HAL Customer Service - New Cuba Cruises

As someone who was booked on a Christmas cruise on the Veendam, I found out by accident (Google earch) that the cruise was dropped in favor of the Cuban itinerary. This took both myself and my travel agent by surprise.

As my wife and I are destination based cruisers, we had our hearts set on the southern caribbean so this shortened cruise was a non-starter. We are currently looking at competing options. We fall into that small group of people who cruise to enjoy the destinations and are willing to book months in advance to ensure a spot.

While I appreciate the need for HAL to meet new business needs, someone failed to consider the impact on customer relations. I am now twice as likely to drop HAL from consideration for future cruises. They needed a strategy on how to handle the customers that were already booked.

Does anyone else feel that this was a serious lapse in customer service?

thanks,

From what I see on the forums for all the upscale lines (Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, etc.), it is par for the course regarding customer service. We're not talking about a cancellation a few months prior. Booking seven months prior or more, many things can happen. Most of the time is a matter of the ship being chartered out from under you. So the cruise would still be happening... just not with you.

If our 25th anniversary cruise is cancelled out from under us, we'll be very disappointed. However, I am under no illusion that anyone has promised me that it cannot happen. Travel insurance is a must for us.

I certainly feel your disappointment.

While itineraries have been known to be changed, your TA should have been notified and, IMO some type of compensation would have been in order. Maybe not huge, but something I would have thought?

The most frustrating part of this exercise, is that I had to find out by accident. The cruise company was more interested in announcing the new itinerary, then it was in informing booked guests. At the very least, an email notice should have gone out to the travel agent prior to the itinerary change. To me that is just common sense.

What is ironic about the whole situation is that we booked HAL after trying to book a Viking Ocean cruise to the Amazon for December in January. That cruise was already fully sold out by mid January. Not even an inside cabin was available. Yesterday, I was checking other Viking cruises and their other cruises in the same time period are also fully booked. Viking seems to have no problem in filling its ships months in advance.

Fortunately, I am confident that we will find something. I normally book pre and post hotel stays so it is likely we can adjust the dates to make something work.

I want to thank everyone for their comments.

We too were booked on this Veendam Caribbean holiday cruise. We too have not received a notice of the cancellation. They seem to be treating it as an itinerary change. We were emailed a revised booking confirmation on May 25. The email itself did not mention any change. ( "Attached is a summary of your booking, including deposit and payment details. If you have not made your deposit yet, do so now to secure your fare.Please review all attached documents carefully for accuracyIAs a valued MarinerSociety® member, we welcome you and thank you for once again choosing HollandAmerica Line." I was busy, glanced through the confirmation sheet, noted the fare was down, the port taxes were up, the start date hadn't changed, pre-cruise hotel was still there, same ship, final payment date the same, and nothing on this sheet to indicate anything major. I put it aside to check later if perhaps there had been a change in a port. I was floored yesterday when I scrolled down to the itinerary on the fourth page and found I was now on a Cuban cruise with entirely different ports and 2 days shorter.

We booked this cruise after the 2016 holidays because we specifically wanted a Christmas & New Year's cruise, wanted around 14 days (not back-to-back), and wanted ports of interest that were mostly new to us. 7 of the ports would have been new to us.

We cruise for the travel and the ports. The itinerary and seeing new ports is important to us. Cuban ports are NOT of interest to us. The other ports on this Cuban cruise are also not of interest. They are all western Caribbean, we've been to 2 of the 4 and aren't especially interested in the other 2.

I'm very disappointed in HAL! It appears our Rio/Carnival/Amazon cruise in February is cancelled as well. What extremely poor customer service on HAL's part. We cruise a few times a year and take one long cruise a year. We were going with another couple who is a frequent cruiser on HAL. This would have been our first HAL cruise. Now we will never cruise with HAL. They have not even bothered to contact me to let me know our cruise was cancelled. Just horrendous concern for their potential and new customers. There's too many other good cruise lines out there. Adios HAL.

