Our Holland America cruise has been chartered..

[14 months and counting]

and we were notified that our March 14th cruise to the Western Caribbean is now a charter and we can no longer be on that ship. Holland indicated we should have received an email about it - we didn't and now we have to rebook on another cruise. They will make up the difference in airfare penalties. The same itinerary is sold out for Feb 28th - our first choice. The other two dates March 28th and April 11th will not fit into our schedule. We said we would take a different itinerary on the same ship, Ryndam. We just received our new booking and the price is $ 110 more for the two of us. The only compensation we were offered was $ 75 pp onboard credit. I feel they should book us on this new cruise for the same price. If they don't, they should refund our deposit and insurance plus airfare purchased. We were the ones kicked off the ship four months out ( we had originally booked this in May - the charter came very late in the schedule). This is our third Holland cruise and we have a 20 day Med cruise booked in August. What are everyone's thoughts on this?

[CowPrincess]

Sorry this happened to you!

 

We booked 15 months in advance and our w. carib on Ryndam for Feb 28 was chartered out from under us, too :( so if you're seeing "sold out", it is because it is chartered, I bet. We'd planned on doing the 14 days, Feb 21 & 28, I think. So HAL moved us to Mar 7 and 14 or something, anyway not acceptable dates. Then when I talked to them they tried to sell me into a more expensive cruise on a ship I didn't want to go on. AND gave me a deadline to make up my mind :rolleyes:

 

My thoughts on it are that HAL needs to grab a charter group whenever they can, and it kinda sucks for us poor pax. Charters are good business. I can't blame them for doing this, though I was pretty bitter about it for a while :)

 

It was quite a mess for a while for us, but through patience, clear communication of what we expected, and HAL's interest in customer service, we worked it out and are cruising on an earlier 14 day on the Ryndam.

 

Did you book thru a TA who may have not sent you an e-mail, or did you book direct with HAL? If you booked direct with HAL, IMHO you should request that the new booking be at the same price as the old booking -- after all, you could have been shopping for prices prior to this if you'd known. Or you could have picked the new date and itin at (I presume) the same price back when you originally booked.

[Rosethorn40]

I'm with the OP on this one. If you have a confirmed reservation, and are "bumped", the cruise line has a responsibility to make it right (Within reason). As long as the new booking is of the same duration and same region as the original booking HAL should meet (Or beat) the original price, and as a goodwill gesture give a generous OBC. If HAL was trying to get people to move over on an overbooked ship the offer would have been much better. I have only had one move over offer; upgrade to a balcony (from an inside), they would pay any penalties for the change in airfare, and $500 OBC, and that was for voluntary giving up my berth.

 

With most cruise lines having to slash prices to fill ships IMO no cruise line can afford to antagonize any customer.

[Jemima]

This cruise was canceled before final payment. HAL is covering air penalties and the price difference of the new cruise is 110 minus the 75 OBC = $35 more. Changes in port taxes can change a cruise more than that.

It would be very irksome to have a booked cruise chartered, so it is understandable that OP is upset.

Checking on your cruise frequently online helps you keep track of what is going on with the cruise. E-mails can get eaten by your security program or mail program or another family member may delete it in error or the TA may never have sent it or HAL may not have OP's current e-mail address. Last cruise I was notified by e-mail of a tiny itinerary time change and of a small port tax change.

[velvetred]

If you want to sail HAL on March 14 take a look at the Westerdam out of Fort Lauderdale. Itinerary: Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, and Half Moon Cay.

[alpal1993]

I had a situation come up on Celebrity I was booked on a 9 day Western/Southern Caribbean cruise out of my home port of FLL,Celebrity moved the ship to cover the Baltics.We are on a very limited time frame and nothing we were offered fit our schedule.After several minutes my T/A got off the phone Celebrity had offered us to stay on the cruise .keep our room and gave us 100$ OBC.We were able to cruise 12 nights for the same price.Only catch we had to pay for airfare and we turned a 10 minute drive into a 10 hour flight.So glad we were able to do the cruise.

We would not have been able to do what HAL has offered

[14 months and counting]

We have always booked directly with HAL. The March 14th cruise out of FLL is almost the exact same itinerary that we sailed on the Eurodam last March so we don't want to repeat it again so soon.

 

Thanks you for your replies and support - we are trying to be patient and work through this. We'll keep you up to date.

[KAKcruiser]

Usually in a situation like this, they will keep the fare the same and give you the shipboard credit in addition. It is probably a mistake or an oversight that they are charging you more. Just call them back and take this approach.

[world~citizen]

So they charged $110 more but gave you $150 in OBC? That is at least something.

 

Was the insurance with HAL? I assume you purchased air and insurance separately. I suppose it means you have to purchase new insurance?

 

What HAL did was consistent with the conditions of the cruise contract which all too many loyal HAL cruisers will defend to their dying breath as the cruise lines divine right to operate under.

 

Until cruise contracts are brought up to at least the last century, we have to suck it back. Full stop.

 

In your position, I would find another cruise line with less indifferent customer service - they do exist.

 

Smooth sailing to you...

