HAL Customer Service

[JGnBG]

Has anyone else had trouble getting in touch with a HAL representative? I returned from a cruise on 7/10 and have been trying almost daily since then (yes, almost a MONTH!) to get in touch with Guest Relations about a problem with my statement. I sit on hold for hours, usually giving up at the 2 hour mark, and have yet to talk to anyone. I've tried several different numbers and emails with no luck. For awhile the Guest Relations line just had an automatic response saying "We are not able to handle your call at this time. Please try again later" and disconnected. 

 

If you've been able to get through to HAL, how did you do it? 

[1ANGELCAT]

Hal revenue accounting 888 6635384.

[Horizon chaser 1957]

After too many calls of being on hold for 90+ minutes and then being dropped, I discovered the trick:

Phone customer service 5 minutes before they open. You will get a recording saying they’re closed, and what their hours are. Hang up and hit redial. Repeat until the message changes to the daytime hold message. I’ve never been on hold more than 3 minutes with this. Better still, I always end up as the first customer of a fresh agent who isn’t burnt out and stressed yet and still thinks clearly. The difference is amazing.

Edited August 4, 2022 by Horizon chaser 1957

[Ilovesailaway]

33 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Phone customer service 5 minutes before they open

Phone number and time they open (east coast) please?

Thank you

[tuolumne couple]

I have never had a problem with Holland America Line. Ever. But I do find their website very easy to navigate. Here is what I have found for you. Try electronically .. here is the link...

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/contact-us.html

 

[ontheweb]

This is one of the reasons that people use TAs. Let them do the telephone holding.

[iancal]

6 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

This is one of the reasons that people use TAs. Let them do the telephone holding.

Exactly.  Really why bother with all that nonsense?

[NavyCruiser]

Sorry for your troubles.  Must be extremely frustrating.

That's why I always check our balance daily while onboard & esp correct any issues (luckily we've never needed to) on the last day before debarkation.

Many years ago, we found out later after the cruise that our company had $200 OBC for everyone's cabins, & we left that behind without using it.  Taught me to check daily now...

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

This is one of the reasons that people use TAs. Let them do the telephone holding.

I use a HAL PCC and most times just email her - quicker and easier.

 

[Mary229]

I usually let the TA do the heavy lifting but occasionally call.  I am an early morning person and if I call at opening I get through immediately.

[JGnBG]

Yeah, can't get anyone at that guest relations number and we used a HAL agent who is not responding either. I did keep track of my statement but Guest Relations on board said they couldn't fix it and I'd have to deal with it off ship. 

 

I'll try that accounting number and the first thing in the morning trick, thanks! 

[cruzn single]

Glad someone is getting results.  I tried for almost two months to reach PCC.  Four emails and 5 voice mails.  Finally cancelled thru regular lines.  Still no response from PCC!  Guess he doesn’t care,  but he lost me.

[DaveOKC]

13 hours ago, cruzn single said:

Glad someone is getting results.  I tried for almost two months to reach PCC.  Four emails and 5 voice mails.  Finally cancelled thru regular lines.  Still no response from PCC!  Guess he doesn’t care,  but he lost me.

call the PCC number - 800-255-3017 and ask for a supervisor to assign you a new PCC

[syesmar]

@JGnBG

On another site, I saw this email given by HAL to a guest who said they couldn’t reach anyone (spaces for security, remove spaces to send): 

socialmedia

@ 

hollandamerica.com

 

All the Best!

[doone]

Being they are most likely located in Seattle, I would guess 10 am EST would be a good time to try.

[DaveOKC]

26 minutes ago, doone said:

Being they are most likely located in Seattle, I would guess 10 am EST would be a good time to try.

11 am

 

[Mary229]

I dial in at 9 am central time and that is the opening from where I sit. I dial in minute before then use the redial feature.  
 

last I checked the website has the wrong time

Edited August 5, 2022 by Mary229

[iancal]

Difficult for me to understand why anyone would go through some of those machinations or put up with those wait times  simply to reach a cruise line, any cruise line, CSR/agent when a good TA could take care of most things with one phone call or one email.

Edited August 5, 2022 by iancal

[seaoma]

2 minutes ago, iancal said:

Difficult for me to understand why anyone would go through some of those machinations or put up with those wait times  simply to reach a cruise line, any cruise line, CSR/agent when a good TA could take care of most things with one phone call or one email.

 

Maybe they are like me and can't find a good travel agent. I've been looking for one since the 1980's and none have been more than perfunctory.

[Hlitner]

19 hours ago, seaoma said:

 

Maybe they are like me and can't find a good travel agent. I've been looking for one since the 1980's and none have been more than perfunctory.

A "perfunctory" cruise agent/agency who answers the phone, resolves most issues with a simple e-mail, etc. is a better option than spending hours on hold with many cruise lines.  And those "perfunctory" agents actually pay me (with thousands of dollars of on-board credits) for my business.

