Security and Identity issues on HAL

[amoba]

Thanks again for all the ideas and encouragement.

 

My first night was spent in my correct room as the room assignment issue was eventually resolved during the first day. I had the same room for the whole cruise and it was lovely. It was the room number that had been emailed to me several days before the cruise, the very room that I’d been told had been sold to someone else.

 

When it comes to my key card being scanned, I let the staff scan it while I hold it or they take it and put in in the machine, or whatever they see fit in doing. On the last day, they definitely took it and while we were having the lengthy discussion (disagreement) about which room I was vacating, I was distracted and rushed, and forgot to ask for the card back.

 

Wow, ellieanne, what confusion with your same name and nearly identical room numbers. It’s understandable that hand delivered communications could be continually mixed up. But what I don’t understand, in your case and mine, is how some charges that are charged to one’s key card, could be mis-posted. What is embedded in those cards that they can be that inconsistent? It seems to me that this should never happen.

 

Ha ha, peaches from Georgia, “well that’s not you” and never bat an eye... That’s about the same thing as happened to me each time plus I would say “that’s not my name either”. So how do they ever know who is on or off the ship? Since I was traveling by myself, if something happened to me while in port, they’d never know I was missing. But I figured, if they did know, they wouldn’t care as it’s the passenger’s responsibility to return to the ship on time. Still, it’s troublesome.

 

Facebook would be a great idea to post this information, but l am not on any social media, just here plus youtube travel slideshows as that’s more of my priority and not enough time for everything that I’d like.

 

I found out that HAL does monitor cruise critic roll calls to an extent. For this Oct 5, 2013 cruise, there were close to 15 posts by the time I left but none had responded to my idea of a meet and greet. The posts were about renting cars and such. The Veendam’s daily program had a cruise critic, facebook, etc meeting space and time offered at the beginning of the cruise. When I went to that, the host said 15 people had signed up but I soon figured out that that was, 15 posts, not meet and greet attendees. I was the only one to show up but it’s good to know that HAL looks at that, even if they don’t read the actual posts. No telling if they look at the HAL cruise line posting site.

 

Yes, always important to write down names of staff with whom one speaks. I got the name of the supervisor who refused to help me as soon as I realized what a big problem I was having. I never did get the names of the first few people at the front desk with whom I spoke as they’d quickly disappear and I was getting upset and frustrated and not organized enough to write down names at the time. The front desk staff member who finally gave me a key card to the correct room was another name I made sure to get as she was friendly and acted professionally but I never saw her again for possible help with the billing, etc errors.

 

When my charges didn’t appear on my bill, I’d go to the front desk as I didn’t want my charges to go on the bill belonging to the two women. Front desk staff were unable to find the charges and would say they weren’t posted yet but they’d bring me the bill once they were there. Bills would come to my room for charges made days later, and circled, as if that solved the problem. I made sure that none of my charges were on the other women’s bill by the end of the cruise and none of theirs were on mine but it took a lot of time and effort spent at the front desk.

 

 

[OlsSalt]

Thanks again for all the ideas and encouragement.

 

My first night was spent in my correct room as the room assignment issue was eventually resolved during the first day. I had the same room for the whole cruise and it was lovely. It was the room number that had been emailed to me several days before the cruise, the very room that I’d been told had been sold to someone else.

…..

 

Sorry I am still lost - how did you get the room key for the room that was assigned to the other two women who were already settled in. Did the other two women move out that first day?

[sapper1]

Now I am a little confused myself here. HAL doesn't take it upon itself to set up Cruise Critic Meet and Greets and advertise such in the daily programme.

The CC roll call person who decides to organize the M&G has to contact the ship's coordinator who will email a request form. That form has to be mailed to Seattle after being filled out and then approval for the meet and greet in a certain venue and certain time is given. The ship must be informed about the number of attendees.

It is the organizer who is responsible to let everyone know the time and place. They do not advertise it in the programme as untold numbers would show up.

 

Anybody else a little confused by this?

[nana541]

Now I am a little confused myself here. HAL doesn't take it upon itself to set up Cruise Critic Meet and Greets and advertise such in the daily programme.

The CC roll call person who decides to organize the M&G has to contact the ship's coordinator who will email a request form. That form has to be mailed to Seattle after being filled out and then approval for the meet and greet in a certain venue and certain time is given. The ship must be informed about the number of attendees.

