Travel writer Peter Greenberg comes to HAL cruisers rescue

[tcook052]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/18/earlyshow/living/travel/main7257119.shtml

 

Sleepless in Alaska

 

Sheila, a widowed senior citizen saved up her money to take a trip of a lifetime, a week-long cruise to Alaska onboard Holland America's ms Zaandam.

 

Her trip took a turn for the worse when she was awoken in the middle of the night by a faulty smoke alarm in her cabin. Though she contacted the crew, they were unable to fix the alarm or move her to another cabin. The problem persisted until two days before the cruise ended, at which point she had several sleepless nights and a generally stressful experience.

 

"I lost four nights of sleep and requested either money or credit towards another cruise," she writes. "I wrote several letters and was denied the compensation that I am deserved. They gave me $100 credit on board and offered me a room upgrade on the next trip."

 

What jumped out at us about her experience were three things:

 

The compensation offered, $100 shipboard credit and a cabin upgrade, assumes that Sheila will travel again on HAL.

 

On a cruise, your cabin is mostly for sleeping. When that is compromised, it really has an effect on the quality of the vacation.

 

According to an HAL customer service representative, her compensation was calculated by the nature and severity of the issue, "as well as the cruise fare paid." That made us wonder: if the complaint was coming from someone in a higher-priced cabin, what would their compensation have been?

 

We contacted Holland America to get to the bottom of this situation. After investigating it further, they determined that Sheila was due further compensation. She was offered a $400 refund, or $777 to be applied to a future cruise. She opted for the former.

 

What can you do if you face a similar situation?

 

Of course, technical issues can and will arise, but it's how the situation is handled that makes a difference in the customer experience. If you're not satisfied with your experience for a concrete reason, it's your right to go through the appropriate channels to see how it can be resolved. Keep a log of everyone you speak with, both during the trip and after, and go up the chain if a customer service representative can't offer assistance.

 

And if those normal channels don't work, email Peter to get on the case!

[JJPacer]

Thank you for the information. I wish she had gotten more compensation than she did. She certainly deserved more. How annoying and to have to give up several nights of sleep! That would effect anyone's trip! :eek:

[sail7seas]

Thanks for sharing this. I'd love to hear HAL's side of the story.

I watch Peter Greenburg on the various talk shows and sometimes he has some good info.

 

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the link to Peter Greenberg's e-mail/website. It could be convenient having it. :D

 

[whogo]

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture. I would have found a quiet public spot to sleep.

[CDRMark]

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture. I would have found a quiet public spot to sleep.

The floor or couch in front of the Front Desk might have been nice.....:)

Cheers

Mark

[iancal]

I think that too many people take the future cruise credit when instead they should be voting with their feet. We walked on a cruise credit on RCI a number of years ago because we had a bad experience. Why on earth would we reward them for a bad experiece this by giving them more business. There were other good options so we just switched and never dealt with them again. It was not the issue per sae, it was they cavalier way in which they handled it. The cost of getting /keeping a new customer far exceeds the cost of a small future cruise credit or a small OBC. I think she did the right thing in taking the cash vs the larger cruise credit amount.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree that she made the right choice by accepting the cash -- just wish she had been compensated more.

 

We would have gone NUTS with that thing going off all the time. DH needs to rest -- A LOT -- so we use our cabin more than just at night.

[Pete Jackson]

If that had been me in the cabin, HAL's smoke detector would now be lying somewhere at the bottom of the Inside Passage! If they tried to bill me for it, I would counterbill for lost enjoyment.

 

I have no patience for smoke detectors that have no compassion for human engineering. They spoil lovely dinners being cooked on the stove. If their battery gets low, they beep incessantly until a stepladder and battery can be found.

 

Solution is simple, a hush button to stop a smoke warning for five minutes and a battery alert for 24 hours. Think this is a danger risk? Think of all the people who have died because smoke detectors were disabled due to nuisance beeps and alarms.

[kazu]

yup, I'm afraid I would have done the same thing too. disable the smoke alarm! and if someone's cruise is horrendous, it's unlikely they are going to want to cruise with that line again right away - and the cruise credits are only good for one year. glad she got the cash.

[peaches from georgia]

NO ONE should be accepting OBC on a future cruise for a problem on their present cruise. That's a win-win for the cruiseline- not only does it ensure a future booking if the pax decides to forgive and forget (otherwise it costs the cruiseline nothig), but the pax is using it at retail value for merchandise or services that only cost the cruiseline at wholesale.

 

The problem occured on one cruise and that is the only cruise that should be negotiated when it comes to a settlement for the problem. I'm always amazed when someone reporting a problem is satisfied with this future OBC nonsense. This woman only got what she did when the threat of bad publicity was held over HAL's head. Also interesting that a Suite pax loss of sleep is worth more than a pax in an inside.

[SwissMyst]

A smoke alarm problem could be anything from a long screech warning sound to the occasional pings when a battery needs replacing. Neither is acceptable, but I wonder which part of this range was the original smoke alarm noise offense.

