Noordam Neptune Suite Issue

[thepoint]

We have had four previous sailing in the same suite with no problems. This time, there was an issue. Here is a warning for people who book SA suite 7047, 7049, or 7051. The rooms across the hall are 7047A, 7049A, and 7051A.

 

If the people in the inside cabin do not say their room number including the A, their issues will be confused with you! Example, the conscierge called me to tell me my husband was in the bar being boisterous. I explained that no he was not. We were both in our cabin taking a nap. He asked if I was sure! He then stated he wanted to come down to our room to talk in person. I said no, we are napping and that he had made a mistake. My husband then got up and went to the Neptune Lounge where it took quite a bit of convincing to get the concierge to understand, no he was not in the bar. My husband had him pull up our account to be sure there were no bar charges on it. We thought the matter was settled, because he said he would look into it further. However, when we got home, I called my travel agent to let her know that we had booked another cruise. She told me that she had recived a call from HAL the next day stating that we were demanding free drinks in the bar. They actually called her to report this incident! I explained to her the above information. We were so embarrassed as to what she must have thought when she got that call while we were in the middle of the cruise. The concierge never told us they had called our TA.

 

Several days later we had 3 messages on our answering machine regarding the quarantine and health issues of Mr. X. I tried to call the medical department back, but they failed to answer. Shortly after, the Medical Department called our room. She asked me how Mr. X was doing and wanted to remind me he was under quarantine. I explained to her she had the wrong cabin. She insisted Mr. X was in our cabin. I explained to her that he was not in my cabin, but across the hall. To my amazement she stated that "the rooms are the same." I again told her they were not and that she was leaving confidential information with the wrong people. She finally accepted that Mr. X was not with me. Later that day we saw Mr. X outside of his cabin.

 

My husband is so angry that HAL called our TA that he wants to cancel our two future sailings with HAL. Obviously they did not believe it was not us. All they had to do was pull the security tapes to see who it was, or talk to the bartender for a description. We accepted the fact that the concierge said he would look into it. We have always enjoyed HAL and have always treated all staff members with great respect. We keep our cabinet neat and I actually return all cups,etc to the Neptune lounge, so our busy cabin attendants don't have to worry about that in addition to all their other work. That fact that they would not believe us and called our travel agent is really an insult.

 

We as well as our TA have written to HAL. The cabin numbers should be changed. It is not like this any where else on the ship. And, no we are not looking for anything. Just saying be careful in these particular cabins, because mail was also misdirected.

[jtl513]

That's terrible! Obviously someone wasn't thinking too swiftly when those inside cabins were numbered! They should have unique numbers like 7247/7249/7251.

[sail7seas]

What an awful, unacceptable situation.

 

I wonder though.....

Noordam has been sailing since February 2006. How could they not have figured out there is a problem and corrected it? What about the other Vista ships?

How can HAL not know about this confusing numbering?

[POA1]

Just looked at the Deck Plans and I see what you mean. The weird thing is that the Inside J's in the aft of Deck 7 do not repeat the numbers. It's just the three cabins forward of the Neptune.:confused:

 

You'd think that they could fix this with a few dollars worth of name plates and some programming in their systems. Hopefully they will fix it when they change all the cabin categories around later this year.

[jtl513]

What an awful, unacceptable situation.

 

I wonder though.....

Noordam has been sailing since February 2006. How could they not have figured out there is a problem and corrected it? What about the other Vista ships?

How can HAL not know about this confusing numbering?

 

Just looked at the Deck Plans and I see what you mean. The weird thing is that the Inside J's in the aft of Deck 7 do not repeat the numbers. It's just the three cabins forward of the Neptune.:confused:

Those three inside cabins were added in a retrofit --- I think the same time as they added the deck 10 cabins and Retreat.

 

On the other three Vistas there are no suites numbered 7047/7049/7051 ... only the three Insides.

Edited February 11, 2014 by jtl513

[sail7seas]

Those three inside cabins were added in a retrofit --- I think the same time as they added the deck 10 cabins and Retreat.

 

 

I see. Thanks.

Seems like an easy 'fix'.

Inexcusable what OP experienced.

 

[Randyk47]

The numbering system certainly is an issue but that aside I'd be so unbelievably insulted by HAL's actions. Calling my TA? You have got to be kidding me! I guess I'd calm down eventually but it would be hard to get me back on a HAL ship. I probably put too much emphasis on my honor and integrity but that's me, my reputation is professionally and personally sacred.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

These cabin numbers are unique to ONLY the Noordam, none of the other Vista Class ships have this nor do the Signature Class ships. Unfortunately they also did NOT correct for the new deck plan changes that go into effect next month the date she starts her Trans Atlantic. For the new changes it was not any cabin numbers that changes only cabin categories the room numbers stayed the same.

 

The part that totally shocks me is Holland America calling your TA, in all honesty I have never heard of such a thing. On extremely rare instances the cruise line might call the Travel Agent if the passengers is throwing a fit about expecting ship board credit and the cruise line not showing it of which case the Front Desk may place a call to the Travel Agent to fix that situation. There would be no reason to even get a Travel Agent involved in this situation.... what would the travel agent do. :confused:

 

I have to admit I am surprised that HAL has not fixed this cabin number problem and you would have thought this would have come up before.