It is the organizer who is responsible to let everyone know the time and place. They do not advertise it in the programme as untold numbers would show up.

 

Anybody else a little confused by this?

 

Yep ;)

[amoba]

The other two woman were delayed at the pier and so were not settled into the room when I arrived. I was first at the room, saw it was not the correct room, went to the front desk where I didn’t get help, I went back to the room, and by then, luggage for 2 other people was there. That was the point when I first realized there would be two other people in the room although I already was certain it was not my room. I had been given a room key at the pier for the room to which the three of us were originally assigned. As far as I knew at that time, the other two people may not have known anything about the problem. When I met them about 3 days later, I found out that they’d had a problem boarding and had been delayed, got help from The Nation, and eventually boarded, and got into their correct room. I’d already moved out and into my correct room by the time they boarded. I think this would have been a simple and satisfactory end to the problem had my key card not been embedded with all the wrong information which caused unresolved problems during the whole cruise.

 

Maybe some of this sounds confusing because what I knew or thought the first day was confusing and I kept learning more and more of the pieces throughout the week, after meeting the other women. HAL probably knows a lot more but if they do, they didn't reveal anything in their letter to me, other than that they blamed me for the problem, stating that I had checked in "incorrectly" under the wrong name. I have no clue what they mean as I only have the one name, as shown on my boarding pass, passport, and passport card.

 

Yes, this is the first cruise I’d been on where there was a ship staff member in a room designated for cruise critic meet and greet plus facebook people – at least that’s what he told me. I was surprised as I’d only experienced what Sapper1 describes – a cc member gets it started and contacts the cruise line. I didn’t question it as I thought it was great that HAL made a space and time available without any actual meeting being organized by passengers. Not only was the room not full of passengers, I was the only one to show up.

 

Some cruises just don’t get a lot of attention on cruise critic and this was definitely one of them. That might be because there was a large number of The Nation group and they had a very full schedule of lectures. It seemed to be a good sign to me if HAL was interested in what goes on on cruise critic but it’s possible I misunderstood something. In my experience with previous meet and greets on other ships, the cruise line usually hasn't sent a staff member and they don't care how many of us attend - the more the better as more drinks will be sold. I have often seen cruise critic and more recently, facebook, mentioned in the daily program and once, multiple staff, and even officers, attended. It seems to be an evolving process and event.

[OlsSalt]

The other two woman were delayed at the pier and so were not settled into the room when I arrived. I was first at the room, saw it was not the correct room, went to the front desk where I didn’t get help, I went back to the room, and by then, luggage for 2 other people was there. That was the point when I first realized there would be two other people in the room although I already was certain it was not my room. I had been given a room key at the pier for the room to which the three of us were originally assigned.

 

Almost there but my brain is still trying to connect the dots, thanks for following up.

 

1. You said were given a cabin number a few days before your embarkation. I assume this is cabin number X, which you identified on your HAL luggage tags.

 

2. At the time of embarkation when were given a cabin card key for your cabin, were you given card key to X which you were expecting, or did they assign you to a new cabin Y?

 

3. When this was settled out once you realized this cabin had gotten double-booked that first day did you finally get cabin X, Y ..or an entirely new cabin Z?

 

4. You said you ended up in a very nice cabin. Was it the same grade of cabin you booked, or did you get an upgrade when you finally settled in?

Edited December 2, 2013 by OlsSalt

[amoba]

Yes, about a week or so before the cruise, I got an email with my room assignment. I was traveling at the time and so didn’t print the email and didn’t write down the room number, not thinking it would be an issue. I knew it was on the 5th deck near the stairs but I didn’t remember the exact number. When I checked in at the pier, I was given a key card for a room on the 3rd deck and made a comment that I thought I was on the deck 5. The woman said they can always switch me and I didn’t think much about it, until I got to the room and realized it wasn’t what I booked. When I went to the front desk to let them know I wasn’t in the right room, I kept being told that they can put me in any room they like as long as it was in at least the category I booked. The supervisor told me they’d sold the room on deck 5 to another passenger.

 

There were no cruise ship tags on my bag and no room number on it as I never part with my bag.

