The travel blogosphere is consumed with stories about airlines canceling flights. But hardly anything has been written about cruise lines canceling sailings and leaving their customers high and dry — literally. Case in point: the July 7 sailing of the Norwegian Dawn.
NCL recently sent a notice to customers and travel agents saying that the ship had been chartered and that they needed to reschedule their vacations. Their options included rebooking themselves on the Dawn sailing between July 14 and Aug. 11 or moving to another ship.
“In addition, to thank guests for their understanding, NCL is offering an onboard credit of $50 per person (maximum $100 per stateroom) applicable to all items, excluding casino and service charges,” according to the notice.
Can a cruise line do that? In a word, yes.
NCL’s cruise contract has a clause that it can cancel a cruise “at its sole discretion” and is “not obligated to offer substitute hotels or services and shall not be liable for an loss whatsoever to Purchaser by reason of such cancellation or substitution.”
To me, it looked as if NCL had arbitrarily kicked paying customers off a cruise to accommodate a group and left those passengers with two potentially inconvenient choices.
I mean, what if you couldn’t make any of the alternate sailings and just wanted your money back? I decided to put my questions directly to the cruise line.
I asked AnneMarie Mathews, an NCL spokeswoman, how often to NCL ships rebook passengers because of charters.
Answer: “infrequently.”
For passengers who aren’t able to reschedule their cruise, is it possible to get a refund?
“Yes, since the July 7, 2007 sailing date was outside of the cancellation policy period, all guests were eligible for a full refund,” said Matthews.
So what can passengers do to avoid having their cruise canceled? Are there any cruises which are more likely to get taken over by a charter?
Matthews said that “from time to time” a cruise will be canceled for various reasons, which are outlined in the contract. “No, there are not any cruises/itineraries that are more likely or less likely to be chartered,” she added.
Although NCL has been relatively accommodating in this case, I’m concerned about its cruise contract (and indeed, the contracts of other cruise lines).
I mean, what’s a reservation worth if a company can take your money until a better offer comes along?
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