Shore excursion prices increase 50% for UK passengers

[AvayaUK]

Hi,

 

We are booked on the 7 day north bound glacier discovery. Last week we checked out the shore excursions offered by HAL on their website, made a list of ones we liked and the prices. We decided which of the ones we chose to actually book this week and logged on again yesterday to booked them. Last week they were priced in $, this week they're in £. The prices have not actually changed to compensate for the exchange rate. (ie a trip that cost $199 last week now costs £199).

 

I called HAL today and was told that there was nothing they could do, the prices are fixed by their Seattle office and that I should wait until I'm on board and try to book then! Not much good when their is limited spaces on some excursions.

 

I've emailed their office in Seattle to find out how they can justify a 50% increase in price in a week for UK passengers. When I get a reply I will pass the info on.

 

I'm not sure if this effects shore execursions for other destinations, but would recommend a check with an alternative source if you can, if you see the prices on the website being quoted in £'s. Also worth contacting their head office like I have to question this, as I went right through to the last screen where they take payment, just to see what would happen, and there was no change, so they're happy to charge a $ price in £'s!

[KBC]

I encountered a similar problem last night when I went online to make Pinnacle Grill reservations for our Bermuda trip next month. The cost has suddenly risen to £20 for dinner rather than the normal $20.

 

My guess is that since the revamped website was launched, the prices for 'extras' are innaccurate in that the $ has been replaced by the £ sign.....

 

If you access the HAL website within the UK the pricing defaults to £ sterling, whilst if you access the site (using the same laptop) for the US or Bermuda, it defaults to US$.

 

I have also emailed the HAL UK office (re the £20/$20 aspect)but I am not holding my breath. My dealings with our 'local HAL office in London frequently leave me terribly frustrated.

 

If I hear anything I will post details here.

[Silverwing]

This very worrying news for us HAL cruisers here in the UK.

 

We usually like to make all our own arrangements, which have worked well in both Alaska and Europe. However, we did use the HAL tour for Ephesus last September - the only one we have ever booked with them. We were charged in US dollars which were then converted to £s on our credit card statement. The four of us are booked on a HAL Baltic cruise next June and were planning to use HAL tours in St. Petersburg to save any problems with visas etc. I know many people here have recommended private tours, so I think we will be looking at those more seriously now, as it sounds as though the cost of the HAL tours will be prohibitive.

 

This year HAL have been very keen to promote their product in the UK, with more adverts in magazines etc. Their shore excursions are expensive enough already and to ignore the exchange rate in this way seems to be to be unprofessional and likely to upset many people.

 

I will be very interested to see what (if any!) reply you get from Seattle. Please keep us posted.

[tomtal]

I was also going to book excursions this week and found the price in £ rather than US$ on the site. I could not find the email address for the Seattle office as it keeps giving the London branch when I go to 'contact'. However, I will email London - it seems this is an error and should be corrected. Thanks for the info - and have a good holiday

[AvayaUK]

One thing I did find on these boards was http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=24625658

 

One of the posters from the US states that the price for the excursion in question in $199. I'm looking at doing the same excursion but for me its £199. HAL has one price for US passengers and another price for UK passengers!

 

We've also looked at booking tours independent of the cruise line, as they do seem expensive (even before their exchange rate scam) but noticed alot of the tour companies we've found just using a search engine state that any cruise ship passengers looking to take a tour should contact the cruise operaters excursion desk and not contact them directly.

[AvayaUK]

I was also going to book excursions this week and found the price in £ rather than US$ on the site. I could not find the email address for the Seattle office as it keeps giving the London branch when I go to 'contact'. However, I will email London - it seems this is an error and should be corrected. Thanks for the info - and have a good holiday

 

Excursions desk email, as provided by Londons 'help' desk.

Hal_Shore_Excursions@hollandamerica.com

[cruisinggranmama]

Could it be a programming error on the new site - no one programmed an exchange rate into the pricing?

[AvayaUK]

Could it be a programming error on the new site - no one programmed an exchange rate into the pricing?

 

Of course possible, but unlikely I would think. Not sure exactly how they work but I would guess that if the company has taken the decision to price excursions in passengers local currency, then they take the risk of future exchange rate movements (or adjust the local cost if there are big movements in the rate) or fix their cost by buying $ at todays rate to pay the local tour operators. Either way, they would have to fix the £ cost now rather than take an exchange rate feed as, with other tours we've done with operators that are priced in £, they're always a round numbers ie £149, £99 etc, not £137.24 ($199/1.45).

