cbr663

4 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Regardless whether or not HAL is promoting children on board, the absence of an adult only area (whether paid or free), is a marketing error in my opinion. Carnival offers the complementary adult only serenity, rcl offers the adult only solarium, ncl has vibe, etc..

 

There are enough boomers, and retired Gen Xers sailing HAL that want an area free of children, no matter how much we love them.

I agree.  

How do excursions work if you don't use the app?  Can you go to the Excursion desk and ask them to provide you with a hard copy of your excursion ticket?

When I read the T&Cs for the programme even though it stated that you will receive confirmation from HAL approximately 7 days before the cruise departure, I placed more emphasis on the statement, "...is intended for those residing within driving distance from a port."

When I think about Standby for planes, for instance, you are typically at the gate waiting to see if you can board the flight.  Within driving distance of a port indicates to me that a short notice should be expected.  Standby also indicates to me that you should be all ready to go at a moments notice, not wait to get the confirmation and then get ready to go.  Seven days prior and almost anyone in the world could get there and I don't think that is the intention.

The T&Cs also state that guests who want the option to not sail should opt to go on the cruise waitlist instead.  

HAL has been actively promoting its "Kids Sail Free" and I believe that HAL is targeting a different demographic for its ships.  That the Cabanas now include kids isn't really a surprise.  If you are sailing on HAL, you should be prepared to encounter more kids.

Now the Seafood Boil for lunch is a bit of a surprise.  If that is the same Seafood Boil advertised in the Lido, iirc, there's an uncharge for that in the lido and I don't believe it is available every day.

8 hours ago, crystalspin said:

If you followed the Best Price option, deposit is nonrefundable. If you chose the Best Value (Have-It-All) option, it is refundable. If you want a refundable deposit but bare bones cruise, you have to make a phonecall or work through a Personal Cruise Consultant and specify the Advantage Fare.

I am not certain that the Have It All Option is currently refundable.  After pursuing several fares on different journeys I don't see any mention of it being refundable.  When I read the T&Cs for the HIA option, there isn't any mention of it being refundable, but it does state this:

"Entire Wave Offer has no cash value, is subject to availability, is capacity controlled, may be modified or withdrawn at any time, is available for new bookings only, is not combinable with any other discounts, and is neither transferable nor refundable."

3 hours ago, trishbk said:

I was on the Kdam in December and returning on the 18 day Hawaii cruise at the end of January.  I do know Rene, the Hotel Manager. He arranged for us to get our same MDR table on our January cruise. If I have an opportunity to chat with him, I may ask what follow up was done re the dogs. I do agree the dog issue needs to be addressed. Real service dogs play an essential role and these dogs are not service dogs. 

I can't think of any possible positive reason why anyone would choose to do this.  It would be inappropriate and unprofessional for Rene to discuss any private matters regarding current or previously sailing guests with other guests.  All that would be achieved is to place Rene in an awkward position of reiterating HAL's commitment to "...providing safe, easy, and accessible accommodations for all persons with disabilities..."

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/ca/about/our-company/accessibility

On 1/6/2024 at 7:30 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Thanks - it was an uneventful flight (yay) and look who I had in my row. Maddie was a great example of a dedicated worker and it was a very pleasant surprise to share the row with her after this particular cruise.

 

I too hope some of the crew was able to enjoy some time in Ensenada. There was a receiving line in uniform meeting us when we got off, which is where I ran into John, GSMgr, and had the final talk about the dogs.

It's great to see working dogs.  As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am a dog lover and I always have so much trouble not going up to the dog and saying hello and petting it.  I know I shouldn't as they are working dogs.

Last month on our land trip to Quebec we stayed at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac and we encountered a large golden lab working dog at the hotel's coffee shop one morning.  His human was turned back on and the dog was so excited to see people and yes, I admit, I said hello and petted him.  His human didn't seem to mind.  Later that morning while at the crowded restaurant for breakfast we also saw him lying peacefully under the table in the restaurant completely ignoring everyone.  🙂

I haven't.  I have though been asked, when booking cruises onboard, if we prefer a certain table in the MDR so I assume from that comment that it is possible.

I am hoping others will comment that it is as we have discussed possibly availing of fixed dining on any future cruises.

As usual, HAL is consistently inconsistent.  Here's a snapshot of my final statement from our November cruise on the Koningsdam where it shows the pre-paid crew appreciation and the daily charge to the account.

On 1/6/2024 at 2:22 PM, CruiseMob said:

 

 

...

A new thing I saw online is if I booked cruise only (no package), it said the deposit is non-refundable. This is new to me, so I asked can you move the deposit to a different cruise if you can't make the booked one or if you just lose the deposit with any change. She told me that "what you do is not cancel, but wait until after PIF and the Cancellation Insurance Policy kicks in, then you can change to a different cruise and not lose any money." This seems totally wrong to me as everything I've read says, I'd be out the insurance money and it only pays out at 80% or 90%, so it may be a bigger loss than the deposit. Am I missing something in the policy where this would be true?

I would definitely consider it as poor advice for you, great for HAL.