 

Hank

[seaoma]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

A "perfunctory" cruise agent/agency who answers the phone, resolves most issues with a simple e-mail, etc. is a better option than spending hours on hold with many cruise lines.  And those "perfunctory" agents actually pay me (with thousands of dollars of on-board credits) for my business.

 

Hank

 

I'm glad you have found an agent that works for you. Unfortunately, I have not.

 

In fact, I'm dealing with a situation regarding a canceled cruise at this very moment that is lacking. Neither the cruise line nor the travel agent in charge of the reservation, have sent me a confirmation of the canceled cruise and it's been over a week. Now, in addition to the hours spent just trying to cancel the thing, I probably will spend hours contacting the agent to follow up. 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

A "perfunctory" cruise agent/agency who answers the phone, resolves most issues with a simple e-mail, etc. is a better option than spending hours on hold with many cruise lines.  And those "perfunctory" agents actually pay me (with thousands of dollars of on-board credits) for my business.

 

Hank

When you do 100 day cruises of course you “might” see “thousands” of dollars of onboard credits.  You are not going to see that on a 7 or 14 day.  There isn’t an abundance of excellent ta to be plucked, at least from my vantage point.

[Hlitner]

29 minutes ago, seaoma said:

 

I'm glad you have found an agent that works for you. Unfortunately, I have not.

 

In fact, I'm dealing with a situation regarding a canceled cruise at this very moment that is lacking. Neither the cruise line nor the travel agent in charge of the reservation, have sent me a confirmation of the canceled cruise and it's been over a week. Now, in addition to the hours spent just trying to cancel the thing, I probably will spend hours contacting the agent to follow up. 

We have not found just one agent but have routinely used three different agencies and multiple cruise agents (within those agencies) for many years.  We have also had other cruisers recommend 2 other agencies/agents who we have yet to try since it does not look like their deals are as good as what we get from our current short list of agencies.  Why do we use more than one cruise agency?  Because we cruise many different lines and some agencies have better deals with certain lines.  But the CCL family of lines (i.e. HAL, Princess and Seabourn) seem to work well with all of our agencies.

 

We do see other posts from folks who say they cannot find decent agencies/agents.  We are always learning of other recommended agents from other cruisers whenever we are on a cruise (which is often about 100 days a year).  All of our favored agencies survived the COVID shutdown although one of our favorite agents has left the business.  One of our previous favored agencies has now dropped off our list because they were very unresponsive when we had a major issue with an Oceania booking.  That particular agency (located in New England) apparently had a major cut-back of agents due to the COVID shutdown and it impacted their customer service.  They are still a good agency in terms of deals, (especially with Oceania and RCI products (Celebrity, Azamara, etc)) so I imagine we will again use them in the future if they offer the best deals.

 

The savings on cruises (when using agencies) really varies depending on the cruise line.  HAL and Princess are among the best for using agencies as the extra amenities and OBCs are often 7-10% and more of the cruise fare.  Other lines such as Seabourn, Oceania and MSC do not generally have great deals but our savings are still hundreds (and sometimes $1000+).   All of our favored cruise agencies belong to various "consortiums" (huge travel buying groups) which give them a lot of clout with the cruise lines.  We are now doing some homework trying to find the ideal agent to use with the new Explora Journeys Line (a luxury spin off of MSC).

 

Hank

 

 

[Hlitner]

12 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

When you do 100 day cruises of course you “might” see “thousands” of dollars of onboard credits.  You are not going to see that on a 7 or 14 day.  There isn’t an abundance of excellent ta to be plucked, at least from my vantage point.

I agree!  I usually prefer to express savings as a percentage because that is generally how it works with the various agencies.  So if we use 7% as the average savings we get with HAL, a $10,000 booking would generate about $700 of OBC (and perhaps other amenities).  But it is very true that the more you spend on a cruise (be it for a longer cruise or higher category cabin) the more dollars you will save.  Out of many bookings (far more than 100) I think our biggest savings happened on a Grand Med Prinsendam cruise when we actually saved about 15% (when factoring-in OBCs and pre-paid grats).  The least savings (in terms of percentage) seem to happen with Seabourn and other luxury lines.  The irony about Seabourn is that we once had $1000 of OBC on one of their bookings and walked off the ship with more than $500 remaining (and lost since they do not refund OBCs).  On that line it can be difficult to spend OBC unless you decide to buy expensive wine or take some of their shore excursions (we generally do neither).   With Princess and HAL we sometimes have so much OBC that we get money refunded at the end of the cruise (Princess actually sends a check).

 

Hank

[iancal]

We typically do, pre covid, 10-21 day cruises.

 

The OBC from our former on line agent was nice.

 

What was better was the level of service, the extended hours, the unbiased information, and insight into other competitive cruise offerings on different cruise lines servicing the same general itinerary.

 

When you pay more for the identical product you expect an enhanced level of service.

 

 This might be a false expectation when deciding whether to book direct or to use the services of an agent when booking a cruise.    This is not just a HAL issue, it is an industry issue

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by iancal