Zaandam - I Guess Not !!

[mambopalace]

I booked HAL Zaandam on Jan 12, for Feb 8-12 cruise for the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral FL with Expedia. I was given a HAL booking number and and Expedia Itinerary number and reconfirmed on January 24th. On January 27th I received an e mail from Expedia stating that the Zaandam cruise is not available as it has been chartered and fully booked. So now my cruise disappeared - and this after HAL charged my credit card 2 weeks ago. I called HAL and asked who now pays for my non refundable airfare to get to FL for THEIR cruise which THEY decided was not available any more. They didn't even want to speak to me about it and simply stated "it's not their problem". Best part about it is the cruise still appeared on Expedia's website as of this morning with cabins still available. It is HAL's obligation to pull it from Expedia which obviously they did not.

Expedia got the same results when they called looking for a refund of the airfare. Expedia sort of came to the rescue and even though my airfare was not purchased thru them, they have agreed to give me free air for any future cruise booked thru them. If this is the way HAL treats BOOKED passengers, I see no reason to ever attempt to use their services in the future. :confused: Any similar experiences?

[jhannah]

I am so sorry your cruise was cancelled. I can only imagine your disappointment. However, I do not see where HAL is responsible for your airfare that you booked independently. Had you booked their air, then yes. They would make good. I am assuming that you did not purchase travel insurance. Cases like these are among the reasons I "don't leave home without it." I am sure HAL will make some accommodation for a future cruise, and I hope you give them a chance. Good luck.

[bepsf]

That would tick me off too...

[kryos]

I am so sorry your cruise was cancelled. I can only imagine your disappointment. However, I do not see where HAL is responsible for your airfare that you booked independently. Had you booked their air, then yes. They would make good. I am assuming that you did not purchase travel insurance. Cases like these are among the reasons I "don't leave home without it." I am sure HAL will make some accommodation for a future cruise, and I hope you give them a chance. Good luck.

No, I disagree. HAL is responsible in this case because they shouldn't have allowed a reservation for this cruise to be accepted if the cruise was sold out. It was HAL who charged this passenger's credit card ... obviously, it was HAL that screwed up. In my opinion, HAL should definitely have offered the poster something in the way of compensation even though the airfare was not booked through them. If they had had their booking system straight, then the booking wouldn't have been accepted and this individual wouldn't have purchased the airplane tickets.

 

The only suggestion I can offer ... maybe another cruise could be booked (on a different line) leaving from the same port, on the same day?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[doone]

I would be upset as well and am truly sorry about your cruise. I believe its HAL that notifies Expedia to pull that cruise. I am leaning towards, without alot of information, blaming expedia vs. HAL. I am sure you aren't the first one to book this cruise through expedia. I feel expedia should have pulled that cruise from their web site after, at least, your experience and you say its still there. I blame Expedia.

 

Are you sure you got your dates right, it looks to me that the Zaandam is doing 7 day cruises, Sat. - Sat., the 8th of Feb. is a Tuesday, do I have something wrong here???

[peaches from georgia]

Doone, why would you blame Expedia and not HAL for mambopalace's situation? HAL charged her credit card and gave a booking number for her reservation. The charter must have been made after she booked or someone royally screwed up at HAL. Expedia is only the intermediary between the pax and the cruiseline. The TA doesn't make the actual charge or assign the booking #. HAL took the booking and is now canceling it so that they can have the charter of the entire ship.

 

I'd be furious, too. :mad:

[mambopalace]

lEAVES fEB 8TH THRU THE 12TH FOR 4 NIGHTS TO THE bAHAMAS

I would be upset as well and am truly sorry about your cruise. I believe its HAL that notifies Expedia to pull that cruise. I am leaning towards, without alot of information, blaming expedia vs. HAL. I am sure you aren't the first one to book this cruise through expedia. I feel expedia should have pulled that cruise from their web site after, at least, your experience and you say its still there. I blame Expedia.

 

Are you sure you got your dates right, it looks to me that the Zaandam is doing 7 day cruises, Sat. - Sat., the 8th of Feb. is a Tuesday, do I have something wrong here???

[tkwbear]

Sorry to hear they cancelled your cruise. I know they are using the ship as a floating hotel for the superbowl, which explains the Tuesday-Saturday outing.

 

Unfortunately the 2/19 cruise has also disappeared from the website. I called HAL and they assured me that it is still on though.

[DFD1]

I believe HAL treated this passenger very poorly and should offer considerable compensation.

 

No airline reservations would have been booked and no obligation for same would have been incurred if HAL had not accepted and charged him for a confirmed reservation on the cruise.

 

They pulled the rug out from under him and are refusing to take responsibility. IMO

[Krazy Kruizers]

Aren't chartered cruises booked more than a couple of months in advance?

This seems like very short notice.

Something is wrong someplace.

[Charliesmom]

I have two suggestions:

 

First, call HAL's headquarters in Seattle and ask to speak with someone relatively high up in the chain of command - perhaps the Director of Marketing. If you don't get satisfaction there, ask to speak with the President. You'll get to his secretary. She has the power to take care of you. See if they can book you on another cruise relatively soon and perhaps upgrade your cabin to sweeten the deal as well as help out with change fees on the airline.

