Angry Passengers on the NCL Sun as the Refit starts with them onboard!

NCL and the NCL Sun are experiencing a little bad press at the Moment if you haven’t already seen the images.

Social media has been awash when Notices began going up closing off parts of the  ship shortly after it set sail on a 15 night Panama canal cruise. Workmen  were reportedly Hammering everywhere , and the air was filled with dust from decks being sanded down and resurfaced.

“We found that a lot more areas were being cordoned off, and we saw more and more workers wearing respiratory protection equipment working around the ship.” Claimed one passenger

One passenger claimed the work  went well beyond normal maintenance. He said the work being done was not only irritating — it was downright dangerous to the paying passengers on board.

“It did very much concern me that the residue from the grinding and the sanding which was blowing and collecting everywhere was also getting in our lungs,” he says. “There’s a potential for health hazard there.”

It was even reported that some passengers had to see the Ships doctor with breathing problems from the work.

Large areas of the ship were out of bounds including the kids pool which upset lots of families,

Midway through the cruise, she said, passengers had grown so angry that a meeting was organized in the observation bar, which quickly became unruly. About 500 people gathered to confront the captain with their complaints and demand compensation.

“People started yelling the various things that had happened to them, whether it was the noxious fumes in the hallway, whether it was the dust in people’s eyes, whether it was the inconvenience of having various parts of ship closed, or whether it was just the lack of ownership of taking responsibility for the decision that was made to close a lot of the ship,” Vale said.

The captain eventually stormed out, she said, which added even more to the passengers’ anger.

“The meeting became even more amplified, because by this point the passengers were really angry that the person they felt would actually be able to do something about all the construction that was happening was gone.”

Norwegian Cruise Line declined to do an interview , insisting instead on responding to a list of written questions. However, in its reply Norwegian did not answer any of the questions posed, instead issuing a statement.

“At Norwegian Cruise Line, we continuously aim to offer the best vacation experience for all our guests,” the statement said. The company acknowledged “enhancements” were happening during the cruise and that some guests “experienced some inconvenience.”

All guests have been offered a 25 per cent discount on their next booking with Norwegian Cruise Lines. That  offer is  valid for one year.

Most passengers vowed never to sail again with NCL so the offer was useless and they wanted their cash back in their pockets.

Were you on this sailing have you experienced problems like this before?