[Jade13]

I had a situation come up on Celebrity I was booked on a 9 day Western/Southern Caribbean cruise out of my home port of FLL,Celebrity moved the ship to cover the Baltics.We are on a very limited time frame and nothing we were offered fit our schedule.After several minutes my T/A got off the phone Celebrity had offered us to stay on the cruise .keep our room and gave us 100$ OBC.We were able to cruise 12 nights for the same price.Only catch we had to pay for airfare and we turned a 10 minute drive into a 10 hour flight.So glad we were able to do the cruise.

We would not have been able to do what HAL has offered

 

Interesting. We have 2 staterooms on Celebrity's April 22 out of MIA and I think it might turn into a charter. Every Suite and all but maybe 8 CC class were full months ago. There is no cruise after ours and their customer service said, "maybe dry dock". What I don't understand is what either HAL or Celebrity does about airfare if you can't reschedule? This is with teenagers who have to go back to school. I get the part about refunding the cruise but what about non-refundable airfare? Paying a $100 change fee won't work.

[onapea]

Sorry to say but read the fine print. HAL should do the right thing and rebook you for the same price or better.

[Travelrd]

the march 14th ryndam cruise is chartered by prairie home companion and garrison keeler. if you go to their website, there is a link to reservations there. maybe hal will honor your reservation through the radio show, who knows? i wouldn't mind being on a charter with garrison keeler. i think show is fabulous!

 

thanks.

[Boytjie]

the march 14th ryndam cruise is chartered by prairie home companion and garrison keeler. if you go to their website, there is a link to reservations there. maybe hal will honor your reservation through the radio show, who knows? i wouldn't mind being on a charter with garrison keeler. i think show is fabulous!

 

thanks.

 

HAL will not handle any charter reservations, it is up to the charter company to do that. Charters also usually charge more than the cruise line would. Who is going to make up that difference? (F cat cabin is about 3 times more expensive on the charter than either the cruise before or after)

 

It is surprising that it was chartered on such short notice; charters are usually booked about a year in advance.

[14 months and counting]

We received an updated guest confirmation and HAL did honor the lower price on the cruise for March 7th. Now we just have to change the airfare and shore excursions. Thank you for all your information and suggestions.

[bob brown]

What I fear more than having a charter bump me off a cruise is having a very large group on a cruise that tends to dominate the facilities. I get mad when I see the Crow's Nest "closed for private party" signs night after night. Doesn't HAL seem to specialize in booking large groups?

I seemed that way to me on a couple of HAL cruises I was on a few years ago.

[Parrot57]

I was on NCL and a large group was on. It was not pleasant. They would all congreate at the elevator lobbies (just chatting, no intention of getting an elevator) causing you to push your way through a crowd of people to get an elevator. They would book a lounge and then run an hour or two over while people waited outside for a "scheduled" show. All the best seats in the theatre were reserved by them and they always showed up quite late (as a crowd) talking and quite loud while the rest of us were trying to enjoy the show. The staff had the opinion "the group could do no wrong" and catered to their every whim at the expense of us regular pax. Definitely turned me off NCL.

[bob brown]

That sums up what I was refering to pretty well. The cruise lines will not tell you if there's a convention on your cruise even if you ask. I believe this subject was covered in the past (weren't all?), and someone had suggested googling for meetings and conferences or something in an effort to try to avoid booking a cruise that had one.

[rosegrower]

We are facing the large group issue on our January 24 Noordam cruise. I booked this cruise in February, clueless that a very large Irish Music fans group is on it. It was reported on the group blog a member keeps on the HAL board but still all these months later is not officially listed there. We worry that they will take up the lounges etc, showtimes made to be convenient for them, probably inconvenient for rest of PAX and really negatively impact our cruise that we have saved for to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We have only been on 7 day cruises, this could be a verrry long 10 days!

[bob brown]

Well you have my sympathy. However the Noordam is a terrific ship. If you go with the attitude that you will have a great time, then you surely will. In defense, I would suggest that you try to bond with members of your roll call. If you become part of a group, then the other group on board will have much less of an impact on you. And perhaps ship management will recognize you as part of a group that is always there supporting HAL, not just on board for a one time only event.

[Tamaracboy]

Well you have my sympathy. However the Noordam is a terrific ship. If you go with the attitude that you will have a great time, then you surely will. In defense, I would suggest that you try to bond with members of your roll call. If you become part of a group, then the other group on board will have much less of an impact on you. And perhaps ship management will recognize you as part of a group that is always there supporting HAL, not just on board for a one time only event.

 

With a charter, her original reservation for that sailing is cancelled.

The ship no longer belongs to HAL for bookings.

EVERYTHING would be booked by the charter.

The OP's concern is with the alternatives offered by HAL.

There is no way she will be on the Ryndam as originally booked.

It now seems that they have reached a suitable replacement cruise @ the same price.

[bob brown]

Okay.....I guess I'm being told that I have changed the subject of the thread. Sorry. I only brought that up to say that I would rather be bumped off by a charter, than be stuck on a ship with a very large, convention or group.