Cruise Cancelled - Moved to a different sailing and downgraded!!

[FlyingCruiser2]

We got an email yesterday that our March 26 Nieuw Amsterdam trip was cancelled due to drydock issue, and we have been moved to the Nieuw Statendam March 25 trip instead.  We had booked  the PS, but that is not available on the new trip - so the only alternative is for them to downgrade us.

 

The original itinerary is still available for booking on the website - no one we've talked to so far at HAL has any idea what is happening. 

 

Have been on hold seemingly forever, and now waiting on a call-back. 

 

What can we expect them to do?  We had a great price for this booking - will they honor that price for another itinerary or trip?

 

TIA

[canadianbear]

Is there another similar itinerary that you’d like where the PS would be available?  When this happened to us (not the PS though) we were offered about 6 choices of a similar itinerary around the same time frame & they honoured our original price.

 

Can’t hurt to ask but look first at ships & itineraries that you’d be ok to switch.  
 

Good luck.  

[Torquer]

When you cruise in the PS, things like this can happen since there are only 1 or 2 per ship.  If a cruise is cancelled there are likely few options.  And if you want to book a new cruise in the PS your options are also limited because they sell out quickly.

 

Since we are fortunate to cruise almost exclusively in the PS, my son and I developed a computer program to scan the HAL databases and tell us what cruises a PS is available for booking.  I looked at the list for the first half 2023.  At this moment the only Caribbean cruise with a PS available is the Jan 25 sailing on Rotterdam and the February 12 sailing on Nieuw Amsterdam.  If you would like me to check other areas of the world or a different timeframe, let me know.

[oaktreerb]

On 9/21/2022 at 7:44 AM, FlyingCruiser2 said:

We got an email yesterday that our March 26 Nieuw Amsterdam trip was cancelled due to drydock issue, and we have been moved to the Nieuw Statendam March 25 trip instead.  We had booked  the PS, but that is not available on the new trip - so the only alternative is for them to downgrade us.

 

The original itinerary is still available for booking on the website - no one we've talked to so far at HAL has any idea what is happening. 

 

Have been on hold seemingly forever, and now waiting on a call-back. 

 

What can we expect them to do?  We had a great price for this booking - will they honor that price for another itinerary or trip?

 

TIA

Why’s with March and dry docks?  Our Koningsdam cruise was cancelled for March 2023 also for dry dock.   Deferred maintenance maybe?  

 

We were given our deposit money back and offered $100 OBC on another cruise.  We didn’t have a PS but did have our favorite stateroom.  

 

 

[FlyingCruiser2]

21 hours ago, Torquer said:

When you cruise in the PS, things like this can happen since there are only 1 or 2 per ship.  If a cruise is cancelled there are likely few options.  And if you want to book a new cruise in the PS your options are also limited because they sell out quickly.

 

Since we are fortunate to cruise almost exclusively in the PS, my son and I developed a computer program to scan the HAL databases and tell us what cruises a PS is available for booking.  I looked at the list for the first half 2023.  At this moment the only Caribbean cruise with a PS available is the Jan 25 sailing on Rotterdam and the February 12 sailing on Nieuw Amsterdam.  If you would like me to check other areas of the world or a different timeframe, let me know.

Thanks for the info.  We’re either going to have to go later in the year, or pick a cruise on another line.  Doing a VV Massive Suite in Nov to try them out, but now they stopped discounting suites, they’re a bit out of our travel budget.  
 

BTW…very cool on the computer program.  I was told by PCC once that even they can’t search that way - only by more general category.  Do they have some sort of API to allow access to the schedule data?

 

[WriterOnDeck]

Get a great travel agent who can do all the work for you! With 555 cruise days booked for mid 2022 through mid 2024, I could not have managed without mine. Especially after my 100 days on the Volendam were canceled at the last minute by the ship's lease to the Dutch government. She is the best at finding last-minute alternatives, cabins that don't always show up on the HAL site, and myriad details.

[Mary229]

I would take the refund unless there was something that absolutely was of current interest.   Too many in recent years were lured by FCC or price lock-ins to see their money idle until expiration as they could never find a suitable sailing.

 

take the money then sit back and decide anew.  I agree that TAs can help you maneuver this new post Covid world.