Horrible customer service with Holland America

[Mrsfrz]

I'm curious what class cabin you have, how many and for what length? I see all prices dropping the closer it gets to sailing, but you lose the perks if you rebook. Did they not let you rebook? Our cruise went down too, but if we rebooked we would lose all the incentives. It all seems to even out in the end when you figure in the value of those extras. By booking early, we also got our choice of rooms which you can't necessarily get on last minute deals.

[Hows the Serenity]

That was the pricing at the time you booked. Pricing is very fluid. They obviously dropped the price because the cruise wasn't selling very well. You have got options 1) cancel and rebook at the new pricing 2) cancel and rebook with another cruiseline 2) cancel the cruise 4) do nothing

 

 

 

All cruiselines do similar. Celebrity love to get people sucked in with their 3 perks or whatever line they peddling at the moment too.

 

 

I am sorry, I dont agree with your comment. We booked a 24 day Med Cruise in Jan this year departing in May 2016, it cost us AUD$11,250, no perks just AUD$200 OBC, then I saw the Explore 4 and checked the price for the same stateroom level and the price had gone to over AUD$15,000 - it had gone up nearly $4000. I was gobsmacked - so I think we are better off without the Explore 4 at that rate. Anyway booked through our airline and because the Explore 4 didnt work out for us they gave us an extra US$100 OBC, dinners in the Pinnacle and some bottles of wine. I think we were the winners.

So all in all sometimes one is better off without "the deals"

Chris

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[icat2000]

I am sorry' date=' I dont agree with your comment. We booked a 24 day Med Cruise in Jan this year departing in May 2016, it cost us AUD$11,250, no perks just AUD$200 OBC, then I saw the Explore 4 and checked the price for the same stateroom level and the price had gone to over AUD$15,000 - it had gone up nearly $4000. I was gobsmacked - so I think we are better off without the Explore 4 at that rate. Anyway booked through our airline and because the Explore 4 didnt work out for us they gave us an extra US$100 OBC, dinners in the Pinnacle and some bottles of wine. I think we were the winners.

So all in all sometimes one is better off without "the deals"

Chris

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/quote']

Maybe you got a steal :D Anyway, enjoy your cruise.

[albingirl]

Update: we decided to take the lower fare and lose the E4. I appreciate all of you who have opened my eyes to the savings you receive from your TA's. Worth noting, thanks.

[iancal]

We have never bought a cruise with explore 4 or the equiv. from the likes of Celebrity. Same with so called 'free' air fare.

 

We want basic pricing. It is the only way that we can compare fares. Failing that, we adjust the price for comparison purposed based on the value to us of the freebee, not the value as stated by the cruise company. Our goal is to bring the price down to a common denominator that reflects our spending habits.

 

Some people seem not to believe that some TA's do in fact provide a better price or that somehow you loose 'control' (whatever that is) when you book through a TA.

 

The bottom line for us, like some others, is that we end up with, on average, one free cruise for every 10 that we take. I would challenge anyone to tell me if any cruise company has a better loyalty program. In fact, the benefits that we get from our TA are not mutually exclusive but certainly have far more value to us.

[3rdGenCunarder]

We have never bought a cruise with explore 4 or the equiv. from the likes of Celebrity. Same with so called 'free' air fare.

 

We want basic pricing. It is the only way that we can compare fares. Failing that, we adjust the price for comparison purposed based on the value to us of the freebee, not the value as stated by the cruise company. Our goal is to bring the price down to a common denominator that reflects our spending habits.

 

Some people seem not to believe that some TA's do in fact provide a better price or that somehow you loose 'control' (whatever that is) when you book through a TA.

 

The bottom line for us, like some others, is that we end up with, on average, one free cruise for every 10 that we take. I would challenge anyone to tell me if any cruise company has a better loyalty program. In fact, the benefits that we get from our TA are not mutually exclusive but certainly have far more value to us.

 

(bold is mine) Yes! Sometimes the freebies aren't worth it to us. We aren't big drinkers, don't bother with specialty coffees, either. Most of our alcohol consumption on a cruise is wine with dinner, and the beverage card won't let you "trade" any number of by-the-glass drinks for a bottle of wine. For our next cruise, our TA had a group rate with no freebies that was much better than HAL's rate with Ex4. So I have to pay for my own pinnacle dinner. Our bar bill for 10 days won't use up the $900 difference in the cruise price.

[iancal]

Same here. And the occasional beer on a warm day.

 

Plus, the house wine on some cruise lines is often not to our taste. I am not a wine snob, nor do I buy wine based on price. It is just that I like what I like and sometimes the cruise line offer is just short of paint remover...to my taste.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Same here. And the occasional beer on a warm day.

 

Plus, the house wine on some cruise lines is often not to our taste. I am not a wine snob, nor do I buy wine based on price. It is just that I like what I like and sometimes the cruise line offer is just short of paint remover...to my taste.

 

We didn't like HAL's choices by the glass. Weren't thrilled with their wine list in general, it seemed very short.

[albingirl]

One of the most frustrating parts of this whole episode is how it was handled. When there was an enormous price drop in the past, we did receive onboard credit without losing the E4. This was not the case this time. The lack of consistency, as well as communication was difficult for me. The last time this happened was only a year ago, so they have tightened it up at Holland America. I understand the bottom line. Now I know this is how it is.

[sail7seas]

We didn't like HAL's choices by the glass. Weren't thrilled with their wine list in general, it seemed very short.

 

I also do not care for HAL's very limited choices for wine by the glass. It annoys me they will not let us order a higher priced wine and credit us the $7 or whatever amount per drink the beverage card allows and let us pay the overage. On NCL, they permit beverages costing up to $11 and if you want something above that price, they credit the $11 and the guest pays the balance.

 

I don't mind the Robert Mondavi merlot by the glass but that is priced a bit higher than their bar wine and I would think it a better plan if they would let us pay the difference.

 

Edited November 5, 2015 by sail7seas