Norwegian Cruise Lines refund process took years.

Question: My husband and I took an Alaska cruise in July 2005 with Norwegian Cruise Lines. We made all our reservations with them and booked the cruise, airfare and a two-day stay in Vancouver during two phone calls.

We tried to check in for the Delta flight in Atlanta, but the agent said our electronic tickets had not been paid for. She worked for more than an hour trying to sort it out. Meanwhile, I called Norwegian Cruise Lines, but I couldn’t get through the automated answering system. We had to pay $1,444 for one-way tickets to Vancouver or we would have missed our cruise.

Once onboard the Norwegian Sun, I immediately spoke to a customer service rep. After talking with the Miami office, she gave me a letter stating that our money would be refunded and that Norwegian would mail us a check. She said we had been double-booked, and one reservation was paid for, but the second one was not, and Delta didn’t locate the correct reservation. Apparently, the number on our electronic ticket was not the reservation that had been paid for.

Answer: Norwegian cruise line did not dispute that Stone was due a refund for her replacement airline tickets. After all, she had a letter from the ship’s front office manager promising a check. Unfortunately, it didn’t state the dollar amount due, and the company says that all this time it has been waiting for copies of the replacement tickets so it could cut a check for the right amount.

Norwegian Cruise Line apologized for the long wait and mailed her a $1,444 check. As a goodwill gesture, the cruise line also gave the Stones $1,000 in credit toward a cruise.