veendam cancellation of amazon cruise

Just received word the Veendam cruise for January 2018 is cancelled because of Cuba new itinerary. Terrible the way they did this by email. Just told us we need to rebook another cruise with little help. What is everyone doing about this?

That's awful, so sorry that your vacation plans have been ruined. Did you have flights booked already?

I would never book a cruise more than six months in advance for this reason. We would have likely been stuck with nonrefundable airline tickets. I guess one has to book the airline through HAL to avoid this if one has to book a cruise far in advance, but I prefer to select my own flights.

Has HAL ever cancelled a cruise within six months of sailing?

igraf

Just received word the Veendam cruise for January 2018 is cancelled because of Cuba new itinerary. Terrible the way they did this by email. Just told us we need to rebook another cruise with little help. What is everyone doing about this?

We normally wait until closer to our cruise date to book flights. We found the flights through HAL are more expensive then booking on your own or through your TA. HAL must have another ship doing the Amazon to replace the cancelled one??

Allan

Just received word the Veendam cruise for January 2018 is cancelled because of Cuba new itinerary. Terrible the way they did this by email. Just told us we need to rebook another cruise with little help. What is everyone doing about this?

Azamara did the same thing in order to get Cuba on their calendar. I was delighted to see the itinerary and booked one of their Cuba-intensive cruises, but people who had already booked a Caribbean cruise for those weeks were not happy, especially those from the UK who could visit Cuba any time they wanted to, and didn't "need" Azamara to take them there.

I think as permissions are granted, cruise lines want to get in on the action quickly, and we're going to see more shuffling of itineraries.

Brazil has been so unstable of late, you might consider yourself lucky this happened. I personally would assume anyone booking well into next year could be subject to unanticipated changes. It is the nature of the game. Hope you find a good alternative that makes up for this change of plans.

As one of the UK passengers affected by Azamara's itinerary changes we feel your pain.

However it's something that we are going to have to live with. As so many traditional cruising destinations suffer with security issues all the cruise lines are going to focus on areas of greater interest to the majority of cruise passengers.

As we can visit Cuba without the cost and restrictions of a cruise departing the US we have cancelled our cruise.

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Have you contacted your TA or PCC?

Whew!!! I will be on the last cruise on the Veendam before the changes and will not be cancelled.

Just received word the Veendam cruise for January 2018 is cancelled because of Cuba new itinerary. Terrible the way they did this by email. Just told us we need to rebook another cruise with little help. What is everyone doing about this?

I have a client on this cruise and they aren't sending an email and doing nothing else.

It seems you forgot to mention they are offering $500 or $1000 to move to another sailing and if the new cruise is LONGER (most folks that booked this wouldn't want to switch to a 7-10 day Caribbean I would imagine) they are offering a per diem in discounts as I understand it for the additional days beyond the first.

OP

I am so sorry that your Amazon cruise has been cancelled.

Let us know what you are going to do.

I would never book a cruise more than six months in advance for this reason. We would have likely been stuck with nonrefundable airline tickets. I guess one has to book the airline through HAL to avoid this if one has to book a cruise far in advance, but I prefer to select my own flights.

 

Has HAL ever cancelled a cruise within six months of sailing?

 

 

igraf

Yes -- A few years ago we were scheduled to do the Nieuw Amsterdam for a couple of weeks in November. Hal notified us in June that they were going to keep the Nieuw Amsterdam in Europe an extra week and our first week was cancelled for the Caribbean.

We were given a couple of choices .

We always buy our airline tickets as soon as possible as there are very few choices and we do buy refundable tickets.

PRETTY ANGRY!

Flights booked, Carnival tickets purchased thru private vendor. Wanted to see Carnival and Amazon. May just fly to Rio for carnival and do Amazon with Oceania on a different date.

Linda/Stan

PRETTY ANGRY!

Flights booked, Carnival tickets purchased thru private vendor. Wanted to see Carnival and Amazon. May just fly to Rio for carnival and do Amazon with Oceania on a different date.

 

 

Linda/Stan

Good back-up plan. Nice you have some flexibility still this early in the game. A number or cruise lines offer Amazon cruises in 2018 besides Oceania, including several on HAL Prinsendam. Others are: Viking, Regent, Cruise and Maritime Voyages, Crystal, Seaborn and Silver Sea. Maybe one of those can fit back into your original Veendam time slot.

I would rebook the Amazon with another cruise line. We went with Oceania four years ago and it was superb.

Pay the change fees on your air for a really unique experience. Big bonus is you will not be on Veendam, couldn't pay me to go on that ship.

Trying to get hold of my PCC since 8.30 this morning. We were booked on Jan 5th S Caribbean cruise and got the email yesterday..... not amused. This may be the end of our HAL cruising.

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Trying to get hold of my PCC since 8.30 this morning. We were booked on Jan 5th S Caribbean cruise and got the email yesterday..... not amused. This may be the end of our HAL cruising.

 

 

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You are luck. There are many, many other Caribbean options to choose from.

Sorry to hear this. Having done the cruise this past year with only 1000 guests on board, HAL probably was looking for a more profitable itinerary. Cuba cruises are currently getting a higher per diem.

