Eurodam - Is this Normal? What would you do?

[Choinski]

Booked for our very first cruise ever on Eurodam this Sunday (May 9), for 10 days, Rome and Eastern Mediterranean. The flight is a little more than 48 hours away, done on Orbitz . . .

 

Booked a VE guarentee, upgrade fairy boosted us up six categoreis to V. Now HAL has sent me this interesting offer:

1. Allow myself to be bumped off the ship and be rebooked on a similar itinerary and they will refund 50% of the fare, or

2. Rebook us on a 17-20 day Itineray at no extra cost in 'similar accomodations' which I (assume?) is the V-category

 

(My response: I dont have the time to take for a 20 day sailing; The only Itinerary I'd consider changing to was the Westendam Istanbul / Israel / Egypt / Athens one, but we've made travel plans for the fall already).

 

*********

 

 

Dear Guests,

Due to the popularity of the ms Eurodam, May 9th, 10 day, Mediterranean sailing, we are making offers to move you to an alternate departure date.

 

Offer #1: Guests who choose to accept this offer will receive a 50% Cruise Fare Refund (does not include non-commissionable amount or taxes/fees) and sail in similar cruise accommodations. In addition, guests can choose to move to any one of the following departures (but not limited to):

 

ms Nieuw Amsterdam August 7, 2010: 12 day Barcelona to Venice sailing

ms Nieuw Amsterdam August 19, 2010: 12 day roundtrip Venice sailing

ms Noordam August 19, 2010: 10 day roundtrip Rome sailing

ms Westerdam September 19, 2010: 12 day roundtrip Athens sailing

 

Offer #2: Guests who choose to move to an alternate departure date and your guests will receive a 17-20 day sailing for the price of a 10 day and sail in similar cruise accommodations.

 

ms Noordam August 12th 2010: 17 day roundtrip Rome sailing

ms Noordam August 19th 2010: 20 day roundtrip Rome sailing

 

Please call to inquire about possible offers to move to other 2010 Holland America Line cruises if none of the above dates work for you.

* If you encounter fees due to air change penalties please inquire about possible compensation

[S'WELL]

Call them. It's make a deal time!

[karen456]

Wowwwwwww...what an awesome deal. Is this due to the volcano disruption of April trips? I would say 'go for it' if you have flexibility with dates, i.e. if you can change your vacation time at work or if you are retired. What would be very important to me is the promised compensation for flight change penalties, which can be very high. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do!

[Choinski]

I would say 'go for it' if you have flexibility with dates, i.e. if you can change your vacation time at work or if you are retired. What would be very important to me is the promised compensation for flight change penalties, which can be very high.

 

As for flex time at work, my boss would be thrilled if I never left. :rolleyes:

 

Unfortunately, I already planned a fall vacation so rebooking a late season cruise isn't possible.

 

If I considered it at all, I would likely get on the plane to Rome anyway and spend my vacation time there instead of on the cruise - using the 50% 'refund' to pay for it and take a future cruise that would be for all purposes prepaid - sort of a '2 vacations for the price 1' thing. But that means negotiating for a 2011 cruise.

[KirkNC]

Wow, I guess they over-booked the cruise. I thought only airliens did that. It does seem like an opportunity to get a great deal if you can get it structured so it works for you.

 

Kirk

[Krazy Kruizers]

This is not new for HAL.

 

Quite often they oversell the Maasdam -- Canada/New England cruises.

 

And a couple of years ago at our Meet & Greet on the Veendam - a couple of people joined us at the lasy minute as they were able to take our cruise instead of the original they were booked on -- oversold cruise.

[CtheW0rld]

how much would you lose on the airfare? it would probably cancel out any $ offered from hal. most airfares bought on orbits is non-refundable and/or will have hefty change fees.

[Choinski]

how much would you lose on the airfare? it would probably cancel out any $ offered from hal. most airfares bought on orbits is non-refundable and/or will have hefty change fees.

 

Which is why one of my options is to fly to Rome anyway, but rebook the cruise for another time.

[Jemima]

If you aren't interested in the offer, just ignore it or have your TA tell them you are not interested or tell them yourself if you booked direct. They send these out to more passengers than they need to bump. We've had such an offer and turned it down. So did several others on the same cruise. Someone on our roll call had a bump offer on our last cruise and declined it.

[CruisinManiac]

As for flex time at work, my boss would be thrilled if I never left. :rolleyes:

 

Unfortunately, I already planned a fall vacation so rebooking a late season cruise isn't possible.

 

If I considered it at all, I would likely get on the plane to Rome anyway and spend my vacation time there instead of on the cruise - using the 50% 'refund' to pay for it and take a future cruise that would be for all purposes prepaid - sort of a '2 vacations for the price 1' thing. But that means negotiating for a 2011 cruise.

 

If you can find comparable/affordable accommodations and meals at reasonable prices (nothing beats cruising for an economic trip) , I'd go for your idea!

[Typhoon1]

HAL sounds desperate. Give them a call. Have some alternate plans in mind, so you can bargain with them.

[rustyztwo]

Definitely look into it. Not only are you getting half off the cost or double the length, but they also might be able to help you with the air fare swap. Nothing ventured, nothing gained so I would at least see if they could make it an offer I couldn't refuse.

[doctork]

If you make any deals, be sure to get them detailed in writing before accepting - exact dollar amounts of refunds, exact cabin type, etc.

 

I have occasionally taken Denied Boarding Compensation from the airlines in the past, but I stopped because they always wiggle out of some part of "the deal." The cash refund turns out to be foreign currency they exchange to dollars at an unfavorable rate, or the promised hotel overnight is two hours away instead of right at the airport, or the "free trip anywhere XXX airlines flies" is never available where and when you want to go, or the "First Class Upgrade" is only to Business Class or even "Premium Economy."

 

If you can make it work as promised, the "two for one" vacation sounds like a great idea!

[lindalans]

Wow! Lucky you! What ever you decide, please let us know.