Delighted With HAL Intinerary Change Notification

[bvocruise]

HAL saved the day with the below intinerary change.

 

ITINERARY CHANGE NOTIFICATION: Due to operational reasons, the call to Haines (Skagway), AK, has been replaced with Skagway, AK.

 

I accidently booked the wrong cruise and did not want to stop in Haines as the activites we want to do are in Skagway.  HAL Saved the day by switching the port to Skagway. We were going to live with Haines but are crazy excited to be stopping at Skagway instead.  

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you are happy with the change.

 

We also like Skagway better then docking at Haines.

[kazu]

YAY, nice to see someone get an itinerary change that makes them happy 😄😉 

[puppycanducruise]

Lucky you.

Glad you got the change.

[VennDiagram]

Our cruise also has that change in itinerary. We are not pleased at all. Haines is a great, seldom visited port. It would have been a highlight for us to visit Haines again.

[johnnyswitzerland]

Enjoyed both Haines and Skagway this summer!  Westerdam called at Haines, and after we looked around, took the ferry to Skagway and did a helicopter glacier landing excursion with Temsco.  Amazing!  Very highly recommended!

 

If anyone's looking at doing something similar, I would just advise you to book not just your Skagway adventure, but also your ferry tickets in advance, as almost all ferry availability was gone by the time we arrived.

 

Best of both worlds – the ferry ride is only about 40 mins and is beautiful.

[DeeniEncinitas]

It is your lucky day!!!!

Denise😊

[Sunshineliving]

Ours was changed too. Haven't done much research on the ports yet. I am glad to know that there is a ferry if we wanted to go to the original port. 

[zeen978]

I got the change also and was very happy. We had been to Haines before and enjoyed it but really wanted to take the railroad and the bus combo with Dyea Dave and there wasn't going to be enough time if docked in Haines.  Now if they would just switch out something for Glacier Bay it would be perfect!

[PSR]

8 hours ago, bvocruise said:

HAL saved the day with the below intinerary change.

 

ITINERARY CHANGE NOTIFICATION: Due to operational reasons, the call to Haines (Skagway), AK, has been replaced with Skagway, AK.

 

I accidently booked the wrong cruise and did not want to stop in Haines as the activites we want to do are in Skagway.  HAL Saved the day by switching the port to Skagway. We were going to live with Haines but are crazy excited to be stopping at Skagway instead.  

 

May I ask what cruise/ship/date this was? I WANT to go to Haines, which is on our itinerary.

[bvocruise]

We would like to visit Haines someday but think Skagway is better for our first trip.  There is train that leaves from there and it was going to be ho challenge to catch it from Haines.  

[sevenseasnomad]

Glad you are pleased with your new itinerary.  Other passengers may be upset by the change, however.  When passengers purchase a cruise, there is never a guarantee that a particular itinerary is cast in stone.  Usually, a change is weather-related/sea-related.  Wonder why this switch occurred?  Any ideas?

[oceanmom]

We got the "port change from Haines to Skagway" notice for the September 2020 14day Maasdam Alaska cruise.

[PSR]

2 hours ago, oceanmom said:

We got the "port change from Haines to Skagway" notice for the September 2020 14day Maasdam Alaska cruise.

 

Thank you for that information. We are on that cruise in June, so for us, hope it doesn't change. Been to Skagway very many times.

[travelholics]

2 hours ago, PSR said:

 

Thank you for that information. We are on that cruise in June, so for us, hope it doesn't change. Been to Skagway very many times.

We are on a May Maasdam 14 day trip and we got the same amendment.

[Ellen495]

13 hours ago, zeen978 said:

I got the change also and was very happy. We had been to Haines before and enjoyed it but really wanted to take the railroad and the bus combo with Dyea Dave and there wasn't going to be enough time if docked in Haines.  Now if they would just switch out something for Glacier Bay it would be perfect!

SAME HERE! I talked to Dave on the phone before the change and he said it could be done from Haines, but what a pain! But if they can change it, can they change back? I sure hope not. 

[Ellen495]

7 hours ago, sevenseasnomad said:

Glad you are pleased with your new itinerary.  Other passengers may be upset by the change, however.  When passengers purchase a cruise, there is never a guarantee that a particular itinerary is cast in stone.  Usually, a change is weather-related/sea-related.  Wonder why this switch occurred?  Any ideas?

The itinerary change says, "Due to operational reasons." 

My cruise is July 12 from Seward to Vancouver.

[zeen978]

I had contacted Dyea Dave about doing his tour also, but I was concerned about something going wrong with having to take the last ferry back to Haines so this works out better for me, but I understand where some would be upset.

 

We are on the May 18th, 14 day round trip Vancouver.

[Mincruiser]

Same change for the June 21 cruise

[onelegcraig]

We have 'done' Alaska twice.  Great tour with Dave & the railroad on our first trip which included Skagway.  Second time the ship docked in Haines and we got married at the totem pole.  Haines is one of our favorite ports.  Skagway is much more touristy, Haines is more real Alaska.

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by onelegcraig

[DeeniEncinitas]

15 minutes ago, onelegcraig said:

We have 'done' Alaska twice.  Great tour with Dave & the railroad on our first trip which included Skagway.  Second time the ship docked in Haines and we got married at the totem pole.  Haines is one of our favorite ports.  Skagway is much more touristy, Haines is more real Alaska.

 

Congrats on your marriage!! Now that is my kind of spontaneous way of tying the knot! On Oceania World Cruise this year a couple who met onboard got married on board! Great pic of you two.

Denise😊

 

 

[Ellen495]

Wonderful picture! Congrats! Yes I've heard Haines is a great town!

[relo]

We are on the June 1st sailing and still have Haines on our itinerary. It is our first cruise to Alaska. Still not sure if Skagway is preferabele. The train excursion sounds fun, but I’m thinking about renting a car and drive to Haines Junction and do some trails along the way. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 10/18/2019 at 4:32 PM, johnnyswitzerland said:

Enjoyed both Haines and Skagway this summer!  Westerdam called at Haines, and after we looked around, took the ferry to Skagway and did a helicopter glacier landing excursion with Temsco.  Amazing!  Very highly recommended!

 

If anyone's looking at doing something similar, I would just advise you to book not just your Skagway adventure, but also your ferry tickets in advance, as almost all ferry availability was gone by the time we arrived.

 

Best of both worlds – the ferry ride is only about 40 mins and is beautiful.

 

I saw the ferry when I was in Skagway this summer, but I had no idea where it goes. That would be a fun excursion from Skagway, since I've been there twice. 

 

On 10/19/2019 at 8:01 AM, Ellen495 said:

The itinerary change says, "Due to operational reasons." 

My cruise is July 12 from Seward to Vancouver.

 

That's every cruise line's "one size fits all" explanation. 

 

[Ellen495]

Yes I heard the same about the ferry booking up. Now we will not buy the tickets - I just hope it doesn't change back. I'm looking forward to Dyea Dave and the tour to Emerald Lake.  I'm looking forward to Alaska period. This will be my first cruise. We tend to be "do it yourself," types and not cruise people. But it all sounds so fun. We did book 7 day land - B&B, train, Denali, Seward -  on our own prior to the cruise.