 

After numerous hours and visits to the front desk and getting no help, finally I thought a staff member was listening to me as she gave me a key card to the room on deck 5, about which I’d been emailed. It was not an upgrade, was actually in a lower category than the room on deck 3 but it matched what I’d booked and I knew it was the right room. The supervisor who had previously told me they’d sold my deck 5 room to someone else, never acknowledged her “error”, if that’s what it was, although I continued to see her during my visits. She actually whispered to someone, while in front of me, to get another photo of me, which the staff member did. I believe they took a total of 3 pictures of me, 2 at the front desk and 1 when I first boarded. With all these pictures of me, I was very surprised that someone else's photo would appear when my key card was scanned.

[OlsSalt]

Is sounds like you booked a category of cabins, but not a specifically numbered cabin?

 

1. You were first given #5 prior to embarkation

2. Then upon embarkation, you were given #3.

3. Then somehow you also got the key for #5?

 

Which cabin had the two other women in it: #3 or #5?

[TiogaCruiser]

Just speculation but doesn't this sound like a last minute upgrade gone bad?

[kazu]

Now I am a little confused myself here. HAL doesn't take it upon itself to set up Cruise Critic Meet and Greets and advertise such in the daily programme.

The CC roll call person who decides to organize the M&G has to contact the ship's coordinator who will email a request form. That form has to be mailed to Seattle after being filled out and then approval for the meet and greet in a certain venue and certain time is given. The ship must be informed about the number of attendees.

It is the organizer who is responsible to let everyone know the time and place. They do not advertise it in the programme as untold numbers would show up.

 

Anybody else a little confused by this?

 

I think the OP is referring to the FB meet and greet which HAL sets up automatically on the day of embarkation now.

[sapper1]

I think the OP is referring to the FB meet and greet which HAL sets up automatically on the day of embarkation now.

 

Kazu---check his post number 51 about halfway down. It refers to a CC meeting notice in the daily programme and that it was initiated by HAL because there were 15 posts on a CC roll call. That is what confused me.

 

The CC and FB meetings were to be combined.

Edited December 2, 2013 by sapper1

[sapper1]

Just speculation but doesn't this sound like a last minute upgrade gone bad?

 

That scenerio is entirely possible. A very simple explanation for a weird situation.

[HokiePoq]

Now I am a little confused myself here. HAL doesn't take it upon itself to set up Cruise Critic Meet and Greets and advertise such in the daily programme.

The CC roll call person who decides to organize the M&G has to contact the ship's coordinator who will email a request form. That form has to be mailed to Seattle after being filled out and then approval for the meet and greet in a certain venue and certain time is given. The ship must be informed about the number of attendees.

It is the organizer who is responsible to let everyone know the time and place. They do not advertise it in the programme as untold numbers would show up.

 

Anybody else a little confused by this?

 

I'm thinking OP is referring to one set up on HAL's Facebook page.

Although popular, I don't use any line's Facebook page for a specific cruise. This publicly announces when you are away from home and could lead to security issues IMHO.

[startwin]

I'm thinking OP is referring to one set up on HAL's Facebook page.

Although popular, I don't use any line's Facebook page for a specific cruise. This publicly announces when you are away from home and could lead to security issues IMHO.

 

No, that's how the regular M&G is organised, nothing to do with Facebook. I think there is a sticky at the top of the page that explains it.

 

EDITED TO ADD - oops the sticky is not there anymore, since they cleaned up.

Edited December 2, 2013 by startwin

[amoba]

I booked a guaranteed single unobstructed view cabin. Before the cruise, they usually advise you of your cabin assignment, maybe a few days or a few weeks prior to the cruise, or sometimes, not until embarkation. In this case, my cabin assignment was emailed to me about a week ahead, was on deck 5 and the cabin number started with a 5. In my previous post, I mistakenly thought the cabin belonging to the other women and starting with a 3, was on deck 3 but I looked at the deck plan and it was on deck 6, which explains the higher category. So…email to me said I’d be in 5, at the pier I was given 3 (on deck 6), and, hours later after many many visits to the front desk, I was finally given the key to 5 and returned the key to 3 (on deck 6). The other 2 women were only given keys to their room, 3, on deck 6.

