NO REFUND FOR DUTCH GUESTS???

[Despegue]

25 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

better than french fries

Fries are Belgian actually, just like the  World’s best beer, chocolate, (fighter) pilots, football players, HAL Captains and World’s highest  taxes to support 5 governments for 11 million inhabitants. ( guess why we love surrealism 🤪)

They only got called French fries because the average Joe didn’t have a clue about geography . 😉

[Sir PMP]

I am dutch, don't know of any Belgian Hal Captains and we have Verkade ...

[cruisemom42]

9 minutes ago, Despegue said:

Fries are Belgian actually, just like the  World’s best beer, chocolate, (fighter) pilots, football players, HAL Captains and World’s highest  taxes to support 5 governments for 11 million inhabitants. ( guess why we love surrealism 🤪)

They only got called French fries because the average Joe didn’t have a clue about geography . 😉

 

Now that we've settled that, what about Belgian waffles?  Actually Belgian?

 

(Go Dries Mertens....or as they say in Napoli "ale ale ale!  ⚽ )

[Despegue]

23 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Now that we've settled that, what about Belgian waffles?  Actually Belgian?

 

(Go Dries Mertens....or as they say in Napoli "ale ale ale!  ⚽ )

Well, what most people call  Belgian Waffles, we call Brussels Waffles , and yes, they are 100% Belgian, Try them with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and maybe a banana  or vanilla ice cream. They are eaten as dessert here, never as breakfast.

The secret to a good waffle that is almost lighter than air is to introduce carbonation into the dough by adding another Belgian specialty😉 

you also have Liège waffles, which are stickier and chewier, but maybe even better!

 

 

[Copper10-8]

9 hours ago, Despegue said:

Fries are Belgian actually, just like the  World’s best beer, chocolate, (fighter) pilots, football players, HAL Captains and World’s highest  taxes to support 5 governments for 11 million inhabitants. ( guess why we love surrealism 🤪)

They only got called French fries because the average Joe didn’t have a clue about geography . 😉

 

 

Fighter pilots?? Come on now............😉 Plus you better do something with your current crop of "rooie duivels/red devils" football players. They're getting older and they've got nada to show for all that talent 

 

Back to our regular programing

[Copper10-8]

8 hours ago, Despegue said:

Well, what most people call  Belgian Waffles, we call Brussels Waffles , and yes, they are 100% Belgian, Try them with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and maybe a banana  or vanilla ice cream. They are eaten as dessert here, never as breakfast.

The secret to a good waffle that is almost lighter than air is to introduce carbonation into the dough by adding another Belgian specialty😉 

you also have Liège waffles, which are stickier and chewier, but maybe even better!

 

 

 

But you don't have stroopwafels.............😃

[Copper10-8]

9 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

I am dutch, don't know of any Belgian Hal Captains and we have Verkade ...

 

 

HAL has exactly one (recently promoted) Belgian captain by the name of Kevin Beirnaert, currently in the Nieuw Statendam rotation. On the other hand, there are only twenty active Dutch captains (not incl. several additional "kaaskoppen" in desk jobs) 😉

[rotjeknor]

9 hours ago, Despegue said:

Fries are Belgian actually, just like the  World’s best beer, chocolate, (fighter) pilots, football players, HAL Captains and World’s highest  taxes to support 5 governments for 11 million inhabitants. ( guess why we love surrealism 🤪)

They only got called French fries because the average Joe didn’t have a clue about geography . 😉

I agree on a lot..except football players . Dutch are the best : Coen Moulijn, Willem van Hanegem, Robin van Persie.All players from Feyenoord Rotterdam by the way 😉 

[Copper10-8]

2 minutes ago, rotjeknor said:

I agree on a lot..except football players . Dutch are the best : Coen Moulijn, Willem van Hanegem, Robin van Persie.All players from Feyenoord Rotterdam by the way 😉 

 

Ajax Amsterdam had/has a couple of good ones also starting with Johan ...............😉

[rotjeknor]

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Ajax Amsterdam had/has a couple of good ones also starting with Johan ...............😉

Don't recall those ....😅

[Medusa]

In the meantime....

It appears it's not just Dutch guests that are affected, but everybody that booked and paid in EUR (?):

 

The above options do not apply to EURO zone guests notified of a change to their sailing on or after April 14th, 2020.

