23 Sep, 2019 → by ClaimboUser165950
negligence and unnecessary trauma

2

I am writing on behalf of myself and my wife's displeasure in our most recent voyage aboard the Norwegian Sun cruise ship which sailed out of Port Canaveral on August 29, 2019. Prior to our arrival we had contacted customer service several times during the early part of the week and made our final plea call on August 28, 2019 around 5pm before heading to St. Augustine to make sure we didn't run into any problems and miss our cruise. We had great concern about the weather conditions as Hurricane Dorian had now been categorized as a CAT 3 with a lot of uncertainty of its projected path. We expressed our concerns and were told that there would be no problems and the Ship would sail as scheduled. We indicated that we live in the coastal area of Savannah GA and we would need to be available for our family, pets or the preparedness of our home. Upon speaking with our assigned cruise agent "Leo" we were informed that there would not be a cancellation or refund of any kind. He went on to say, " ma'am, this cruise is leaving with or without you". My wife and I have saved for several months to experience our first cruise together. At this point we were given no other option and concluded that Norwegian must know what they are doing and would not put us in harm's way. Within a few hours of sailing it was brought to our attention that we would no longer be going to the Bahamas, we would now be going to Cozumel Mexico??? At this point the frustration of not going to the Bahamas has begun and the concern for our family, pets and home is over whelming. Being at sea with no communication to the mainland with very little information of when we may be able to return made it difficult to enjoy the excitement of our vacation. We continuously watched the weather updates in our stateroom. Dorian now has become a Cat 5 with Savannah being in the projected path as well as Hilton Head Island. Upon arriving at Cozumel after being at sea for a day and a half; we began looking for ways to communicate with our loved ones to get updates on the situation. We were informed that there was an issuance for a mandatory evacuation for Savannah GA and Hilton Head Island, SC for Monday the 2nd of September, which is where our home and family reside. Once we re-boarded the ship, we were told we would be staying an additional night due to Port Canaveral having been closed. Once leaving Cozumel we received word that we will now be diverting to New Orleans, again due to the Port being closed. We are now spending a lot of time at guest services trying to get an understanding of what was going on. The communication was very un-informing and created a lot of confusion for us and many others. With all the uncertainty and confusion of not knowing when or how we were going to get back to Port Canaveral to retrieve our vehicle, it was very exhausting and frightful. Once we were able to communicate again with our family, we were informed that our nanny who is caring for our daughters and pets; who lives on Hilton Head Island; needed to leave and care for her home and family due to the mandatory evacuation. We now have been put in a desperate position to find alternative arrangements for our children and pets. We were fortunate in finding transportation to get our children to a relative in Atlanta GA, causing great anguish for everyone involved. We were forced to put our family pets in a boarding facility for the next 4 days due to this situation. This was very difficult for us!!! Once in New Orleans we were able to secure a rental car which deemed unnecessary after a long confusing back and forth with guest services on how Norwegian was going to handle this situation. The final summary from here is it took 17 hours on Wednesday to catch a plane, ride a bus from Tampa to Port Canaveral and pick up our vehicle to drive home in Hurricane conditions. Had we just been able to have had the option of rebooking another cruise or cancelling all together this nightmare could have been avoided. We are angry and traumatized by this experience and feel it could have been avoided in its entirety. We definitely want to go on record to say that Norwegian was negligent and put our family and many others in harms way and should be held accountable for their actions or lack of.
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