 

It wasn’t a matter of an upgrade. If you choose a “guarantee”, you are guaranteed a room in that category or higher, not a certain room. As I’d paid the higher price for a single, no roommate, plus a category with an unobstructed view window, this is what I expected. Things became very confused and confusing when the front desk supervisor said that nothing was guaranteed (single, unobstructed view, etc) except the category (that category or higher) and that they can move people around as they like.

 

I've heard of people choosing a certain cabin and then being given an upgrade but declining the upgrade as they wanted the particular cabin. Room assignments seem to be quite fluid and I felt in a pretty helpless position to argue, although I certainly tried.

 

Both cruise critic and facebook were mentioned in the daily program (1st or 2nd day) and they were intending to have a combined meeting if there were any takers. I’ve seen this happen on Princess also but each cruise is different. Sometimes there is nothing mentioned at all in the daily program yet there will be a huge turn-out if there’s been lots of activity on one or both websites; organization by someone yet no prior contact with the cruise line. They choose a place and time and the cruise line is happy to sell drinks. The cruise line will send a staff member or more if they’ve been contacted ahead. Sometimes it’s mentioned in the daily program and sometimes not. There are many different possibilities and the cruise lines may be making an effort to keep up.

[OlsSalt]

I agree, this became a very confused situation. I still cannot track it. I also assume there is no guarantee of a specific cabin until you actually board the ship, regardless of prior assignments by email notice unless you have paid specifically for a specific cabin. In this case it appears you did not. So "your" cabin was the one you got upon embarkation.

 

Consequently, I see the ensuing confusions as mutually imposed in this case since you somehow changed your embarkation assigned cabin. Additionally as much as I have tried to sort this out, I see significant gaps between your alarming first presentation and to what is now evolving upon closer questioning.

 

If I may add, I don't think the recommendation that you dispute your full cruise fare charges over this incident is appropriate or warranted. But that is for you to decide.

 

Happy future cruising. Best wishes.

[amoba]

Oldsalt, please tell me in what way I imposed any of this. I did not want a cabin occupied by 2 other people and they would not have wanted me in their cabin. The front desk initially would not help me but I persisted as the situation was not acceptable. HAL eventually gave me the cabin that they had assigned to me, but possibly only because The Nation Cruise Seminar intervened on behalf of the other women. I did not change my embarkation cabin as you say, only needed to be out of the room belonging to other people. What would anyone do in this circumstance? What are the gaps you see between the first presentation and the subsequent details attempting answer specific questions? Nothing has changed, only more details have been provided in response to comments and questions.

[Fouremco]

Oldsalt, please tell me in what way I imposed any of this. I did not want a cabin occupied by 2 other people and they would not have wanted me in their cabin. The front desk initially would not help me but I persisted as the situation was not acceptable. HAL eventually gave me the cabin that they had assigned to me, but possibly only because The Nation Cruise Seminar intervened on behalf of the other women. I did not change my embarkation cabin as you say, only needed to be out of the room belonging to other people. What would anyone do in this circumstance? What are the gaps you see between the first presentation and the subsequent details attempting answer specific questions? Nothing has changed, only more details have been provided in response to comments and questions.

Amoba, in your original post, you say the following in the first sentence of your opening paragraph:

 

"On my HAL Veendam cruise Oct 5, 2012 from Boston to Quebec City, I was put in a room with 2 twin beds and 2 other people, strangers to me, even though I’d paid nearly double for a single and different cabin."

Based on your post, other members reacted in a very supportive way, saying that you should never have been forced to share a cabin with strangers, particularly one with insufficient beds for three, and that as you had paid for a single cabin, you should be requesting/demanding some form of compensation. While calling out your name over the entire ship's PA system and the card confusion were in themselves interesting issues, I think that it was the shared cabin and money issues that grabbed people's attention.

 

Then we learned over subsequent postings that you in fact never shared a cabin, and didn't even meet the other two women until three or four days into the cruise. So yes, there is some confusion as to exactly what happened and, unfortunately, your attempts to clarify the situation have, at times, served only to muddy the waters further.

 

At this point, it appears that you received what you paid for, albeit with a bit of stress in getting things straightened away on embarkation. Chalk the cruise up to another of life's adventures and be stronger for it.

 

I wish you the best.

