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Originally posted by mike01772:
My parents 2 weeks ago booked to sail on NCL Dawn on its crossing to New York this December.
They booked an inside cabin on Deck 8 which the Travel Agent confirmed was available and paid for the holiday in full.
A few days later the T/A received an email from NCL stating no cabins were available on Deck 8 so they were being upgraded to Deck 9.The T/A accepted this upgrade on behalf of my parents.
When the confirmation arrived it stated no cabins available on Deck 9 so they had been given an outside cabin on the botton deck at the very front of the ship on Deck 4 with a porthole.
They have cruised many times and know that this is not the best place to be especially crossing the Atlantic we're there is the good chance of rough seas.
The T/A says NCL over book there ships with passengers just like American Airline companies seem to do.
My parents have now cancelled the trip but have to wait to see if NCL insist on keeping the 25% of the cost of each person.
Anybody else experienced anything like this ?

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Never experienced it but would suggest that cancelling at this point was not the best thing to do.

In my mind the TA should have discussed the change with your parents and then done some negotiating with NCL explaining the reaction of the travellers. Agree that a cabin in the 'new' location would not be my choice but there may well be cancellations before the sailing date and something more suitable would have come up.

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Originally posted by mike01772:
....outside cabin on the botton deck at the very front of the ship on Deck 4 with a porthole.
They have cruised many times and know that this is not the best place to be especially crossing the Atlantic we're there is the good chance of rough seas.
snip bit..
My parents have now cancelled the trip but have to wait to see if NCL insist on keeping the 25% of the cost of each person.
Anybody else experienced anything like this ?

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Most ships today are so big, the simplistic brochure charts can be misleading. Norwegian Dawn is a pretty big ship!

On 'Brilliance' the deck plan seemed to indicate that our cabin was towards the bow. In reality it was a five mile hike! Lower deck cabins on mega-ships can still be a long way away from the sea!

You can never predict North Atlantic sea conditions. The conditions in December might just be very fair?

For the price on offer, I would have slept in one of the life boat, if I had been available!

[ 10-12-2002: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

If do cancel, then there is absolutely no reason to expect NCL not to keep the 25% if that is what is outlined in the cancellation policy. An upgrade does not warrant a refund in return for cancellation, even if it is a forced upgrade.

Thus, the cancellation has probably turned out to be a waste of 25% of a cruise fare on nothing.

An "upgrade" from Deck 8 to 9 is in my Eyes worthless, it is the same Quality.

I never will understand or accept, that Cruiselines take more Money for an Cabin in Deck 9 than in Deck 8.

Therefore i always book the cheapest Category, or i book on "Guarantee-Base". They can then give me what they want, but only for the low Price booked.

An outside in Deck 4 i find is better than an inside in Deck 9.

But the TA or NCL has to ask her Customers, if they AGREE the Change. If not, i think it can be no Question, that it must be possible to cancel without any Costs.

If you book an Inside in Deck 8, you offer the Contract to fix for this Cabin. If the Cruiseline wants to change, they offer an other Contract for an other Cabin for the same Ship and Cruisedate.

If you do not agree, i think no Business is fixed.

They do not deliver what you have booked, and you do not accept what they want to deliver instead of your Booking...

The Waves are 12 to 15 Meters high, and the Ship is only 5500 Tons big (little).

This is an very nice and remarkable Experience.

On an other Cruise with the AZUR in the Med in February 1992, we had Storm at the Coast of Israel and Egypt.

From 660 Passengers to the Midnight Gala Buffet are appearing 12...

...11 others

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Originally posted by Amerikanis:
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On an other Cruise with the AZUR in the Med in February 1992, we had Storm at the Coast of Israel and Egypt.

From 660 Passengers to the Midnight Gala Buffet are appearing 12...

...11 others

This are Feelings, bringing me near to an Orgasm...

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Sure, something to be proud of!

... I hope the 11 other passengers had not this kind of feeling at the same time... or this Midnight Gala Buffet (Party?) would have been a memorable moment...

...at least you don't need too much and you're easy to satisfy.

... and some people here keep wondering where the "best place to have sex" aboard a ship is, when a storm in the Med is the only one thing you need in fact. Simple no?

Anyone who has cruised several times should surely have studied and learned to read Deck Plans – or at least the TA should have offered some guidance as to preferred locations. Obviously you don’t want your cabin door to be right opposite or next door to the self-serve laundry and probably not the first cabin in from the elevators – we all have a tendency to stop and chat! Close to a stair way is also a bit less than completely desirable as would be a washroom. Some deck plans show ‘Service’ - not the end of the world but that’s where the Stewards store many of their cabin fix-up necessities, soaps, lotions, etc.etc. and the ice maker is frequently close by - not all Waitstaff have mastered what I call ‘silent service’. The Deck Plan of what’s above you is most worthy of consideration – as is the one below – Squash above and Disco below - you may have a problem!. We check out how easy it is to get to the Lido and/or the Dining room from our cabin – seldom can you get directly from "A to B and/or C" – you choose!

As for being ‘forward’ on the lowest deck, although not the best location, it does have some merit – you can enjoy the swirl of water on your porthole as white capped waves rush by – motion is minimal really. Ok, the noise increases should you run into high seas but motion is still much less than you would experience on higher decks. I love the sea and enjoy being on it…… for me there’s something special about the North Atlantic whatever the weather. I have experienced the lowest deck in the farthermost forward cabin – the Master At Arms, as he was then called, was stationed right outside my door.