[startwin]

Calling your TA is inexcusable. I'd be wanting to know which staff member/officer made that decision, and why. And I probably would not want to sail HAL again, if any of that happened to me.

[alwaysfrantic]

That is really bad, but I wonder why you didn't let them come to your room when they asked to....if they had come and seen your husband in the room, and you could have walked out to see the other numbered rooms, maybe the continued confusion would not have happened.

[jtl513]

Those three inside cabins were added in a retrofit --- I think the same time as they added the deck 10 cabins and Retreat.

In looking at a couple of old catalogs, it appears that those cabins were added before the 2011-2012 winter season. You'd think in two years there must have been some other instances of confusion, and fixed it before now. :confused:

[GmaPajama]

Oh my gosh! I had no idea you were dealing with a mess like this. We ran into you several times during the cruise, and you showed some real class by not bringing this up. I don't know if I could have been so discreet. There is no excuse for this, and I hope HAL does something to make it right. What a nightmare!

[bishop84]

Those three inside cabins were added in a retrofit --- I think the same time as they added the deck 10 cabins and Retreat.

 

On the other three Vistas there are no suites numbered 7047/7049/7051 ... only the three Insides.

 

These 3 cabins were added to Noordam during its 2010 dry dock (the one when its South Africa charter was cancelled). I believe that the space used to be part of an Air conditioning plant space

 

Does anyone know if she was the first of the Vista class to receive these extra cabins hence the different numbering of the cabins? I assume afterwards they realised the confusion that can happen hence they changed the other cabins numbers?

 

Ridiculous that the OP should be disturbed several times because the staff did not double check that the people they were after were not actually in that suite. And to not believe the guests when they told them - not very good customer relations.

Edited February 11, 2014 by bishop84

[thepoint]

The numbering system certainly is an issue but that aside I'd be so unbelievably insulted by HAL's actions. Calling my TA? You have got to be kidding me! I guess I'd calm down eventually but it would be hard to get me back on a HAL ship. I probably put too much emphasis on my honor and integrity but that's me, my reputation is professionally and personally sacred.

 

My husband says thank you so much for understanding. He has wanted me to cancell our Panama Canal Transit and our Baltic Cruise in our favorite suite. So, that is what we are going to do.

 

The biggest issue for husband is the thought that now on our record at HAL there is probably a note that says we are trouble makers. Obviously, Mr. X was creating such a problem that HAL felt it necessary to call the TA.

 

The other thing that makes us angry is that given both of our backgrounds we know that identifying this person immediately when we said it was not us could have taken place within five minutes. When the concerige said he would look into it and straighten it out, we believed that they were going to take the type of actions we would have taken to solve an issue. So, it is obvious they just didn't believe it was not us.

 

We have over 100 days with HAL, mostly on the same ship in the same suite. Hopefully husband will calm down at some point. Thanks for your support.

[POA1]

The numbering system certainly is an issue but that aside I'd be so unbelievably insulted by HAL's actions. Calling my TA? You have got to be kidding me! I guess I'd calm down eventually but it would be hard to get me back on a HAL ship. I probably put too much emphasis on my honor and integrity but that's me, my reputation is professionally and personally sacred.

 

I agree. You're basically at their mercy on the ship, but the message to the TA is either slander or libel. Maybe not exactly the kind of legal action you'd want to pursue, but....

[thepoint]

That is really bad, but I wonder why you didn't let them come to your room when they asked to....if they had come and seen your husband in the room, and you could have walked out to see the other numbered rooms, maybe the continued confusion would not have happened.

 

Because we were not dressed, as we were taking a nap. When I told my husband, he immediately got up and went down there. We were only a few cabins down from the Neptune Lounge. We were not confused by the cabin numbers, the staff was - wrong mail and wrong phone calls. And, obviously Mr X was not saying A when he gave his cabin number.

[Randyk47]

My husband says thank you so much for understanding. He has wanted me to cancell our Panama Canal Transit and our Baltic Cruise in our favorite suite. So, that is what we are going to do.

 

The biggest issue for husband is the thought that now on our record at HAL there is probably a note that says we are trouble makers. Obviously, Mr. X was creating such a problem that HAL felt it necessary to call the TA.

 

The other thing that makes us angry is that given both of our backgrounds we know that identifying this person immediately when we said it was not us could have taken place within five minutes. When the concerige said he would look into it and straighten it out, we believed that they were going to take the type of actions we would have taken to solve an issue. So, it is obvious they just didn't believe it was not us.

 

We have over 100 days with HAL, mostly on the same ship in the same suite. Hopefully husband will calm down at some point. Thanks for your support.

 

While I don't know if it's ever been proven, or if it's just suspected or an "urban legend", but it's thought that indeed HAL, and maybe other or all cruise lines, maintain some kind of problem cruiser list to the extreme that it includes people who have been banned from cruising a line again. I actually thought of that when I first read your initial post but didn't think to bring it up. That would be sad and would add even more insult to injury.

