compensation for us the passengers. We have been to Costa Maya to many times to count. Don't get me wrong it's a nice port but we had wanted to go to Belize to scuba the great riefs.been cruising with them over 10 years every year and sometimes twice a year.have talked to them and they truly don't care! Will be our last unless things change and that's a shame as we do enjoy the ship's but customer service is no longer a priority to them.

Lost money on already booked excursions and they say to bad should have booked them with us. They don't have any scuba s available. 

[Cruising Caribbean]

Maybe @bombarc and @Maria will chime in this conversation. This exact thing was mentioned by @Maria, who may have booked your same itinerary actually. I'm very skeptical as well and have been following posts like this for some time. This isn't a weather-driven change as you are stating, which would be reasonable, but does not make sense a month out. It's not fair that the line continues to do this to its guests. Another huge problem I have with the changes ahead of time is what's going to happen when the itinerary has to change due to unforeseen weather patterns. Another change will be made. It's just mind-boggling. Guests are catching on to this nonsense, and it's not a good look for NCL.

[Maria]

20 hours ago, RICK9772 said:

We have previously booked a cruise that included Belize city only to have them change the destination right before sailing. This happened to us 2 times now. Same port Belize !

 I believe that they are using false advertising. Bating you with certain ports and then change to a different port for there own profit. I understand that weather makes changes necessary but they have done this both times 40- 30 days before sailing. They do not care if you are upset and offer no compensation for us the passengers. We have been to Costa Maya to many times to count. Don't get me wrong it's a nice port but we had wanted to go to Belize to scuba the great riefs.been cruising with them over 10 years every year and sometimes twice a year.have talked to them and they truly don't care! Will be our last unless things change and that's a shame as we do enjoy the ship's but customer service is no longer a priority to them.

Lost money on already booked excursions and they say to bad should have booked them with us. They don't have any scuba s available. 

@RICK9772 we may be on the same sailing.  Are you on NCL Epic in Jan 21?  I've been to Costa Maya once before and it's a great port but I would be disappointed too if I wanted to scuba dive in Belize only to find out it gets cancelled.  The ship is also going to Cozumel which is another good scuba diving destination.   Not sure how both compare since I don't scuba dive.  NCL should offer the option to cancel and book another cruise.

[Cruising Caribbean]

I'm so certain @RICK9772 is on the same itinerary as you @Maria. I hope they get back to you to confirm that. It would be so cool to get to run into each other in person. Are you a snorkeling type of person? I will do some basic snorkeling, but I have yet to try scuba diving. Mexico in general has such amazing water sports opportunities. It would be hard to visit Mexico and dodge the beaches. If NCL changes anything more about this itinerary I would be pretty annoyed. Let's just hope for the best and assume the rest of the cruise from here on out will be smooth sailing. 

Edited December 21, 2023 by Cruising Caribbean

[Caribbean Dreamer]

Norwegian Cruise Line advertised the 4/10/24 NCL Sky itinerary with 9 ports of call and then changed the schedule the ONE day after the penalty phase began, deleting 2 ports we were very interested to see, Grenada and Bonaire, not just shortening the time in ports. They substituted a day at sea and minimally developed Catalina Island DR. We were notified that the stated reason for the change in schedule was to improve fuel efficiency. Norwegian cruise line knew the distance between the islands and ports when the cruise was advertised. NCL advertised an attractive cruise itinerary and then deleted two ports. NCL has defended this policy when we filed a claim with them and BBB and feels that it is perfectly acceptable to change ports for fuel efficiency, even telling us it would be unethical to give us our money back because they don't give others' back. The contract lists a number of possible reasons for changing schedules including war, weather, strike, etc. Changes due to such reasons are understandable. Even though NCL’s policy is to make changes to itineraries for fuel efficiency/cost savings, they do not include that reason in their list of causes in their contract. Writing a contract in such a manner is deceptive when a frequent reason for taking an action is omitted. They refused to refund our $266 when we cancelled though, like noted throughout this thread, NCL just happens to  change the itinerary the FIRST day the penalty phase began. So frustrating!

[Caribbean Dreamer]

Norwegian Cruise Line advertised the 4/10/24 NCL Sky itinerary with 9 ports of call and then changed the schedule the ONE day after the penalty phase began, deleting 2 ports we were very interested to see, Grenada and Bonaire, not just shortening the time in ports. They substituted a day at sea and minimally developed Catalina Island DR. We were notified that the stated reason for the change in schedule was to improve fuel efficiency. Norwegian cruise line knew the distance between the islands and ports when the cruise was advertised. NCL advertised an attractive cruise itinerary and then deleted two ports. NCL has defended this policy when we filed a claim with them and BBB and feels that it is perfectly acceptable to change ports for fuel efficiency, even telling us it would be unethical to give us our money back because they don't give others' back. The contract lists a number of possible reasons for changing schedules including war, weather, strike, etc. Changes due to such reasons are understandable. Even though NCL’s policy is to make changes to itineraries for fuel efficiency/cost savings, they do not include that reason in their list of causes in their contract. Writing a contract in such a manner is deceptive when a frequent reason for taking an action is omitted. They refused to refund our $266 when we cancelled though, like noted throughout this thread, NCL just happens to  change the itinerary the FIRST day the penalty phase began. So frustrating!

[Caribbean Dreamer]

There are other threads re: this same topic: 

NCL changing itineraries for non-emergency reasons after final payment - Page 7 - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

Are NCL selling cruises to ports they have no intention of going to. - Page 9 - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Caribbean Dreamer This timing is particularly striking. I have noticed NCL does change itineraries quite often, more than other lines, and the reasoning tends to be fuel efficiency. I'm all for being fuel efficient, but if it's going to prove the line to be inconsistent and constantly change itineraries, I'm not interested in entertaining the line. When I book a cruise, I'm looking for the same or almost the same itinerary that was advertised to me. It's a shame that NCL kept your deposit after changing the itinerary, but I have heard worse. Other things I have noticed are the line changing it's trajectory mid-sailing and/or skipping ports of call entirely to be more fuel-efficient without any other reasoning at all. Since you are clearly dissatisfied with your NCL experience, what other cruise line would you consider instead?

[Caribbean Dreamer]

Kendall James-Vargas, thank you for your reply. We used to take several cruises a year from 2000-2010 and used a variety of cruise lines including NCL. We got sick about 50% of the time but continued because of the fun. During that time we had several ports skipped because of weather and problems tendering which we understood. Times have changed now. We booked this cruise because of the itinerary and a variety of islands that were expensive to travel to by air. We will probably just stick with travelling to individual islands by air.   

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Caribbean Dreamer I'm very shocked that you got sick on 50% of your cruise itineraries. Why do you think this was? Did you end up catching viruses? It's pretty ambitious you continued to cruise on despite these ratios. I love how real this post is and that you were so understanding when cruises skipped ports due to weather or tendering issues. It's a shame you feel the need to avoid cruising altogether due to NCL's lack of consistency. I would venture to say that NCL is one of the worst lines right now in terms of constantly shifting it's advertised itineraries. If you were willing to give cruising another shot, I would recommend going with another line. Why have you been cruising NCL? Would you consider cruising with another line? 

Edited March 13 by Kendall James-Vargas