The ship was one of the Empress liners - can't recall which one - around 30,000 gr. tons in the late '60's.

Hopefully 'mike01772' will tell us how everything worked out for him. Guess this was the £399.00 deal mentioned in earlier posts - like you Malcolm I'd have gone for it - too bad it was from the wrong side of the pond for me and in the wrong currency!

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Originally posted by Green:
Some deck plans show ‘Service’ - not the end of the world but that’s where the Stewards store many of their cabin fix-up necessities, soaps, lotions, etc.etc. and the ice maker is frequently close by - not all Waitstaff have mastered what I call ‘silent service’.

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Many new ships, if you are in an inside cabin, the wall opposite your door (I suppose this is the back? Or front?) will be up against the 'service' area, regardless of cabin.

If you look at HAL, the S-class ships don't have this - but take a look at Zuiderdam's deck plans for instance or those of many other newly designed ships and you can see the "white area" so that two cabins never touch on that wall... That "white area" is service. The cabins thus are shorter but there are cabins all the way forward through all the way aft except for the stairwells... Whereas say on the S-class ships you will note long stretches with no inside cabins even on the lower two decks, this is where the "service" areas are.

If I'm not mistaken Royal Princess pioneered service areas down the centerline, that ship had no insides. Now with wider vessels we're finding a standard layout of

outside-hall-inside-service-inside-hall-outside

if you were looking at a cutatway along the beam of the ship on a cabin deck.

Mike – I may well be out of line here but it seems to me that the Agency you are/were dealing with is the real ‘fly in the ointment’.

My understanding is that an inside cabin on Deck 8 was booked and paid for – I wonder if it was by CC to the Agency or the Cruise Line – most hopefully the latter. (With very few exceptions, an Agency cannot confirm a cabin without authorization/confirmation from the Cruise Line - that said, things may well be done differently in the UK – I speak only of Canada.)

Next, TA advises that NCL advises that Deck 8 is not available but is OFFERING Deck 9 –as a complimentary (in my mind) upgrade because of (NCL’s) error re Deck 8). Without consulting the clients, the Agency agrees to the change. …….any mention made of additional cost?
Now comes news that nothing is available on Deck 9! – this is too much! - Deck 4 is now offered – big difference……any mention of price difference for this?

My parents have now cancelled the trip……….. have cruised many times and know that this is not the best place to be especially crossing the Atlantic we're there is the good chance of rough seas……. but have to wait to see if NCL insist on keeping the 25% of the cost of each person.

As far as I can see the clients paid the Agency (in full yet!) for something they never had. It would be interesting to confirm if the Agency ever actually sent payment to the Cruise Line. If the Line received no payment they can’t possibly charge for a cancellation.. In my mind the Agency was ‘pulling a fast one – or at least ‘trying things on for size’……some questions need to be asked!

Now, if I’m reading this correctly, original TA offers what I’d think was an identical cabin (on Deck 4) at an additional £70 because it’s a couple of doors further from the bow of the ship………. . we decided to ring other T'A's up…and well you might!.

One confirmed that there were still plenty of rooms available on Deck 9 (my parents original upgrade) but at an extra cost of £60 per person

Back now to the original TA who, it would seem, was not short on ideas, and (s)he offers….£20 cheaper and no admin fee – (what admin fee?). Deck 8 (same deck as my family has booked outside cabin restricted view £40 per person extra & no admin fee, even though we had cancelled the holiday on Friday evening.

Original TA says NCL would be looking for a cancellation fee of £100 per person Well, £40 extra for a restricted view (full or partial?) on DECK 8 is maybe not bad considering the cabin is now outside and on the deck originally requested.

Personally I’d be talking to another couple of Agencies and, if necessary, getting my name on a Wait List – I’d even make a deposit on the understanding that it was fully refundable if nothing suitable became available - this is only October, the cruise is not until December and I’d bet more than a few $’s/£’s that there will be cancellations and space will become available. available.

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Originally posted by Cruiseny:

Can you transfer your booking over to another agent without having to cancel (and thus pay the fee for doing that)?

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Can’t answer that question - besides it’s not the point in Mike's case

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Originally posted by Cruiseny:
Green - my point was just that another agent might be willing to book him one of those inside cabins on deck 9 without having to pay the upgrade fee.

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Maybe it was a TA who had block booked a pile of cabins? Who may not have had a certain one left in his/her 'bundle' but on the ship itself there may have been.

Also re the rest of the comments, in the UK we pay the agent, not the cruise line [unless of course we have booked direct with the cruise line, but that is usually more expensive]. We have different bonding agreements etc to protect our money.

In the case of the Dawn trip in question, the money was requested all up front in full as less than 90 days to sailing from when the offer came out. At least that's what the TA I booked through told me, although the brochure I have here says 60 days, but it's old and could have changed.

My guess is the TA made a cockup and tried to cover up unsucessfully.

Anyway it seems like you got there in the end Mike? Obstructed views, can be a total block out, or a half view between lifeboats, or below/above if the smaller lifeboat, check the plans with the cabin number. But you still get outside light.
I have my cabin no. now, down in the broom cupboard on deck 4, but big brooms as it can apparently fit 4 of them. BA flights too, nice

Don't let the booking fiasco spoil anything! Hopefully that'll be forgotten about when the tix arrive and the excitement mounts

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Originally posted by topgun:
Qualification is that one passenger must be 55+.
Cruiseny, maybe your mum could pay for both of us.
Alternatively, members of this website could do a whiparound and cover the fare.
We could possibly post daily reports.[/QB]

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