We are in the same boat! DH and I LOVED that ideal Caribbean itin, and now it's gone with no notice from HAL.

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I can understand the disappointment when itineraries are changed. I'm seeing the same sort of comments on the Azamara board. Many people there say they got no notice of changes and found out about it on CC.

Both lines changed their holiday cruises. I understand that the cruise lines want to get their Cuba itineraries out there and get bookings before the competition does. And the only way to do that was to mess with existing itineraries. But they could have started with January instead of December. I think changing the holiday cruises was wrong. Those cruises are big family thing and people make a lot of plans in advance. I would be less likely to roll with the changes on a holiday cruise than on another itinerary.

And why change the length of the cruise? Even if you're willing to accept the new itinerary, your plans are still going to have to change. I've seen this happen with changes due to charters, too. I know that the contract says itineraries are subject to change, but HAL seems to make very little effort to minimize the upheaval to people's plans.

Cruise line contracts allow for these kinds of changes (without much recourse), but it seems to me there is something to be said for sharing the information with booked customers in advance and trying, when possible, to minimize disruptions caused -- especially with holiday cruises.

There are quite a few competitors to HAL. It doesn't seem as if there are so many customers just hanging around for the plucking that HAL should alienate some that have already made the choice to book with them.

In other words, while I understand the risk, I still think that "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" is worth remembering.

I'm very disappointed in HAL! It appears our Rio/Carnival/Amazon cruise in February is cancelled as well. What extremely poor customer service on HAL's part. We cruise a few times a year and take one long cruise a year. We were going with another couple who is a frequent cruiser on HAL. This would have been our first HAL cruise. Now we will never cruise with HAL. They have not even bothered to contact me to let me know our cruise was cancelled. Just horrendous concern for their potential and new customers. There's too many other good cruise lines out there. Adios HAL.

The NCL Pearl was chartered out from under us one time, so we had to reschedule. It happens, but a longer cruise such as yours required more time to research and plan.

Our 14 day January 5 Veendam cruise was also cancelled. We did not hear directly from HAL because we booked through a travel agent. Your cruise was planned around an event, it appears. We had chosen ours because it included an island we had not been to. Since we have not been to Cuba either, we may just go on one of the new itineraries.

Best wishes for finding a suitable replacement!

I am appalled that HAL never bothered to communicate with booked guests when making such a major change in itinerary and length of cruise. We cruise every Christmas and this lack of communication would have made me very angry. Did no one at headquarters even think that a letter explaining the change and suggesting that if guests had questions or problems to give HAL or their travel agent a call would have gone a long way in keeping customer goodwill? Seems like customer service 101 to me.

Ironically we were considering a land vacation as there were no cruises that fit our schedules and had ports we hadn't visited and then I saw this one. Bucket list check off and perfect schedule fit. Wished it stopped at Half Moon Cay though.

St. Louis Sal

... it seems to me there is something to be said for sharing the information with booked customers in advance ...

Whenever there are cases like this I always appreciate knowing​ who the passenger booked the cruise with. As most folks know, if​ you book through the cruise line then the cruise line is responsible for such notifications, and if you book some other way (such as through a travel agent) then it is the responsibility of who you purchased the cruise from to notify you. Furthermore, if you purchase through the cruise line and then transfer the reservation to a travel agent then the responsibility to notify passengers of such changes. I wonder how many of the cases, in general, we read about about bad customer service from a cruise line is really just bad customer service from the passenger's chosen travel agent.

So Sorry & agree with all of you that it is very poor customer service to not have been notified by HAL that there was schedule/port changes to your booked cruise before the new schedules were published!

I mentioned the Cuba cruises to our good Friends who are quite interested in booking it..

We might even consider it, if they decide to book but agree with all of you that those of you who booked cruises should have been notified before hand..

How it was handled is outrageous! Hopefully HAL will work with you & offer you some kind of compensation to rebook your cruises.. Suggest you write letters to the President of HAL indicating your displeasure with the handling of your reservations & ask for help & OBC compensation....