 

So basically you are entitled to a choice if you are (or booked) in the UK, Australia, US, or Canada, but not in Europe. What's the deal here HAL? 

Strangely enough HAL even has a clause in their own (Dutch) terms and conditions (part of your contract with them) that allows you to end the contract and get your money back if they cancel. @rotjeknor should you wish to take this further: check out article 3.5

 

All in all still very disappointed that HAL singles out its European customers in such a negative way.....

[Sir PMP]

8 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

HAL has exactly one (recently promoted) Belgian captain by the name of Kevin Beirnaert, currently in the Nieuw Statendam rotation. On the other hand, there are only twenty active Dutch captains (not incl. several additional "kaaskoppen" in desk jobs) 😉

En veel Hagenezen..

[iancal]

I suspect that this is not a HAL issue but an industry issue.  

 

We often book out of country.  Cruises, hotels, flights, air & hotel offers, and this past winter  last minute five days stays at two AI's in Mexico from a UK supplier .  In the process of doing so over the years, and speaking other travelers we have come to have a basic knowledge of the potential differences.  We do this because from time to time we have seen (and enjoyed) substantial differences in pricing for the identical product between different countries.

 

The booking T's and C's in the UK, Europe, and Australia are quite a bit different and far less flexible than in North America-at least for cruises.  Especially concerning deposits, deposit amounts, and re-fares.  Their travel agent insurance programs and the regs on airfares/airlines tend to eclipse ours in terms of fairness to customers.

 

Don't condemn HAL if it is an industry issue vs a company decision.  Mind you, that does not stop any cruise line from doing the 'right' thing for their customers, regardless of industry practices.

Edited April 16, 2020 by iancal

[rotjeknor]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

I suspect that this is not a HAL issue but an industry issue.  

 

We often book out of country.  Cruises, hotels, flights, air & hotel offers, and this past winter  last minute five days stays at two AI's in Mexico from a UK supplier .  In the process of doing so over the years, and speaking other travelers we have come to have a basic knowledge of the potential differences.  We do this because from time to time we have seen (and enjoyed) substantial differences in pricing for the identical product between different countries.

 

The booking T's and C's in the UK, Europe, and Australia are quite a bit different and far less flexible than in North America-at least for cruises.  Especially concerning deposits, deposit amounts, and re-fares.  Their travel agent insurance programs and the regs on airfares/airlines tend to eclipse ours in terms of fairness to customers.

 

Don't condemn HAL if it is an industry issue vs a company decision.  Mind you, that does not stop any cruise line from doing the 'right' thing for their customers, regardless of industry practices.

I guess I would accept that if that had been the rule all along. But with first and second round of cancellations , we were given the “ refund” option as well . Booked under the same conditions and in my case at the same time . So here I have 3 bookings , 2 in april and 1 in june , all made in October 2019 and suddenly different rules apply. That just doesn’t sit with me .

[grayjay]

I can't believe that HAL would put themselves out of EU laws: According to that, as a European customers you are entitled to a full refund of your monies if the cruise ( or journey, whatever you have booked) is cancelled by the operator. Fully paid in my country means 4 weeks before a cruise. Cancellation by the cruise line is the important thing.

Strangely enough you must have paid in full before you entitled to get your money back, even if due to airlines not flying , ships not able to reach the ports and borders closed so that you won't be able to reach your embarkation port.

If the cruise is not cancelled by the cruise line and you do it by yourself, you lose up to 90 % of what you paid. If your final payment date is not reached you still lose at least your deposit. We had final payment due when it was absolutely sure there was no way that cruise would be possible ( was cancelled 3 days after final payment day /was another cruise line we had booked with) and it was a hard fight to not have to pay thousands of Euros to fulfill the contract in order to not lose the deposit.Now, 6 weeks later, I'm still waiting for the refund, though...

So for some it might be an advantage to take the FCC, but not for those who have already paid and still cannot go. There is a lot of pressure by the travel industry to convince the local as well as the EU parliaments to change the law I mentioned above ( refund obligatory) and for the customer being forced to take a credit note but it is not yet the law! And many customers who are either older than 70 and/ or in ill health, or have lost their jobs or are being furloughed or just wish to stop cruising for a while until a vaccine is found for CoVid-19and perhaps  just need the money or don't want to subsidize the travel industry are fighting against this law to be implemented. Perhaps HAL is just sticking their toes into this kind of cold water to test the reactions...

