Booking future cruise while on board -get it in writing.

[Cajuntraveler]

While on the Nieuw Amsterdam recently, DH and I booked a 7 day caribbean cruise for January 2022.  I had checked the cruise price before boarding the NA and was pleased when the onboard agent quoted a price approximately 5% less than I could have booked it through my TA.  We had the cruise booking assigned to our big box TA.  After finalizing the booking, and buying an additional future cruise deposit, we asked for a copy of the transaction. (In the past we always received a copy of the transaction in our cabin mail box) The agent said that HAL was cutting back on printing/paper and we would receive an e-mail from HAL and from our TA.   A card was delivered to our cabin confirming the cruise deposits we purchased.   When I failed to receive an e-mail from our TA, I phoned and learned that the cruise had been assigned to them, but the price was $340 more than we agreed to on the ship.  After two hours on the phone with HAL and my TA, HAL refused to honor the price I was quoted on the ship.  

 

Moral to story - get a receipt for any future cruises booked onboard.  HAL has a lot of new and inexperienced staff.

[Kamloops50]

1 hour ago, Cajuntraveler said:

While on the Nieuw Amsterdam recently, DH and I booked a 7 day caribbean cruise for January 2022.  I had checked the cruise price before boarding the NA and was pleased when the onboard agent quoted a price approximately 5% less than I could have booked it through my TA.  We had the cruise booking assigned to our big box TA.  After finalizing the booking, and buying an additional future cruise deposit, we asked for a copy of the transaction. (In the past we always received a copy of the transaction in our cabin mail box) The agent said that HAL was cutting back on printing/paper and we would receive an e-mail from HAL and from our TA.   A card was delivered to our cabin confirming the cruise deposits we purchased.   When I failed to receive an e-mail from our TA, I phoned and learned that the cruise had been assigned to them, but the price was $340 more than we agreed to on the ship.  After two hours on the phone with HAL and my TA, HAL refused to honor the price I was quoted on the ship.  

 

Moral to story - get a receipt for any future cruises booked onboard.  HAL has a lot of new and inexperienced staff.

We always get a confirmation of the cruise booked. If you booked thru a travel agent. The booking information goes to them directly.

[FlaMariner]

12 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

While on the Nieuw Amsterdam recently, DH and I booked a 7 day caribbean cruise for January 2022.  I had checked the cruise price before boarding the NA and was pleased when the onboard agent quoted a price approximately 5% less than I could have booked it through my TA.  We had the cruise booking assigned to our big box TA.  After finalizing the booking, and buying an additional future cruise deposit, we asked for a copy of the transaction. (In the past we always received a copy of the transaction in our cabin mail box) The agent said that HAL was cutting back on printing/paper and we would receive an e-mail from HAL and from our TA.   A card was delivered to our cabin confirming the cruise deposits we purchased.   When I failed to receive an e-mail from our TA, I phoned and learned that the cruise had been assigned to them, but the price was $340 more than we agreed to on the ship.  After two hours on the phone with HAL and my TA, HAL refused to honor the price I was quoted on the ship.  

 

Moral to story - get a receipt for any future cruises booked onboard.  HAL has a lot of new and inexperienced staff.

 

Good advice and thanks for passing that along.....

[SilvertoGold]

Even before the pandemic HAL Future Cruise Consultants were often reluctant to give a copy of the FCD/FCC.   I hate being forced to get pushy about something like this.  The Front Desk was always helpful about expediting/fixing this when asked.

[zgscl]

I will echo this not just with onboard bookings but also regular bookings. We have recently had two separate cruises where we made a change through our TA and were over charged by HAL. One time they overcharged us by about $600 (which was reflected on the confirmation).

 

The second time we were overcharged by $700. The price on our confirmation was correct, but when you added the future cruise deposit, the credit from our cancelled cruise and the amount on our credit card it was $700 higher than what we were supposed to pay. The only reason I caught this was because I sat down and added it all up. 

 

Thankfully our TA got it sorted out and we got a refund both times, but it seems there are definitely issues with their billing process. 

[Mary229]

I never had this issue but I usually just buy the FCD.  I can book later with the same benefits and have never been offered a better price than I can get at home where I can more carefully study the ship layout and pricing structure.  I am sorry you had an issue and thanks for the warning.

[drowelf]

21 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Even before the pandemic HAL Future Cruise Consultants were often reluctant to give a copy of the FCD/FCC.   I hate being forced to get pushy about something like this.  The Front Desk was always helpful about expediting/fixing this when asked.

I've never had that problem. We have always received a paper copy of any FCD or full cruise delivered to our stateroom. Either that evening or in the next days room mail. Once I get home I scan the FCDs into the computer and generally will already have a softcopy of the cruise booking from my TA. 

[Cajuntraveler]

42 minutes ago, drowelf said:

We have always received a paper copy of any FCD or full cruise delivered to our stateroom.

In the past we also received a paper copy of the booking while on board.  This time the agent said HAL is limiting printing and paper on board, so we would get the confirmation by email. We only received the email confirming the FCD.  Next time, I will insist on something in writing before leaving the ship.

[SilvertoGold]

2 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

In the past we also received a paper copy of the booking while on board.  This time the agent said HAL is limiting printing and paper on board, so we would get the confirmation by email. We only received the email confirming the FCD.  Next time, I will insist on something in writing before leaving the ship.

Yes!  If you have problems, I really do recommend you get the Front Desk involved. The Future Cruise Consultant is an employee of HAL and under the Hotel Department.

Edited September 3, 2021 by SilvertoGold