 

Second, most non-refundable air tickets are changeable for a fee or are valid for travel on another date. Call the airline and see what they can do for you and how much it will cost you. What airline are they on? Southwest will hold the money in your account for a year until you rebook. Delta has halved their $100 charge to $50.00 for changes. I'm not sure what American is doing, but they are trying to match Delta's new friendliness.

 

If you can't get another cruise on a HAL ship, try another line. We have found Celebrity and Princess to be a nice experience. Maybe Expedia can find something nice for you if HAL doesn't come up with a replacement. If they can't I would ask for an IMMEDIATE credit to your account for your deposit, since it was THEIR blunder that got you into this in the first place.

 

Book another cruise on another ship. There are lots of them.

 

 

Roberta

[doone]

I blame expedia for still having it on their web site, I don't feel its HAL's place to maintain expedia's web site.

 

Ok, thanks, didn't realize it was doing a 4-day cruise.

 

I agree, chartered ships aren't chartered 1 or 2 months out, its usually 10 - 12 months out. Now whether HAL didn't notify expedia of this or expedia was notified and kept it on their web site, I don't know, but I am sure this poster wasn't the first to book this cruise through expedia. Perhaps I have to put some of the blame on HAL for accepting the reservation, but then again, expedia is still advertising this cruise on their web site.

[alsas]

How to decide what is fair....They take your money and don't give you any compensation, or the product you purchased.Assuming the story is as you have stated, You are not talking to the right person. Holland should be allowed to make the you whole and even more than whole......May you get the treatment you deserve. happy Sailing Alsas

[doone]

Just thought about something here. With the Superbowl in Jacksonville, perhaps the Zaandam, along with other cruise ships, have been chartered and being used as hotels in this area for the superbowl. These ships were chartered a while ago, not recently. Although by the 8th, they should have been back in service. Someone dropped the ball here, just not sure who yet.

[mambopalace]

What I explained in the previous post is all truth. Late yesterday afternoon I received a call from a "supervisor" at Holland America reporting the ship was Chartered by Northwest Airlines. He reported that at least 1000 booked passengers were "booted" off the ship as a result of this charter.

I find that somewhat hard to believe because it looks like so far, I am the only one to post a complaint about it. If 1000 paid passengers were forced out of their vacations on the HAL cruise - there would be a lot more people squawking about it.

Expedia continues to inform me that it is HAL's obligation to remove the listing on Expedia's web site.

 

In any event, Expedia went the extra step - they booked me on Carnival Glory for a 7 night cruise in a better category than I was booked on HAL for the same as I paid for the 4 nighter on Zaandam. They also waived any and all other fees associated with the cruise.

No, I am in no way going to even try to compare Carnival with HAL but I at least wanted to acknowledge what Expedia did.

[RevNeal]

mambopalace,

 

Wow ... gosh, I'm sorry. Your situation stinks, and HAL should have offered you some kind of compensation.

 

As for 1000 other passengers being bumped, that's amazing but it's not impossible that we've not heard it here. This board hums with activity, but it reflects only a tiny percentage of HAL passengers.

[doone]

I am so glad it worked out for you. I find it hard to believe that there were only 1,000 passengers onboard the Zaandam, BUT for a 4-day cruise, maybe, who knows.

 

Write a letter to Holland America and tell them what happened, perhaps they'll come through for you as well.

 

Well, that's one I learned, I didn't know that the cruise lines could manage someone else's site, just thought everyone managed their own. Hey, you learn something every day.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and, again, I am so glad it worked out for you.

[Sea Island Lady]

That's really awesome of Expedia. :)

[iluvcruzin]

That's nice Expedia helped you out - However, most TA's would have fought HAL for some sort of compensation. When people get booted from a cruise that so close to sailing, they are offered another one with something like 50% reimbursment. Or say it was a 4 day - you'd get a 7 day at another time. That sort of thing.

 

I thought the same thing as KK - they knew the ship was chartered way before the 30 days out. Giving a booking number seems pretty fishy to me. I bet those other 999 passengers had some sort of leadway notice - if not, recieved something other than "I'm sorry".

[jima53]

Wonder how much money HAL got to deposit into their accounts, even for a few days. The interest might have been a good sum. I think it stinks that HAL would do this. THey have to know and not accept anymore bookings.

 

Jim

[DFD1]

Hey, Good for you. The Glory is a nice ship. Big, but nice. Go and have a good time. Meanwhile keep after HAL for the just compensation due to you.

[Roz]

I got bumped off a HAL ship 2 years ago when it was chartered by an insurance company. HAL offered me a 7-day Alaskan cruise for a few dollars more, in lieu of the 4-day Pacific Northwest cruise that I had booked.

 

Don't know if it was a case of my TA going to bat for me or HAL offering something in the first place. Of course I hadn't booked my airfare yet. My TA and the agency she works for are high volume HAL bookers, so that may have been a consideration.

 

There have been a number of posts recently from people wanting compensation when plans change thru no fault of their own. While I sympathize with them and am sorry they're disappointed, the moral of the story is to purchase travel insurance to compensate you in case just such an event occurs.

 

Roz

[mplsmom]

I'm actually booked on this cruise. It's a reward cruise for NW Airlines employees. I'm not sure if any other people are on board - my understanding was that it was completely booked by NW. I can't wait to go, but sorry about your troubles.