[rotjeknor]

17 hours ago, grayjay said:

I can't believe that HAL would put themselves out of EU laws: According to that, as a European customers you are entitled to a full refund of your monies if the cruise ( or journey, whatever you have booked) is cancelled by the operator. Fully paid in my country means 4 weeks before a cruise. Cancellation by the cruise line is the important thing.

Strangely enough you must have paid in full before you entitled to get your money back, even if due to airlines not flying , ships not able to reach the ports and borders closed so that you won't be able to reach your embarkation port.

If the cruise is not cancelled by the cruise line and you do it by yourself, you lose up to 90 % of what you paid. If your final payment date is not reached you still lose at least your deposit. We had final payment due when it was absolutely sure there was no way that cruise would be possible ( was cancelled 3 days after final payment day /was another cruise line we had booked with) and it was a hard fight to not have to pay thousands of Euros to fulfill the contract in order to not lose the deposit.Now, 6 weeks later, I'm still waiting for the refund, though...

So for some it might be an advantage to take the FCC, but not for those who have already paid and still cannot go. There is a lot of pressure by the travel industry to convince the local as well as the EU parliaments to change the law I mentioned above ( refund obligatory) and for the customer being forced to take a credit note but it is not yet the law! And many customers who are either older than 70 and/ or in ill health, or have lost their jobs or are being furloughed or just wish to stop cruising for a while until a vaccine is found for CoVid-19and perhaps  just need the money or don't want to subsidize the travel industry are fighting against this law to be implemented. Perhaps HAL is just sticking their toes into this kind of cold water to test the reactions...

I agree with you and still don't get it why in march  we were given a choice between FCC and a refund.

The Dutch travel agencies have come up ( march 16th)  with a so called corona voucher which has a validity of one year. After 6 months you can claim your money or have it refunded automatically after one year. This has been done in corporation with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. 

But after giving it considerable thought and my initial frustration subsided , I'll take the FCC . Gives me a good reason to take a cruise in the fall...hopefully . But still HAL should have offered the same choice as earlier.

[SilvertoGold]

On 4/16/2020 at 1:05 AM, Copper10-8 said:

 

But you don't have stroopwafels.............😃

 

And Bosschebols!

[rotjeknor]

On 4/17/2020 at 7:27 PM, SilvertoGold said:

 

And Bosschebols!

Actually it is Bossche Bollen , they come from a city called 's Hertogenbosch in the province of Brabant.

One bakery, Jan de Groot on the stationsweg ,is especially famous for making them. If you are ever allowed to travel again and go to The Netherlands make sure you make a stop there !

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, rotjeknor said:

Actually it is Bossche Bollen , they come from a city called 's Hertogenbosch in the province of Brabant.

One bakery, Jan de Groot on the stationsweg ,is especially famous for making them. If you are ever allowed to travel again and go to The Netherlands make sure you make a stop there !

 

 

Good plan but I'm also heading to Mama Makan for a "Rijsttafel" in my former hometown, 020 😉 

 

[ontheweb]

When we did a land trip to Amsterdam, we enjoyed the fast food falafel  restaurants.

[Despegue]

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Good plan but I'm also heading to Mama Makan for a "Rijsttafel" in my former hometown, 020 😉 

 

OMG. I would sell my left kidney for a meal like that at the moment ! 

[Copper10-8]

1 minute ago, Despegue said:

OMG. I would sell my left kidney for a meal like that at the moment ! 

 

All the best to you, the wife and the new born baby, Kaptein! Stay safe in the land of the Vlaamse Pommes Frites 🙂

[sail7seas]

On 4/15/2020 at 6:54 PM, Sir PMP said:

I am dutch, don't know of any Belgian Hal Captains and we have Verkade ...

There was a  well known   Belgian Hotel Director for  many years who is now retired,  Firmin  vanWalle  sailed  with  HAL for many years,    among 'his' ships, are Volendam, Maasdam, Zuiderdam

[kazu]

8 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

There was a  well known   Belgian Hotel Director for  many years who is now retired,  Firmin  vanWalle  sailed  with  HAL for many years,    among 'his' ships, are Volendam, Maasdam, Zuiderdam

 

And one he considered his “baby”  - Prinsendam

[sail7seas]

9 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

And one he considered his “baby”  - Prinsendam

Yes,  good I was careful to write "among" his ships:    🙂 and gave   a partial  list