HAL actively promotes its non-refundable deposit.  So much so that I consider that HAL isn't very transparent with its different fare structures.  You need to understand that with HAL, its non-refundable deposit is just that - non-refundable.  There have been other posters on CC stating that other cruise lines have more flexibility with non-refundable deposits, but HAL does not.  

Like every other business, HAL's business practices are to do what's in HAL's best interests.  A non-refundable deposit generally ties the passenger to a booking making the booking much more secure for HAL.  As many of HAL's passengers are price sensitive, HAL has decided to actively promote non-refundable deposits as the lowest fare and to generally only offer refundable for those who call in.

Always remember that the PCC you are talking with when you call has one job to do - to sell a cruise.  A PCC is a salesperson plain and simple.  A PCC works for HAL, not you.  And as a salesperson, PCC's have been trained to overcome objections.  An easy way to overcome the objection to a non-refundable deposit is to upsell the Cruise Cancellation Plans, especially emphasizing the "cancel for any reason" mantra.  So what you experienced was a sales pitch, and yes, you are correct, there are costs associated with the cruise cancellation plans, (the comment that you would not lose any money isn't true) including the cost of the actual plan and the co-pay portion.  It's technically a work around to a non-refundable deposit, but not a very good one for the passenger when a more obvious workaround exists - just purchase a refundable deposit.  BTW - depending on the cruise, the fare with a refundable deposit isn't much more than the fare for a non-refundable deposit.  Certainly much, much less than the cost of the Cruise cancellation plans.  

Everyone can make a reservation online prior to the cruise.  You just have to pay for it when you make the reservation.  If you'd rather wait until onboard to book, CO allows you to bypass any lineups when you first board and you can pick up the phone in your cabin and make the reservations.  That's what we did right after we entered our cabin - I called and made the reservations.

40 minutes ago, Florisa1228 said:

If they keep increasing prices and now gratuity they will loose customers. There are way too many ships out there ready to steal their customers.

With all the major cruise companies reporting increased bookings, capacity at greater than 100%, increased fares and increased spending onboard it doesn't seem like the cruise line has reached the point of any passenger push back due to $$ yet.

But, this may be foreshadowing an increase in the HIA+ package is on the near horizon as it typically includes crew gratuities.

Cabin reviews on Youtube can often uncover issues like these.

16 hours ago, CruiseMob said:

Thanks! So one more quick question. How do they save you money? In other words, can they save you money that isn't online for you to book yourself? I'm asking because I've always just booked myself and the few times I've asked for a quote they either came in identical to what I could do myself or one time a little higher. I hate having to sit on the phone, so I'm weighing if it is worth it to me or not. 

I think the way you save money is by not making any mistakes when booking online.  And it can be difficult as in many cases us passengers know more about HAL policies than many of the PCCs do.

The challenge with booking yourself is being able to get exactly what you want.  HAL has an inefficiency built into its booking system in that generally, if you want a refundable fare, you must call in.  HAL rarely allows refundable fares to be booked online.  Sometimes it will allow a refundable fare when bundled with the Have It All promo, but selecting just the refundable fare only is rarely an option online.  This typically means when wanting a refundable fare, you have to go online and go through all the steps to view cabins and fare types and get all the way in the booking process to find the cabin you want and then call to actually book it.  It's madness, but it obviously works in HAL's favour else they would change it.

The current booking process is cumbersome and I have found inexperienced PCCs are easily identified by the ease in which they handle the call and the terms that they are using.  Last year I had a PCC referring to my Future Cruise Deposit as a Future Cruise Credit and these are 2 very different things.  Newbie.  And I have been quoted incorrect fares by PCCs in the past and I have learned you really need to know the process and fares when adding Club Orange to your booking as I have had to explain to one PCC the benefits of Club Orange and to not fare me for the highest category cabin even though I was requesting that cabin.  (BTW - if you want to add CO to a booking you must call).

34 minutes ago, rbelshaw said:

 I ordered the pork chop a few months ago. I had already given up on the steaks. Chop was overcooked and dry. I did not even bother to send it back - just tipped the waiter, suggested that he have the chef call me if he wanted to learn how to properly cook pork, and walked out.

 

 

I am not surprised.  During our November cruise on the Koningsdam our lunch in the PG was so poor that we cancelled our future reservations.  My wife's pavlova was so dry that when she tried to break into it it nearly flew off the plate across the dining room.  Luckily she caught it.  My entree was served cold and it was impossible to get our waiter's attention to have the issues corrected.

I have never found the steaks served in the PG to taste great.  My go-to order is the pork chop.

On 1/4/2024 at 9:03 PM, Toofarfromthesea said:

My personal policy is not to sweat things like this if the amount is pretty insignificant.  I would never sit on hold for 55 minutes over an $11 refund.  I'd take the loss and move on.  Frankly, I don't think I'd have even bothered to send the initial email, let alone post about it. I'd worry that posting about it would reflect worse on me than on HAL Customer Service.

 

It's not a zero mistake world, and if missing out on an $11 refund is the worse thing that happens to me in 2024 it will be a pretty good year.