Sorry to hear this. Having done the cruise this past year with only 1000 guests on board, HAL probably was looking for a more profitable itinerary. Cuba cruises are currently getting a higher per diem.

Really? You don't think that possibly HAL and other cruise lines have long been waiting for the opportunity to cruise to Cuba? And somehow you think that because your cruise only had 1000 guests on it that this represents the norm of HAL's usual passenger contingent?

We also did this cruise this past year. While we had a good time, I can understand why HAL might want to change. We personally knew 3 people who had items stolen while on shore - two had cell phones stolen right out of their hands. We were constantly warned by the cruise staff and the on-shore tourist folks to be very careful. One stop was canceled because the police were on strike and the crime rate had gone through the roof. Brazilian visas have become even more of a problem to get that even India, China, or Russia. It took us over seven weeks to get ours. It seems there was a work slow down in the San Francisco consulate. Some people started too late and either had to cancel or received their passports back just before sailing. Thanks to a yellow fever outbreak in Brazil, we were not allowed to leave the ship for two hours in St Lucia while the port authorities and the cruise line argued about it. Finally it was decided that those who had proof of yellow fever shots could go ashore, those that didn't or only had a waiver stayed on board. Add all this to the fact that HAL couldn't fill the ship up and I can see why they might want to cancel the itinerary.

We are livid over this change. We booked this 14 day itinerary months ago. Booked flights for four. Booked the hotels for before and after and now this itinerary has change. The trip is shorter and in my opinion the ports of call are no where near as nice as the original itinerary. We got a call from our HAL cruise consultant and we're advised if the change. We were not offered anything except the new itinerary, to cancel or change sailings. We also were not offered anything in the way of compensation. We were not advised if the new itinerary price would be different. There's one others cruise, which is a back-to-back that we could take, but it's still $1400 more than our original booking. I'm not sure what info anyone else received from HAL, but I feel that the customer service has been deplorable.

We also did this cruise this past year. While we had a good time, I can understand why HAL might want to change. We personally knew 3 people who had items stolen while on shore - two had cell phones stolen right out of their hands. We were constantly warned by the cruise staff and the on-shore tourist folks to be very careful. One stop was canceled because the police were on strike and the crime rate had gone through the roof. Brazilian visas have become even more of a problem to get that even India, China, or Russia. It took us over seven weeks to get ours. It seems there was a work slow down in the San Francisco consulate. Some people started too late and either had to cancel or received their passports back just before sailing. Thanks to a yellow fever outbreak in Brazil, we were not allowed to leave the ship for two hours in St Lucia while the port authorities and the cruise line argued about it. Finally it was decided that those who had proof of yellow fever shots could go ashore, those that didn't or only had a waiver stayed on board. Add all this to the fact that HAL couldn't fill the ship up and I can see why they might want to cancel the itinerary.

Your past experience on this cruise bears repeating. This change might well have been motivated as much by safety concerns as the possibility of new route to Cuba. Reminds me of the changes they had to make taking Mazatlan and Istanbul off the cruise routes too. I know they also play cat and mouse with some Caribbean Islands when crime starts jeopardizing too many passengers safety.

Thank you especially for your Yellow Fever report. We were going to go on this cruise a few years ago and got so many confusing stories about the YF shots and waivers and whether they were even checked in the ports or not. At that time CDC was saying one shot was good for a life time. HAL was saying it had to be within 10 years. Others were reporting waivers may or may not work. And the Brazil visa was really burdensome at that time too, so we just put off doing the Amazon cruise. Looks like it may take a while before things look more welcoming in this country.

Even though we were greatly disappointed by changes, any time HAL has changed an itinerary, they have always worked with us, asorbing the cost of airfare and hotel cancellation or change fees, even when we did them on our own. We have always found them gracious, helpful and easy to work with. Work with them and they will work with you.

Just received word the Veendam cruise for January 2018 is cancelled because of Cuba new itinerary. Terrible the way they did this by email. Just told us we need to rebook another cruise with little help. What is everyone doing about this?

I have a client on this cruise and they aren't sending an email and doing nothing else.

 

It seems you forgot to mention they are offering $500 or $1000 to move to another sailing and if the new cruise is LONGER (most folks that booked this wouldn't want to switch to a 7-10 day Caribbean I would imagine) they are offering a per diem in discounts as I understand it for the additional days beyond the first.

So sorry that your cruise has been cancelled, but you have to understand that HAL is also giving you 8 months notice which should be enough time for you to change plans.. As another poster mentioned, HAL will work with you, just give them a chance..

I would also guess that because of the problems with increased tourists being targeted for theft in Brazil, HAL found it necessary to change some of their routes..

I would never book a cruise more than six months in advance for this reason. We would have likely been stuck with nonrefundable airline tickets. I guess one has to book the airline through HAL to avoid this if one has to book a cruise far in advance, but I prefer to select my own flights.

igraf

I book early, the cruise with our PCC and later handle airfare myself, then use a third party travel insurance company to insure the value of both. I've experienced a cancellation due to a charter that was about 11 months out so we had yet to purchase air.