Norwegian Cruise Line review: NCL RES # [protected] - Air Arrangement res WN 48HXZY

On September 2 we sent the following email to four (4) NCL executives, and our NCL Reservation Consultant. We resent the same email on September 20th after we did not have an acknowledgement of the email from any of the people to whom it was sent. We said we would post this on public websites including Cruise Critic, if we did not receive a response:

My wife and I would like to share with you our recent customer service experience.  We want to compliment the customer service reps we talked with. We talked to three different representatives on September 2nd. All of them were polite, professional, and appeared to be truly interested in helping us. We were directed from one person to another as each looked to resolve a problem or answer a question that we had. They all had the same answers.

We wanted to find out how airplane reservations were made for guests and how the pricing was determined. At the time of booking our cruise we were quoted an airfare price of $528.00 USING SECOND GUEST FLIES FREE promotion. This quote was provided by our NCL Personal Cruise Consultant without his having knowledge of what the flight schedule would be or what airline was being used.  On May 27 my wife and I received a confirmation (Reservation [protected]) of the booked cruise from San Francisco to Miami for the 31st of October still with no specific info about the flight schedule.  We understood from the Personal Cruise Consultant that we would receive flight information at least 30 days before the cruise.  On June 26, after paying in full, we received a copy of the confirmation with the same pricing info as the original from May 27. This confirmation had a link to Air Services Standards, that said, “Customization is only available up to 75 days prior to sailing...” On August 7 we received the NCL Air Flight Confirmation. The air reservations that we received had us flying from Tampa to San Francisco on Southwest Airlines, with a stopover and plane change in Denver.  Total duration 9 hr. 25 min. The type of fare was listed as “Wanna Get Away”.

Using that fare type the total ticket cost is $374.00 ($184 TPA to SFO and $190 FLL to TPA}. The difference is $154.00.

We want to change the flight to a non-stop flight on United Airlines with a travel time of 5hr. 57 min. and an economy price of $189.00, with an additional fee of $35 for 1 checked bag. Total cost $224.00. Using the United fare TPA to SFO and the SW fare from FLL to TPA the total cost would be $414.00, with a cost difference from the paid $528.00 of $114.00.

The problems: 1) No fare transparency. 2) The Customer service agents (Consultant, Air and reservation) all said they do not know how fares are determined, other than that the fare is what the computer tells them. 3) The NCL Air Rep had no supervisor available. 4) Both the Air and Reservation reps said there was no one who could do anything about this because it was all within the NCL Air Services Standard.

Recommendations:  1) Tell your customer service reps how airfare prices they quote are determined. 2) Tell your customers how airfare prices are determined. 3} Make supervisors available to customers. 4) Book shortest duration flights especially for senior citizens. {I am 78, my wife is 77.  We are both experienced travelers and cruisers) 5) Quote actual prices.  6} Provide the best flights and fares for your customers by leveraging NCL’s buying power. 7) Alter Air Service Standards to include best price and schedule for customers and allow customers to interact with NCL Air staff when booking flights. 8) If NCL Air service is a profit center, let customers know they may be able to find better airfare prices, schedules and connections online, while advising the customers on arrival and departure lead times for airport transfers and embarking and debarking.

We expected a refunded of the excess air charges.  Even if the carrier and schedule could not be changed, (per Air Service Standards - which can be changed by NCL) it is only correct to refund or credit the difference to on board ship purchases.

We look forward to your timely reply and resolution so that we can post positive public media reviews, including on Cruise Critic, and recommend NCL to our friends and travel groups in the Tampa Bay area and Washington, D.C.