[cbr663]

This is very unprofessional behaviour by HAL employees. On two separate occasions by 2 different HAL employees you were challenged by them when you politely informed them that they were talking with the wrong passengers. The minute that you informed them that they were speaking with the incorrect passengers, they should have immediately conformed by simply stating, "Is this not the "X" party?' or "Am I not speaking with Mrs. X?", and then immediately apologizing for interrupting your vacation. To continue to argue that you, the passenger, is wrong is unforgivable.

 

To further complicate the matter, HAL's insistence that they are correct resulting in sharing confidential medical information with you, a point which you clearly made known. This action only led to further embarrassment for the affected passenger.

 

But to call your TA and share this episode is completely unacceptable. At this point I would suggest that you write the President of HAL a strongly worded letter and suggest that HAL undertake some much needed training and coaching for its employees on this ship.

 

Thank-you for sharing this experience with us.

[cbr663]

While I don't know if it's ever been proven, or if it's just suspected or an "urban legend", but it's thought that indeed HAL, and maybe other or all cruise lines, maintain some kind of problem cruiser list to the extreme that it includes people who have been banned from cruising a line again. I actually thought of that when I first read your initial post but didn't think to bring it up. That would be sad and would add even more insult to injury.

 

HAL would most certainly maintain logs of any incidences that occur on their ships, which would include details such as the name, address, room number, cruise date, ship, and nature of the incident.

[cbr663]

Because we were not dressed, as we were taking a nap. When I told my husband, he immediately got up and went down there. We were only a few cabins down from the Neptune Lounge. We were not confused by the cabin numbers, the staff was - wrong mail and wrong phone calls. And, obviously Mr X was not saying A when he gave his cabin number.

 

I agree 100% with you. You should not have had to deal with the concierge at all, as clearly, this was not your problem. You should not be expected to deal with the indignity of having to prove that you were not honest in your conversation.

 

We experienced a similar experience when we booked a Neptune Suite on the Eurodam. We sent clothing out to be pressed and it was returned to us soiled and stained (we actually felt that the clothing was scorched). This led to an exchange with the laundry supervisor who was insistent that we sent the clothing stained. I was not impressed with the accusations or the exchange. Blaming the passengers first and making them to feel that they are dishonest is not the mark of a "premium" service organization.

[sail7seas]

cbr,

Great posts.

OP and her DH did not have to prove their innocence.

They have embarkation photos and the bartender certainly could view the photo and recognize whether the person pictured was the offender or not.

 

Edited February 11, 2014 by sail7seas

[tooalto]

Sorry I have issues with the quote feature today. This is a paragraph from Lisa's post:

 

"The part that totally shocks me is Holland America calling your TA, in all honesty I have never heard of such a thing. On extremely rare instances the cruise line might call the Travel Agent if the passengers is throwing a fit about expecting ship board credit and the cruise line not showing it of which case the Front Desk may place a call to the Travel Agent to fix that situation. There would be no reason to even get a Travel Agent involved in this situation.... what would the travel agent do. "

 

Just as an FYI, in the almost 10 years of being a full time TA, we had tour operators, hotels, cruise lines call us many times when there was an issue with a client. Sometimes it was just a warning that we might expect trouble when the client returned home, others to resolve an issue which needed to be addressed immediately. It was not that unusual. Not fun for us but not unusual.

[Swelldame]

cbr,

Great posts.

OP and her DH did not have to prove their innocence.

They have embarkation photos and the bartender certainly could view the photo and recognize whether the person pictured was the offender or not.

 

 

Agreed, Sail. And even before doing that, the bartender should have just looked at the cabin number that came up on his computer when the card was swiped! Plus: Neptune suite key cards are a different color.

 

When we sailed in 7047 on the Noordam last year, there were no mistaken room charges. The odd misdirected phone message, yes, but what the OP experienced is ridiculous.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Swelldame

[cruise_bunnies]

I would have been mortified if this happened to us. I can truly understand your husband that he doesn't want to go and sail HAL again. I hope they make this right with you, because this is really wrong on so many levels.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

 

Just as an FYI, in the almost 10 years of being a full time TA, we had tour operators, hotels, cruise lines call us many times when there was an issue with a client. Sometimes it was just a warning that we might expect trouble when the client returned home, others to resolve an issue which needed to be addressed immediately. It was not that unusual. Not fun for us but not unusual.

 

It has been rare for me but what stands out is that it sounds like HAL called the TA just to state that the client wanted Free Drink

I called my travel agent to let her know that we had booked another cruise. She told me that she had received a call from HAL the next day stating that we were demanding free drinks in the bar. They actually called her to report this incident!

To me this is what is shocking, this is not a case of a client having an issue that can be resolved with the Travel Agent and HAL or HAL warning the TA that the client has an issue. I cannot imagine HAL calling every TA every time a client gets drunk and obnoxious. I can think of a few other cruise lines that would be non stop calling TA's if this was the case.