 

If it is something as simple as that, well, its one very embarrassing (and extremely profitable) mistake to make for HAL. Lets hope no one who isnt aware of this books their excursions in the time it takes them to fix it (assuming it is an error).

[pms4104]

Might I suggest ... Halw_Shore_Excursions@hollandamerica.com(note the underline between the 1st/2nd/3rd words)

 

This contact info was listed at the bottom of an email I received from HAL Shorex back in October ... as the contact for further inquiries. Hope it works for you people.

[tomtal]

Thanks for the email address of Head Office. I have now emailed both London and Seattle! (Do they have a walk-the-plank for people like me?).

I really think that it is meant to be dollars not pound sterling and look forward to their confirmation - and an amendment to site - in due course.

[cruisinggranmama]

Of course possible, but unlikely I would think. Not sure exactly how they work but I would guess that if the company has taken the decision to price excursions in passengers local currency, then they take the risk of future exchange rate movements (or adjust the local cost if there are big movements in the rate) or fix their cost by buying $ at todays rate to pay the local tour operators. Either way, they would have to fix the £ cost now rather than take an exchange rate feed as, with other tours we've done with operators that are priced in £, they're always a round numbers ie £149, £99 etc, not £137.24 ($199/1.45).

 

If it is something as simple as that, well, its one very embarrassing (and extremely profitable) mistake to make for HAL. Lets hope no one who isnt aware of this books their excursions in the time it takes them to fix it (assuming it is an error).

 

Having worked for a company that was constantly updating its website, it was amazing the number of times QA was not done thoroughly especially as sometimes outside programmers were used. I really hope that is it and HAL as not decided to take advantage in some way.

[tomtal]

Wow - am I impressed! Having just sent an email to Seattle Shore excursions, I have received an auto reply, letting me know the email has been received and they will contact me in the near future. Well done America. Would have been nice if the UK office had been geared up to do the same, but I expect an answer from them in due course.

[KBC]

I have just received an email from HAL (UK) office simply confirming that the cost of the Pinnacle Grill is $20, and not £20!!!

As you can imagine I have now sought further clarification and information as to what happens now??

I am also curious as to how the 25% discount for 3* Mariners is applied to a Pinnacle Grill booking if one pays upfront.

I will post any further information as and when I have it...:o

[pms4104]

I have just received an email from HAL (UK) office simply confirming that the cost of the Pinnacle Grill is $20, and not £20!!!

 

As you can imagine I have now sought further clarification and information as to what happens now??

 

I am also curious as to how the 25% discount for 3* Mariners is applied to a Pinnacle Grill booking if one pays upfront.

 

I will post any further information as and when I have it...:o

I think the discount will appear as a credit on your onboard account. Hopefully, HAL can confirm that for you.

[Mary Ellen]

I think the discount will appear as a credit on your onboard account. Hopefully, HAL can confirm that for you.

This is what has occurred on our cruises since the new Mariner program was implemented. We didn't have to do anything, the discount showed up on our account.

 

This "new and improved" HAL site leaves quite a bit to be desired. I just tried to cancel a shore ex we've booked for London. It no longer showed what we've already booked on-line and no way to cancel on-line. Also, every time I click on something the screen grays and I get a "Please wait while the page loads". I did a whole lot more 'waiting' than before. Yes, the new site looks nice, but I'm not a fan of 'form over function'.

[AvayaUK]

Wow - am I impressed! Having just sent an email to Seattle Shore excursions, I have received an auto reply, letting me know the email has been received and they will contact me in the near future. Well done America. Would have been nice if the UK office had been geared up to do the same, but I expect an answer from them in due course.

 

I got the same! However, I also got a reply from the UK office (I copied them in on my email for good measure). When I spoke to them this morning, they said that everything is always priced in $. She then put me on hold for a couple of mins and when she came back she told me that her colleague just told her they had changed their pricing policy to £'s over the weekend. In reply to my email, the UK office confirmed that they can also see the prices now being quoted in £'s but do not know why the price has changed and that they can be of no further help. I should contact Seattle. Lets wait and see what they have to say.

[Mary Ellen]

I just got off the phone with shore ex to cancel that excursion. I did mention that I wasn't able to cancel on the new site and also that passengers from the UK were having prices now being quoted in £s not $s with no adjustment for the exchange rate. She was quite concerned about the £s and was going to pass that along. Hopefully this will be corrected very soon.