[startwin]

OP - everyone on here tried to really help you, and I have to admit to major confusion on my part given the info you shared. I gave up trying to follow it.:o The situation as a whole seemed to be a mess of confusion, and I'm sure it was difficult for you to explain it, but I think you just have to chalk this up now as one of life's lessons, and move on.:)

[amoba]

yes, absolutely, this experience won't deter me from cruising as the cruise itself turned out to be great, except for the 3 main issues. The best thing about this posting is to find that this is not a common occurrance, passengers are not generally put in rooms belonging to other people, scanned key cards don't usually have other passenger's photos and names embedded into them, and charges don't usually go to the wrong passengers. Thank you to all for the support and understanding of a confusing issue, which hopefully won't happen to anyone else. I'm still interested if anyone has an idea about how it would be possible to "incorrectly check-in under the wrong name" as HAL sited as the reason for the problem (and which of course I did not do).

[nana541]

Ok so after following this entire thread as it reveled itself over the last couple days, my final observations (still a bit confused),are as follows :)

 

1. Checking in under a wrong or different name is not possible unless you are: an identical twin or there is another passenger with similar or same name, or the HAL ck in person "forced" the check in due to a similar name.

 

2. Screwed up identity in ships card is an IT screw up and should have been fixed by OP getting the supervisor or Hotel Director, the OP did not "Advocate" for herself . HAL issue that OP should have dealt with as soon as the issue became apparent. Should never have lasted more than a day or 2.

 

Now comes the biggy!!! The OP painted a picture of arriving in a cabin with 2 other strangers already entrenched, with 2 beds, 3 people and the front desk saying "tough, you are stuck and nothing we can do about it".

 

THE REAL STORY AFTER 2 1/2 to 3 days was...

 

1. OP unexpectedly gets a different cabin on deck 6, rather than the cabin she expected on deck 5.

 

2. Arrives in cabin, luggage not belonging to her are in cabin.

 

SOLUTION: OP pay attention as you are in full charge at this point.

 

1. Put luggage not yours in hall and call front desk and advise them about "misplaced luggage".

 

2. Relax and unpack you are in your cabin!! Room attendant will push bed together.

 

If unknown ladies turn up and of course at this point you have not seen them and don't know they exist, TELL THEM THIS IS YOUR ROOM and let them run all over the ship and find somewhere to sleep, Not your problem, you have a cabin, you are in it!!

 

I am assuming at this point the only thing you will think is that "gee some bags turned up that weren't yours and some one knocked on the door thinking your cabin was theirs!!

 

 

Most importantly I think all your running around trying to fix something that did not need fixing was just crazy. You arrived in the cabin first, remember the old saying "FINDERS KEEPERS" well that would have solved this entire mess. You simply would have needed to get you Ships Card corrected. No drama just a funny story about two ladies who thought they should be your room mates!!

 

Next time when you know the front desk people "DON'T GET IT" ask to speak to the supervisor and then go for the Big Boss.

 

I'm sorry that this mess happened to you but I think you missed several opportunities to either get it fixed or stop it from getting past the first 15 minutes.

 

Consider this entire adventure to be a lesson learned and good for you for making "Lemonaid out of Lemons".

 

 

PS - You did not creat this mess in any way and I think incompetence at HAL is the root of this mess, however you did not firmly advocate for yourself and you allowed things to get out of control.

Edited December 3, 2013 by nana541

[TiogaCruiser]

I don't doubt that something very strange happened to the OP. Just think that there is a very important piece to the puzzle that is not here....

 

Yep, you said so- you were right.

 

 

Amoba, in your original post, you say the following in the first sentence of your opening paragraph:

 

"On my HAL Veendam cruise Oct 5, 2012 from Boston to Quebec City, I was put in a room with 2 twin beds and 2 other people, strangers to me, even though I’d paid nearly double for a single and different cabin."

Based on your post, other members reacted in a very supportive way, saying that you should never have been forced to share a cabin with strangers, particularly one with insufficient beds for three, and that as you had paid for a single cabin, you should be requesting/demanding some form of compensation. While calling out your name over the entire ship's PA system and the card confusion were in themselves interesting issues, I think that it was the shared cabin and money issues that grabbed people's attention.

 

Then we learned over subsequent postings that you in fact never shared a cabin, and didn't even meet the other two women until three or four days into the cruise. So yes, there is some confusion as to exactly what happened and, unfortunately, your attempts to clarify the situation have, at times, served only to muddy the waters further.

