Ship Schedule Change

[cpinstein]

We are sailing on the Eurodam in 10 days, and I just happened to notice on the site that 2 ports had been flipped to different days. (Several days later I got a call from the agent), Well, I was thinking it was no big deal, because I had booked all my shore excursions through HAL.

 

Well, it is a big deal. HAL is scrambling to get the land operators to accommodate 2000 people on different days. The shore excursion desk can't even pull up any bookings, and folks are being cancelled.

 

The reason for the change is "operational." Has anyone else experience this? And if so, how did it turn out?

 

We are on the Norway Fjords and Scotland June 22nd.

[CtheW0rld]

i wouldn't say it is common, but does happen. i've missed ports and had changes. i would think since they are just re-arranging days, the prebooked excursions would change automatically (in a perfect world). good luck.

[sail7seas]

The difficulty could come because these excursion operators probably do not only contract with HAL. They most likely work with other cruise lines and if they are committed to another ship on the date your ship is now calling in their port, they have to take care of those guests....maybe even these guestts could be on a different HAL ship.

 

Hope it works out okay for everyone.

 

 

[cpinstein]

Yep, I figured that's what the problem is. I'm just curious as to why it happened. This is the 3rd published itinerary for this sailing. Does HAL have the least clout in the ports? And is HAL the first to get bumped? Doesn't matter to me if we do Alesund or Gerainger first. But it does matter if we don't get to see the Fjords!

[sail7seas]

No, it isn't a matter of clout. HAL is a major player with 14 ships, soon to be 15 and has been in business over 140 years. Don't forget they are under the umbrella of Carnival Family of Ships. How's that for cruise industry clout? :)

 

There are so many reasons this can happen, without official information all we can do is speculate as to why.

 

Hope it works out okay for you and you get your excursions switched over.

Let us know.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Yep, I figured that's what the problem is. I'm just curious as to why it happened. This is the 3rd published itinerary for this sailing. Does HAL have the least clout in the ports? And is HAL the first to get bumped? Doesn't matter to me if we do Alesund or Gerainger first. But it does matter if we don't get to see the Fjords!

 

Don't worry if your tours are cancelled. There's a lot to see in Alesund, all of it withing walking distance of the ship. Just walk around and look at the art nouveau architecture. Get tickets for the little tram ride around town and up to the top of the outlook. Or walk up to the outlook and walk off some of those dining room calories.

 

And for Geiranger, you will sail up the fjord and it's possibly the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. Yes, there are spectacular views from some of the tour stops, but you can get some good views within walking distance. If you don't get a tour, walk up to the museum. It has great history of the fjord and life there.

 

Do a little googling and you'll see that you can enjoy these ports without a tour. Also poke around and you can find port info and see how many other ships will be in port with you.

 

ENJOY!!!!!

[cpinstein]

Thanks you made my day. I have done lots of research. I just anted to sail the fjords as well as walk around the town. But we'll see.