Taiwan - Star Cruises - customer service

[Raven767]

Star Cruises!!! Ha!

Let me tell you my experience with Star Cruises and what it is like being treated as a 3rd-class citizen.

First, you have to understand that Star Cruises advertises at www.starcruises.com and has a ship based in Taiwan - the Superstar Libra. She sails out of Kaohsiung and Keelung. I live in Keelung.

I learned that Star Cruises was offering 2-3 night trips to Okinawa and wanted to enjoy a small part of my summer vacation at sea. So, I tried to find information on line. The key word is tried. It was not very successful and it seems it is Star Cruises’ fault.

I travel a lot. I have an advanced degree, have visited 30 countries, have been on 4 cruises (1 long, 1 short, 2 military), and I am very good at determining my desires before I make reservations. So, I was looking for information on tour length, berth options and prices. All of this would help me make a good decision - when I had to go to a travel agent.

When I finally found the above website, I found the cruise dates…… yep, that’s it. I could not access any information on the ship, the berths or the prices. Why!?! Because Taiwan is treated as a 2nd class country by Star Cruises!! You see, if I was in Singapore, Hong Kong or Malaysia, I could access the information and make a good decision. But, because Star Cruises thinks very little of Taiwan, I have to travel from my home town to Taipei to see a travel agent.

Wait!!! I did state above that I live in Keelung!! And, that is where the ship sails from. So, to make matters worse, not only is Taiwan treated as a 2nd class country, the home port of Keelung is treated as a 3rd class city…. We don’t even have a travel agent for a ship that departs from one of the largest ports in the world.

I wrote to Star Cruises and told them I needed information on berths and prices. They responded with their website. I wrote back that their website does not give that information and I needed it to make a decision for the 8 July cruise. They wrote back that I had to use a travel agent as Taiwan could not access that information. I wrote Star Cruises and informed them that I did not think asking for access to this information before going to an agent was unreasonable and told them to send me the website and that I would be away from home for three days with work. Their response? They had a travel agent call me!!!! I told him to email me the website and hung up.

When I returned home, I gave them via email, one more day (they have had two weeks) to get me the website. They did not.

So, what am I doing? 1) I am spending my money to fly to some other location. 2) I am never going to use a Star Cruises vessel in the future. 3) I am moving to Seoul in August and will take cruises… but not on Star Cruises. 4) I am withholding tens of thousands future US$ for their bad service. 5) I am writing here and hoping that others also let them know about their lack of concern for customers - should you feel it is appropriate.

Bottom-line - If you live in Taiwan you are a second class country and if you live in Keelung you are in a third class city - according to Star Cruises.

[jacketwatch]

I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. Fortunatley there are many reputable cruise companies out there and I hope you enjoy a cruise with one of them soon. After this experience it seems you could use one. Welcome to cruise crazies. Post often and have fun here. You will find the folks here the "anti" Star cruises. Cheers, Larry

[JohnG]

Star Cruises is the parent company of NCL. Star owned Star, and NCL, and Orient Lines (1 ship, Marco Polo). They just sold Orient. For instance, Norwegian Spirit was formerly the Superstar Leo before she was renamed and moved to NCL. The Superstar ships were built for the Far East clientele.

The problem you are facing is political. China and Taiwan don't talk. And Star is headquarted in Singapore. It is trying to grow its China business, with ships homeported in Hong Kong.

From a June 22, 2007 press release:

About Star Cruises

Star Cruises, the third largest cruise operator in the world is a global cruise brand with a combined fleet of 21 ships with about 32,300 lower berths in service with an additional 3 ships and some 10,800 lower berths due to be delivered by 2010, cruising to destinations and islands in Asia-Pacific, North and South America, Hawaii, Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Mediterranean, Bermuda and the Antarctica under the Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America, Orient Lines and Cruise Ferries brands.

Star Cruises is represented in more than 25 locations worldwide with offices and representatives in Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America.