nervous noobie

[noobiecruiser]

OK, I'm nervous. We're booked on our first cruise, on the NCL Dream for a Christmas Caribbean cruise. One, I'm hearing lots of bad stuff since I booked about the Dream. Two, I didn't know what I was doing when I booked and the agent said I have a "guaranteed" reservation, but no specific assignment on the ship. Is this bad? Is it normal? Three, I booked flights with the cruiseline but don't know anything (time, airline) about the flight? Is this normal?

Help!

 

[Don Clark]

OK, I'm nervous. We're booked on our first cruise, on the NCL Dream for a Christmas Caribbean cruise. One, I'm hearing lots of bad stuff since I booked about the Dream.

It is true that the Dream is not up to full speed, it has been lacking one diesel engine since late June, and they have been trying to repair it while the Dream has remianed in service. So ports that require full speed cannot be reached in the alloted time. Instead of having a four port itinerary, the Dream will probably only visit three ports in a week until the engine is repaired.

Two, I didn't know what I was doing when I booked and the agent said I have a "guaranteed" reservation, but no specific assignment on the ship. Is this bad? Is it normal? Three, I booked flights with the cruiseline but don't know anything (time, airline) about the flight? Is this normal?

It is normal not to have a specific assignment more than two months from your cruise, while having a guarantee category of cabin reserved. Assignments are usually made immediately after the final payment date, which usually occurs two months prior to your cruise. So for a Christmas cruise, the final payment date should be in late October. Also, you'd probably will not know which flight until you receive your cruise papers. You get your cruise papers via the mail, or by e-mail, about a month before your cruise, at the earliest.
So be patient. Talk with your travel agent regularly.

Although the Dream has been slowed down, recent cruisers have reported that the staff is working overtime to please you, knowing that the ship has been letting cruisers down. Enjoy the ship, roll with the disappointments, and have a great time on your cruise. Not every cruise is perfect, there's always some disappointments and great things that happen on one. Don't let the little disappointments ruin your cruise.

 

[noobiecruiser]

Thanks, Don - I know I'm probably worrying needlessly, but I talked my husband into this cruise so I want everything to be OK.

 

[Don Clark]

Some bad news is. It seems that the scheduled ports the Dream can make with one diesel broken have been hit by Hurricane Wilma. This effect smany cruise lines sailing to Cosumel and the Yutucan pennisula., including the Norwegian Dream and Sun.

NCL released a news press release on October 20, here's what it said:
hurricane WILMA update

MIAMI, October 21, 2005– Norwegian Cruise Line is closely monitoring Hurricane Wilma as the storm continues to impact the Yucatan Peninsula and the Western Caribbean.

As the safety and comfort of our guests is our utmost priority, the company will be altering Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Sun’s itineraries in accordance with the weather conditions as they are now:

Norwegian Dream (October 22 sailing out of Houston) will now call into Veracruz, Mexico on Monday with an overnight stay and spend a full day there on Tuesday. The ship will spend a day at sea and call into Progreso on Thursday and return to the Port of Houston on Saturday.

Norwegian Sun (October 23 sailing out of Houston) will spend two days at sea, then call into Belize on Wednesday and Roatan, Honduras on Thursday as scheduled. Subject to Hurricane Wilma having moved well away from the Yucatan Peninsula as predicted by Monday or Tuesday, Norwegian Sun will then call into Cozumel, Mexico on Friday if the port is open for cruise passengers. The ship will return to the Port of Houston on Sunday.

As of now, all other NCL vessels will sail as planned.

Because weather conditions involving the storm are constantly changing, the company may need to further adjust itineraries and we recommend that guests continue to monitor the Web site for updates. NCL will post information on www.ncl.com under “Storm Update†and advise the team in the call center, who can be reached by calling 1-800-327-7030.

The company sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused by these unavoidable changes and thanks its guests for their patience and understanding.