[KBC]

I just got off the phone with shore ex to cancel that excursion. I did mention that I wasn't able to cancel on the new site and also that passengers from the UK were having prices now being quoted in £s not $s with no adjustment for the exchange rate. She was quite concerned about the £s and was going to pass that along. Hopefully this will be corrected very soon.

 

Thanks Mary Ellen & Camp637 for your help and advice. We have only ever made PG reservations whilst onboard previously and the discount was reflected in the charge to our shipboard account. I will give it a couple of days and if the website doesn't reflect the correct price I will give the Seattle Office a call and book that way. :)

[Taxguy77]

I got the same! However, I also got a reply from the UK office (I copied them in on my email for good measure). When I spoke to them this morning, they said that everything is always priced in $. She then put me on hold for a couple of mins and when she came back she told me that her colleague just told her they had changed their pricing policy to £'s over the weekend. In reply to my email, the UK office confirmed that they can also see the prices now being quoted in £'s but do not know why the price has changed and that they can be of no further help. I should contact Seattle. Lets wait and see what they have to say.

 

What good are they then? Why have an office if they just tell people to contact another office.

I don't want to sound like I'm putting down the U.K. folks; when in England we met:confused: what I then thought was the world's worst server!:( A year later she lost the title to a girl near here:eek:

And you DO have better beer!

[KBC]

I have exchanged a number of emails with HAL Seattle this evening and without doubt this is a glitch/bug in the system. They have asked me to forward a couple of screenshots, which I have done. Clearly the GB£ symbol is only showing if you access their website from an ISP within the UK.

 

As I suspected from the outset, this is purely an error and I personally have no concern in relation to HAL's integrity in this matter.

Let's hope it is sorted quickly. :)

[KBC]

What good are they then? Why have an office if they just tell people to contact another office.

I don't want to sound like I'm putting down the U.K. folks; when in England we met:confused: what I then thought was the world's worst server!:( A year later she lost the title to a girl near here:eek:

And you DO have better beer!

 

Dear Taxguy

Please don't concern yourself about offending us 'U.K. folks'. We have no idea why we have an office in London. That decision would have been made in Seattle I assume.

[mancunian]

I don't understand their new site. I went on to check the price of a cruise we wanted to do next year and found you do not go into availability and prices but straight into booking following a page that says people abroad who book on the site pretty well do so at their own risk and that booking conditions in their own country will not then apply (fair enough). However, it then goes on to say that Europeans can book through their Rotterdam office but says nothing about London. What does this mean.

 

The site is frustrating in that as far as I can see you cannot check particular grades of cabins easily.

[zula]

Hi,

 

After reading your message I had a look a the new website of HAL, it is so sloooow. Also prices for wine cards,.... are now showing in EURO. Hope to see it change soon. We usually have to pay more for the cruise, if we have to pay so much more for all the rest you want to book in advance HAL really becomes expensive for Europeans.

 

Regards,

Sonja

[ariawoman]

I have exchanged a number of emails with HAL Seattle this evening and without doubt this is a glitch/bug in the system. They have asked me to forward a couple of screenshots, which I have done. Clearly the GB£ symbol is only showing if you access their website from an ISP within the UK.

 

As I suspected from the outset, this is purely an error and I personally have no concern in relation to HAL's integrity in this matter.

 

Let's hope it is sorted quickly. :)

 

Personally, I hope they throw a little OBC or something to those people that are helping them rectify major issues. QA isn't free (and shouldn't be else i'd be jobless LOL). I sent them a long email this afternoon listing different issues with the website and hope they take it into account. The new site will definitely keep some customers from booking with HAL....

[AvayaUK]

I shouldnt laugh but I think this is comical. I got a reply from HAL Seatlle this morning. My email to them read 2 or 3 paragraphs, went into detail about the selections, what we saw last week in $, what we see now in £, gave named examples of an excursion we wanted to do and asked them to explain what was going. The reply I got was:

 

Good monring,

 

The shore excursions are showing in $$$'s and not Euros.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Yep, Euros! Curious where they got Euro's from, as I didnt mention this currency to them! Have emailed them back with screen prints showing £ and also forwarded them an email I got from the UK office confirming that the prices were now in £. Having never sailed with HAL before, and this being the 2nd cruise we have ever done, Im really hoping this is not indicative of the type if service we are going to get!