 

But that's just me.

That you will willingly condone poor service is, as you state, your choice.  Surely you understand though that not everyone will condone such poor service.  I have wondered over the years why is it that HAL simply won't fix this accounting problem, as it has been a long time problem with HAL.  Perhaps it's because there are more people who do nothing about it and accept poor service than people like the OP who stand up and say that I won't accept poor service.

On our November cruise on the Koningsdam we also pre-paid the gratuities online prior to boarding as HAL offers a little savings on the CDN exchange rate.  The very first item on our onboard statement was a credit for the pre-paid gratuities and then every day our account was debited the daily crew appreciation.

It will be interesting to see what happens if you pre-pay now prior to increase and sail after the increase has come into effect.

I would be disgruntled also.  Interesting to see how the Cabana Supervisor (is that an officer?) will make this right for you.

14 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Yes, I will share my thoughts on the inside cabin before I wrap this up. For now, I will say having a Thermal Pass has probably helped w/the large number of sea days.

Given you haven't really seen the dogs, I suppose you can't comment on if most of the dogs were well behaved and genuinely working dogs?

Always hard to tell what a genuine working dog is these days.  A vest isn't enough and I think with dogs being used for very different purposes I would think that the training is also very different.

On our November cruise a passenger was with a dog at the Grand Dutch Cafe.  I didn't recognize at first that the shoulder bag that she had was a pet carrier bag until she sat at the table and took the dog out of the carrier bag.  The dog was a very small terrier of some sort and didn't make a sound.  It just always catches your attention when you see an animal where you aren't expecting it.  I didn't think it appropriate though that she kept the dog in her lap while sitting at one of the Grand Dutch Cafe's tables.  She was, after all, sitting at a dining establishment with the dog in her lap.  (And for the record, I am a dog lover).  Having the dog sitting or resting beside her on the floor would have been what I would have expected.

And I did notice that while we were there no one from the crew or any officer approached her to discuss the appropriateness of her having the dog at the table.  I understand HAL's challenge of verifying the validity of claims of service dogs but I don't understand why it won't enforce restaurant sanitary requirements.  Although, now that I think about it, it is more and more common for me to run into dogs in all kinds of public spaces these days and perhaps there aren't any requirements anymore restricting animals in restaurants and at a public dining table??

Been following along and enjoying so far.  I believe we have experienced a dog on every cruise that we have been on (always see the dog elimination grass on the Promenade deck, rarely see the dog).

Would love it if you share your thoughts on sailing in an inside cabin, especially with so many sea days.

I think there may be some confusion regarding your deposit structure.

Whoever you book CO the charge for CO is added to your cruise fare.  When CO is added to your fare you are required to pay for the CO charge.  This payment is considered part of your deposit.  

In your case you also paid a deposit using a FCD.

If you cancel your cruise, I don't believe that you are losing your FCD.  What you are losing is the CO charge portion of your deposit, which is the $350 as the deposit was non-refundable.  I believe that your FCD would still be available to you for a future booking.  It wouldn't be refunded to you, instead, it would be returned to your account for future use.

I suggest that you call back to HAL and clarify this.  Ask specifically:

1.  What is the FCD amount on the booking?

2.  What is the CO charge on the booking?

3.  What is the total deposit amount on the booking?

4.  Should you cancel, is the CO charge non refundable?  If so, what is the amount?  (Should be $350)

5.  Should you cancel, is the FCD returned to your account for a future booking?

Appears to be gone.  We had the option and did upload it for our Alaska cruise in May.  For our Nov cruise it wasn't an option and I simply assumed that as we had recently uploaded a pic that none was required.  Wrong.  We had to have our pics taken during embarkation.

Now I did uninstall the app after our cruise in May and reinstalled it just prior to our Nov cruise so I don't know if that would have had some sort of impact on the app and its features?

19 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

 

 

The views up here are fabulous  - so is the coffee and, well - everything!

 

 

 

 

The Crow's Nest is a wonderful place to sit and relax.  I do wish though I could enjoy it more.  I am one of "those" people who hates sea days as I think to myself, "why pay $$ to sit and read a book or put a puzzle together when I can easily enjoy that at home?" 

4 hours ago, Betty567 said:

I am wondering if the v 6049 cabin on the Koningsdam would work for a scooter?  There are no pictures of these cabins on the 6th or 8th decks on cruise deck plans or halfacts. I'm disappointed with HA the regular Verandah cabin does not seem to have enough room to get past the beds for a scooter. On the Celebrity solstice ships there was plenty of room for a scooter in a Verandah cabin with a couch in the front of the room.  All the accessible rooms are already booked on 8 HA cruises I have looked at. 

I think you've identified the challenge with these cabins and scooters - the lack of space at the end of the bed to allow a scooter to pass freely.  While we haven't sailed in 6049, we have sailed in 7134 and the only difference between these triangle cabins and a regular verandah cabin is the length of the cabin with the triangle.  There isn't any additional space in width whatsoever.  Getting a scooter past the bed would be challenge.