 

At this point, it appears that you received what you paid for, albeit with a bit of stress in getting things straightened away on embarkation. Chalk the cruise up to another of life's adventures and be stronger for it.

 

I wish you the best.

 

So well said.

[Arwen]

That scenerio is entirely possible. A very simple explanation for a weird situation.

 

 

The OP's story is one of the weirdest situations I have read or heard about in all my time as a member of CC. I would be soooooo fuming about the seemingly uncaring attitude by HAL regarding the screwed up arrangements.

 

My hubby and I had a weird situation with a Princess Cruise a year ago. Nothing as incredible though as the OP's story.

 

We were on an eight day pre-cruise land tour of China, followed by a two week Asia cruise sailing out of Tianjin (Beijing). During the eight day land tour, our group of 22 bonded. In particular, hubby and I met a mother traveling with her adult daughter.

 

Once the land tour was over and we all began the embarkation procedure, 'Myrna and Diane', were in the line up right behind us as we stood awaiting our turn to 'check in'. Myrna and Diane wanted to stay in touch with us while we were on our two week cruise. We read them our stateroom number off of our HAL documents and guess what?...they had been assigned the exact SAME stateroom!!!!

 

Okaaaay. So I asked them...did you two sign up for a guarantee, to which they replied, 'yes'. I figured out that 'they' had been 'upgraded' from their guarantee category (ocean view) to a veranda.

 

Hubby and I had selected our stateroom specifically, nine months in advance and paid a hefty price for that privilege.

 

So, what to do? We find out that on our stateroom card we have been assigned an 'upgrade' to a suite. We check out the upgrade stateroom and while definitely lovely, it was not in the location we had booked nine months earlier!

 

Long story short....I went to the Front Desk, which was sooooo busy!!! I explained the situation to the rep. and was told right away that nothing could be done about our last minute switch, unless the couple assigned to our original stateroom agreed to our new assigned cabin.

 

Well Myrna and Diane were very nice about it and even agreed it was our cabin to start with. Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of them before they had unpacked their luggage.

 

And, the kicker was that OUR names, in fact, were still showing, in the side slot of our original stateroom! Princess had pulled a very last minute change on us!

 

Now, I make sure that specifically 'no upgrade' is part of my paperwork. Even then, I suspect the cruise line/staff will do what they will when they are in a pinch!

[amoba]

Thanks, Arwen, for sharing your experience of a room “upgrade”. What a surprise to find your new friends were assigned the same room as you! Luckily your new friends were amenable to the switch and so it ended up being mostly a win-win situation. I’m sure you would have preferred not having to spend the extra time dealing with it, had you gotten the original room you’d booked. But what a coincidence!

 

As promised, here’s an update regarding my correspondence with HAL. I had written a second letter to them, taking exception to their blaming me for the problem when they stated that I incorrectly checked in at the pier under the wrong name. Now, instead of directly blaming me, they admit that I was checked in under the wrong name although they don’t say they were the ones to check me in. Hmmm, I wonder who did check me in? The check-in fairies, I guess. They take no responsibility for the check-in process.

 

However, the main issue of this whole saga seems to be one of security. Bills and rooms can be straightened out. The room was corrected and most of the charges were eventually assigned correctly. However, if there is a problem involving one or more passengers ashore (or onboard in an emergency), how will the cruise line know who the individuals are, with mixed up or incorrect identities embedded into the key cards and in their computer system? Along with names and photos, other identifying information is attached, such as home addresses, phone numbers, email, and emergency contact details, which were all incorrect on my key card. This could have unimaginable consequences in an emergency.

 

As mentioned in an earlier posting, by the end of the cruise, they still thought I was in a different room when they scanned my key card for the last time. If I’d agreed, no one from my room would have ever checked out. I remain surprised that they don’t care what identifying (mis)information is in the key cards and that they show no concern about potential consequences. The lack of accountability is disturbing. Again, thanks to all for the comments and ideas.

[nana51]

It was a horrible start but it was straightened out the first day. In the beginning I thought you had to spend a few days with total strangers. I would have been livid. After a few days we find out you just aren't "pushy" enough:). I would have been at the front desk and not have left until I had my original room or one better. You instead depended on some people who you didn't even now to straighten it out. What would you have done if they hadn't stepped up?:confused: