Holland America changes carry on wine policy

[Vict0riann]

Here is my strategy. I am on a b2b. I will buy wine in the ports on the first half and have them hold it. They will deliver it to my stateroom on the last night before the end of the first half and I will have it for the second half of the cruise.

Hopefully they will not catch on.

 

Good idea, we might try that, too. When do you sail? Please let us know how it goes.

[Cruzin Terri]

Good idea, we might try that, too. When do you sail? Please let us know how it goes.

 

We're not sailing until the end of August. Hopefully by then HAL will realize the error of its ways and all this will be for naught.

Terri

[sail7seas]

I doubt the wineries would be too excited about hosting excursions either when few guests will be buying anything.

 

Agreed.

If they can't make wine sales, they won't be offering the excursions.

 

 

Maybe HAL can use some of their increased wine revenue to put a sneeze guard in the Westerdam Neptune Lounge? :)

 

 

LOL ..... Now THAT's a great suggestion!! :)

 

[sail7seas]

Here is my strategy. I am on a b2b. I will buy wine in the ports on the first half and have them hold it. They will deliver it to my stateroom on the last night before the end of the first half and I will have it for the second half of the cruise.

Hopefully they will not catch on.

 

Hey that's a smart idea :) We're on a collectors' cruise too! So, the nice wines will be primarily in the 1st 1/2 of the cruise. I might try that as well.

 

The worst that can happen is that they don't do it. We can drink some the last night and since we are staying overnight we can always take some with us for the hotel and leave the rest behind.

 

Brilliant idea - thank you :):)

 

Great idea but now you've gone and told 'em. :eek:

 

 

They may hold the wine/liquor for those on Colletors. :(

 

[innlady1]

Here is my strategy. I am on a b2b. I will buy wine in the ports on the first half and have them hold it. They will deliver it to my stateroom on the last night before the end of the first half and I will have it for the second half of the cruise.

Hopefully they will not catch on.

 

Lucky you. I hope it works.....

I can't do that...we're on a b2b of sorts in January...Maasdam for 11 days and then switching to the Noordam for the next 10 (Maasdam is not doing the Caribbean after our 1st leg).

I've been trying to figure it out.

[Cruzin Terri]

Great idea but now you've gone and told 'em. :eek:

 

 

They may hold the wine/liquor for those on Colletors. :(

 

 

They return all bottles at the end of each cruise. They'll never start separating collectors.

Hopefully they will be collecting so much wine they will have no room for it and they'll let us keep it.

Terri

[YubaSutter]

According to Holland America's web site and other conformations, Holland America will NO LONGER allow unlimited wine to be brought on board. Starting Feb. 1 st. 2014 ALL passangers will be allowed to bring on ONLY ONE 750 ML. bottle of wine each AND only at embarkation! Regardless of cruise length or location.

 

Holland has gone from one of the best policy's to one of the most restrictive policies in the industry.

 

Future cruises will be on other cruise lines which allow their customers the freedom of their own decisions.

 

You are late to the party by about 3 months.

[sail7seas]

They return all bottles at the end of each cruise. They'll never start separating collectors.

Hopefully they will be collecting so much wine they will have no room for it and they'll let us keep it.

Terri

 

 

I think you are likely right.

They always have delivered liquor/wine at the end of each segment of b-to-b and Collectors and think they probably will continue to do so.

 

[Vict0riann]

We sail February 3rd, so it will be early days in the new rules. I guess we will be the guinea pigs!:D

 

Actually, my thought was that perhaps we would carry on 2 bottles each, and say we were confused - then if they "confiscate" them, they might return them at the end of the first segment - think that might work? Of course, ours is a collector's cruise, so they might not return them until the very end.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Vict0riann

[Cruzin Terri]

We sail February 3rd, so it will be early days in the new rules. I guess we will be the guinea pigs!:D

 

Actually, my thought was that perhaps we would carry on 2 bottles each, and say we were confused - then if they "confiscate" them, they might return them at the end of the first segment - think that might work? Of course, ours is a collector's cruise, so they might not return them until the very end.

 

And you will let us know?

Terri

[Vict0riann]

And you will let us know?

Terri

 

I will! (Hope I have the nerve to try it.:))

[smokinmike]

There's always river cruises in Bordeaux and on the Rhone for wine-centric adventure.

 

. . . and the river cruise companies don't care that you bring wine aboard.

 

We're doing one in Bordeaux in September of '14.

[Cruzin Terri]

I will! (Hope I have the nerve to try it.:))

 

Play dumb. When you get on with two bottles each and they say "no". Just act surprised and say "When did this change? I've always been able to do this before."

Practice ahead of time.

Terri

[CowPrincess]

I keep hoping HAL will figure out a way to let us board with "extra" wine, even if that means a corkage fee right at boarding.

[Cruzin Terri]

There's always river cruises in Bordeaux and on the Rhone for wine-centric adventure.

 

. . . and the river cruise companies don't care that you bring wine aboard.

 

We're doing one in Bordeaux in September of '14.

 

We didn't have to bring wine aboard our Tauck River Cruise along the Danube and Rhine this past summer. They served local wine at both lunch and dinner at no extra charge and it was wonderful. And the glasses were never empty.

However, if one cared to bring a bottle on board, no one stopped you. There were no check points. No bags were checked, no metal detectors. You just walked on board. Very nice.

Terri

[OVgirl]

Play dumb. When you get on with two bottles each and they say "no". Just act surprised and say "When did this change? I've always been able to do this before."

Practice ahead of time.

Terri

 

And use a mirror so that you can practice your "surprised" face.;)

[OVgirl]

Great idea but now you've gone and told 'em. :eek:

 

 

They may hold the wine/liquor for those on Colletors. :(

 

 

Well at least now we know who to blame if they keep it until the end of our Collectors Cruise.:(

[startwin]

According to Holland America's web site and other conformations, Holland America will NO LONGER allow unlimited wine to be brought on board. Starting Feb. 1 st. 2014 ALL passangers will be allowed to bring on ONLY ONE 750 ML. bottle of wine each AND only at embarkation! Regardless of cruise length or location.

 

Holland has gone from one of the best policy's to one of the most restrictive policies in the industry.

 

Future cruises will be on other cruise lines which allow their customers the freedom of their own decisions.

 

Forgot to say.... welcome to Cruise Critic. Must be nice to live in Florida and be able to cruise without flying, eh?

[Thebes]

Hey that's a smart idea :) We're on a collectors' cruise too! So, the nice wines will be primarily in the 1st 1/2 of the cruise. I might try that as well.

 

The worst that can happen is that they don't do it. We can drink some the last night and since we are staying overnight we can always take some with us for the hotel and leave the rest behind.

 

Brilliant idea - thank you :):)

 

They might be smart enough to know the diff between b2b with 2 confirmation # and collectors with 1 conf #. We're on a collectors. We can still try but could be a long shot.

[Cruzin Terri]

They might be smart enough to know the diff between b2b with 2 confirmation # and collectors with 1 conf #. We're on a collectors. We can still try but could be a long shot.

 

Never happen. They just take your name and cabin number and tag the package. It then gets delivered to your cabin the last night.

Terri

[Wakepatrol]

This is what they call a "Nightmarish Deja Vu"

[quist100]

In consideration of my earlier POST'

 

I would like to add that not everyone monitors this web site on a daily basis.

My original post listed at 8:30 AM, TODAY and has 1100 hits. The change in the Holland AM. policy is NOT known by all cruisers AND many hundreds did not see the earlier threads. This problem NEEDS to be kept in front of these posts so ALL newcomers know the current information. There are MANY potential future cruisers who have not read NOR intend to read the fine print that stipulates this change in policy.

 

Shoving this information to the back of the bus only helps Holland America get away with this insulting change.