This is our story:

We booked Dec 22 14-day Caribbean cruise while we were on the Indonesian cruise last Dec. HAL sent an email to us on May 23 regarding the coming up change and another email the next day with a rescheduled booking confirmation attached. Lucky we have not booked air tickets yet. The new booking confirmation indicates that visa is needed to visit Cuba. I phoned HAL to let them know that as Canadians, we don't need visa to visit Cuba as tourists. And their reply: Non-US citizens need to contact Cuban embassy on the visa matter.

We are still contemplating whether we'll accept this changed itinerary.

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This is our story:

 

We booked Dec 22 14-day Caribbean cruise while we were on the Indonesian cruise last Dec. HAL sent an email to us on May 23 regarding the coming up change and another email the next day with a rescheduled booking confirmation attached. Lucky we have not booked air tickets yet. The new booking confirmation indicates that visa is needed to visit Cuba. I phoned HAL to let them know that as Canadians, we don't need visa to visit Cuba as tourists. And their reply: Non-US citizens need to contact Cuban embassy on the visa matter.

 

We are still contemplating whether we'll accept this changed itinerary.

 

 

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Something does not ad up here the way HAL handled your direct booking as opposed to other Psgrs bookings.. If you received an e-mail on May 23 (one day before the published news release with the schedule/port change) then I find it hard to believe that other Psgrs. Travel Agents also were not advised.. It certainly looks like their Travel Agents may have dropped the ball & not noticed the port change.. Then HAL should not be maligned & blamed for the mistake in not informing the Psgrs.. However if Travel Agents were not involved, then all Psgrs who made a direct booking with no Travel Agent in the picture, should have been notified of the pending schedule change prior to the news release..

Suggest those who have a Travel Agent request a copy of the original notice of the pending schedule/port changes..

Whenever there are cases like this I always appreciate knowing​ who the passenger booked the cruise with. As most folks know, if​ you book through the cruise line then the cruise line is responsible for such notifications, and if you book some other way (such as through a travel agent) then it is the responsibility of who you purchased the cruise from to notify you. Furthermore, if you purchase through the cruise line and then transfer the reservation to a travel agent then the responsibility to notify passengers of such changes. I wonder how many of the cases, in general, we read about about bad customer service from a cruise line is really just bad customer service from the passenger's chosen travel agent.

Something does not ad up here the way HAL handled your direct booking as opposed to other Psgrs bookings.. If you received an e-mail on May 23 (one day before the published news release with the schedule/port change) then I find it hard to believe that other Psgrs. Travel Agents also were not advised.. It certainly looks like their Travel Agents may have dropped the ball & not noticed the port change..

You have raised an excellent point. I have asked my travel agent to see if she did receive the emails. If she did, they she should have read them carefully and forwarded them on. Then HAL is completely free of my erroneous charge of bad customer service and I will owe someone an apology.

That said, the legality of a change of itinerary is interesting. Any cruise line should have the right to make changes based on occupancy, security concerns and weather. You can't control all variables. This goes beyond a minor change, it is a change in product from Southern Caribbean island hopper to a Cuba/Mexico/etc.. east/west journey. To buy a car and get a change in trim and/or tires is one thing, but to get a different model than requested is a termination of the contract. So my expectation is a re-imbursement of my deposit.

On a positive note, I did find another island hopping cruise that is departing on the same day as the HAL cruise foe 13 days. It is agreeable to the boss and we will probably go that route.

Now all I need is to have my agent respond to my emails....

Whenever there are cases like this I always appreciate knowing​ who the passenger booked the cruise with. As most folks know, if​ you book through the cruise line then the cruise line is responsible for such notifications, and if you book some other way (such as through a travel agent) then it is the responsibility of who you purchased the cruise from to notify you. Furthermore, if you purchase through the cruise line and then transfer the reservation to a travel agent then the responsibility to notify passengers of such changes. I wonder how many of the cases, in general, we read about about bad customer service from a cruise line is really just bad customer service from the passenger's chosen travel agent.