[rafinmd]

This isn't just an inconvenience, it's a totally unacceptable safety issue. A smoke alarm's function is to let you know when there's smoke. It is equally useless being silent all the time or buzzing all the time. I wonder what would have happened if the passenger had notified the Coast Guard at the first port of call.

 

Roy

[whogo]

I thought that HAL had people on board that could fix engines, generators, radar equipment and the like. It's kind of scary that no staff on board could properly silence a smoke detector. How does HAL handle the big problems?

[Jemima]

Something doesn't make sense here. If it was a battery, that's a quick fix. If the alarm had become defective, they'd have replacement smoke detectors which their electricians could quickly exchange. With the number of cabins and smoke detectors in each cabin and elsewhere on the ship, replacement detectors would certainly be a stocked item. Maybe they changed batteries, the sound stopped for quite a while and then started up again. That happens. Or maybe this was simply a smoke detector being sensitive to excessive smoking.

[jtl513]

NO ONE should be accepting OBC on a future cruise for a problem on their present cruise.

I agree in this case, or for other similar major problems, but we were very happy to get a credit on a future booking of $90 each for missing two ports on our last cruise. HAL was obligated to give us nothing, and they gave the future credit to everyone on the ship without asking. (It was actually 15% of the base fare for the present cruise, so others got more and less then we did.)

[SwissMyst]

Smoke detectors can also go off when there is too much steam from the bathroom hot water use. This story does need more facts.

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for sharing this with us.

[peaches from georgia]

I agree in this case, or for other similar major problems, but we were very happy to get a credit on a future booking of $90 each for missing two ports on our last cruise. HAL was obligated to give us nothing, and they gave the future credit to everyone on the ship without asking. (It was actually 15% of the base fare for the present cruise, so others got more and less then we did.)

In that case I amend what I said before to cover a situation such as what you had. But with a 'problem' I think the adjustment should be negotiated based on the cruise where it occured.

[Hlitner]

There are times when cruisers need to be more assertive onboard a ship. After about forty years of cruising (at least 2 years on cruise ships) we have only had a few instances when it was necessary to force a solution on board. In one situation on Princess we had a cabin shower that barely worked (kind of went drip drip). After complaining that first night (even our cabin steward made several phone calls to engineering) nothing was done. The 2nd night was a formal night and we were invited to the Captains table. When I went to take a shower it just went drip drip drip. So, I put on the robe, grabbed a bar of soap, and went up on deck to take a shower at the outdoor shower near the pool (had a swimsuit on). Then, still dripping wet I went down to the guest relations desk. It was already about 6:30 so there were many folks in the atrium in formal wear and here I was in a robe and still dripping. I explained to the hotel manager (who quickly appeared at the desk) our problem and said I would shower every day at the pool and stop by the guest relations desk every evening until the problem was fixed. I also explained we were dining with the Captain and I certainly needed to shower for such an event. Within an hour the a plumber was in the cabin and the problem was repaired. On one other cruise we had something rolling around inside our ceiling which made it impossible to sleep. After two days with nothing being done we found a solution. Late at night I appeared near the pursers desk with a blanket and pillow...cuddled up in a comfy chair and went to sleep. Within a few minutes the security officer came over to find out why we were sleeping in the lobby and we explained that we could not get any sleep in our cabin. The next morning two crewman tore our entire ceiling apart and found a piece of loose metal that was the culprit. There are times where drastic situations call for action and the OPs situation with the faulty smoke alarm certainly qualifies. Having an entire cruise ruined because of such a problem is ridiculous...but the time to deal with that kind of problem is at that time...not after you get home.

 

Hank

[Kay240]

We also had a problem with a smoke detector on one of our cruises. Luckily, we had an early morning Shorex, so our clothes were laid out before we went to bed. When the alarm went off, we quickly got dressed and went into the hallway expecting pandemonium...but no one was there, except us! As no one could get the alarm to stop, the battery had to be taken out, and it remained that way for a couple of days. I seem to remember (and DH agrees) that the whole smoke detector had to be replaced.

[CowPrincess]

After one night of no sleep, no one would want to see just how "assertive" I could be. :eek: That is completely unacceptable IMHO.

[bepsf]

I thought that HAL had people on board that could fix engines, generators, radar equipment and the like. It's kind of scary that no staff on board could properly silence a smoke detector. How does HAL handle the big problems?

 

Last year, Zaandam didn't have anyone aboard who could replace lightbulbs, fix the shipboard clocks, scrub scuff marks off the decks, repair torn upholstery or clean and paint over the rust on the hull...

...so doesn't surprise me in the least that nobody could fix this poor lady's smoke detector for the better part of the week.

:cool:

I'm with Hank: I'd have wandered out into the lobby w/ blankets, pillows, etc. for a peaceful night's sleep on one of the sofas.

[CtheW0rld]

The floor or couch in front of the Front Desk might have been nice.....:)

Cheers

Mark

 

i actually did this once on princess, and it was amazing how fast they found an empty cabin for me.

[iancal]

HAL needs to fix some of their old tubs....at some point OBC's won't do it anymore and loyal customers will go south on them.