I have cruised dozens of times, but this was my first cruise with NCL. The problems started before the cruise; I called to see if any room upgrades were available and was told yes and that it would be free. This seemed odd, but the phone representative seemed sure. So I agreed. Weeks later, I called wondering why I still had no air reservations and was told this would be done 30 days before sailing – again, this seemed very odd. At around 30 days, I called again and was told my airfare was NOT booked because I had a past due balance, which was impossible as I was paid in full. Turns out the “free upgrade” was not free; I got charged some kind of fee and a late fee. After four hours on the phone, this got fixed and put me back to a zero balance. However, still no air reservations.

I then got an email from NCL saying no flights were available back home on disembarkation day and I would have to pay for my own hotel and leave the next day. I tried calling and the number she gave me was disconnected! I emailed, I called the main number and got pushed from one person to the next. I finally got a call from the NCL rep the next day who told me her number was changed and no one told her! I argued about the rule that says after I think 45 days NCL will not pay for the hotel – but NCL failed to book my tickets on time, not me. But to just get it over with, I agreed to fly back to a different airport, which cost me an extra $320 to pay someone to pick me up and drive me 3 hours home.

Then I got on the ship, finally, and the problems continued. My first shore excursion in Pisa & Florence, was a disaster. There was a marathon in Florence (which is NOT a surprise event) and the tour operator was totally unprepared. They parked the bus about 2 miles away from the tour start and we had to walk, which is annoying but workable, but not at the super speed the tour guide wanted to go. She made NO stops to point things out and did not speak at all – she literally just walked as fast as possible to make up time. Myself and another couple were unable to walk/run at that speed and she did not care. The guide literally left us, even after we all asked her to slow down. The trip photographer felt bad and stayed with us, but it was clear we would not be able to stay with the group at that speed, so he told us where to meet to go back at what time. So the group of us did not get to do any of the Florence tour. I complained on the ship and waited over a week for a response (as I was told someone would get back to me). I finally had to go myself to the Shore Excursion desk and ask. The rep had an attitude about it and begrudgingly gave me a 25% discount, which frankly was not acceptable, but I was tired of having to explain the situation. Read more