Agreed.

I agree with you but it still shows as a booking when you sign in on the HAL website. Don't you think they would have a notice saying canceled?

We too were booked on the December 22 Holiday cruise aboard the Veendam. We discovered this while reading a post here on cruise critic about the new Cuban itineraries offered by Holland America. Weren't we surprised when we found out it was during our holiday cruise. People tend to book their holiday cruises pretty far in advance, as we did. We booked this while onboard another cruise so there were some reduced deposit/OBC enhancements that came along with it. We wouldn't have minded as much if they changed one of the ports of call to Havana, but they changed the entire itinerary. We also already purchased non-refundable airfare - and the change fees are horrendous. At least they could have waited until after the holidays and then given everyone enough advance notice so that changes could be eased into. They just pulled the rug out from under us IMHO. Fortunately, we have a very good TA who is not afraid to contact HAL and do a dance on somebody's desk until she gets what she wants. We are now booked on the Prinsendam for a 16-day cruise that leaves on Dec 18. The TA was able to transfer both the reduced deposit and OBC from the other cruise to this one. She's also got the paperwork all set for reimbursement of the airfare changes. I think HAL could have handled this much better.

That said, the legality of a change of itinerary is interesting. Any cruise line should have the right to make changes based on occupancy, security concerns and weather. You can't control all variables. This goes beyond a minor change, it is a change in product from Southern Caribbean island hopper to a Cuba/Mexico/etc.. east/west journey. To buy a car and get a change in trim and/or tires is one thing, but to get a different model than requested is a termination of the contract. So my expectation is a re-imbursement of my deposit.

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That said, the legality of a change of itinerary is interesting. Any cruise line should have the right to make changes based on occupancy, security concerns and weather. You can't control all variables. This goes beyond a minor change, it is a change in product from Southern Caribbean island hopper to a Cuba/Mexico/etc.. east/west journey. To buy a car and get a change in trim and/or tires is one thing, but to get a different model than requested is a termination of the contract. So my expectation is a re-imbursement of my deposit.

 

..

If you had booked through the cruise line that would be assured. I suppose travel agents can place their own terms and conditions on top of that. That would be a deal breaker for me, though.

 

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I am a bit confused by your reply bUU.

You are talking about the reimbursement of deposit?

All reimbursements are handled by HAL. They have the deposit, not the TA's . Not sure what a TA has to do with it????

I've read posts (complaints, obviously) about travel agents keeping some money for their efforts as per their terms and conditions, separate from that of the cruise line. The passenger typically considers that money part of the deposit and begrudges not getting it back when they cancel before final payment. It's a mess, and those kids off disputes are one of several reasons why I avoid using travel agents.

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I am a bit confused by your reply bUU.

 

You are talking about the reimbursement of deposit?

 

All reimbursements are handled by HAL. They have the deposit, not the TA's . Not sure what a TA has to do with it????

Jacqui, some (not all) TAs have a cancelation fee built into the contract; I've seen $50 most often. If the client cancels a cruise, the TA who has put in some effort gets a small payment for the work they did.

Not all TAs have this charge, and some will waive it under certain conditions. If you switch to a different cruise would likely be one of them.

My TA didn't charge me a cancelation fee when I canceled to have surgery, even though she could have. I have been a good customer of long standing, and was likely to book more cruises in the future. No sense in angering me.

Now, since in this case it was HAL who effectively 'canceled' the cruise, an argument could be made that the customer should not have to bear the expense. I believe HAL didn't call it a cancelation, but a change of itinerary.

Gets messy, doesn't it.

But if I were the TA, and I wanted to keep that customer, I wouldn't charge any fee.

I agree with you but it still shows as a booking when you sign in on the HAL website. Don't you think they would have a notice saying canceled?

I agree with Ruth's comment above. HAL probably doesn't consider your cruise to have been cancelled. They "only" changed the itinerary.

K