NCL is not off to a good start

I was going over everything in our travel binder. I wanted to make sure that I have all the documents and everything was all set. When I got to Inverness, I booked a NCL's shore excursion for Loch Ness via phone (because website was not working). Well I was suppose to receive an email confirmation. So I went through all my emails and I did not receive any communication from NCL this week. Remember I just book this excursion last weekend and this week has been a bit crazy.

So I logged on to NCL's website and of course it will not let see all of our excursions. (I think NCL's website is terrible. It took me a week to log on to do precruise registration and many other people had problems with that too). I called NCL. They do not show our Loch Ness shore excursion. I asked what happen and she did not know. I then wanted to rebook it. They state they cannot do anything at this time because it is less than 4 days to sailing. When asked why it was never booked, she states “oh maybe it is full”. I wanted to know then why wasn't I notified so I could have time to plan something else. I was not given an answer except try and book it on the ship.

I have looked at going to Loch Ness on our own but we have another photo excursion at 1pm. Many reviews I see about the bus to Loch Ness state it takes over an hour to get back to town due to the number of stops. We do not have time for that.

Now I have been a little hesitant about going on NCL. The only reason we are going is because of this itinerary. We are not to sure we are going to like freestyle cruising. On our last Mediterranean cruise, we enjoyed our dinner table greatly. We think we are going to miss the usual cruise dinner atmosphere. In addition, the reviews for NCL's Jade has not been that positive however they are getting better. I was hoping for a very positive experience although NCL is not starting off to a good start!

I love Royal Caribbean. I think their service and food are excellent. We have sailed with them 4 times and have not had one bad experience. That included my sister in law's (Melissa) wedding which Royal Caribbean arranged for a beach wedding on Grand Cayman. Melissa wedding pictures are perfect and I cannot say enough good things about Royal Caribbean.
We have so sailed with Carnival and they did not even come close to living up to Royal Caribbean. I was hoping the NCL would be another cruising option for us however right now I am not so sure and I haven't each got on the ship yet. Lets hope things for NCL customer service and communication gets better.

Lets also hope that we can book Loch Ness on the ship. Remember Melissa wants a shot glass from there (who only knows if they will even have a shot glasses but that is another issue). Melissa gets very upset if she does not get what she wants. :) So Melissa, I am warning you now, I don't know if we even get to go to Loch Ness. Sorry!

So instead of taking a nap this afternoon, I am blogging. I needed to let my frustration out. Off to the airport in 2 hours.