Holland America - no more tickets!

[belle836]

Being insulted because HAL is asking for your cooperation by printing your own documents is ludicrous. Print 'em up as they asked you to, put them all in a travel wallet, present them when asked and enjoy the cruise. I personally don't care if I have to print them by hand on rice paper with a quill pen as long as I have what it takes to get on the ship.

[IRL_Joanie]

I guess it's all in how you look at it. Airline tickets to Europe (to board a cruise) aren't cheap. I'm paying a lot of money. But the airlines don't send me seating charts, luggage limits/sizes/fees, etc. I have to research all this myself. When booking, I open another window with seatguru to make sure I don't get a "bad" seat (as if any of them are really good!) I have to then print my booking confirmation. (Get the free download of Cute PDF Writer and 'print' into a PDF. No need to use paper.)

 

I then have to search for the luggage business so I'll know what their limits are. Not all airlines are the same.

 

The day before the flight I must go online to check in and print my boarding pass. (Paper needed for that at this stage of the game.) Oh, and pull out the credit card to pre-pay for my checked bags in order to save a few bucks over doing it at the airport.

 

In the end, I've had to "work" a little to get on the plane. No biggie, IMO. The printing, handling, and accounting for those former paper tickets was a huge expense for the airlines. If my e-doc with one-page boarding pass helps in the cost area, I'm all for it.

 

Those paper cruise tickets are very expensive to print and ship. Since we as consumers are demanding reasonable (i.e., cheap) fares, eliminating those mass mailings for every cruise has got to help in accomplishing that.

 

As always, JMO.

 

 

THANK YOU!! My points exactly. And as others have said, they have sailed on Princess and Celebrity and they are all e-docs now.

 

Switching cruise lines because of e-docs is going to mean more space for those of us who are not so nit picky. JMHO.

 

Oh yeah, for those of us having to fly into and out of our ports, we have to be careful of weight. Considering that every pound counts, I'd say we are aaing at least 2 shirts and a pair of slacks now instead of the Blue folder (Which I dso Love!!) So we save weight and or space in our luggage.

[DFD1]

We like printing the documents ourselves. It gives us control of them from the time they are available. No more waiting for DHL, Fedex or UPS.

 

If one does not want to fold and attach the etags, HAL has others available at the pier.

 

I would suggest that printing individualized documents, furnishing the fancy wallet and expediting them to every booking address costs HAL something in the neighborhood of $10.00 to $12.00 each, if not more. That's a lot of wasted money, IMO.

[HWH]

 

What about those older cruisers who don't use the computer...

 

 

Sorry, in 2009 that is no longer a viable excuse. Computers are a part of the fabric of our lives, accessible to everyone no matter your age or economic status. Conducting business such as this electronically is faster, less expensive, and less prone to error. Local public libraries have computers and staff that will assist if one needs help. As the cliche goes, resistance is futile . . . .

[Randyk47]

After a few years of booking our own cruises through Internet providers we went back to our old TA to book our Med cruise for next year. Certainly we have computer....I mean I am typing and posting here :rolleyes:.....but our TA offered to enter our data on the HAL site and send us any documents we needed. As it was she both snail-mailed and emailed our booking confirmation and deposit receipt to us. She, and I assume any other TA, would provide that service to older or computerless clients.

[pms4104]

After a few years of booking our own cruises through Internet providers we went back to our old TA to book our Med cruise for next year. Certainly we have computer....I mean I am typing and posting here.....but our TA offered to enter our data on the HAL site and send us any documents we needed. As it was she both snail-mailed and emailed our booking confirmation and deposit receipt to us. She, and I assume any other TA, would provide that service to older or computerless clients.

My T/A did offer to print my docs and bag tags if I have any problems doiing so ... so, yes, assistance is out there. And, as stated earlier in this thread, there are many public computers out there for the computerless and much assistance for the electronically challenged.

[dandro]

I don't mind if I have to print the edocs, boarding pass, luggage tags, etc. But I did like the booklet, "Know Before You Go". Will that be available, perhaps by ordering? I know all that info is on the HAL website, but since we have slow @#&* dial up, it takes forever to load pages on the site, especially if I want to print them out, and ties up our only phone line.

 

I wouldn't mind paying a few $ to order the booklet next time I cruise.

[pms4104]

I don't mind if I have to print the edocs, boarding pass, luggage tags, etc. But I did like the booklet, "Know Before You Go". Will that be available, perhaps by ordering? I know all that info is on the HAL website, but since we have slow @#&* dial up, it takes forever to load pages on the site, especially if I want to print them out, and ties up our only phone line.

 

I wouldn't mind paying a few $ to order the booklet next time I cruise.

Understand ... also have dialup. At $8.95/month, it serves most of my needs.

 

Do you have public computers nearby, like at a library? Or perhaps a friend with high-speed? If so, you/they can download it onto a flash drive, load it into your hard drive, print it out.

 

Don't know if HAL will be printing those booklets and providing them for a fee.