 

I have been a loyal HAL passanger for 17 years and I would continue without this assault on my rights.

 

This is just a profit center that they want to increase...period. They have also increased to "corkage" to $20.00 a bottle. IF I elect to have dinner in my cabin AND have a bottle of wine I brought on board, is it fair to charge me $20.00 for my ability to open my own bottle in my own room?

 

We just returned fro 19 days on the Eurodam in the Baltic and Norway. As things are now, this will be the LAST HAL ship we step on.

 

HAL has lost another couple with 3 stars for good.

[innlady1]

In consideration of my earlier POST'

 

I would like to add that not everyone monitors this web site on a daily basis.

My original post listed at 8:30 AM, TODAY and has 1100 hits. The change in the Holland AM. policy is NOT known by all cruisers AND many hundreds did not see the earlier threads. This problem NEEDS to be kept in front of these posts so ALL newcomers know the current information. There are MANY potential future cruisers who have not read NOR intend to read the fine print that stipulates this change in policy.

 

Shoving this information to the back of the bus only helps Holland America get away with this insulting change.

 

I have been a loyal HAL passanger for 17 years and I would continue without this assault on my rights.

 

This is just a profit center that they want to increase...period. They have also increased to "corkage" to $20.00 a bottle. IF I elect to have dinner in my cabin AND have a bottle of wine I brought on board, is it fair to charge me $20.00 for my ability to open my own bottle in my own room?

 

We just returned fro 19 days on the Eurodam in the Baltic and Norway. As things are now, this will be the LAST HAL ship we step on.

 

HAL has lost another couple with 3 stars for good.

 

Glad you came back here to post. There was a "sticky" at the top of the page regarding the wine policy change but, unfortunately, that's been removed. None of us are happy about this change...but so far, HAL doesn't seem to be budging on it.

One would think they would be in the business of keeping their customers happy...but apparently not. :rolleyes:

Edited December 1, 2013 by innlady1

[kazu]

In consideration of my earlier POST'

 

I would like to add that not everyone monitors this web site on a daily basis.

My original post listed at 8:30 AM, TODAY and has 1100 hits. The change in the Holland AM. policy is NOT known by all cruisers AND many hundreds did not see the earlier threads. This problem NEEDS to be kept in front of these posts so ALL newcomers know the current information. There are MANY potential future cruisers who have not read NOR intend to read the fine print that stipulates this change in policy.

 

Shoving this information to the back of the bus only helps Holland America get away with this insulting change.

 

I have been a loyal HAL passanger for 17 years and I would continue without this assault on my rights.

 

This is just a profit center that they want to increase...period. They have also increased to "corkage" to $20.00 a bottle. IF I elect to have dinner in my cabin AND have a bottle of wine I brought on board, is it fair to charge me $20.00 for my ability to open my own bottle in my own room?

 

We just returned fro 19 days on the Eurodam in the Baltic and Norway. As things are now, this will be the LAST HAL ship we step on.

 

HAL has lost another couple with 3 stars for good.

 

Really happy to see you come back and in all honesty, you are right. Not everyone is here all the time and there are not a lot of cruisers here.

 

If LAFFNVEGAS (Lisa) hadn't let us know, I wouldn't have known.

 

I don't check 'know before you go' every day.

 

I check it before I book to make sure there are no changes and then I am good to go.

 

I already had my big cruise booked and what I found most distressing is that HAL couldn't even email us to let us know.

 

I am sincerely hoping that they see the light before Jan. 31st and amend the policy somewhat.

 

Those on a 30 day cruise (or whatever length but longer than 7 days) should not be subject to the same rules. JMO:)

[quist100]

NOT everyone has the time to respond to Thousands of posts and a normal new cruiser might need information brought to their attention now. Maybe this venue is not really for the the general public that will be taking a cruise for the first time or for the limited informed.

 

I get that impression from the tunnel visioned additude I am beginning to see here.