[Candy]

It is not the printed cruise ticket that is my problem, it is the lack of other document and cruise information that is not readily available. For example, we are going on a 21-day cruise with Holland America. Please tell me how long it takes to search the number of formal nights at their website? This is information that was readily available with their printed booklets.

With etickets, you no longer have to wait for the print material to arrive!

 

With HAL you have to print paper luggage tags for your bags. Like the paper tags are going to stay on?

No, you don't have to. Use Print|Preview in your browser (if you don't know how, ask a child) and don't print the luggage tags page. Get your tags from the porter at the pier.

 

When I am paying them thousands of dollars, why do I have to waste my time to research pre-cruise info?

These details are apparantly very important to you, and I'm certain you would research those details before you book the cruise.

 

I think Holland America has cheaped themselves by not issuing any paper tickets or information for cruises that leave after October 1st. I truly expect something better than this from Holland America. Guess, I'll be cruising with Celebrity or other cruise lines!

If $25 worth of paper would prevent you from sailing a particular cruise line, I would hate to stand behind you in line at any ship's Front Desk while you complain about every little thing.

 

Candy

[IRL_Joanie]

I don't mind if I have to print the edocs, boarding pass, luggage tags, etc. But I did like the booklet, "Know Before You Go". Will that be available, perhaps by ordering? I know all that info is on the HAL website, but since we have slow @#&* dial up, it takes forever to load pages on the site, especially if I want to print them out, and ties up our only phone line.

 

I wouldn't mind paying a few $ to order the booklet next time I cruise.

 

 

The know before you go has been available on HAL's site for well over a year now.

 

If you click on the down arrow to the left of ' Cruise Preparation ' it will bring up a bunch of links you can click on to read the info under each section, such as:

 

• Cruise Preparation
  

 

• Essential Documentation
  

 

• Online Check-In
  
• Identification & Passports
  
• Visas
  
• Immunizations
  
• Customs
  
• Tracking Your Cruise Documents and Air Itinerary
  
• Express Docs FAQs
  

 

• Baggage, Packing & Dress Code
  

 

• Baggage Allowance
  
• Baggage Insurance
  
• Baggage Policy
  
• Carry-on Baggage
  
• Clothing & Dress Code
  
• Packing Advice
  
• Packing for Alaska
  
• Signature Express Baggage Service
  
• Baggage Delivery Service
  

 

• Changes & Cancellations
  

 

• Cancellation Policies
  
• Cancellation Protection Plans
  
• Flight Changes/Cancellations
  
• Flight Confirmation
  
• Itinerary Changes
  
• Upgrades
  

 

• Pre- & Post-Cruise Vacation Packages
  

Every section has what you need to know.

 

It is at: http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-planning/PlanningAndAdvice.action

[dandro]

If so, you/they can download it onto a flash drive, load it into your hard drive, print it out.

 

Don't know if HAL will be printing those booklets and providing them for a fee.

 

That's a great thought, about the flash drive. That way I would be able to read it without being online and just print out the pages that I want. Thanks!

 

No cruises in the near future, but hopefully.....someday soon. :)

[dandro]

Thanks, Joanie, but I already know it is available on the site. If you read my post, I would like to have a hard copy because of the dial up situation.

[pms4104]

delete ... typing while dandro was responding.

[dandro]

dandro's point, Joanie, is that everything goes in slo-mo on dialup internet access.:) Trust me, I'm an old hand at slo-mo on the internet. It isn't that he can't find it, he doesn't want to tie up his only phone line for hours on end.:)

 

I'm not trying to be snarky here ... just pointing out his real issue.:)

 

pssst...he is a she. (the "ro" part of "d and ro");)

[pms4104]

pssst...he is a she. (the "ro" part of "d and ro");)

Oooops ... my bad.:o Sorry.

[Randyk47]

I kind of forget that many people still use dialup, and I don't mean that as a slam or negative. We have what I guess would be a pretty state-of-the-art home office with two computers, two laptops, and two printers all connected either by hardwire or wireless to our in-house network that is connected by high speed modem to the Internet. It's just part of us, both personally and professionally, and we try to keep it current and up to date. Anyhow, I can see how slower connections could be a real challenge for some of the downloads off of sites. I know even on my system it takes a bit of time to download the various HAL brochures, etc.

[luvcruisn']

The truth is, you only ever need the boarding pass you print out in the comfort of your own home. Your travel agent will print it for you if you have one.

 

I found you didn't even need the printed boarding pass. I had checked in online before the cruise, but had left the printed out boarding pass at home. At check-in, they just looked up my information on their computer.

[Randyk47]

I found you didn't even need the printed boarding pass. I had checked in online before the cruise' date=' but had left the printed out boarding pass at home. At check-in, they just looked up my information on their computer.[/quote']

 

I'd still kind of like to have something in hand on the chance that the computers go on the blink at the terminal or there's some data base problem. I agree though that you don't need much to get on board today past the required passport, etc.